Christchurch ~ R and R ~ first day

So I left for R and R Tuesday morning, at 2am to be exact. While others were blurry eyed and grumbling, I was bubbly and wide awake, having it only be 2 in the afternoon for me. Piling into Ivan, we began the 45 minute drive out to the Pegasus Runway. As I chatted with the guy next to me, the scenery slipped by the window. Suddenly I hear "There is smoke back here!" as a billowing fog of smoke is indeed rising up around the four people sitting. Our driver stopped and radioed for help while the mechanic who had been riding along, apparently expecting this problem, jumped out to take a look. When the first rescue shuttle/van pulled up, some of us off loaded while the rest waited for the Deltas to show up. What a way to start my rest and relaxation. There is a reason we have to wear our full cold gear on these types of trips aka stranded in the middle of the permanent sea ice waiting for a ride.

Once we reached the runway more or less intact from our bumpy ride, we waited for the military C-17 to arrive and rumble us away from our island. When it did put in an appearance, loud, large and proud we watched it soar above and then glide down the runway getting giant by the second. It was amazing to see being of a non-military background. Once all the cargo had been off loaded we were allowed to board and sitting along the sides of the plane, we strapped in a waited to go. I finally got to ride my military cargo plane, both ways this time.

While waiting the sun filtered through

The Antarctica Airport waiting area, anybody seeing red?

It was a five hour, ear plugged flight inside the belly of a beast, with all the wires and tubes exposed, raw. There was no cosmetic beauty inside that plane, and it was fascinating. Everything there for all to see. Like looking into a living, breathing machine where everything is moving and you, a single cell among all the workings. This same machine was flying over frozen oceans and ice, soaring high above the clouds carrying me to a land I had not been to in three months. As the rumbling of the engines echoed among the the metal haul, everyone dozed, read or contemplated what they would do when they landed in another country, and for me, another world, long forgotten. The real world.

Stepping out into the heavy mist and rain, I drew in the smell of wet dirt, and could almost here my skin sigh with humidity. What had I missed while I was gone, didn't matter. What I was experiencing was all consuming. Getting into the hotel and dumping the bags, I walked among the streets meeting up with friends for lunch and trying to plan my three days in instant access land. Wanting to keep it simple and needing only a few things, Christchurch was to be my home base and with great distraction, but that is another day . . . .