This morning it had stopped raining but it was still incredibly cold from the icy wind chill. We got ready for the day and headed by car to Copenhagen Bakery which was on the way to our first activity. At the bakery we got a steak and cheese pie, cheese potato top pie and sausage roll. We got a cappuccino and chai latte to drink. The food was pretty standard but still nice. A hearty breakfast was needed on such a cold morning.

After we were finished with breakfast we drove over to the International Antarctic Centre. It is a museum with lots of facts about Antarctica but it also has a hagglund ride, Antarctic wind storm simulator, snow dogs to meet, penguin viewing and 4D theatre. Ronnie went on the hagglund ride and said it was alright. It was a ride in a vehicle they use in Antarctica over hills and bumpy terrain.

We both went into the wind storm simulator. When we walked in there it was already -8 degrees. It then counts down to the storm and during it the winds go up to 30 km/hr and the wind chill is over -20 degrees. You can find shelter or just cop it. We braved it and it was ridiculously cold.

After that we just wandered around. We would have liked to go the 4D theatre but we didn’t want to wait an hour for the next show to start so we gave it a miss. During our wanders we came across the Huskies. Aimee loves dogs so she went over to meet them. She immediately made a connection with them and they were battling each other to get pats. We also met another one on the way out called Thea. She was really calm and precious.

Overall the International Antarctic Centre was okay but pretty expensive for our level of enjoyment. We noticed people actually leaving for Antarctica at the passenger terminal when we finished our visit so that was pretty cool.

We drove back to our accommodation to drop off the car but as we were getting out we couldn’t find the GoPro anywhere and we knew we had it at the International Antarctic Centre. We had to rush back there to see if we could find it or if it was handed in. Ronnie headed back in and heard some visitors say the Husky handler had it and was asking around if anyone had lost it. A couple of people at the gift shop said it hadn’t been handed in but eventually someone walked out with it which was a huge relief.

After we got back to the accommodation we dropped the car back at our accommodation and had a nice stroll around the Christchurch Botanic Gardens. We didn’t stay there as long as we originally intended to because the wind was so strong and so cold that it felt like we were back in the Antarctic storm simulator.

So we decided it was time for lunch. We headed back to Little High Eatery so we could see the street art around there and we intended to have a light lunch.

Unfortunately we just don’t know how to order a light lunch and we ended up with tom yum fried rice, dumplings, spring rolls and poutine. We ate as much as we could but couldn’t finish it all.

We were going to the movies in the afternoon and had a bit of time to kill. We went into a old post office that has been converted into a coffee shop. We both got a coffee to warm ourselves up and it was quite nice.

It was finally time to head to the Hoyts cinema to watch Don’t Worry Darling. There were heaps of young girls there to see Harry Styles in it. It was a good way to keep out of the cold and the movie was pretty good. Ronnie really likes those mysterious sci-fi kind of movies.

We had to head to dinner after the movie and we needed to drive there. We weren’t very hungry after our big lunch and that was a mistake because we were heading to Costas Taverna, a Greek restaurant which are not known for small portions.

When we were there we got some pink lemonade flavoured greek sodas, flaming saganaki and a chicken and falafel souvlaki platter. The flaming saganaki wasn’t great. It tasted like melted cheddar cheese. The platter was pretty nice with good sauces and yummy pita bread. The falafel was crispy and had good flavour.

We finished the meal with a dessert called Donuts of Olympia which were Greek donuts (loukamades) with three sauces and cream. Greek donuts are always delicious as they are crispy on the outside and airy in the middle. These ones were delicious despite not being the best ones we’ve had. They are divine when they’re done perfectly.

After dinner we headed back to the city for another escape room. We just couldn’t resist booking another after last nights one. This one was called Dark Wizard and was Harry Potter themed. It wasn’t quite as cool as last nights but was still a good challenge. There was one puzzle in this that just completely stumped us and we spent so much time on it but we still managed to escape with about 10 minutes to go. That was our 10th escape room and we’ve escaped 8. Not a bad record at all!

We were super tired after this so we headed back to our room and have settled in for the night. We have a decent drive ahead of us tomorrow but not before some final exploration of this fine city.

Spending:
Breakfast – $25
International Antarctic Centre – $87
Little High Eatery – $80
Coffee – $8
Movies – $55
Dinner – $81
Escape Room – $53
Total – $389

Much love,
Ronnie and Aimee