Walking in a winter wonderland...

To day started early..about 2am for Ron, and about 3am for me. Hmmm not quite what we had in mind, but the promised storm arrived on schedule. The rain wasn’t a problem; our Oztrail did it’s stuff and kept us dry, the wind, however, was another matter. Our high dome tent we have at home (and all the ones on Brownsea) have a double guy line on each of the flexi poles. The two fixing points keep the pole bent in the correct convex position in windy conditions. Our Oztrail only has the guy lines fixed in one place, so, when the wind blows hard enough, the poles will quite happily flex from convex to concave. Not a problem? That depends on whether you’re trying to sleep inside the tent – it proves a little difficult when the whole back wall of the tent bends inwards across your face!
We dozed in between wind gusts – it was supposed to be blowing at about 80kph – probably more than our little tent was designed to cope with. At 7 we gave up trying to sleep, got up, got dressed and took the tent down before it blew itself apart. That was interesting in itself – trying to hang onto the canvas as we took it down, It took us almost twice our record time of 9 mins, but it was down dry (thanks to the wind) even if folding it up was a challenge!
Once the tent was down safely, it was time for showers and breakfast..before we hit the road for Christchurch. I know we’ll have loads more to see as we travel on, but it made us both feel sad as we left the NZ mountains behind us.
Now, where was the “Winter Wonderland”? It was the International Antarctic Centre in Christchurch. A museum, of sorts, but very much an interactive one. A “Zoo” of sorts – but one for the best of reasons. It is also a real adrenaline buzz as well...but more of that later! Christchurch is the main “jumping off point” for scientists and technicians working at the US, NZ and Italian Antarctic Bases. The Aircraft they use are based here, as are their storage/clothing depots. Their pre-Antarctic training is done here as well. So the Centre is a goldmine of information about all things to do with Antarctic exploration – transport, survival, supplies, experiments, wildlife, geology, climate and mapping.
So, Zoo? The Antarctic Centre holds the only captive group of rare NZ little blue penguins These are all birds that have met with disaster – collisions with boats, being caught in fishing line, shark attack all of which has left them unable to be returned to the wild. So the group of 25 live in ultimate luxury – being fed three times a day, living in a purpose built enclosure with their own personal swimming pool, and burrows specially constructed for them. Those with sight problems (one, Elvis, is completely blind) are assisted to find their burrows by a line of rubber matting set into the floor! These birds are also carefully fed by hand on the “beach” as they could not find fish in the water. They seem to have adapted well to the “time change” – unlike their wild compatriots who are active at night, these guys go to bed by 7!! It was great to see them so close and so obviously contented. None of them would have lasted 5 minutes in the wild.
Now , adrenaline rush? Well, you have 2 choices – going into the “Snow Room” where a”normal Antarctic day is simulated most of the time...then every 20 minutes the simulation goes into an Anarctic storm – wind, snow are wild chill down to -38⁰C ! There was an igloo to hide in, an ice slide to go down (no, I didn’t try it!) a skidoo to ride on and of course real snow! 50 tons of it...as if we hadn’t had enough of that before we left home! They do provide you with extra warm jackets and overshoes!
So that the first option – yes, we did it, we also did the second one...a Haggelund ride round what is basically an extreme off road course! What’s a Haggelund? You can see the picture, but it’s a Swedish vehicle specifically designed for Arctic conditions and now used at both poles. It’s a superb off-roader, watertight and floats! It can carry it’s own weight in people or stores and has a top speed of 55kph. It will function in temperatures from +50⁰C down to -125⁰C. In water it’s tracks act as paddles but it can only do about 3 kph in water. No Jen, you can’t have one – they cost NZ$55,000 just for a knackered one used for spares!
The course was said to test them up to 75% of their capabilities, and involved huge 35⁰ hills, ponds where they were swimming and sections where they where tilting over at an alarming angle...all done as fast as they driver could go! At one point the tracks were over a 1 ½ metre gap to simulate a crevasse – it just rolled straight over like a tank! FUN, but not good for dodgy necks...what the heck, I did it anyway!
The advertising said allow 2 -3 hours for you visit...Ron and I spent over 6 hours there, although that did include a coffee and lunch!
We’ve just checked into our hotel for the next 3 nights – quite near the centre and with the bonus of a free shuttle into the city. Tomorrow we’re going to see the National Scout Museum at “Blue Skies”, a big Scout Centre, so our UK scarves have been fished out of the bottom of the cases...that’s an ironing job for the morning.
Horribly expensive internet here, so we’ll try and find an internet cafe tomorrow if we get the chance. Here’s hoping we get a bit more sleep than last night..at least the walls won’t move!