As is my habit, I made several trips to the Botanic Gardens, particularly the rose garden. There are almost no smells in Antarctica, so grass and flowers, even freshly turned dirt, is a welcome fragrance. I went to the garden, then to lunch at Dux de Lux, the award winning brew pub, from the garden to The Bog Irish pub, to the park for a few holes of golf, to The Bard on Avon English pub, shopping for winter necessities, to The Tap House, purveyors of Monteith's beers and stone grilled dinners. The venison was excellent as were all the different drafts, especially after months of bottled and canned beer. And all the months of bottles and cans to come.
The whole time I was there, an international busker fest was in progress. There were street performers at several set venues and impromptu performances all over. There were performances specifically for children near the entrance to the Gardens and adult stand up comedy routines in the evenings at the Art Centre. Performers came primarily from New Zealand and the USA, but there were also acts from Israel, Britain and all over eastern Europe.
Jugglers, acrobats, acrobatic jugglers, water balloon battlers, a strong lady, magicians . . . apparently a lot of the acts regularly perform in venues like Las Vegas. We got to watch them as we wandered about town, all for the price of a small donation . . . which each and every act spent the last 10 minutes of their performance reminding the audience about. As one obviously American act put it, "Obama wants change but we prefer bills."
After a couple days, I took a shuttle about 50 miles south to Akaroa, a small resort town set on a harbor on the Banks Peninsula. It was originally settled by French colonists in 1840. Unfortunately for them, by the time they made the trip and arrived, New Zealand was a British territory. None the less, they settled and created a town. It predates Christchurch.
The town isn't very large. My motel was at the center of town and a leisurely 10 minute walk in either direction took me to the edge of town. The above view across the beach inlet shows the more commercial end of town. There were bakeries and bars and boutique bread and breakfasts, shops selling a lot of expensive things we all could live without. There was also a general store and it really was - general. Hardware, food, alcohol, souvenirs, sporting goods, all crammed into a space not much bigger than some of the larger 7-11's back home. I think it dated back to the days before Akaroa became a resort. All in all, I would have to say it was an upscale resort; way more boutique shops than t-shirt shops - I'm not sure there were any of the latter. Still, meals weren't particularly expensive. A take-away (take out) fish and chips shop provided a butcher-paper-wrapped bundle of fresh caught blue cod and fries, about a pound of each, for $10 New Zealand. That's about $7 and change American. It was two lunches for me.
This looks like the original French colonial architecture, but it was built a few years ago. There are many holiday homes in Akaroa, one supposedly the second most expensive in New Zealand at $7 million. There is also a home owned by an Oregon senator. Interesting.
Besides having fresh pastries and flat white coffee at the bakery in the morning, cold beers on the beach or on my balcony in the afternoon and fresh fish, cod, flounder and monk fish for dinner in the evenings, I managed to squeeze in a couple of walks in the hills and an afternoon ride on a sailboat to see dolphins and penguins and seals.
This is Daly's Pier, the original pier for the town. The small building is the bell tower of a former school. It was right out front from my room, the place I boarded the sailboat, a great place to hang out and a wonderful photo subject.
After a few days I was totally relaxed. Then I had to leave.
I got back to Christchurch on a Thursday, caught up with some other R&R folk on Friday and flew back to the Ice on Saturday.
That was two weeks ago. Since then there have been hundreds and hundreds of people in and out of McMurdo. About 100 were here to unload the cargo ship. That ended last Saturday and those folks left. Most people that were in field camps have left. People who aren't wintering at South Pole are passing through. As of this morning there were still over 800 souls on station. About 120 left today. The over next two days many more go. Thursday and next Saturday will see all but a few more leaving. There are still some winterovers coming as well.
The last flight is scheduled for March 5. I think all the winterovers will be glad to see people go so we can settle in and get on with our season.
I'll write more when things have settled down. . . .
