Days 1-3

Days 1-3 Friday, August 27 - Sunday, August 29 -- Los Angeles to Christchurch (Pictures Below)

Synopsis

We took a flight that went from LAX to Auckland, leaving LAX at about 9pm Friday night, and getting into Auckland at 8am on Sunday morning (local times). We then flew to Christchurch where we picked up our van and went to the Antartic Experience, which is right by the airport. We then toured around the Christchruch area for the rest of the day.

Detailed Journal

After a busy week, and especially busy day of preparation for our trip, we headed through rush hour traffic through downtown, met some friends for dinner, and caught our flight, which left promptly on time at 9:40pm. After watching Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, we got as comfortable as possible and tried to get some sleep. After a couple of hours, Lynette’s leg was thoroughly asleep. After about a half hour of stretching, walking around, and jogging in place, her leg was feeling better, but it had us a bit freaked out.

The rest of the flight was uneventful. Upon landing, we only had 2 hours to catch our flight to Christchruch. About an hour and a half after landing, we made had made it through immigrations and customs. At that point, we saw a sign that said “To Domestic Terminal, 1km”, and we knew we had missed our connection. The next flight was only an hour and a half later, but there was more bad news. The camping stove, which had passed through the US baggage inspection, was denied and we were forced to leave it at the airport. Oh well, we were in New Zealand, so how bad could it be?

We arrived in a rainy Christchurch and called Maui Rentals, where we had rented our campervan. They came and picked us up, and after a relatively painless checkout, we were on our way. Driving on the left side of the road, with the driver’s side on the right was very uncomfortable and awkward. It was like learning how to drive all over again. Our first stop was just around the corner (literally) at the International Antarctic Center. We took a ride on the Haggerlund, a 2-ton all terrain mini-snow cat that exhibited it’s ability to cross 1.5-meter fissures and float across ponds. It was quite a machine. We took a look at the exhibits, the highlight of which was a “snow room”, which was kept at a temperature below zero and had real snow, including a windstorm. Overall, the Center was a bit disappointing, given all the hype, but it was somewhat informational, none-the-less.

We then drove into downtown Christchruch to checkout it’s centerpiece, the Cathedral. We walked around downtown for a bit, then found a place to get a bite to eat at a local pub and try Monteith’s, one of the local beers. We ordered a bbq meat pizza and a beer sampler, and we were both very impressed with all of the varieties. Lynette’s favorite was the Original Ale. There was still a couple of hours of sunlight left when we finished eating, so we headed up to Summit Road, which provided an excellent overlook of Christchurch (to the west) as well as the Southern Alps in the distance, which were barely distinguishable with the clouds on the horizon. On the other side of the summit road (to the east) was a rather dramatic view of the beginnings of Banks Peninsula across a small bay from Lyttleton. We then drove down the other side of the hills from Christchruch into Lyttleton to see Timeball Station, which was closed. After a brief stop, we drove around the very steep hills of Lyttleton looking for the tunnel back to Christchurch. After about half an hour of searching and backing down perilously steep roads to turn around, we gave up. On the way out of town we finally found the tunnel, which was below all of the roads we had been driving around.

We headed through the tunnel and back into Christchurch to find a grocery store. After buying about a week’s worth of groceries, we set out to find a place to spend the night. After our first choice (Riccarton Park Motor Camp) was closed, we found Amber Park Holiday Park and checked in with a friendly older man who helped us get plugged in (after getting stuck in the soft grass for a minute). The whole process was a bit taxing and surely didn’t score points for the “American Tourist” in the eyes of the camp owner. Lynette unpacked out stuff while Jason planned out our next day. We took shorter-than-desired showers (the hot water only lasts about 5 minutes), made the bed, then cashed in for the night.

Pictures

01_at_LAX	02_from_plane1	03_from_plane2
04_from_plane3	05_from_plane4	06_from_plane5
07_antartic_exp1	08_antartic_exp2	09_haggerlund1
10_haggerlund2	11_haggerlund3	12_christchruch_chapel
13_christchruch_sheep1	14_christchurch_sheep2	15_banks_penn1
16_Lynette_banks_penn	17_christchurch_overlook1	18_christchurch_overlook2
19_christchurch_overlook3	20_timeball_station