McMurdo Station

Me inside of the LC130 (the "L" at the beginning of the name means that the plane has skis)

LC130s at the runway at Willie Field

We have arrived in McMurdo. The flight down was much better than I expected. The C130 is definitely a military, cargo plane with seats made of webbing. Although the forecasters had predicted heavy turbulence, the flight was surprisingly smooth. The views were incredible and I even got to sneak up into the cockpit and take a few pictures. Everyone on the plane was really nice. All of the crew was out of Scotia airbase, so it was nice to talk to some people from back home. I even ran into an old GE co-worker. I guess that it is a small world. Landing on the ice shelf was incredibly smooth. Walking on the ice shelf is interesting because you are standing on snow, but you do not sink down into it, yet it is not ice. It is difficult to explain. We had an incredibly clear day and there was a good view on Mt Erebus (the southernmost active volcano). I could see the "smoke" stack against the clear blue sky. This was a good opportunity for me to test out my new camera because we had a delay out on the runway. All of the service vehicles were stuck and could not pick us up. McMurdo has now had 13 or 14 days straight of above freezing temperatures, which is very rare. Therefore, the "roads" were melting and slushy, hence the vehicles being stuck. Eventually, "Ivan" the terrabus came to our rescue. Once I can post pictures, I'll post a picture of Ivan. The tires are larger than I am and it can probably fit about 40 people on the bus. My nephew, Zac would love this mode of transportation.

Eventually we made it into McMurdo. It's a fun little "city". I'm still learning my way around because every building looks the same. We got some dinner, some sleep and then breakfast. I am now off to Outdoor Training, where I will learn where I can and cannot walk, hike, bike, ski, etc. Sounds like fun to me!

Miss you all!

Melis