Erebus lure for victims' son | Canterbury News | Local News in Canterbury

All Andrew Bond wants for his 46th birthday is to be with his parents.

And if Air New Zealand goes back to Antarctica on November 28, he hopes to be among the select group of victims’ family members who get to visit the ice.

On Mr Bond’s 16th birthday, both his parents were among the 257 passengers who perished when flight TE901 slammed into the side of Mt Erebus.

Mr Bond (right) would have been on the plane himself, had he not been scheduled to sit his School Certificate maths exam that day.

Keen travellers, his parents had planned to take him on the trip as a birthday present.

"I remember them coming in (to my bedroom) and saying, ‘see you later – we’ll tell you all about it’," he said this week.

"I would have gone if I had my day free. I was cursing, ‘I have to sit this bloody exam.’"

Mr Bond, who has lived in Christchurch for the past 10 years, grew up in Auckland and went to Linfield College.

Mr Bond’s mother, Marilyn, 48, was an administration worker at the Education Department and his father, Robbie, 54, was an electrical engineer.

After the brief farewell and then sitting his exam, Mr Bond helped his older brother, Mark, shift house.

He recalls it was about 8 or 9pm when he heard that the plane was overdue.

"It was pretty vague, because no one knew much about it," Mr Bond said.

"Or maybe it was just to keep it quiet and hope for the best for a few hours," he said.

When he heard the news that wreckage from the plane had been found, he felt a weird sensation.

"It wasn’t like a great wave of grief – it was a strange ‘numb’."

Mr Bond said it was hard adjusting to not having his parents around.

"Life changed completely," he said.

"It was like moving to Mars. Everything was different."

He lived with Mark and his wife for a while, then moved in with Mark’s wife’s parents.

After leaving school, Mr Bond studied horticulture at Massey University and made a living from painting houses.

He moved to Christchurch in 1999 and began painting as an artist full-time.

Mr Bond said it seems surreal how long ago it was.

"God, 30 years – it doesn’t seem that long. But, in some ways, it seems like lifetimes ago, three quarters of my life ago," he said.

Mr Bond said he would love to take part in the 30th memorial at the site to remember the disaster and had written to Air NZ expressing his interest.

"It’d be an amazing experience."

He said he thought it would be quite cathartic and help bring some closure.

His wife, Rosina, and his two daughters, Gabrielle, 20, and Billie, 13, wanted to write notes to put into the capsule.

Mr Bond said if he was not selected to go on the flight, he would send a note and a photograph of his family down in a capsule.

"Sometimes you need to do something for your emotions to free your soul," he said.