Christchurch, Hanmer Springs and Kaikoura

We spent our Easter in Christchurch, which is by far the biggest city in the South Island. The aggressive traffic was the first indicator of the fact that we had definitely entered a bigger city. People shouting and honking, giving the finger to slower cars. What happened to the "let's go surfing, relax and have a beer" -kiwis? Apparently "holiday stress" is the same in all corners of the world.

In Christchurch we toured the town and did a day trip to the beautiful Akaroa peninsula. However, one of the most memorable places we visited was the Antarctic Center, a research center dedicated to the icy penguin continent. We got into the atmosphere already the night before, as we had dinner with a kiwi-friend Harley, who had actually worked in Scott Base for some months. Interesting stories indeed, we nearly forgot to eat. And THAT, my friends, never happens:)

Though we were warned that the Antarctic Center can be a bit touristy, it turned out to be quite a kick and we spent a lot of time there. Considering we come from cold countries ourselves, it was funny to spend five minutes in a "snow & ice experience" with a bunch of tourists from warmer climates - first we all got thick jackets and went to a cold room to stare at a thermometer as it went all the way down to -17 celsius degrees. While the Asian tourists ran out one by one, we started to dream about cross-country skiing and christmas.

The amount of information in the Antarctic Center was huge. Quite a few surprises as well - for example, did you know that Antarctica is the dryest and windiest continent on Earth? And I bet nobody knows (or cares hehe) that Finland has its own research center in the continent called "Aboa". We watched a lot of videos about the animals and daily life in the reserach stations and working there sure isn't for everyone's psyche. Insomnia and isolation are hard to handle.

As we walked out of the center we suddenly saw the plane that flies to Antarctica from Christchurch a few times a week (and in wintertime it doesn't go there at all). The carpark for Antarctic Center is right next to Christchurch airport so the timing couldn't have been better.

After Christchurch we drove to spa town Hanmer Springs, where we spent the evening soaking our bones in the hot pools. The night was freezing again so we decided to head towards the sunny coastal town Kaikoura and spend a few days there before crossing the Cook straight.

The biggest attraction in Kaikoura are the whale cruises. Plenty of different whale species and dolphins swim in the warm coastal waters, so different companies offer whale watching cruises, swimming with the dolphins or seals etc. The downside is the price list, which made us settle for some coastal hiking and checking out one of the seal colonies. The scenery was really nice and quite different from anything that we had seen before. The seals were also hilarious, absolutely marvellous creatures. Laying on their sides and giggling at tourists and their thousand cameras.