blurpenguin

Right after breakfast, pick-up of the rental car and check-out... we went to the nearest attraction... the International Antartic Centre... just outside Christchurch Airport...

It's the place to go if u're about to head off to antartic for research... Almost all researchers in the Antartic use this place as their final stopoff point prior going on their stint in the freezing lands south.

It was a costly entrance... and if u actually watched tru "March of the Penguins" and heard the entire commentary, you could excuse all the informative displays and head straight for the only 2 things worth experiencing...

The Hagglund Ride - WOO! Roller Coaster on tracks! the ride was fun and the driver a jovial chap to chat with... This is the actual thing they use in the Antartic to get around. Built like a tank and quite spacious.

the next thing is the Ice Storm Room, where they simulate the icy Antartic storms to the 1/3 of its actually degree. Bear in mind even at that contitions, it was still -8 Celcius and with super strong winds... it literally was freezing, with real snow too!



The penguin display / feeding was all right... & the penguin chicks display was interesting... but other then that... THAT was ALL!... kinda ex for a short/little displays... it was NZ$45 per pax!... i suppose u could stay longer in the Freezer or enjoy the unlimited Hagglund Rides... but not very much value lah...

outside were all these big soft toys for kidz to take pictures with...