Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Farewell to Antarctica

It's been a great fourteen months living on the frozen continent. I'm now sitting in a comfortable bed-and-breakfast in Sumner, New Zealand enjoying the humidity, the warmth, and a feeling of rejuvenation. Today, I've seen plants, animals, and children again for the first time in a long while. The flight last night was smooth and uneventful, and the manager of the South Pole Station, who'd had a stroke in August, was successfully evacuated. I've signed on for one more winter season, so I'll be back on the Ice next January. In the meantime, I'll be relaxing in New Zealand, Thailand, and Australia. Thanks to everyone for reading the blog. I hope you all enjoyed it as much as I did writing it. :-)

Larry celebrated the thirteenth anniversary of his sweet sixteen three days before we left.

Larry's birthday cake was made up of six layers of multi-colored cake. Thanks Brian for making a fantastic cake!

The last big group of winter-overs boards the plane to leave Antarctica.

A final view of Mount Erebus and Ob Hill.

Yay! I'm leaving!

Loading the C-17 from the back. The plane was pretty empty, so there was lots of room to stretch out during the five-hour flight.

Mark, Brian (who made the birthday cake!), and Larry.

A view of the melting and cracking Antarctic sea ice from the plane.

2 comments:

  1. I hope you pick this back up when you get back down there. I've enjoyed keeping up with it quite a bit.

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  2. So cool. Your photos of the moon are blowing my mind.

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