Still on ice

So, I suppose it's about time to get this journal rolling again now that my stint in Antarctica is just about over. We were scheduled to fly out of here yesterday afternoon, but due to some funky weather the flight was put on 24 hour weather delay so we're going to be leaving town here 11:30 today, hopefully taking off from Pegasus (our blue ice runway) around 1:30, then arriving in Christchurch around 7pm depending on wind conditions. Generally pretty excited to get going, but the idea of leaving here has a bit of a bittersweet taste to it. Have lots of memories tied to McMurdo even though I've only been here about 5 months. I'll probably be back sometime, just not sure when that's going to happen...

Have made arrangements to meet up with Clair in either Picton or Motueka towards the end of the week, still sounds like we're going to head down towards Fiordland from there and then just do whatever looks interesting for a month or two. Clair's probably going to be around NZ until the first week in May, I haven't really figured out how long I'll be in NZ or whether I'll visit anywhere else on the way back to the states. The Mongolia idea sure sounds nice, but it's something that I'd probably only do if I had a travel partner to go with since there would be big language/culture barriers and a lot of the traveling would be through really rural areas. The party at Bodie's place will be Friday and Saturday - just a few days to go until I'll be hanging out with friends outside in normal clothes, eating bbq, sleeping on the ground, hearing birds, riding bikes, watching stars... Can't wait!