Last Flight

The last flight out was supposed to be Monday but the flight got about 30 minutes from here and then got boomerang'ed, for weather I assume.  Then it was delayed for 3 hours on Tuesday but it did finally get here.  Then the last people to leave piled on and took off, leaving us stranded here until August.

It's a tradition when the last flight leaves to have a "wheels up champagne toast" over at the "chalet". The chalet is the building where the big wigs sit in the summer. It's got ceremonial type stuff, statues, and flags from all the nations that are part of the Antarctic Treaty. So everyone gathers and toasts the upcoming season and watches the flyover. Every year when the last flight leaves they'll buzz the town and dip their wings to kind of give us a little wave goodbye.  Instead of a C-17 like normal, this year the last flight went out on a RNZAF 757. I know the 757's are much less robust than the C-17's, so I don't know if they just can't do something like that, or no one told them they were supposed to.  Instead of our flyby they just took off and went home.  So I was hoping to have a little video for you of them doing the flyover, but not so much. I did get a distance pic from the chalet of the plane taxiing before it took off.  So that'll have to be good enough.  

It is a bit of a strange feeling knowing that no matter how bad I want to go home, I cant.  Up until Tuesday afternoon I could have just quit at anytime and they would have stuck me on the next flight out and I would have been on my way home. Now, I don't have a choice, I'm just here.

So everyone is in their own rooms now and it's like a whole different world when you have your own room you can go to and not have to deal with roommates. Also once they last flight takes off they turn on the wireless internet for everyone.  So I spent all day yesterday setting up peoples wifi on a shit ton of various laptops, tablets, kindles, nooks, and cell phones. I may have done more work yesterday than I did since I got here. Hahaha.  So I'm sitting on my own couch, in my own room, using the wireless to post this for you all. YAY!


Closet view we'll get of the last flight just before it took off. Unless maybe someone working at the airfield posts something on the network. If they do I'll post it...

I've been taking my dear sweet time setting up my room. So as soon as I'm done I'll get some pics up of all that.