Image courtesy of Joanna Hubbard.

From: Joanna Hubbard
Christchurch, New Zealand, October 8, 2007

Picking up our Extreme Cold Weather (ECW) gear at the Clothing Distribution Center (CDC)

The ARISE team trooped into the CDC (Clothing Distribution Center) in New Zealand on Sunday and Monday to get our two orange bags full of cold weather gear. Try everything on and make sure the zippers, pockets, velcro, and ties work! There is no way to exchange any of these articles of clothing once we get to the "ice" but any of them can be exchanged for fit or function while we are here at the CDC. I exchanged all but three items! The staff here are wonderfully helpful and VERY patient as we tried to make sure all the ECW (Extreme Cold Weather gear) would work together for at least the next several months in all sorts of jobs and weather. The "Big Red" parka shown in the picture is a very important piece of clothing for us all. Only 75 pounds of gear can go to the ice with each of us who are there during the summer. Wintering staff can have 140 pounds.

My favorite bag is the "boomerang bag" - you pack it with the bare necessities of toiletries and street clothes - the only one you get back if your flight from New Zealand to Antarctica gets boomeranged (turned back around partway through the flight). Next stop, Antarctica! Our flights are scheduled for Tuesday, October 9. The boomerang record is 7 flights in a row, we hope we won't beat that one!

Postcards from the Field: ANDRILL

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