We set off on our long trip down to Christchurch today to begin the 2022 Winter Flight (Winfly) season at McMurdo Station. The itinerary starts off with a flight from Denver to Houston, then we take the 15-hr long flight from Houston to Auckland, and finally we fly from Auckland to Christchurch.
The hardest part of getting ready for this trip was managing our luggage within all the volume and weight constraints! For myself, spending 15-months on the ice meant being extra careful about what I packed, bringing everything I could possibly need while not bringing more than I might need. Balancing overseas commercial flight restrictions with the US Antarctic Program’s own set of restrictions was the key, but we all were able to get our bags down to Christchurch under all limits.
Dr. Chu had a great seat on the flight from Auckland to Christchurch and was able to grab some pictures of NZ’s snow-covered Southern Alps!
