Canterbury
January brought much warmer weather and the arrival of Mimi and Papa! Shortly after their arrival, we took off to explore the newly opened SH1 which had been closed for our first 6 months in New Zealand due to the Kaikoura earthquake.
Christchurch is the biggest city on the South Island and only 4 hours away, so we set off to explore it.
A Kiwi welcome at the airport! Mimi and Papa were very excited to see their grandchildren after 6 months on the other side of the world.
By far, the kids ' favorite place in Christchurch is the Margaret Mahy playground. Its a toss up between the giant slide, flying fox, "mountains" to climb and the frozen treats available at all hours.
Christchurch also has extensive Botanical gardens. Those with small feet were not up for exploring the whole thing but we did check out the rose garden and climb some Giant California Sequoias. These trees don't grow quite as tall in New Zealand but they still make for a challenging climb!
Christchurch airport is the gateway to Antartica. Many international teams leave from Christchurch to explore and research the icy continent. The Antarctic Centre gives you a taste of Antartica without the harrowing journey there. We rode in a Hagglund, rode out an Arctic storm at -5 C and checked out some captive penguins. I think we got enough of a taste of Antartica so that we don't need to add the continent to next year's itinerary.
Can you guess who bailed first?
While Will was checking out the cute little blue penguins, Jack was being attacked by the much scarier leopard seal.
After getting thoroughly chilled at the Arctic Centre, we decided to warm up in Hanmer Springs which is known for its thermal hot pools. They also have water slides, which the kids thoroughly enjoyed, and some nearby hikes to keep you in swim suit shape.
