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Source: ONE News -
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Checking out travel plans, the C-17 Globemaster 111 isn't really
top of the list when it comes to luxury travel.
Dark grey in colour and described as "an American military aircraft
used for rapid strategic airlift of troops and cargo", this plane
means business.
I've been assured by "Woody" the logistics man that the C-17 is
regarded as the stretch limo of Antarctic travel. Well, its
certainly big. It carries enough fuel to fly all the way down and
back in a round trip.
As we thunder down the runway courtesy of the Americans there's
time to relax and think about what lies ahead.
From Christchurch we fly south. Around 3,800 kilometres south to an
ice runway on the coldest, windiest continent in the world.
Early this morning, with all our gear packed in regulation bags and
all wearing regulation clothes, we turn up at Antarctica New
Zealand near Christchurch International Airport.
I've got a reasonable amount of luggage, but my pile is tiny
compared to mountain of gear the cameraman is taking down. Camera,
tripod, batteries, editing equipment, laptops, cables, lights,
phones and a whole lot of other equipment that's a total mystery to
me.
This
flight is regarded as an international flight and because we
disembark "on the ice" we're instructed to carry our extreme cold
weather clothing with us. So that means the heavy duty goosedown
jacket, overalls, thermals, gloves and boots.
There's also a customs check and a security check. It may be a
military aircraft but these trips are run like any other
international flight. No sharp items in your hand luggage. The drug
dog has a sniff around as well.
It's a bit different to your usual commercial flight. No flight
attendants. No in-flight menus and we provide our own in-flight
entertainment.
There are 31 passengers on board and a massive pile of cargo.
Plenty of leg room which is great. There's at least a metre and a
half between me and the shipping container in front. Just so you
get the picture, there are two rows of seats down each side of the
plane and the shipping container sits in the middle.
We've
all been given a brown paper bag containing our lunch. Sandwiches,
an apple, biscuits and a muesli bar. The crisps are a nice touch -
they have penguins on the outside of the packets.
The C-17 isn't set up for viewing scenery. Just a few tiny windows
which everyone crowds around when the Southern Ocean disappears and
Antarctica's snow covered mountains come into view.
We take turns checking-out the view. And from the cockpit we get
our first glimpse of just how vast this place is. The Americans are
very proud of their plane and their operation and they like to
share it around.
About four hours into the flight there's some talk that we might
not be able to land. It's a bit hard to work out what's going on
because we can't see out, but after a bit of circling we finally
touch down on the ice runway. A relief really because flying back
to Christchurch would've been a bit of a drag.
Everyone has their ECW gear on, but as we clambered down the stairs
in our boots, it wasn't nearly as cold as we expected. And all
around us were piles of cargo, heaps of other smaller planes for
flying around the polar region, vehicles, people. I truly was
expecting something less crowded.
That's the first leg of our journey over.
Let the exploration begin.
