emma leigh’s antarctic blog

well, we made it off the ice okay. i was actually quite convinced that we weren’t taking off. when i was saying goodbye to brad i actually said to him “i’ll see you later tonight.” the entire way out to pegasus i had convinced myself that we weren’t leaving that day. part of me wanted to just be out of there, because honestly, i didn’t want to go through all the goodbyes again. i couldn’t handle it!

i did, however, love the karaoke contest that we had the night before we left. vanessa and i went head to head, and even though it was her birthday i still kicked her butt and won $100. wahoo!

we landed in christchurch, stepped off the c-17 and i felt humid. my hair immediately curled up, and after walking from the terminal to the cdc my hair was back to its normal, frizzy ways. i had forgotten how to deal with it!

cora and i spent our first 2 nights at the heritage in the city center, and then moved on to thomas’s hotel. we both liked thomas’s better, we felt more at ease there. we ate great indian food, i walked around in the grass sans shoes, and we had a blast just exploring the real world again.

its amazing to me how much i have taken for granted in my life. my reintroduction to society has affected me in ways that i can’t even comprehend yet.

today cora and i left christchurch on the train and went north to picton. it was a grand ride and i loved it! from picton we took the ferry to wellington. we’re in wellington now, and not loving it. we leave first thing in the morning for rotorua to thaw out in the hot springs. from there, we’ll stay near the airport in auckland, and then fly to tonga saturday morning!

more soon!