A few days in New Zealand
I arrived in New Zealand on the 7th. So I’ve been here two days now. I was online yesterday, but I was a bit rushed and didn’t get around to posting. I know some of you check this daily (thanks!) and I haven’t forgotten about you, just a little rushed. Anyway, I got to my Bed and Breakfast, The Windsor. about a half kilometer from the city square on Wednesday evening. A couple other guys who had been at the pole while I was there were staying at the Windsor also, and they were going out to eat and I tagged along. We went to a seafood and vegetarian (yeah, yeah, I know…) restaurant and bar called “Dux de Lux” which is a very trendy place. I had an interesting mediterranean dish, which was very good. After that, we went to Bailie’s, an Irish pub on the square, which was also a very classy place. After that we went back to the B&B and retired for the night. I wasn’t so sure that the Bed and Breakfast type place was the thing for me. While the service was very warm and friendly, and I can think of a couple people who would consider such a place romantic, the whole not having your own bathroom thing didn’t do much for me, nor the relatively small rooms. But, I’ve gotten used to it and like it just fine now. The next morning, at breakfast, I happened to share a table with Len Shulmam, who works at Bartol (where I’ll be working over the coming summer). He’s on his way to the pole, and we talked about his project and the project that I made on mine. After breakfast I went down to the square for a cup of coffee, and met up with another person heading down to the pole, and he and I walked around and had lunch before he had to get to the CDC. Later in the day I met up with the guys I had gone to dinner with the day before and we went out for Thai. It was very good but far from spicy. (It’s a shame that so many people who have english as their native tongue, also inherit the english tongue’s aversion to food with real flavor.) After that, we went to Lord of the Rings, which opened while we were at the pole (I was disappointed the New Zealand Air Force C-130 didn’t feature it as an in-flight movie, it’s everywhere else in the country.) After that, it was past midnight, and since the city basically closes down at 10:00, there wasn’t anything to do and we went back to the Windsor.
The flight to McMurdo this morning was canceled, so I was able to have breakfast with Len, and we had another interesting conversation (this time on politics). Afterwards, I decided that I was going to make the most of my time here and went to the Visitor Information Center (or is it Centre?). I’ve been given many recommendations, so I had plenty of ideas going in, but had I been short of ideas, there certainly were plenty in the racks and racks of brochures and from the many helpful people working there. I purchased a train ticket for the train that crosses the island from here to the west coast, which is supposed to be one of the five best train tours in the world for the sum of NZ$139 (US$93) which seemed to be reasonable for a day long journey. I’m also thinking about taking a gondola this afternoon, if I have time/money.
I talked to Travel Services, here in Christchurch, and I’m on the wait list for a Tuesday evening flight, but they’re hopeful that I’ll be able to get on that flight. That’s the soonest one, and that extends my stay longer than I had expected, but that’s why I had got my credit card limit extended. 
So, I’ll hopefully be back some time probably early Wednesday. We’ll see.
That all I can think of,
-Jonathan
January 9th, 2004 at 7:18 pm
At bartol this summer, will you be continuing your current research, or will you be working with Shulmam on his neutron monitor project?
January 10th, 2004 at 10:29 am
What, no bungi? Ahhhh, I promise not to tell (hee hee). The train ride should give you lots of nice views & photos, though I’m guessing it doesn’t go down near the fjordlands maybe you’ll see the glaciers from a distance.
I find it interesting that in your last post leaving McMurdo that you called it a “taxi to the airport” as if you were in NY City. When you write your book be sure to use a little more flair, something like “We packed ourselves and two large orange bags of ECW gear into Ivan the TerraBus and headed out over the Antarctic Ocean to the Blue Ice Runway.”
January 10th, 2004 at 10:42 am
OK, one more post. For spicy food, I recall some more hole-in-the-wall places in the not-so-trendy part of town that didn’t mind making the food more authentic. From the windsor, take a right out the door and keep going, several blocks gets you to the main street that would head to the center square if you took another right, but instead keep going a few blocks…a more seedy establishment on the left of the street, but going right down the block had some restaurants upstairs and some street level places here and there…it’s been a while and I can’t recall the details so you just need to walk around.
If it’s late, some places are open after 10pm, like the clubs near the river avon (where they do the punting), where the walkway/road and bridge crosses as you come from the DuxdeLux. Around here, on the left of the street as you walk away from the river, is a good large pool hall with lots and lots of tables, billiards in the back, etc. Hey, it beats going back to the Windsor to see what’s one of the two (or is it three now?) channels of NZ TV!
January 11th, 2004 at 12:07 pm
Hi Lindsay,
At Bartol, I’ll be working on IceTop stuff, getting it ready for next season. I already have a list of modifications that I’d like to make, and I’m sure we’ll come up with some new ideas between now and then. It will be nice to be able to build upon my current knowledge of the project.
-Jonathan