Headed to The Ice

This adventure has been cooking up (in my own mind, at least) for more than a decade. I'm so excited to finally write: I'm headed to Antarctica!

I have a job as Lead Steward (euphemism for head janitor) at the South Pole station for 3.5-4 months (depending on timing, weather, etc.). So I've packed all my merino wool and headed south.

This is how, for the second time this year, I found myself in Australia (this time just for a layover)...

...and from there headed to Christchurch, New Zealand. Somehow I got upgraded to business class for that final leg of the journey and now am spoiled completely rotten (as if I wasn't before!).

Christchurch, New Zealand, is the jumping-off point for two of the United States' three Antarctic bases: McMurdo and South Pole. (The third is Palmer Station, accessed via South America.) It was nice to be able to stretch my legs, after more than 24 hours in  airports and on airplanes, with a long walk around Christchurch. I especially loved the botanical gardens.

Though cool and cloudy is the weather vibe here so far, the city is brightened up by some fun murals in unexpected places...

...and there are a lot of such available spaces, as the city is still under intense reconstruction in the wake of the earthquake, a few years ago, that caused devastating damage, including to the city's famed cathedral.

So far, the New Zealanders seem as friendly as the reputation that precedes them, and I am crazy excited to spend a few months exploring this country. But that will be AFTER the great Antarctic adventure. For now, I am only scheduled for one day here in Christchurch, which has been spent getting all of my work gear (including a couple of awesome canvas janitorial jumpsuits--don't be jealous) and extreme cold weather gear (check out the bunny boots!) tried on and in order, taking care of other procedural stuff, and doing final tasks before heading even farther south. All of the gear I've been issued, in addition to what I already brought with me (which was a few changes of warm clothes, toiletries, laptop, Kindle, and some other miscellany)!:

So am scheduled to fly tomorrow from Christchurch to McMurdo Station on Antarctica. Just as often as not, these flights "boomerang" back to Christchurch due to dicey weather at McMurdo, so there's no saying whether I'll actually get there. But stay tuned!

Also, I've been getting more questions about Antarctica than I know how to answer yet, so I've started keeping a list of the questions I get and will start answering them once I get to Pole and know what those answers are. If you have any questions you'd like answered, just e-mail them to me or pose them in the comments section of a one of my posts and I will answer them as soon as I can.

More before long--hopefully from the "7th continent" (though it will actually be my 6th...).