The last weeks of my contract were everything I could have asked for. They were filled with drawn out goodbyes of people who had redeployment dates before mine. There was this weird surge of new faces taking over jobs for winter and workers brought in to unload the supply vessel. Last hurrays at the bars before they shut down for the summer season.
The best part of being one of the last flights to go was getting the feeling of solitude. On my last night I roamed the hallways which were very quite at that point. I ended up finding the few people who were left that I knew and spent the night hanging out and being goofy. At midnight a small group of us climbed Ob Hill one last time to witness my first Antarctic sunset, and most likely sunrise as at that point there was probably only a half hour between the two events. The glow of purple and red from the Royal Society Mountains hiding the sun bounced off every white surface creating a landscape of rich color for the first time. It was epic.
The next day brought a slow march to the runway after a morning of finding people and saying goodbye. Once we climbed into the C17 and strapped ourselves into the sides of the big cargo space it was extremely bitter sweet to feel the plane take off away from the ice.
Met in Christchurch by a dark, warm, stormy night, the only thing I could think of was how great the last months had been and how much I ended up loving the simple lifestyle and tumultuous job. The biggest thought I had was similar to the one people have the moment they get off their first roller coaster and love it, "I WANNA GO AGAIN!!!"
With a redeployment schedule of a lazy two months in Australia and SE Asia before heading home, I can only reflect on the work and hard living as the best time to date I have ever had. With my resume and applications already sent in for next year, all I can do is wait and hope that luck will find me going back for another season of no-privacy, cracked skin, long work day, totally isolated living. Can't wait!
Chris
