packing for a short trip
I'm used to packing for a nine month trip to the land based stations, McMurdo and South Pole. Over the years I tell myself I bring less but I usually end up with the 85 pounds that they allow on the flight to the ice. My contact told me that there is no space in the berth to store suitcases, so I hope to have only one big bag and one carry on.
I don't think it will be as cold on the vessel, but even if the weather is better, I tend to get cold. In theaters, other people's houses, in the car, at the beach, at my desk. I hope they have plenty of handwarmers, which are miraculous inventions. I'm not sure what maritime clothing they give us. I've heard only about steel toed deck boots.
For the first time I will be flying directly from San Francisco to Christchurch New Zealand. Normally we are routed from SFO to Auckland, usually with a too short layover. In Auckland you have to walk (or run) between the international and domestic terminals. While it is nice to stretch your legs after a 13 hour flight, the past two times I went the transition was very hectic.
Also for the first time, I will be staying at an airport hotel when I arrive in Christchurch, but not the good airport hotel. I have a local bus pass and it's not a big deal to take the bus to the more interesting parts of Christchurch.
The United States Antarctic program has four main divisions around the continent. McMurdo, the south pole, Palmer station and vessels. There are also short term field camps but those are kind of related to the continental stations. For some reason the IT person at Palmer station has never considered my applications to work there. If I did get there, I would be in some rare company, having worked in all four divisions.
It's not clear whether I will be able to get to a site to download e-books while we are out in the ocean. I have 63 books loaded on my e-reader. One of those is Black Lamb and Grey Falcon, an 1180 page book that I have been reading for years. At one point I read about 700 pages but then dropped it so I have had to start over again. Even though I haven't finished it, it is one of my favorite books.
Testing inserting an image.
kyle