Christchurch, first of all, feels like a cross between England and New Jersey. Gardens everywhere, what seemed to be constantly rain-soaked sidewalks, and lots of suburban homes with fences around them. The city itself is pretty flat, with mountains off on the distance, and a harbor that we never got the chance to see. We hopped on the tourist Trolley, which in hindsight was a waste of money. We toured around Cathedral Square on an antique trolley and took in the sights before jumping off to look at Christ Church Cathedral, one of the largest cathedrals in Christchurch. A quick coffee and brown bag lunch later and then the excitement begins!
When I was researching this trip the one thing I kept hearing about Christchurch was “you have to go to the Antarctic Center” so we jumped on the bus to take us out there, hoping the hype wasn’t too overrated. Christchurch is one of the main base cities for Antarctic exploration - most of the US and Italian
teams (as well as NZ) travel out of Chirstchurch, and in fact most of the missions are planned there. The Center is right next to all the buildings where the planning and some of the research takes place, so it was neat being in the middle of that. Armed with a personalized map, complete with what order to do things in so we could see it all in time, we set off for the 2:30 Penguin feeding! The penguins in question are the Blue penguins I mentioned earlier, when we saw a few in the wild on our cruise around Milford Sound. This event pales in comparision to what came later, so I won't even go into detai
ls. After the feeding Mom and I bundled up for the Artic Storm, one of the many awesome exhibits this place has. They give you thick parkas and then you open a heavy door and you're in a snow and ice-filled room, complete with huge thermometer on the wall. There's an igloo built of ice, and an ice slide, which I insisted on going down a few times – big mistake! The ice at the bottom was starting to melt a bit, and the freezing water ate through my pants in no time. Then it was time for the storm – they dimmed the lights, and start blasting freezing air through vents on the ceiling, as alarms go off. By this time there were about 20 people inside waiting, some of them not even wearing coats! To be honest, it wasn't as bad as I thought it'd be.... it got down to -1 degree F with 26 mph winds, but between the parka and the brevity of th
e storm we were able to handle it quite nicely.Next on our list was the Hagglund, which needs a link to it's wiki entry so you can get a glimpse of what we're talking about. These vehicles are used in the Artic to ferry people and supplies across the harsh terrain, and at the Artic Center you can ride on around a specially designed course – the thrill ride of the Artic, I'd say! Mom and I were initially worried about it, as there were warnings up about not riding if you have back problems, but it turned out to be not so bad at all. We were strapped into the back along with 10 or so other people; one 10 year old boy had ridden something like 11 times already, and was excited to go again. The driver took off like a bat out of hell (part of the appeal of the ride, of course) and suddenly we were bouncing and jostling over hills and ridges, and zooming up and down hills. The driver demonstrated a few of the Hagglund's features – the design of the wheels meant it can roll over holes or gaps a meter in length without faltering, and also allow the machine to cling to the edge of hills (sideways) without toppling. At the end of the ride he showed up the machine's amphibious side by driving into a pool of water 9 ft. deep – the water came right up to the bottom of our windows!
Nothing much topped that ride for a while, as we walked around the museum section of the center and watched part of a film on Antarctica. That is, nothing much topped that until our Backstage with the Penguins tour came along! We paid extra ($20 per person, not bad) and didn't really expect the top-notch experience we ended up with. There were four of us on the tour, and our guide was the woman who'd been feeding the penguins earlier. She let us in her access door to their enclosure, so we could stand a few feet away from them and watch them swim and waddle around. Then she led us across the hall to the Rehabilitation room, where we got to pet the feathers of a stuffed p
enguin. Then all of a sudden she goes into a side room and walks out with a penguin in her arms! She lets him down onto the linoleum, where he happily starts trundling around the room, mere feet from us. I forgot his name, but he had a broken pelvis (or was it collarbone?) and was being kept there until he could be put back out in the enclosure again. She brought out another uninjured penguin, his friend, that they leave in the room with him to keep him company. The two of them gently explored the room, and our feet, while we squatted on the ground and took pictures of them. We didn't want to touch them, but just being a foot away from one was pretty amazing – they're very beautiful up close, and the blue sheen on their coats is very evident. The injured penguin was adorable; because of his injury he sat funny, so that he looked like a drunk fat man who slipped and just sprawled on the floor.Once that was over we toured the remaining bits of the Center and learned more about the Artic. We learned about the rations the scientists take out with them, the annual polar bear swim at the station, and the things the personnel do to keep spirits up far from friends and family. We took the shuttle back into town just in time for a quick walk past some of the more interesting old buildings (the Christ Church boy's school, and the Arts Centre), and then popped back into Christ Church Cathedral for their 5:30pm Evensong (Evening Prayer in the Anglican Church). Neither Mom or
I really knew what Evensong was, but we knew their world-famous choir would be singing, and wanted to experience that. The acoustics were incredible, and the choir (all male, with about 10 boys and 10 adult men) was superb, but the service itself was strange to our Methodist ears. Almost all of it was sung; the only spoken parts were direct readings from the Bible, and there was no analysis or lesson. Even the prayers were sung, and from reading the handout we were given, it seems as though every day the same exact service is held, with different passages being read and only a few choral changes. I apologize to all my Catholic friends, but as far as a Church Service went, it was a little too Catholic for my tastes. As far as a choral performance, it was incredible.For our last dinner in New Zealand, we ate pizza at a local instutition down the street from our hostel, called Sprags Pizzeria. We had a “Roasted Veg” pizza (potatoes, kumara/sweet potato, and we think either rutabaga or beet root) and a Chicken Apricot pizza. In an effort to cling to the kiwi-ness I would soon be leaving, I had a “honey beer” cocktail made with 42 Below manuka honey-flavored vodka. 42 Below is a NZ-based company; as far as I can tell you can buy their regular vodka in the states but not their flavored varieties. They have manuka honey, feijoa (a fruit native to NZ), passionfruit, and of course kiwi-flavored vodka.
(Because we haven't really gone into it much on this blog, let me spend a second on the manuka plant (native to NZ and AU) and the honey made from it's flowers. The Maori have utilized this plant for centuries as a form of natural medicine – tea brewed from it's leaves is supposed to have cleansing properties, and it's leaves, bark, and flowers (and thus honey) has strong anti-bacterial affects. Research is only now beginning on the actual scientific value to these claims, but personally I say if it's been used for centuries there's got to be something to it! One of the Austrailians on the trail ride I went on in Queenstown had written a paper in Uni on it's effectiveness, and she told me that some hospitals are starting use Manuka products in addition to medicines and ointments.)
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