It was time. The work was done, the thrill was diminished, the body was ready for night time, green things and missed loved ones. The night before leaving the ice we had a going away gathering... it was simply lovely. Lots of friends gathered and Kirk presented an excellent slideshow of our time on the ice together accompanied by songs with the theme "Blue". It's all over now Baby Blue, Blue Suede Shoes, Blue moon, etc... It was the perfect way to wrap up our time together and celebrate the friendships we had made and the experiences we had.
The following morning it was snowing. This made us nervous that our flight would be cancelled. I was being re-deployed with a number of my friends and we were all anxious to reach Christchurch that day and begin adventures on the green island!
After breakfast and one last coffee at the coffee shop I gathered by belongings and wearing full ECW gear, bunny boots, Carhartts and all trudged up to the cargo area where about a hundred of us waited with our orange carry on bags for the shuttles out to the airfield.
We caught buses out to the airfield and were all unloaded onto the ice to await the landing of the C17. It was a bit of a nostalgic moment standing there on the ice with all these friends and strangers surrounded by the familiar yet completely alien landscape that had become my home the past three months. I was excited to leave, but was also trying to soak up every last minute possible of the beauty of this place, knowing I would be back, but not sure when.
The C17 came flying down out of the clouds and landed on the ice runway. We were told to wait while it parked and unloaded crates of cargo. The anticipation was mounting. Everyone had there orange bags in hand and were all waiting as if for a marathon to start to get to the plane! Finally the lady said okay! go! and we all hustled across the runway to get on the plane and get the seats we wanted. I sat in the back of the plane with my friend Jules. We both shared a deep excitement to be leaving the ice. Once everyone was strapped in the loud engines roared and the plane took off. Up up and away from the land of ice. I understand now why people fall in love with this place. It was both exciting and sad to leave. It was as if we were flying out of a long magical dream, away from the dream land of Antarctica and back to real life.
Flying over the continent on a clear day was a special treat. We were free to get up and walk around and look out the little circular windows. I also got up into the cock pit for a bit and learned that we were flying low today to avoid some weather which was fantastic when flying over the mountains! It seemed like we were right next to the peaks. We could also see the ice breaking up and glaciers pouring out over the mountains! It was incredible.
After awhile we were back to flying over the ocean and everyone on the place was snoozing or reading, on their laptops or chatting loudly over the engine. Jules and I enjoyed a treat of pears and blue cheese that we had snagged from the cafeteria on our way out and I thought back to my past three months of life on the ice. With a contract signed for next year already, it is clear that I truly enjoyed my time and feel that living and working in Antarctica is a good fit for me at this time in my life, supporting the dream to travel the world one adventure at a time...
The adventure doesn't stop here.
