Departure

I am no longer at the South Pole. After being there since January, I have finally left, along with the rest of the winter-overs. My journey back home began on a LC-130 flight from the South Pole to McMurdo. The pilots decided to grant us a surprise - a low pass through the Dry Valleys.

Dry Valleys from the LC-130 window

This was quite a treat - few people ever get to see the Dry Valleys, and we flew right through them, as in below the mountain tops. Pretty crazy stunt for a Herc. After stopping in McMurdo for a couple of nights we continued on our way to Christchurch, this time flying a DC-17. I didn't fly a C-17 on the way in because the runway was too soft in January, but in the November the runway is still hard enough to operate the gigantic, wheeled jet aircraft.

Our transport from McMurdo to Christchurch

Boarding

The C-17 is an enormous aircraft. It's mostly empty in the photo below because it was mostly used to transport cargo down to the pole, although there are a couple mail pallets in the back.

After landing in Christchurch we were greeted by rain, something we hadn't experienced all year. Overall adjusting to normal society traveling around New Zealand was a fairly smooth transition. 

Other boarding passes:

• Our flight back from pole included a person who went down to be a fire tech, had a few days look around, and decided it wasn't for him and quit. I guess this happens sometimes. 
• Most people do some travel after returning from the ice, since we fly back to New Zealand and can extend our stay there, or we can completely exchange our return ticket for a travel voucher. 

 Next Week in Pole: Nothing!

Actually, I'll probably make another post when I finish my aurora movie and another about finding jobs in antarctica.