Two days in New Zealand

We had two full days in Christchurch, NZ. Before being able to explore, we had to get our extreme cold weather gear from the US Antarctic Program office.

Abby, myself, and Carolyn trying out our extreme cold weather gear

That afternoon, some of us explored downtown Christchurch. There were a lot of buildings destroyed by the earthquake in 2011, and there were barely any people in the city center area. It took McBride awhile to recognize the city, even though he’s been there five times before.

Carolyn sitting on a sheep statue

Carolyn, McBride and Brent trying to navigate

Some destruction from the earthquake

A building being demolished through the trees

We also went to the Botanical Gardens, which was a lot of fun. The gardens were beautiful and relaxing, and we had a good time walking around, as well as sitting on a bench watching baby ducks.

Carolyn, Brent and McBride trying to hug a tree (in typical Berkeley fashion?)

Carolyn encouraged everyone else to make a silly pose

The next day I went to the mountains near Christchurch with Harm and Stephanie (from ANITA) and Rob (a seismologist we met at our hotel), while the rest of the COSI team explored the Christchurch container mall. Harm, Stephanie, Rob and I made a few stops on the way to Arthur’s Pass, a national park in the mountains. The highlights were Castle Hill, where we got to scramble on some rocks, a hike to a waterfall in Arthur’s Pass, and delicious meat pies!