First station at 9000ft
looking over the cliff
standing on the edge of the cliff
glacier on the side of Erebus
Discovery Point and McMurdo from the Helicopter
Top of Mt Erebus
Driving on the wrong side
Kayaking in Akaroa
Castle Hill
So Im here in Christchurch until Friday afternoon... then I get to
make the long journey back from Christchurch -> Auckland -> L.A. ->
Chicago -> Cleveland... arriving at 11:05pm.
I rented a car for a couple of days and drove out to Akaroa to go
kayaking in this small french town. It was a blast, difficult and I
got fried. We kayaked about 7km out towards the sea and then pulled
off onto a beach to have some lunch. The way out was pretty easy
because the wind was at our backs but this of course would mean that
on the way back in it would be in our faces, making the trip back
twice as hard. In the end we made it back safely with only Sam falling
in the water when the kayak took her out on the beach.... it was
awesome! but she didnt think so. The drive to this place was a blast
because of all the winding roads up and down left and right. Sure the
sign said go 35 but I went 60 to make it more interesting!
The next day Sam and I drove out to Arthurs pass which I think is one
of only 3 ways to get to the west coast on the south island. The roads
here were much narrower full of twists ups and downs so I was
thoroughly entertained.Once we got there we took a 100ft hike to a
waterfall, had some coffee, bought a lollipop and drove back to
Christchuch. On the way back we passed a resort that said Helicopter
tours.... so we stopped. The pilot took us to the top of the mountains
and was nice enough to set the helicopter down so we could walk around
on Flock Hill which some of you may recognize from a movie. This was
where they filmed the final battle from the Chronicles of Narnia. We
climbed a couple of rocks, took pictures then were on our way. Then we
stopped at Castle Hill which some of you may have heard because it is
famous for bouldering.... hey Mike, you jealous? Again, we climbed a
few rocks, took some pictures then were on our way home because it was
getting late and still had to drive for over an hour.
Today I didnt do much. Both Sam and Tim left New Zealand so I am not
by myself to wander. I walked pretty much all day in Christchurch
trying to see what I could find. Still not sure what I will do
tomorrow but Im thinking maybe to head down to the beach and lay there
all day.
Oh man I almost forgot! In the end the weather cleared up and I did
get to go up Mt Erebus! The weather was crap in McMurdo but near the
top of the volcano is was really really nice. The first site we went
to was at 9,000ft and the second was at 9,800ft. The winds were
nonexistent, a nice and WARM -10 degrees with blue skies above the
lower clouds. The work wasnt that difficult to begin with (power tools
:) and 10,000ft is still about 2,500ft below AGAP camp so I had no
problems breathing. We made an attempt to do a third site but the
storm had come in so we had to leave the mountain.
The flight back to Christchurch was fricking awesome! We thankfully
didnt have to fly in a C130 Hercules and got to fly in an Airbus! I
sat first class and the flight time was cut in half to 4 hours. The
pilot was also cool enough to do a corkscrew take off.... take off and
corkscrew up... and fly us over the top of Mt Erebus. The reason we
took the Airbus, which is Australian, is because the Australian
government apparently owes the US Antarctica Program. In October the
USAP flew someone who was injured from one of the Aussie bases back
home to get medical help so this is the way they repay the program..
with first class flights!
Ok, I think thats it for now. Ill try to post more pictures on Flickr
Adios for now
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