Travel

Friday morning was a bit of a scramble. Newegg had failed to ship some urgently needed computer parts in one day as promised. Therefore we made a last-minute MicroCenter run before closing my boxes and heading to the airport. My excess baggage was surprisingly low: one 50 lb box and one 68 lb monster box. The airport experience was much better than last year. My bags were checked with minimal trouble, and the flight was actually on time. The only downside was that I was sick with a cold. I put a box of tissues in my backpack. This proved to be very fortunate.

People here work in shifts so the dorms are permanent quiet hours to allow everyone to sleep. So I got up (Dec. 7) quiet as a mouse in the dark. After breakfast I tried to visit the balloon facility, but apparently I walked right past the pickup location and missed the bus. So that plan was a bust. Instead I hung around town and played tourist.

In the afternoon the wind started picking up so I cut short my photography expedition. The best shots were the landscapes, I think. The only really attractive building is the chapel on the coast.

Eventually.

We recruited another CMB colleague and had dinner at The amazing Brewers Arms. For dinosaur eaters the options included wild ostrich, kangaroo, and venison. The beer and vegetarian pasta were good too. Dessert was a date cake a la mode. Rating of "tasty."

Surprisingly, given how the trip had gone so far, the SuperShuttle to the airport was exactly on time. Everyone on it was going to Antarctica so we shared advice, worries, and troubles. I wasn't the only one missing luggage.

[Note: This is the first in a series of posts adapted from emails I wrote while traveling to the South Pole for research in 2012--2013.]