Back in Christchurch

I'm back in Christchurch now on my way (slowly) back home.  All the flights up to Auckland are full today for some reason (I can't think of any reason why except that there are U2 concerts in Auckland today and tomorrow), so I'm not leaving until tomorrow morning.  We still have one glider to launch, but I have to miss it.  Because of the delays, one person in our group missed the first launch and three of us had to ask for extensions to stay in McMurdo.  McMurdo is really, really full, so they only granted us a couple of extensions and everybody in our group couldn't stay.  The second glider is scheduled to be launched tomorrow morning.

The flight from Antarctica back to New Zealand was on an Air Force C-17.  It certainly was louder than the Airbus (had to wear earplugs) and had very few windows, but it was still pretty cool.  They had about 20 seats bolted to the floor in the front-center of the cargo compartment (and some jump seats on the side).  There was a little cargo in the back (the plane is full of supplies on the way down, but comes back relatively empty), but there was a huge empty space that we could walk around in.

Easily enough room for a basketball half-court.

I've got a little work to do today, but I'll spend the afternoon doing a bit more sightseeing.  I'll post another blog entry sometime after I get back and maybe a couple more updates on how the gliders are doing.  I'm ready to be home now (which won't be for another 2 1/2 days...if travel goes well), but it's been an amazing trip.