Home » New Zealand » A Bit of Antarctica in an English Town November 19, 2004

We arrived in Christchurch, had lunch in a pub and watched some cricket, which we still don't understand but was fun all the same. Just proving that Christchurch really is the most English town in New Zealand.

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A Bit of Antarctica in an English Town November 19, 2004

Ttrealtravels
2005-12-26 15:44:36

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We arrived in Christchurch, had lunch in a pub and watched some cricket, which we still don't understand but was fun all the same. Just proving that Christchurch really is the most English town in New Zealand.

Next, we went to the International Antarctic Center. Yeah, yeah, we've been to the real continent, why go to the tourist recreation? Because we're obsessive that way. Also, the Center has a better gift shop than Antarctica itself!

Actually, Christchurch is where 70% of the Antarctic scientists leave from, and it's where the U.S., U.K., and Italian Antarctic programs send all their supplies from. So it's not just a tourist thing -- the city has a strong connection to the white continent.

The Antarctic Center was extremely educational and goofy too. At one attraction, you put on rubber overshoes and don wind-breaking parkas, and enter a room that *partially* simulates a Condition 1 blizzard with artificial snow and ice. Needless to say, after 10 minutes of that, in my shorts, I was pretty cooled down. We got a good laugh at all the folks who wondered if that was what it was really like to visit Antarctica.

We also shocked the gift shop staff on when we said we'd actually been to Antarctica. Funny that, but we couldn't but help buy some of the Antarctica wear at the shop because it was as good as (if not better) than anything offered in Ushuaia or on the ship from our actual cruise!