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We arrived back in Christchurch for our last day in New Zealand. We were sad to leave but also excited for the next part of our adventure! We had a mission planned which involved driving tanks, entering a night horror maze and visiting the International Antarctic Centre however due to the earthquake in Christchurch last year most of the attractions were now closed. Luckily the International Antartic Centre was still open so we headed straight there! On arrival we treated ourselves to the top package so that we could see EVERYTHING the Antartic centre had to offer us.
The first attraction was a slow walk around created scenes of the Antartic. We saw stuffed penguins on ice blocs and vehicles used to move around the antartic. We soon entered the real penguin room where small injured baby penguins had been rescued from the wild and were now living amongst each other in peace. Each penguin was tagged and had a name and a story about them. A lot of the penguins were half blind from injuries and some were even scared of the water so the workers at the Antartic centre designed environments for their comfort. We watched the small penguins eat for 20 minutes making sure we moved around to all the different windows to get the best pictures possible. We even found a window to see into their bedrooms (yes that's right, the penguins get a bedroom RENT FREE!!) so we could see some of the penguins taking a knap after their feed. We heard an announcement that the Antartic storm was about to begin so quickly ran over for our next challenge...
We were kitted out with thick furr coats and overboots for the storm (maybe not the best day for Martin to wear shorts!). When we entered the storm room, we were given 10 mins to look around. The storm room was already below zero degrees and real snow and ice was present. The room consisted of a small igloo, ice slide and a snow mobile which sadly was just a model. After getting cold wet bottoms and a cold stomache for Martin via the ice slide, the alarm sounded for the storm. The lights went out and the room was soon surrounded by darkness. Wind attacked us from all angles and before long the temperature took a nose dive! This was to recreate the environment on the Antartic and if truth be told, I wouldn't want to live there after that experience however Sophie enquired about trips to the real Antartic.... She will have to buy a singles ticket though!
After warming up, we entered the Hagglund for a trip around the training ground in preparation for the Antartic. The Hagglunds are not particularly fast but are not designed for comfort and considering the surface of the Antartic not being completely flat, you get to be chucked around the Hugglund! The driver talked us through the training ground and told us what skills were needed to complete the training e.g. Going over hills, through water (the Hugglund turns into a boat and can swim for 3 hours max), jumping small gaps and driving 45 degrees vertically. This was a small trip however it was rather fun and quite the experience.
We next took a slow walk around the Antartic centre and viewed all the statues and attempted all the quizzes. We managed to catch a movie on the massive projector about a penguin living in the Antartic searching for survival. We had to leave before we became to emotionally attached to Pingy the Penguin. What a legend that boy was! We realised it was time for our 4D movie now and so quickly headed to the Antartic theatre. We were kitted out with 3D glasses and advised to put any electronics in our pockets out of the way. When the movie started we saw a wave appear on the screen followed by water being squirted at our faces! Next the boat was rocking in high tides and our chairs rocked violently to match the boat. It was all fun until a bird pooed on the screen and another gush of water hit us from above. Even when snow appeared on screen, snow was released above us! We was truely apart of the movie. Sadly this was only a short movie and soon we had to leave to head back to our campsite.
The night maze as shut due to the earthquake but we had heard the All Blacks were playing rugby tonight so headed to a pub to get food and witness the thrashing that the Kiwis gave the Aussies!! The food was delicious and I couldn't decide what lager I wanted so the bar lady poured me 2 taster glasses which was equal to half a pint. I tasted the lager and made my decision and the bar lady told me to keep the tasters which was a bonus! We got back to the campsite later than expected and so had to pack the next morning. We are currently sat the Maui (our campervan) and are preparing to give her back :( we have enjoyed New Zealand and the freedom that Maui gave us. We will defiantly be coming back to New Zealand and would recommend it to everyone!
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Sue Maybe sample the summer next time