Photos reveal Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern on an unsuccessful flight to Antarctica.
Ardern is back in Christchurch after joining the "boomerang club" at Antarctica New Zealand, a spokesperson said.
Photos show Ardern, accompanied by her fiance Clark Gayford, reading on what was meant to be an eight-hour flight.
The Prime Minister was reading a biography on famed explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton, who led three expeditions to the Antarctic. Her partner was snapped reading a book on illegal fishing.
Due to poor weather at McMurdo Sound, the C130 Hercules plane, which departed at 10am, had to return to New Zealand about a quarter of the way there.
The flight landed back in Christchurch shortly after 2pm.
The Prime Minister is visiting Antarctica to get a first-hand look at the critical research being undertaken by Kiwis through the Antarctic Science Platform and will mark the 65th year of Scott Base.
Antarctica NZ said they will reschedule the Prime Minister onto a flight heading south on Wednesday.
