I'm part of the way through my journey home. I'm writing this from the Air New Zealand lounge. I had a 7 hour layover in Sydney so I paid for a 4 hour pass and have been camped out here enjoying the Wifi, snacks, drinks, and relative quiet in a comfy chair. (I'd love to have gotten out of the airport for a couple of hours, but you need a visa to do that and I didn't know I'd have this lengthy layover until late Thursday night.)
We left McMurdo yesterday, mostly on time. Once we were in the air, everyone settled in the the either and a half hour flight. Things are much more casual on these flights. It's fun to watch people carefully pick their way through the piles of unwashed scientists, especially wearing their huge boots.
Once we landed in New Zealand, I got my luggage, cruised through customs, and followed the blue bootprints back to the CDC (Clothing Distribution Centre). I was the first one there at around 6:45PM, but it didn't do me any good because we ended up waiting until after 7:30PM for a shuttle to appear.
I finally made it to my hotel room, rushed out for a takeaway curry, and repacked everything for the trip home. After the requisite 15 minute shower, it was almost 10:30PM and since I had to catch a 4AM shuttle to make my 6:30AM flight, I crashed as quickly as possible.
It's almost 2PM, and my gate is on the other side of the terminal so I'm going to dash out of here in 20 minutes or so. I've got a 14 hour flight to L.A. then a two and a half hour layover, a 3 hour flight to Dallas with a three and a half hour layover, then finally a 2 hour flight to Madison which lands at 10:50PM. At that point I'll be simultaneously exhausted and wired, so I'm planning on being a zombie on Saturday.
After I recover from that, I'll spend a few days appreciating the daily showers, the humidity, and being back home!
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