BootsnAll Travel Network



Christchurch and Beyond

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We finally made it off the Ice.  It felt better than usual this year. We had far too much time at McMurdo.  It was too long to stay busy but too short to go to work.  We made a couple of pitiful attempts to volunteer in various departments but the busiest part of Vessel Offload season was over by the time we arrived in town.  The Cargo Vessel got loaded with rubbish and off without a hitch which is more than we can say about the US Icebreaker Polar Sea.  It shipped off from town but for some reason returned to refuel a day later.  Fuels and Fleet Ops had already put away fuel lines and the pier infrastructure and had to set them back up again to fuel the ship.  Then, as soon as I got off the ice I read in the news that there is a foundering Japanese Whaling vessel about 150miles from McMurdo causing an international incident.  From what I have read the Sea is still around, negotiating.  I sure would like to be a fly on the wall at the meeting between the Coast Guard, illegal Japanese whalers, and Greenpeace (oh yea. They are there, too).   

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Our flight got off the Ice about 5 hours late but we were lucky to get off at all. Our transport lost a wheel on our way to Pegasus Field.  We arrived in CHC at three o’clock in the morning after flying cargo class. But, here we are now in Chrishtchurch, NZ once again. Sure is a nice place to come back to.  The past five days have been packed with errands.  We have been putting the final touches on our kayak trip with my brothers, packing bags and boxes to mail and store, and getting our Japanese rail passes.  We have also been fitting in a good amount of recreation with friends from the ice. Ironically enough we have been spending time with a couple of friends from WAIS.  I guess it is a good sign that we can still look each other in the face.  Yesterday was the nicest day weather-wise since we have been back.  We threw Frisbee in the park and watched the CHC Model Yacht Club regatta.

DSC00339.JPGIn about an hour Luci and I begin our fourth consecutive NZ adventure. We are headed over to Westport on the West Coast where we plan to spend about seven days traversing the Kahurangi NP hiking on the Leslie-Karemea track.  It should spit us out, filthy and tired, a few miles from where we will meet my brothers to go sea-kayaking.  We are really looking forward to getting out into the bush.  We’ll try to get some photos up when we get to Motueka.               

 

 



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One response to “Christchurch and Beyond”

  1. linda says:

    Greetings,nrnrI have been reading your blog for the past week to get ideas about what life is like in Anartica. I am going to the Raytheon job fair in April to apply for a generalist admin job. Do you have any hints on what Ratheon looks for in a job applicant?nrnrHope you have a nice time in NZ,nrnrLinda from Carlsbad, CA

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