![Click to enlarge](img/th_5013.jpg) | ANZ Bank Chambers |
![Click to enlarge](img/th_5014.jpg) | My official clearance for transport arrives at the hotel. |
![Click to enlarge](img/th_5016.jpg) | Maori Television. I used it as a clock. |
![Click to enlarge](img/th_5017.jpg) | Unloading our gear at the CDC. |
![Click to enlarge](img/th_5018.jpg) | Me suited up. |
![Click to enlarge](img/th_5021.jpg) | My boarding pass—number 29. |
![Click to enlarge](img/th_5023.jpg) | Waiting in the "departures lounge". |
![Click to enlarge](img/th_5026.jpg) | My boots come with instructions. |
![Click to enlarge](img/th_5027.jpg) | All the checked luggage gets palletised like regular cargo. If we "boomerang" (make it part way down and then turn around and head back) our luggage won't get uncrated unless they expect us to be stuck in Christchurch for at least three days more. |
![Click to enlarge](img/th_5028.jpg) | Departing. |
![Click to enlarge](img/th_5029.jpg) | Boarding the bus to the plane. |
![Click to enlarge](img/th_5030.jpg) | Marco waits on the bus. |
![Click to enlarge](img/th_5031.jpg) | Me on the bus. |
![Click to enlarge](img/th_5032.jpg) | Enzo boards the bus. |
![Click to enlarge](img/th_5033.jpg) | Marie boards the bus. |
![Click to enlarge](img/th_5034.jpg) | The Italian Antarctic Program plane. |
![Click to enlarge](img/th_5035.jpg) | Our transport to McMurdo: a C-17 Globemaster. |
![Click to enlarge](img/th_5036.jpg) | The first bus of passengers has already arrived and is waiting to board the plane. |
![Click to enlarge](img/th_5037.jpg) | C-17 engines. |
![Click to enlarge](img/th_5038.jpg) | The USAP hangar. |
![Click to enlarge](img/th_5039.jpg) | The tail. |
![Click to enlarge](img/th_5040.jpg) | Boarding time. |
![Click to enlarge](img/th_5041.jpg) | Massive engines and landing gear of the C-17. |
![Click to enlarge](img/th_5042.jpg) | Inside the C-17. This big cylinder contains one of the strands for the Icecube Experiment, down at Pole. |
![Click to enlarge](img/th_5043.jpg) | The in-flight accommodations. |
![Click to enlarge](img/th_5044.jpg) | Looking tailward at the cargo. Passengers are only a small portion of the load of the transport. |
![Click to enlarge](img/th_5046.jpg) | One of the crew does the pre-takeoff rundown. "There's a life jacket under your seat. In the event we go down over water, we're all going to die, so let's not bother with that." |
![Click to enlarge](img/th_5048.jpg) | Deep, Very Deep Space. My reading material for the flight. Marco found it onboard. |
![Click to enlarge](img/th_5049.jpg) | An explosive hatch in the roof of the cargo bay. Note the exit sign. |
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![Click to Enlarge](img/th_c-17.jpg) |
(8433x3306, 11261.95 kb) The view in the 17 from my seat. Try looking at this picture for five hours. That's sort of what the flight is like.
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![Click to enlarge](img/th_5083.jpg) | Another view back towards the cargo. |
![Click to play](img/th_5086.jpg) | Take off. The best indication that we had taken off was that afterwards the plane was significantly more inclined. |
![Click to enlarge](img/th_5087.jpg) | Complementary lunch. |
![Click to enlarge](img/th_5089.jpg) | My book has a spelling mistake on the first page... an indication of the quality to come. |
![Click to enlarge](img/th_5090.jpg) | A better view of lunch: two sandwiches (beef), two bags of chips, a chocolate muffin, a chocolate chip cookie, a granola bar, a Twix, an orange, an apple, a bottle of apple juice and a bottle of water. All in a handy (and reusable) brown paper bag. |
![Click to enlarge](img/th_5091.jpg) | Enzo on his way to the ice. |
![Click to enlarge](img/th_5092.jpg) | At the rear of the passenger section looking forward. |
![Click to enlarge](img/th_5093.jpg) | The Antarctic Ocean, as viewed from one of the tiny windows in the hold. |
![Click to enlarge](img/th_5094.jpg) | The tiny window itself. Possibly a foot in diameter. |
![Click to enlarge](img/th_5095.jpg) | Penguin chips. |
![Click to enlarge](img/th_5096.jpg) | Marco in his seat. He's the only one of us that ended up in a "regular" airplane seat, as opposed to the cargo seating along the sides of the transport. |
![Click to enlarge](img/th_5097.jpg) | Mark in his seat. |
![Click to enlarge](img/th_5098.jpg) | Marie reads. |
![Click to enlarge](img/th_5099.jpg) | Another view of the cargo. In the back left you can see the pallet of checked luggage. |
![Click to enlarge](img/th_5100.jpg) | Chris and Drew, the LDB guys, were on this flight as well. |
![Click to enlarge](img/th_5101.jpg) | The shipping label on the giant Icecube spool. Total shipping weight: 15,000 lbs. |
![Click to enlarge](img/th_5102.jpg) | Another window. The numbers up above are inches from the nose. |
![Click to enlarge](img/th_5103.jpg) | Me enroute to McMurdo. |
![Click to enlarge](img/th_5105.jpg) | Chapter 5 from my book. |
![Click to enlarge](img/th_5106.jpg) | The other chapter 5 in my book. Obviously the whole copy editing step was skipped when this book was pushed out. |
![Click to enlarge](img/th_5107.jpg) | What passes for water in the US air force. |
![Click to enlarge](img/th_5108.jpg) | The view from the front of the hold. There are five rows of five regular airplane seats in the hold on skids for easy removal. Another twenty or so of us sat on the cargo seating along the side bulkheads. |
![Click to enlarge](img/th_5109.jpg) | The flight deck. |
![Click to enlarge](img/th_5110.jpg) | The flight deck. |
![Click to enlarge](img/th_5111.jpg) | The view from the flight deck. Lots of clouds, with ice below it. In the distance somewhere is Heard Island. |