Day 11

We woke up this morning at 4:00 am to phone the hot air balloon hotline. We were very sad to discover that our flight had been cancelled due to wind and clouds in the vicinity! It was back to bed for a few more hours before embarking on the other adventures we planned for the day. Luckily we were able to reschedule for the following day. Fingers crossed that the wind and clouds wouldn’t be a problem again.

We started the day watching a volunteer fireman competition. It was a hot and sunny day, so those guys had to work really hard! Jeremy we brave enough to stay in the sun for a quick game of chess.
By mid-day it was already 34 degrees (93 F), so we decided to cool off by visiting the Antarctica Museum. Christchurch is the world’s gateway to Antarctica and is home to the New Zealand, United States and Italian Antarctic Programs. At the museum we learned a lot about Antarctic exploration, met some penguins and rode on a Hagglund which is an all terrain vehicle used to explore the area.

We also experienced the snow and ice room which simulates a storm in Antarctica. We were given warm hats and rubber shoes, but no extra pants, which is why we look a little silly!

After a nice cool off we headed back into the city. We saw this guy driving with his girlfriend buckled in to the back seat. We told him it was rude to make her ride in the back, but he didn’t seem to care!
Tonight was our last night of vacation, so we enjoyed a nice celebratory dinner. We did have one final adventure planned for our last day so we went to bed praying that our hot air balloon ride would “take off” without any problems in the morning.