Friday 25 March (Good Friday), International Antarctic Centre and Botanic Gardens Jeff used to work in Antarctica. Who knew? So he wasn't all that interested in one of Christchurch's best attractions, The International Antarctic Centre. We learn that US and NZ teams leave from Christchurch airport for the Antarctic, and have their own special departure lounge in the building next door. We make full use of our Senior Cards and sign up for the ride for those peo...

Thursday 24 March, Mt Cook to Christchurch. It looks like a bit of a rainy day in Mt Cook, a good day to drive nearly 4 hours to Christchurch to catch up with Jeff & Marg again. But we have a few stops along the way, first up the Tasman Valley to try to see the lake and glacier. No joy, the rain came down and the clouds were mantling the mountains. Then down the road with a quick coffee stop followed by a look at the "wee church" at Lake Tekapo (Church of th...

Wednesday 9 March , Flight to Christchurch Up at 3.00am ready for the taxi ride out to Terminal 1 (Domestic) with Virgin. As expected Tony's ticket meant that he would have to rebook his luggage at Sydney. A pain, but at least the Sydney flight didn't cost anything. The surprise was that as Colin had also bought tickets for the trip to Sydney and Sydney-Christchurch leg separately, he and Suz had to go through the same process. The flight was uneventful, whic...