And the day looks okay, but the weather wasn't good enough for them to send planes today. In the previous three days, we've had five planes carrying a total of almost 500 people arrive on station. On the first of those flights, 60+ of our remaining winter-over crew--nearly everyone except a handful of people who decided to stay the summer and another handful, like me, who must wait for their replacements to arrive--got on the plane going north. It was a very tearful goodbye.
My replacements were FINALLY supposed to arrive today, but with today's flights delayed till tomorrow, there's now a question mark of whether I'll actually be able to leave on Monday. Most likely it will happen, but if Antarctica has taught us anything this year, it's to refrain from believing any plane's going to make it here until it's actually wheels down. (And for that matter to refrain from assuming it's going to actually take you back to Christchurch until you've passed the point-of-no-return in the flight north! It's rare for a plane to boomerang back to Antarctica for weather or mechanical, but it has happened....)
If planes arrive tomorrow, tomorrow will be my last day in the office, Sunday will be disassembling my room and packing, and Monday I will fly. So you can imagine that's what's happening unless you hear otherwise. But fingers crossed that the final Antarctic post I have waiting in the wings for you on Monday is really it and the post after that is from the non-frozen world to the north....
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