Last night, my roommate got orders to report an hour earlier than scheduled this morning for the flight to McMurdo (the American station on the coast of Antarctica).
Another person got orders to not report at all today because he'd been bumped to Friday's flight.
I didn't receive any orders at all, which either meant I needed to go an hour early with my roomie or not till Friday (since there's only one flight each day, I knew my orders had been changed. I just didn't know what they were.)
So, I packed my suitcase up, readied my carry on bag and my boomerang bag (the bag that holds a few days worth of clothes and supplies, in case your flight has to come back to New Zealand. It's the only bag besides your carry on that you get back - the others stay on the plane.) and headed down to the CDC with my roommate.
When I got there, I checked with the organizers and found out that, yes, my orders had changed and.. surprise! I got one more day to spend in Christchurch.
For the past couple days, the flights to McMurdo have had to turn back ("boomerang") and so today's flight was pretty full so some people have to wait until tomorrow for the next plane.
The plane! The plane!
I'm sad that I didn't get to go today but I'm also happy to have another day to wander around Christchurch. I think I'll go to the museum today - they've got a special exhibit about Robert Falcon Scott, the leader of the first British expedition to reach the South Pole. I've read a lot about him already and I'm very excited to get the chance to see this exhibit in a city that is known as "the Gateway to the Antarctic."
A whimsical poster for the Scott exhibit at the Canterbury museum.
If I have time, I'm also going to try to go to the International Antarctic Centre. It's supposed to be really neat and it's right next to the airport and the CDC. If I don't get to go today, I'll try to go on my way home (or maybe tomorrow, if my flight is delayed).
The International Antarctic Centre sign. The blue building in the background is the actual center.
Update: I got new orders to report to the CDC at 8:30am tomorrow for check-in. The flight should take off around 11am. Yay!
My orders! This indicates that the flight went out today and didn't have to come back. Hopefully, the same will happen tomorrow.