My alarm went off at 3:15am after not much sleep because I was packing the night before and couldn’t get to sleep early because of the excitement of what was to come (Not the 3.15am alarm)
Checking out of the hotel at 4:15am was odd as there was only the reception person and no one else around. I had put on a set of thermals and jeans and a jacket but when i stepped out of the hotel reception in to a dark rainy Hobart morning the cold hit hard.
After what felt like forever standing there in the cold a coach came around the corner and pulled up, the door and luggage compartment opened I threw my 5 bags in and took a seat on the very empty bus for the short ride to the airport.
Arriving at the airport, I met everyone else that was flying down and waited till check in was open. This was probably the most nerve wracking part of the day as the weight limits are strictly enforced and if you are overweight then you have to empty stuff into a bag that goes back to head office and stays there till someone can work out either how to get it to you or how to get it to your home. Fortunately my carry on was bang on the limit of 17kg and I had some weight to spare in my checked baggage. I got my ticket and waited for everyone else before we all went to immigration and customs. Once we all cleared then we boarded and settled into our 4.5 hour flight.
The flight its self was nothing special however the aircraft has a unique setup. An Airbus A319 with a custom configuration which is the most unique that I’ve seen. Special extended range tanks to enable it to reach Antarctica attempt to land a few times and make it all the way back to Hobart with enough fuel reserves left at the end. There’s a medical facility at the back and then some seating and an open area you could easily do some yoga in and then more seating up the front. This is no budget airline sized seats, there was more than enough legroom to keep you comfortable for a very long flight or a short hop like this.
The empty space in the middle is to allow you to put on all your survival gear as they begin decent into the ice runway. After putting on the required clothing, they drop the temperature inside the cabin so you don’t overheat and then next thing you know you’ve touched down in one of the smoothest landing you will ever experience.
We walked out the door and down the cold metal stairs, and were ushered across the groomed apron to the Terrabus. Similar to Ivan the Terrabus from the USAP this is a giant with HUGE wheels that are almost as tall as I am and alot of ground clearance.
Inside its mostly like a normal bus with rows of seats that are relatively comfortable. Once inside we settled in for what is the next 4 hours of bouncing around over snow and ice on the way to station. At first it was a gentle-ish ride such that I was able to get a little bit of sleep but then it got rougher till we made our first stop.
After some happy snaps we got back onboard the bus for the rest of the trip to our new home. The last stop was halfway down a long hill down to the coast, from there you can look down over where we all will be living for the rest of the year.
Arriving on station was a surreal experience. We had to transfer from the Terrabus to a Hag for the last little bit into station, passed a small group on penguins chilling by some rocks trying to keep out of the wind and then we went through the station induction and met everyone.
