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January 2025 (Part 08)

New Zealand Trip - Day Seven: Christchurch

Adventures By Disney - Day Six: Day of Discovery

We began the next morning by headed to the International Antarctic Center, which is here because Christchurch is a common departure point for groups headed to Antarctica.  One of the first things we saw was a penguin exhibit with the Kororā, Little Blue Penguins, which are unique to New Zealand and the smallest penguin species.

We also loaded up into their Hägglunds, the Swedish all-terrain amphibious Antarctic vehicle which have become ubiquitous across Antarctica.  The route took us up and down hills, across gaps representing crevasses, and through water.  A bumpy, but sturdy ride.

The Center also had exhibits describing life at Scott Base and New Zealand's role in the initial and ongoing exploration and research at Antarctica.   After being issues parkas, we went into a cold room to simulate the cold and wind of Antarctica.  Kind of glad the wind machine wasn't working well.

The center was near the airport, which was also the home of the US National Science Foundation and the US Air Force LC-130s which are equipped with retractable skis, jet assisted takeoff and other features for operating to and from the frozen continent.  Looks like it is a mission for a New York Air Guard Unit.

We headed to lunch at the Curator's House in the Christchurch Botanic Gardens.

Afterward we headed a couple blocks to go "punting" on the Avon.  This involved a skipper poling a flat bottom boat up the shallow and tranquil river.  While waiting to board our boats, we enjoyed watching a cormorant and several people feeding the eels in the river.

Glad to see they had options with rear seats for some of our group who weren't able to get in and out of the lower flat seats.

Kept looking at this huge tree on the one bank.  We later wandered through the Botanic Garden and discovered it was indeed a Giant Sequoia.

There were several other boats out on the river, including this pretty wooden rowboat.

Several birds on the river or along the bank.

We could either walk back to the hotel on our own or get a ride back.  We gladly took off on our own, heading to explore the Botanic Gardens before following the river back to the hotel.

David came by and picked us up from the hotel.  We headed out to what was probably the only Texas Barbeque restaurant in town and then headed to see the house he was renting.

Enjoyed our walk around Christchurch.