Off the ice!

Our flight was amazing! I didn't take pictures because I, for some reason, packed my camera in my checked luggage. We flew north on a modified Airbus 319 courtesy of the Australian Antarctic division. The lucky few of us that managed to get on board first got to sit in Business/1st class for free! Considering that was my first time in such a seat of luxuy (no pun intended) I was pretty stoked. We set down in Christchurch early in the evening, picked up our luggage, turned in our Extreme Cold-Weather Gear, recieved our hotel reservations, and headed to our respective hotels. Like probably 60% of the redeploying USAP participants had done, I requested the Hotel So which is right in the middle of the City Center of Christchurch. I was one of the luckily few that actually got it and for good reason: The rooms are very high tech and efficient. They're also extremely small: 10 ft by 10 ft to be exact:

From New Zealand 2009

From New Zealand 2009

From New Zealand 2009

The rooms are cheap here and the internet is free....not to mention they have a bar in the lobby and a huge lounge. A lot of us from the fire department as well as a good friend of mine that works in Environmental, Health, and Safety for RPSC, hung out well into the early morning until we staggered back to our hotels. Regardless of how drunk or rowdy we were, we couldn't help but take everything thrown at us in: the humidity, the smells, the sights and sounds, the night sky...it felt realy good to be back.