The Coast Guard icebreaker had arrived when we came back. I just saw the last few yards of breaking the ice in the port, but it was quite spectacular to see this large ship having so much problem breaking the ice. At the MCC already they had told us that our flight got shifted to 11am Jan. 10, and at 11:30pm the television screen showed that it was shifted to 11pm next day Jan. 10.
The big event today was the end of the 'diet race' between Dave and Harry. Before dinner, the two dressed in the cloth they wear in the beginning and then each of them was put on the scale. Both of them lost about 18 pounds (quite remarkable), but Harry won by 3/4 of a pound and got $10 from Dave.
After lunch we watched the icebreaker turning up the ice close to the port. Since we had nothing to do, Harry, Kim, and I walked over to Scott Base to buy some souvenirs. It was a nice walk with reasonable weather, i.e. some clouds and not too cold. Indeed conditions improved and the weather was great when we left. The shop at Scott Base is much smaller than the ship store at McMurdo, but the Kiwis have a much better collection of T-shirts, postcards, and books. Afterwards we walked back to McMurdo.
Transportation to Willy Field was to take place at 9pm from the MCC building. We arrived there at about 8:40pm since we certainly did not want to miss this flight. Indeed, most people showed up about 15 minutes early. Ivan the terra bus then brought us to Willy Field. The radio communications indicated that we could go directly to the plane and board around 9:30pm, well below EDT (Expected Departure Time, another TLA). However, when we approached the field, we were told that we have to wait for another 30 minutes. Finally around 10:30, we, the 28 passengers, received a brown bag with food and juices and boarded the plane. We all squeezed onto the narrow 'seats' and fastened our belts. Suddenly a mechanic showed up with wrenches and started to work on something. She then told us that we have to get out of the plane to give her the possibility to fix part of the gyro system. At 11pm we boarded again and finally took off. This was my first flight in an LC-130 (which has skis compared to the C-130 we had on the flight onto the ice), and the takeoff was as smooth as with wheels.
A few minutes after takeoff people started to spread around the plane and search for good spots to lie on. There was not much cargo and the loadmaster was friendly, which improved the situation. We had four Kiwi bigwigs on board, which resulted in a remarkable flight. In fact, we flew right over the crater of Mt. Erebus and had a great view of the sea ice border. The views were just fantastic and some of us were almost glued to the few windows. After the show was over, I noticed some free space on one of the benches and went right for a nap. Indeed, I slept for about 5 hours, although not completely uninterrupted.
At the NSF center we got our tickets for the flights later in the afternoon and read and wrote some e-mail. The services provided by the NSF and ASA at the airport are really good. Afterwards we spent some time in the gift shop of the International Antarctic Center. It was funny to see the tourists taking photographs of each other with a dummy wearing the ECW. We thought that we should have gone there directly in our ECW gear and just pose as a dummy until a tourist would touch us and then say something like 'good morning, Sir'. It was amazing to see that the same things in the gift shop were more expensive than in McMurdo or at Scott Base. We also went back to the regular airport to get some more Kiwi dollars and make some phone calls. Kim and I also checked-in our luggage so that we do not have to carry around our suitcases all day long. Harry and Ashok will stay in Christchurch.
Kim, Ashok, Harry, and I then took the bus to downtown Christchurch and went for lunch. After lunch we went to the museum at the botanical garden, which has a nice exhibition on Antarctic explorations. It was funny to see part of our equipment already behind glass in the museum. Ashok said that he had found the bus station close to the museum and that we would meet there at 2:45 to take the bus back to the airport. However, while I spent some time in the book shop of the museum, Kim looked for the bus station and noticed that it was only for tourist buses. Since Kim and I were the only one on the flight back to Auckland, we went to the down town bus station and got to the airport. Later-on Ashok and Harry made it back to the airport to say goodbye. The weather was still cloudy and it was sometimes raining. Therefore, there is not much to say about the flight back to Auckland at 4:30pm. I almost missed the snack because I couldn't stay awake.
In Auckland we walked from the domestic terminal to the international terminal and boarded the flight to Los Angeles. We got really bad seats, i.e. center section and all the way back in the 747. However, after a ride in a military plane, everything else is luxury. I was sitting in a row with a mother and her two teenage boys. It turned out that she was a Kiwi and had married a US Navy engineer who served in Antarctica with the Navy squadron. Her husband is dead (don't know why), but the younger boy (sitting next to me) still has some of the cloth his father wore in Antarctica. Again, this was a night in a plane and I slept for about 7 hours out of the 12 hours of flight.