While half of the Spider team is now in Antarctica, almost none of our cargo is. This means we can’t do much useful work, and to pass the time we’ve been exploring. Out first trip was to Hut Point, named after the Discovery Hut constructed by Robert Falcon Scott in the early 20th century. (Somehow, I didn’t take a photograph of the hut itself.) The views were great, but the wind caused us to return to town without undertaking further exploration. […]
|
||||
|
|
||||
BIG NEWS: we finally landed in Antarctica! We were in Christchurch so long that the next wave of SPIDERers showed up. We had one day of overlap in New Zealand, then Ed, Anne, and I caught a C-17 flight the next morning. As soon as the plane dropped us off, it went back for the others (and some precious cargo). They arrived this morning. […]
Yesterday we learned not to trust weather forecasts that say conditions are nice in McMurdo. Because they aren’t. By which I mean our flight was delayed again. Ed and I spent the day starting on Ed’s dream of learning to kite surf. We took the bus out to New Brighton and visited a kite sports and appliance store (the appliances are the money maker). For our introductory lesson (on land) we mostly learned to control the kite. We also spent a little time with a board, not entirely unlike a skateboard. We achieved small spurts of wind-powered motion! […]
Due to terrible weather in McMurdo, our flight was delayed 24 hours. To pass the time, we took the bus towards Lyttleton, and walked over the Bridle Path. This is where early settlers crossed from the port towards Christchurch. […]
Anne, Ed, and I have deployed as SPIDER’s first wave. Yesterday was our regularly-scheduled full day in Christchurch. This starts with a trip to the clothing distribution center (CDC) to get our extreme cold weather (ECW) clothing. Afterwards, we wandered around, explored Christchurch, and had some great food and drinks. Christchurch was devastated by an earthquake in early 2011, but repair and reconstruction has progressed remarkably. […]