Such Sweet Sorrow

Well, I’m back in the states! And what a journey it’s been. We had a 4a flight off the ice, which meant that we had to be on Ivan, the Terrabus, by 2a for the ~1.5 hour ride out to the white ice runway. But even before that, we had to get all of our baggage packed, weighed, and turned in in a process called Bag Drag. They call it Bag Drag because you literally have to drag your bags up a hill, where they process your baggage.

Here we are, getting our bags checked in.

After Bag Drag, some of us pulled all-nighters, waiting for the bus ride to the ice runway. I, however, was exhausted and took a quick 2 hour nap. And then, it was all aboard!

Here we are at Pegasus Runway. I’m standing next to Ivan, the Terrabus. We weren’t able to use the sea-ice runway that I landed on when I first arrived because it’s later in the summer season and the sea ice is not as thick or stable.

Here I am, very excited! (It's snowing).

Here’s the group – all together - ready to be going home!

The five hour flight was basically a big slumber party. Everyone slept because it was an early flight!

And then collecting our bags – sort of a challenge when everyone has the same standard orange issued bags.

Stepping out into the New Zealand (Christchurch) airport was like walking into the future. I couldn’t believe how strange it felt to be back in a commercial area – flat screen tv’s everywhere with colorful ads, moving walkways and conveyer belts, images everywhere filled with beautiful air-brushed people. It was spectacularly bizarre. I guess when you see it all the time, you sort of get desensitized to it. But when you see it for the first time in a long time, it’s a little overwhelming. After that first bit of culture shock, I was in for another reality check. Night time! Wow – I had forgotten how dark night really is. I haven’t been afraid of the dark since I was little, but my first few nights back home were a little nerve-wracking. I honestly can’t remember night time being so dark!

I’ve scheduled a ten day layover back home (in California) before I head back to Princeton, New Jersey. And since I’ve been home, I’ve vegged out in front of the tv, watched several movies, eaten lots of good food, and not done much at all. It’s been great! To be honest, it’s a necessary break – it really is quite a shock to come back from the field and the isolation and try to throw yourself back into work and society. A good mental and physical vacation is exactly what I need right now.

And with that in mind, I will say adieu and thank you to everyone who has read my blog. I hope you’ve been inspired to find the courage to do whatever it is that you want to do and make it work for you. I fell in love with geology and climate science as an undergraduate, and I’ve pursued it to some exciting extremes (…Antarctica – that’s pretty extreme…). I love what I do (obviously), and I'm really excited that I had the chance to share this experience with you.

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