We leave tomorrow!

The day has finally come! After a 24 hour weather delay, we are set to fly off the continent Wednesday morning. Yesterday and Sunday were blustery and snowy, so aircraft were not able to fly down here. But today was beautiful and our plane arrived from New Zealand. We will fly a C-130 Hercules back to New Zealand, which is smaller than the C-17 we flew down. Only smaller planes come down this time of year, which I've heard is because the snow is slushier and the larger planes damage the ice shelf surface too much. This means a slower ride back to Christchurch, about 7.5 hours.

We got to experience one last antarctic storm.

The delay gave me an extra 24 hours to say goodbye to friends and even have some new experiences on station. Here's a little tour of how I have spent my last few days here.

Hiking with friends

Don't be fooled by the sunglasses, we wore them to block the wind.

Ari taking in the view on Ob Hill.

On Saturday John and I hiked the hut point ridge trail. Our timing wasn't great and the new weather front (the windy, snowy one) blew in while we were on the trail. It was an antarctic adventure! Tonight (Tuesday) evening, Ari and I hiked around Ob Hill and it was clear, calm and warm - about 34°F today! The sweeping views of the sea ice are going to change dramatically over the next 2-3 months as temperatures stay higher and the sea ice transitions to open water.

Eating food, drinking coffee

Last coffee in the coffee house with Adela and Katarina

The McMurdo galley

Extra time in McMurdo means extra meals in McMurdo. I fully appreciate all the hard work of the galley staff, but I am very excited to cook again and eat in my kitchen and at restaurants in Seattle.  I will definitely miss having a full dish cleaning crew after every meal (thanks, Ari!).

Gym time!

I've run 35 cumulative miles on the treadmill in the gerbil gym at McMurdo during my time here (3.1 miles outside). I've also done lots of yoga thanks to the yoga classes I downloaded before leaving Seattle. I've been playing volleyball every Sunday, but this week I was able to play on Thursday as well since we had our last field day earlier in the week. I usually miss Thursday volleyball since I work until around 10 pm on Thursdays. I've loved getting back into volleyball and I'll miss the "league" players down here.

My favorite treadmill is the one on the left, facing the tiny window.

So much packing...

Delivering our science cargo to Troy

We had to pack up and return so much field gear, lab equipment, comms equipment,...But we did it! All of our samples and the equipment we brought with us will be shipped back to Seattle by Troy's team in Science Cargo (SciCo). Our samples that need to be kept at -80°C will be shipped by air, but the rest of the cargo will depart on the ice breaker that arrives at the end of January and we probably won't see it until March.

Fire station tour!

The firefighters are here for town emergencies, but their main job is to support the planes and airfield. On a snowy day with no flights arriving, things are quiet at the firehouse, so I stopped by the other day and Domenic gave me a tour. The engines here are designed for the cold environment, but interestingly the firefighters are not allowed to spray water or foam because it would damage the environment. The engines are also the dirtiest I've seen because they aren't allowed to wash them.

Dom is the real firefighter...

...but he let me pretend to be one too!

I became an expert welder

Not really. But I stopped by the Shop this afternoon and John let me tag along. I helped him make a water pump holder for one of the buildings on station. 

I'm totally ready to go home and see Ro and the kids. I will also really miss being in this incredible place and all the people I've been able to spend time with while I've been here.

Wifi at McMurdo was too slow so I didn't finish this blog post before flying out this morning. The flight on the C-130 was an experience. I'm in New Zealand now and should be back in Seattle Thursday afternoon.

One of my last views of the sea ice.