Last week we only touched on my time at Christchurch, so this time I figured I'd give you a bit of a run-down on what happened on the thirteen or so days that we were delayed in New Zealand. And to start with, let's talk about the International Antarctic Centre.
Right next door to the airport we arrived at and the Sudima hotel most of us were staying at is the hub for Antarctic deployment and research. It's hard to miss with the giant penguins on the sign and tracked vehicles sitting out front. We were sent over after our first night for a morning briefing and to get fitted for our ECW gear.
Before any of you wrestling fans get excited, ECW in this context has nothing to do with barbed wire and flaming tables. I know, I was disappointed too. It stands for Extreme Cold Weather clothing. These clothes are the standard for Antarctic travel, and the big red jacket--while also exceedingly comfortable--is a sort of uniform for all involved.
This might come as a surprise to some of you, but Antarctica is rather chilly; more so than the average Midwest winter (polar vortex notwithstanding). So dedicated layers and equipment are a Godsend. We were given a pack of everything we'd need. The first are the boots. Affectionately known as Bunny Boots, these moon boots will make the entire 80s feel inadequate. They're made of some kind of rubber and plastic, and feel massive no matter what size your feet. For some reason, they have a pressure valve built into them that needs to be open when flying or else your feet explode (I guess‽) and otherwise stays closed to keep heat in. Next is pants and along with the snow pants you, a pair of sweatpants in the most obnoxious blue color is also included for underneath. Working our way up is a black zip sweatshirt, a neck gaiter, a balaclava (an item colloquially known as a ski mask, but that's not nearly official enough for government work), and what are essentially ski goggles. The goggles were great as the balaclava covers my mouth and that usually fogs my glasses, but the goggles keep them clean. For my hands, they gave a set of heavy yellow gloves and an inner glove liner. All of that gets wrapped in the aforementioned giant red jacket with fuzzy hood.
While it was a bit too warm in Christchurch, when I stepped off the plane in Antarctica I was glad to have every single piece. It might not be the most fashionable look, but function triumphs over form here, and I can live with that.
Also we got tested for covid after the gear issue, but that's way less interesting.
To keep this from being just a diatribe about my ECW fashion disaster, I want to cover just a bit more about Christchurch from being a tourist. Sadly, after my arrival I came down with a cold and was mostly holed up in my dorm for the next week. I didn't get to explore nearly as much as I would have liked. But I did get to try a number of the restaurants in Spitfire Square right next to the hotel. Shoutout to BurgerFuel for being a solid 3 out of 5 and further proof that the US does burgers better.
Christchurch is such a pretty city. Once I had recovered, I made a point to go out more often. On one of my walks into the city, I walked along Memorial Avenue and it seems like everyone had decided to plant flowers along their sidewalk walls. The whole way down there were hanging plants and blooms growing out of bushes. The walk alone was worth it to see all the flora. Included with the domestic plant life, Christchurch seems to have a lot of public parks. While there was one giant park where I assume lots of community life happens, there were a number of others that I passed through that couldn't be more than a few hundred feet long, but made such a nice impact on the area.
I had a few times to walk that street and enjoy the outdoors, as on Sunday I made it to a local church for their service. I slipped into the ARISE service being held at a high school, and keeping with my luck of never doing the conventional thing, I apparently was there for their big announcement service where they talked about what all the satellite campuses were doing and the new endeavors the church would be undertaking. I wish them the best of luck.
Lastly, it turns out Christchurch has a fantastic bus system. It was a little nerve-wracking to finally figure out the schedule and get on the thing, but for a four dollar (NZ) ticket, you can get all the way into downtown and have your fill of exploring the city. In my test run (and unfortunately my only bus trip) I made my way down to The Wizards Retreat to pick up some cards and dice. Nice folks there, highly reccomend. But it let me see just how easy it would be to explore the city. I already walk a lot, so having the bus depot serve as a central hub would have been a great way to explore the museums and shops. If I've got some time when I finally return home and can spend a few extra days in Christchurch, I'll make an effort to do so.
But all good things must come to an end, and while I enjoyed the extra days in Christchurch, I did have to leave and start actually working down here in Antarctica. Next week we'll actually get to talk about what life on the Ice has been like.
Until then, stay cool.
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