Antarctic Expedition

 After waking and grabbing a coffee from a local cafe, Jane and I went for a quick grocery shop to source some breakfast and lunch items. Returning to the motel unit, we were not surprised to see that the boys had not moved from where we had left them; but we did give them a bit of a kick to get moving and get their stuff repacked. 




We realised we were nice and close to the International Antarctic Centre, so that’s where we headed first. The US Antarctic Program is right next door. So, that explained all the US planes. This Hercules has skis attached. 


It’s a cool place with lots to see and learn about. First we started with the penguin feeding. It’s a refuge centre; looking after sick and injured Little Blue Penguins. They are cute, but as we learnt, not cuddly and some are a bit munted and don't’ swim very well.


The next adventure was the Hagglund Field trip. This is well worth doing - It’s 10 minutes of crazy and astonishing and jolting driving.


Then there was an ice storm for the boys which fell to -18.

Jonty had to pet a husky. It's not like he's never seen one before.



We read the panels of information, saw the displays, took some photos and finished with the very fun 4D Antarctic Adventure. The cafe served excellent coffee and delicious milkshakes.



Then we headed off to explore Canterbury University. We went into the library to pick up a self guiding tour of the campus, found toilets and then ate lunch out in the quad. The tour was potentially good, but was at a speedy pace by one child and a lagging pace by the other. Neither boy wanted to enter any of the buildings, the map reading was interpreted in an interesting manner. Frustration summed up the trip in the end, so we gave up and set off to find our new accommodation.


We are staying in the 5th floor of an apartment block which is lovely. The boys fell asleep, we got sick of waiting for them to wake up, so we went for a walk to explore the city. A simple dinner later and we took the boys for a walk around the city.



Day 2 done.




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