11/28/02
I met the other 3 guys I came in with: Mike Kuiper, an Australian working in Kingston, Canada, Mike Janech, nearly finished with graduate school in South Carolina, and Jim Raymond, their group leader, who teaches at the University of Nevada at Las Vegas. They are headed to McMurdo to do research on algae, and are a good source of information, as they've been south before, except for Mike J. We had a long breakfast, and then Mike J and I headed out to the beach by bus.
New Brighton has a long new concrete pier, and guys fishing out at the end. A big new library & café overlooks the pier & beach. They MUST not have very big storms here, even though they're facing a lot of unimpeded ocean. The huge old trees in the botanical gardens support this notion. What a nice place for folks from England to end up!
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If, like Shackleton, I have a bad time in Antarctica, I may get a street named after me, too. |
We all rode out and picked up our cold weather gear for the flight tomorrow. Trying it all on really warmed me up way too much. I have eight different kinds of gloves! And I brought a lot of my own, too, not knowing what to expect from the fearsome combination of cold & kite flying.
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Trying on the gear. Does it make me look fat ? I got a new parka, but in delightfully warm New Zealand, it was pretty warm. There was a huge amount of information thrown at us, and I was glad some of the other folks knew what they were doing. I just followed along. |
6:30 am report time tomorrow. I'll do a load of wash tonight, and jumble some things around in my bags. I get to wear a large part of my cold weather gear on the plane, and a small hand-carry bag has to hold the rest, including anything I might need if (when?) the plane gets grounded or turned around. All the other stuff gets "turned in" and I won't see it again until McMurdo. Or maybe the Pole?
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The gloves and glove liners issued by Raytheon are, well, enough for anybody. Except me. I brought along about 6 additional pairs of different types, specifically for kite flying, where some use of the fingers may be crucial. |