The "A" Factor

Mt Erebus!

 

Here I sit in the bowels of a C130 Hercules and we are all on the receiving end of the “A” or Antarctic factor.  We left Hobart last night at 11pm on the now named Penguin One, the governments A319 airbus and experienced the most magnificent flight to McMurdo Station arriving around 3am in the morning.  All on board were lucky enough to see an Aurora in the night sky then as the sun rose the beauty of the continent appeared up through the clouds.  There are mountain ranges and glaciers as far as the eye can see which no camera can ever do justice.  Mount Erebus was billowing a little smoke as we passed by on our decent into McMurdo.

As Penguin One commenced its decent the cabin in the plane burst into action with all aboard having to don their survival kit.  The kit comprises of a base layer of merino thermals, followed by a layer of polar fleece then the final fluro yellow outer covering.  As you depart the plane you feel like the Michelin man but when the environment gives you a minus 28 degree welcome you quickly realise you need everything you can layer on.  The air takes your breath away before you even see the majestic environment you have just stepped into. 

We had around a two hour wait at McMurdo airstrip while our Hercules went through their final checks so we had plenty of time to wander around like excited school kids waiting to go on the next ride at the show.  We were all amazed that the plane had just landed on sea ice which is about four metres thick and squeaks when you walk across it.  So the next ride was ready to board and forty lucky punters including myself squeezed into the C130 and strapped in to the most uncomfortable webbing seats that I have ever had the pleasure in parking in.  The flight across to Casey Station generally takes approximately five hours so we all settled in and enjoyed the US provided lunch bag including the iconic peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.  We were about to commence our decent into Casey when the C130 started a banked 180 degree turn.  This is where the “A” Factor has come into play for the first time in our adventure.  The weather at Casey had suddenly changed making it impossible to land the big bird on its skis hence turn around and fly another five hours back to McMurdo!  Maybe we will be having Halloween with two thousand Americans.  Yee Hah.

Discovery Hut built in 1902 by Capt. Robert Scott

The US McMurdo Station at around 9pm.