Today was THE BIG day- we were scheduled to be on the shuttle bus to the Antarctic Center in Christchurch at 5:45 am, but we got a much welcomed knock on the door of our hotel room at 5:30 am saying that we were delayed for two hours (ahhh, sleep). We all instantly thought we were destined for another day in Christchurch from the way things had been going the past few days. At 7:45 am we all piled into the shuttle bus and headed to the Antarctic Center. We knew the drill, put all our cold weather gear on, go through security, get your dog tag boarding pass, catch the shuttle out to the airfield, obtain your bag lunch, and board the C17 (the roomy plane).

Again, we endured the five-hour plane ride not knowing what was in store for us at the end (would we actually land at McMurdo or would we turn around and fly another five hours back to Christchurch).

Once we were over the continent, the flight crew was optimistic that we would land, and you could feel the excitement mounting in the plane...only 2 more hours and counting. We started our descent...only 1 more hour and counting. We made our first pass at the runway, only two more passes and counting...after the second pass, people were beginning to bow there heads and sighing, immediately thinking that we were destined for Christchurch. I asked one of the Air National Guard men I was sitting next to what he thought was happening, and he said that the pilots have to make two practice passes at the ice runway and then they land on the third (practice is good)...only one more pass and counting. Without windows in the plane and the increased noise from the lack of insulation, it was difficult to tell actually whether we were ascending, descending, or whether we had even landed. But then we felt the plane skidding on the sea ice runway and we all donned our, hats, red parkas, sunglasses, and gloves because we were there, we had actually landed in Antarctica!

Once we stepped out of the plane, the first thing to hit me was the cold, dry air (Antarctica is the driest continent on earth). We were standing on the runway that is actually sea ice. It was difficult to think that the ocean was below my feet! The sea ice here is 14 feet thick and it makes up the Ross Ice Shelf that covers McMurdo Sound. In the middle of the summer (~January), the ice generally breaks up and what is now the runway becomes the moving ocean. Needless to say, they use a different runway in the summer.

In the distance we could see McMurdo station, our home for the next two months. After the awe left me, I could feel the moisture being sucked out of my hands because they weren't covered. Then I could feel my fingers going numb and I wasn't able to feel my camera anymore (I had only been out of the plane a few minutes!). OK- more pictures later, time to get on the bus!

They whisked us to the station and we were issued our dorms and laboratory space. The rest of the evening was spent securing our sampling equipment, luggage, and setting up our lab. We finished our first night on the coldest, driest, continent on earth in the comfort of a nighttime recreation room playing shuffleboard on a warped table. The sun dipped below the horizon and lit up the trans Antarctic range across the Sound, but it never got dark. Until next time...goodnight.