February 19

Going through Arthur's Pass West to the coast.

Somewhere on Arthur's Pass

In Christchurch - hycinths an imported 'weed' in the botanical garden.

I've been on the road for the past few days so here's a backlog...

February 19

I arrived in Cheech! We were slotted to leave on Feb 17 - Saturday but there was a storm in McMurdo and by the time the storm departed, the weather was too cold at Pole. So onto the 18th. Due to the cold weather, the station manager decided to close the station for summer. So all the summer people - the extra 20 were also going to leave.

Cheech or CHC is what we call Christchurch... We got in last night around 11pm. By the time we returned all our ECW gear, got our rooming assignments, and caught the shuttle to our location it was past midnight. I saw dark for the first time in 4 months. It was really strange and my seatmate, Webster and I both commented on how strange it was – the real dark versus a faux dark with blankets covering the windows. I got to my hostel in Riccarton - the suburbs of Christchurch. It was an alright place – in Asian town but about a 45 minute walk through the botanical garden to hangout with my Ice friends in downtown Christchurch. Needless to say, I didn't see very many of them. The 1 room apartment is so huge in comparison to my 5X3' Polie cubicle. I had a kitchenette, bathroom, living area and two beds in a separate room. I had to sleep with the light on to simulate Pole. Course, I was so excited to be back in the real world that I didn't sleep much. Too much space with only me!

I sure did walk a lot today. It was awesome just walking around town in jeans and a t-shirt and not having to bundle up before going outside. I smelled all the flowers in the air and luckily, my nose didn't rebel. I was prepared to get some antihistamines and other allergy drugs to combat the air but it was ok. At lunch, whew! I had salmon fritters at a restaurant called the Honey Pot. Good place to eat. Last time I was in Christchurch on my way to the Ice, I stayed in the hostel next door. Anyway, I could hardly eat the whole thing the portion was so huge! But it sure was good.

I also saw a few other firsts today. During lunch, I was engrossed in a fly. Hadn't seen critters in 4 months, as later on I saw a gnat and a spider. Seeing colors other than white and a bit of blue sky is really appreciative. The birds, trees and massive people were nice to see yet I kind of wanted to crawl back into my ice hole...sensory overload!

Anyway, back to civilization. I'm starting my road trip of the south island in the morning. We were delayed a day due to the weather at Pole/ McMurdo so I'm a day short in my travels. I'm going to try and squeeze everything in there but I might have to cut something out. 7 days doesn't seem like enough time to tour the whole southern island. Then I'll have 3 days to tour the north island. I was thinking, I might have to return...yes, that would be breaking my rule of not working for the same company more than once but the amount of travel is surreal! But then again, a totally different continent sounds good too! Hmmm, I was seriously thinking of settling down in Austin come May finding a permanent job but I'm torn... start thinking of my career or travel. The big debate that's come up so many times within the past seasons. There are a few more things I want to do before I settle down so there aren't any regrets in the adventure field. I'll probably keep postponing the settling.

I ended up leaving Christchurch on the 21st. My bright idea of getting a better rental deal in person didn't work out. All the rental places were totally booked and I had to wait for a car to be returned. I'd even heard stories that there were so many tourists in New Zealand that they slept in their cars (whew! I wouldn't be the only one!) because the hotels were all booked.