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Before leaving Lake Tekapo the following morning we decided to take in their river walk which was estimated to take around 2 hours. The walk itself as walks go was ok apart from the dead poisoned rabbit that we had to walk past followed by the fly infested sheep's placenta lying in a field that we had the misfortune to come across when we were almost back at the van. I now understand why they don't want you around farming areas during lambing season because those things are rank! The road to Christchurch was around 4 hours however we broke up the drive with a lunch stop in a small town called Geraldine (home to the worlds largest woolen jumper). Today was our hottest day since arriving in New Zealand reaching a toasty 29° , perfect weather for a picnic in the park. After lunch we went to the shop with the largest jumper and it was an impressive sight so impressive that I have completely forgotten the dimensions to share with you all back home but suffice to say it was massive and took up an entire wall of the shop. We then had the pleasure of meeting the man who took the credit for the aforementioned pullover and as it turns out his hobbies include making mosaics and designing puzzles. The whole story with the mosaic was impressive if a little strange as the man had dedicated 25 years of his life to making a replica mosaic of a famous banner depicting the battle of hastings! This thing is huge and stretches round 3 walls of his shop 3 times! Apparently the original banner is incomplete with a large section missing so this crazy man read all the books about the battle and designed the last portion of the banner for his mosaic (as you would)! It was after the story of the mosaic that things went slowly downhill when he took us over to his computer to introduce us to some of the puzzles he has designed, MATHS puzzles and for all those who know me Carol Vordamen I ain't so the whole thing was a disaster! He blabbered on for about 5 minutes about this puzzle with 16 million possible combinations and only one correct solution??? Mike and I must have looked like dumb and dumber trying to follow what he was saying so as soon as another unsuspecting victim entered the shop we did a runner to the ice cream parlour to cool down! After a walk around the town taking in the rest of its sights it was back on the road to Christchurch.Our first day in Christchurch and the weather was still really nice so we caught the local bus from the campsite into town. The first stop was cathedral square and the tourist info to find out what there was to do in South Islands largest city. The square itself is really nice with some permanent and temporary art exhibits alongside their impressive cathedral. One of the temporary pieces certainly raised and eyebrow as it was a giant purple sperm!? We have never really been ones to understand art so it came as no surprise that we were left perplexed by the purpose of this installation? After visiting the cathedral and walking around the square we had some lunch and then decided to do a couple of the self guided town walks in order to take in some of the sights. We both really liked Christchurch it was a well maintained city with plenty of interesting and pretty things to see and do. There were also lots of nice bars and restaurants which led to a relaxed feel as you walked around. Our explorations took us past the museum, contemporary art gallery, art centre, along the river avon (where you can actually take in a punt), through the grounds of the hospital then back to the town centre. By the time we had done all that we decided to treat ourselves to one drink in a trendy beer garden before heading for the bus back to camp.The weather had finally changed for the worst and it had been raining constantly all night and had still not abated by the morning. We weren't really too bothered as we had the perfect rainy day activity. We were going to visit the Antarctic Centre to see some tiny rescued blue penguins and hopefully learn a bit about life and work in Antarctica. We arrived in time to head straight to the penguin enclosure to watch them being fed their lunch. The keepers throw lots of small fish into the water and visitors are standing behind glass looking into the pool as the penguins fly through the water to catch their lunch. The penguins themselves are really cute and as they are rescued penguins many of them have disabilities including missing flippers, damaged beaks and some of them are sadly blind. The centre is giving them a second chance at life as they would never survive in the wild in their current condition. The babies that are produced from the pairings within the enclosure are subsequently released into the wild if they are well enough to have a chance at life. It was really funny watching the penguins jumping into the pool and racing through the water to catch the fish. The blind penguins would wait out of the water to be hand fed for obvious reasons. It was fun to watch and the keepers are really good at giving you lots of information about how the little blue penguin live in the wild. After the feeding we were able to catch a quick glimpse of some mummy penguins sitting on their eggs waiting for the dads to come back to give them a chance to be fed. There were lots of boards around for you to fill your mind with information about the penguins at this centre as well as penguins in general. After the penguins we visited the section of the centre about the temperatures experienced in Antarctica and how everyday things have to be adapted to survive such harsh conditions where in winter it is dark 24 hours a day! The temperature varies from -20° on a nice summers day to around -60° in winter with the coldest temperature ever recorded being a frightening -89° ! In order to give you a taste of what it feels like you are invited to enter the ice chamber, a room filled with ice that hovers around -8° until once an hour they simulate a storm and with the aid of wind chill they drop the temperature to -20° and allow you 3 minutes to be blasted by the cold and wind. Even with the thick jackets they supply before you enter it is still absolutely freezing and colder than anything we have ever experienced before. It is scary to think that temperatures in the 20's are classed as summer. It was really fun for us just to see what -20 feels like and I will be happy if I never have to experience it again. The next stop on our tour was to learn about the work that is done down there including research into global warming, weather systems, uncovering shelters used by early Antarctic explorers, marine and animal life to name a few but it appears there is plenty to keep them busy down there. We were able to try on some of the clothes they wear to try to keep the cold at bay but even with multiple layers they often need to limit their time outside to avoid hypothermia. The final part of the tour was a pictorial journey through Antarctica in an auditorium with a floor to ceiling giant screen which was one of my favourite parts as the scenery was awesome and the film was really well put together. Before it was time to leave we had one final treat with a ride on a genuine Antarctic Hagglund (an all terrain vehicle). They had a special course with lots of bumps and hills in order to demonstrate the Hagglund's capabilities which rather impressively included floating through water. It only lasted about 10 minutes but it was an exciting and very bumpy demo and a fun way to end our tour of the Antarctic Centre.Fortunately the next day saw an improvement in the weather so we caught the bus into town to have a look around some of the cities free attractions. The first stop was the contemporary art gallery, the perpetrator of the giant purple sperm to try to better understand its meaning. I have no doubt in my mind that there is a lot about art that goes completely over our heads particularly modern or contemporary art. I am more than able to appreciate the history and significance of very old paintings but when someone paints a piece of cheese pink, sticks it in a cabinet and calls it art I am lost! I feel we managed to make the best of a potentially disastrous situation, we looked at the art, tried to come up with our own interpretations then read the artists interpretation with some hilarious results. After passing a good hour in the gallery it was on the museum to check out some of Christchurch's old stuff. Whilst they had a lot of things we had already done at previous museums the highlights for me were a real Egyptian mummy, some cool fossils and getting to sit on a penny-farthing! After the museum we started to walk around the art centre however soon realised we were all cultured out so we took a walk around some of the town we had not yet explored. By 5pm it was time for a beer and the watering hole of choice was a brewery/bar called Dux-de-Lux. When we had been in Wellington we has stumbled upon a beer tasting for this brewery and had fallen in love with a brew called Ginger Tom a delicious, refreshing ginger infused beer which can only be experienced at the brewery in Christchurch or a few select beer halls in New Zealand. It was still warm enough to sit and enjoy our beer outside and it was so tasty we just had to have another before heading back to camp.So sadly it is our second last day in New Zealand and so we have to start preparing for our departure. With it having been colder here than anywhere else we had to buy some warmer clothes for which we were hoping not to need again on our travels. We spent the afternoon cleaning out the van ready for her next lucky inhabitants. During our cleaning we discovered that we have somewhere along the way lost a fork, two knifes a teaspoon and acquired two soup spoons? Other than that we have looked after her well and have no other incidents to report. After cleaning we took our winter clothes to the post office to be sent home as there is no room in our bags and with any luck they wont be needed. Whilst cleaning out we found a voucher for 2 for 1 ice creams at Wendy's and felt we deserved a treat after all our cleaning so we walked round to the nearby shopping centre for an ice cream and a look around the shops. The next morning involved a final tidy up of the van before packing the remainder of our bags. We were both feeling a bit sad to say goodbye to our wee van that we had become quite attached to! Seventy nights sleeping and living in a tiny van that we never thought we would get used to and here i was saying goodbye. It actually felt a bit like when you sell your first ever car you know it will always be your favourite! I think the fact that New Zealand had been an absolutely fantastic place where we had the most amazing stay probably helped us enjoy campervanning even more. The people in this country are without a doubt the nicest people in the world always there with a happy smile and a friendly welcome from the staff at the camps to the bus drivers they all seem genuinely happy with their day which is such a refreshing change from the UK. I know i say it after every country but this time i really mean it when i say New Zealand is our new favourite place!
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