29 January

"still crazy after all these years"

As our time in Christchurch speeds by, we find ourselves exploring both old and new haunts, perhaps in an attempt, as Paul Simon says, to "long life away and never worry" before returning to the real world we left behind in North Carolina. 

We are enjoying getting to know a few Kiwis. I consider the group from the Ham Radio Club to be my personal travel guides. I generally save questions about what else to see until I meet with them on Mondays for breakfast. These guys are so well-traveled and eclectic in their interests, and they always have advice about what we should do in our remaining time here. We have had good luck with their suggestions.

Last week we went to the International Antarctic Centre, which is located in a campus containing the Christchurch bases for the New Zealand, US and Italian Antarctic Programs. Christchurch Airport is one of only five in the world with direct flights to Antarctica. Our visit to the Antarctic Centre included a program featuring Huskies, penguins, a drive in a Hagglund (I'm still bruised from that!), 4D presentations, and hundreds of educational exhibits. Altogether an excellent reminder of what man has been doing in Antarctica for over a hundred years. My only regret is that history has not given the dogs enough credit for their part!

Upon the advice of our "travel agents", we visited the Air Force Museum of New Zealand, and what a delight that was! Aircraft from the beginning of flight, stories about New Zealand service members, memorabilia from every conflict using air power, aviation exhibits to climb in and explore (and I did, believe me!). It was amazing. I was interested to learn that the New Zealand Air Force, like the US Air Force, began as a subset of their Army. I was also surprised to read about the seriousness of New Zealand's anti-nuclear stance—they have been a leader in that movement since 1985. I strongly recommend a visit to this museum.

One of the places we saw last year and wanted to revisit was Akaroa, which is set on a sheltered harbor and is overlooked and surrounded by the remnants of an eruptive center of the Miocene Banks Peninsula Volcano (which erupted around 9 million years ago). The geology of this region is simply fascinating. Last time in Akaroa we took a harbor cruise, but this time we toured the local museum instead. What a thorough museum for this tiny town (population of 780). We learned the history of the French and British explorers who claimed this new island for their respective countries and of the Māori tribes who ultimately ceded their lands to the British. And, of course, we could not complete our visit without purchasing gelato and specialty fudge from the local artisans. We try never to have a day without gelato!

The World Buskers Festival was in Christchurch for three days, and we watched various performers doing their shows outside at the Bridge of Remembrance and the Scott Statue. Some were better than others, but it was clear to me why these performers were basically working for donations. Still, we laughed and enjoyed watching the crowd as much as the acts.

I had purchased a nice map of the South Island in Akaroa, and we now had something to study along with the suggestions from our travel agents. We decided to branch out from Christchurch and took the local bus to Lyttleton, where we went on a ferry ride to Quail Island. That island has quite a history, and we saw where Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton (the explorer who led three British expeditions to the Antarctic) trained dogs for his treks in Antarctica. We also viewed the remnants of housing from the New Zealand leprosy colony, which was on Quail Island from 1906 to 1925. After a nice hike around the island and some great summit views, we returned that afternoon to Christchurch.

One other trip that was highly recommended was the scenic train ride from Christchurch to Kaikoura. Not only was the scenery just amazing (we watched pods of dolphins frolicking along the coast!), but we followed that ride by an absolutely fabulous cruise on a whale watching ship. We traveled at speeds over 30 knots to reach an area eight miles out where we watched a male sperm whale (only the males are in this area--it's too close to shore for the females) spouting for 10 or 15 minutes before executing a perfect dive back down to the deep. Oh, my! And later, a second sperm whale did the same routine for us. Outstanding!

And the birds! We saw three types of albatrosses (Northern, Southern and Royal) and petrels and gulls and seals. It was a glorious day, and we were delivered back to our apartment after hours of enjoyment. When I got home, I could not bear to even check my email—I just wanted to hang on to the feelings of peace the day had brought me.

I don't know how many of you have taken an extended "great escape adventure" such as what Bill and I are doing now. If so, did you ever wonder how you would return to life before travel? I'm having trouble envisioning an end to seeing new sights and learning about different cultures—and realizing how dull it would be without the wonderful diversity we see all around us in New Zealand. It's going to be hard to get back to bad weather and political worries. Hopefully, I'll have a few more adventures to relate before we fly home around the middle of February. Stay tuned.

Lory's story in words and Bill's version in photos