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Arrival in Christchurch
We landed in
Christchurch at about 10:00
AM, but for us, of course, "morning" has really lost all meaning since
our biological clocks haven't had a chance to reset themselves.
After deplaning and gathering our checked luggage, Dana and I and about
8 other McMurdo-bound people were met by a representative of Raytheon
Polar Services. They told Dana and me that we are scheduled to be
fit for our Extreme Cold Weather (ECW) gear tomorrow at 2:00 PM and
that our first opportunity to fly to McMurdo Station will be the
morning of October 29. I say "first opportunity" because it is
not that uncommon for the first few flights to be cancelled due to bad
weather in Antarctica. There are two types of airplanes that can
make the trip to McMurdo, a C-130 or a C-141.
It can take as long as about 8 hours on a C-130 and only about 5 hours
on a C-141. Since these planes only carry enough fuel to make it
from Christchurch
to McMurdo, the weather conditions need to be really good to fly.
If
one of these planes is less than halfway to McMurdo, and the weather
changes suddenly it may have to "boomerang," that is, turn around and
head back to Christchurch. This can be very frustrating for the
passengers since it is often impossible to tell whether or not the
plane has boomeranged until you see trees and grass when you've landed
back in Christchurch again! If the plane is more than halfway to
McMurdo and the weather becomes more severe, there may be no choice but
to land the plane in bad weather.
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Christchurch Cathedral in the
Square |
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Christchurch, the "Garden City," is the
third
largest city in New
Zealand, located on the southeast side of the South Island near the
Banks Peninsula, has around 300,000 inhabitants. It is a very
nice "small" town that has echoes of quaint English towns such as
Cambridge. It has one of the world's most spectacular botanical
gardens, many museums and is the main gateway to Antarctica.
About 70% of scientists heading to Antarctica pass through Christchurch
and on to McMurdo before heading out to other base camps.
Christchurch is quite overcast today and a little
colder and more windy than I thought it might be. The forecast is
calling for rain all day tomorrow and the word is around the Antarctic
Center that the weather in McMurdo has been bad for the last few days
and
that people have been having a difficult time trying to make it down
there. It would be a shame if we were kept here for too long
since the more time we spend in Christchurch, the less time we have to
get TIGER up and running for the first launch opportunities in early
December.
Dana and I trekked about 45 minutes to the north end
of town, to a
little township called Merivale to eat at a restaurant that I loved the
last time that I was here in February 2002. It's called the
Brewer's Arms and its specialty is serving raw steaks of various sorts
on a 400° stone slab. So Dana and I, looking quite foreign in
this particular part of town where tourists rarely venture, cooked and
dined on kangaroo, ostrich, venison and pork served with blueberry and
mango dipping sauces. Then it was back to the city centre, to the
Windsor Bed and Breakfast for me and to the Devon Bed and Breakfast for
Dana for some much needed sleep.
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