Antarctica, Austral Summer 2019 - 2020 (Part 2 - Arrival at McMurdo)
After months of anticipation, the day I had been waiting for had finally arrived. We were picked up from our hotels at 8:15 AM and were driven to the International Antarctic Center. There, we made the final preparations for our bags and had them weighed and put onto a truck that would load them onto our plane.
I was slightly bummed out when I was informed that the C-17 Globemaster that typically takes people down to the ice was not arriving to New Zealand for a few more weeks so we would be flying on a modified Airbus A319.
Despite the fact that we had all passed rigorous background checks, we all had to have our bags X-Rayed and we had to pass through a metal detector like we would in any other regular airport.
After getting checked through security, we waited in a large room with rows of seats before we could board the plane. Unfortunately, weather at McMurdo was not great so we were delayed an hour…and then another hour…and then another, and before long our flight scheduled to depart at 11 wasn’t scheduled to leave until 2:30 PM.
Despite the fact that our flight was delayed three and a half hours, we were not allowed to leave the terminal to get food because they would be forced to re-screen us through security. I had the bright idea to order Uber Eats and before long, everyone was ordering from Uber Eats. I got myself a 20-piece McNuggets for my last meal in the “real world.”
The specialized Airbus had several rows of seats removed towards the middle of the plane creating an area for some of us to lay down for part of the five hour flight to Phoenix airfield.
An hour from landing, the plane crew told us to make sure we put on all of our Extreme Cold Weather (ECW) gear in preparation for the landing.
The plane dipped beneath the cloud cover and we were able to see Mount Erebus, the only active volcano on the continent, off to the left of the plane.
Finally, we touched down. Since I was sitting at the back of the plane, I was among the first to exit the aircraft. A tear trickled from my cheek as I hesitated at the bottom step before finally stepping onto the ice below. The dream had become a reality. I made it to Antarctica.
“It is no short hop to Antarctica, and no easy thing to see it the way it should be seen. The last un-fucked-up place on Earth”
