Although summer has only just begun (for those in the Southern Hemisphere, anyway), I’m now off to the cold desert climate of Antarctica on a new expedition. The purpose: to better understand how Antarctica’s glaciers respond to changes in climate.
Tomorrow we depart on an 8-hr flight south to “the great white”.
Today, we arrived in Christchurch (NZ), our gateway to Antarctica, and collected the clothing for our next month.
There’s a lot of it – enough to easily cover my hotel bed when piled several items high.
Items include: 3 jackets (windstopper, extreme cold, intermediate cold), salopettes (aka snow pants), fleece jacket and trousers, intermediate top, 4 pairs of long-johns (aka long thermal pants), 4 thermal under tops, 6 pairs of woollen socks, 2 neck gaiters, 4 hats, 2 woollen gloves, woollen mittens, 3 polyprop gloves, windproof gloves, leather gloves, extreme cold mitts, balaclava, 3 pairs of sunglasses, ski goggles, extreme cold weather boots, sturdy walking/mountaineering boots, and standard Sorel boots.
After 2 hours, I’ve finally managed to pack these clothes, and much more, into several bags. Weather permitting, I’ll be at Scott Base, Antarctica, this time tomorrow.
