Apologies for not getting the Christchurch pictures up sooner,but it has been quite a hectic week. I'm moving in to my new place this weekend so have been trying to packing my things up between coastguard shifts, evening courses, and working at uni. I'm just about done though so I'm taking the time to update the blog.
So, as we were shattered after skiing on Saturday and the weather was going to be rubbish on Sunday, we decided to visit Christchurch instead. We got up on Sunday morning and drove from Methven into Christchurch. Gihan is really interested in Antarctic exploration and counts Ernest Shackleton and Robert Falcon Scott amongst some of his heroes, so he was keen to visit the International Antarctic Centre in Christchurch. I didn't mind going either, because I quite like that sort of thing, and I knew that there would be penguins there too :D
After a brief McDonalds stop for the boys, we drove over to the International Antarctic Centre. It was really interesting, and good to read about the different scientific research that is happening there currently. I also enjoyed learning about what clothes the scientists have to wear, what foods they eat, and what they get up to on their days off (skiing, ice fishing, kayaking etc).One of the best parts though was the 'wind chill experience'. Basically you go into a small room and put on a large jacket and some shoe covers (to keep the snow clean). You then open a door to another larger room with a snow floor (and authentic mini igloo) and large panels of glass looking to the outside (for those people not wanting to take part). The air temperature is already -80C when you go in, then you have a few minutes to get used to that, and then the wind comes!! They dim the lights and have the sound of a strong wind playing in the background to make it more authentic, then they gradually increase the wind chill from 00C to a bone-chilling -180C (added to the room temperature -260C). It gets to the point where you are unable to feel your face or hands (if you have them out of your pockets), but it doesn't last long thankfully. It definitely makes you appreciate wind chill though. After leaving the room I read that the lowest recorded temperature in the Antarctic was -790C (without wind chill). Suddenly I was pleased I only had to put up with -260C for a couple of minutes!
After warming up again we moved on to my favourite bit - the penguins. I just love watching them waddle everywhere, and got a few good videos of them swimming around. They all had their own names and we could read about their different personalities too which was nice.
After the penguins, we moved on to the displays telling us all about the natural history of the Antarctic, its current wildlife, the ozone etc. There was also a place where you could stand on the North Pole and the South Pole at the same time.... well you could stand on a water sample from each of them anyway, so I got a photo of me on the North Pole and South Pole at the same time!
After enjoying the International Antarctic Centre we drove into the city centre to have a look round. James is a Structural Engineer so he was particularly keen to look at the buildings that had been damaged by the earthquake(s) in 2011. As we went into the centre I was overwhelmed at how many buildings had either gone or were 'red zoned' - i.e. to be demolished. Basically the ENTIRE city centre was red zoned, and it looked like something out of a zombie movie. The area was cordoned off, there was rubble everywhere, and the traffic lights were still flashing amber. It was really eerie, and I felt very sorry for those affected.
It was encouraging though to see that they had come up with an ingenious idea to keep businesses open that couldn't trade in their old shops. What they had done was ordered lots of shipping containers and made them into shops by putting in windows, sliding doors etc. It's a really clever idea and I was quite excited to have my hot chocolate in a 'shipping container cafe'!
I thought that the city centre would be the worst affected area, but nothing could have prepared me for seeing the coastal suburb of Sumner. The drive there was bad enough; the road was very undulating as a result of being buckled by the earthquake, but driving past the cliffs was just devastating. Those people that had built their homes on the cliff tops with million dollar views out to the sea were now unable to inhabit them, and the vast majority had been earmarked for demolition. Some of them were already ruined as a result of the cliffs collapsing, with people's belongings clearly visible at the base. In an attempt to protect the road from falling debris and rocks, Christchurch City Council had used more shipping containers to barricade the base of the cliffs. It was very sad to see though, and many of those people are still waiting for the insurance companies to give them the money they are owed.
The beach at Sumner is beautiful though, so I am hoping that they will eventually rebuild and it will once more be a bustling seaside town.
After our time in Sumner, we drove back into the city for some food. I had roast beef and yorkshire puds, all washed down with an ice cold pint of Erdinger beer. Delicious! We then drove to the airport and boarded our flight. On the way back we were given the choice of some chocolate, some biscuits or a bag of crisps. Needless to say I chose the chocolate! James then collected his car from the airport car park and drove us all home. I was absolutely shattered and couldn't wait to get into bed. As I got undressed though I noticed a few war-wounds from skiing, so I thought I would show you the best ones!
I plan to go skiing again (this time in the North Island), so maybe I can collect a few more to add to the collection! This week though, the main priority is moving house, so I will get a few pictures of my new abode for you to all to see.
Right, off to bed now, pretty tired - and it's only Tuesday!
No comments:
Post a Comment