Arrived Christchurch, New Zealand

Tuesday's all-day packing went smoothly and we ended up with 10 checked equipment bins among the three of us. We arrived at LAX with plenty of time and short lines. They mixed up my check-in ("ineligible for travel") and had to hold the plane for a bit to straighten it out, but after the anxiety of packing I felt only excited assurance.

The 13-hour flight to Auckland, New Zealand went very quickly with movies and meals and sleep. Quantas Air (out of Australia) was very nice I thought. We arrived at 9-something am on Thursday the 10th...I seemed to have slept through the 9th since we left on the night of the 8th (funny date line thing). Customs and the bio-check point to prevent foreign insects/etc from entering went fine, and our connecting flight to Christchurch was brief and uneventful.

(pic of me in Auckland airport with some equipment bins)


My first view of New Zealand was of the grass between runways, and even it struck me as particularly green. The view flying to Christchurch revealed the solid green flatland farming areas around both cities was not the whole story. There seems to be many tropical-appearing beaches and bays, as well as a mountainous region with snow-capped ridge after ridge after ridge, separated by green valleys and small rivers between each one. It must be an awesome place to backpack...straight out of Lord of the Rings.

We met with some of the Raytheon Polar Services people and shuttled to our hotel. The earthquake last year has resulted in large portions of downtown barricaded no access and the loss of many buildings including the traditional physicists' dining establishment. We walked instead to Bealeys Speights Ale House for a rather expensive but extremely delicious dinner. I tried a local fish called Gurnard which was like the best of Swordfish and Orange Roughie. The place seems very similar to California, but a bit colder and older (1970's?) looking. Everyone pays for wifi access around here unlike the free access everywhere in the states these days.

(pic of us before dinner...a bit weary and half-awake)


I'm posting this before going to bed at 9:30pm Thursday night -- remember this time zone is the first one on the planet so it's ahead of everyone...(even my good friend Art in Japan). Don't believe the datestamp in the photos. Tomorrow (Friday) we get our cold weather gear and Saturday morning will be our first attempt to fly to McMurdo, Antarctica. We are hoping the weather will allow the plane to land so we don't have to fly back to NZ (a "boomerang" flight).

(It's been great to see all of your emails, comments, and facebook posts. Feel free to post questions rather than emailing me and I'll post answers back for all.)