The flight from Auckland to CHC was uneventful. At CHC we were met by Nikki, who gave us the spiel and our packets. It turns out I was the only one staying at the Outrigger. From our flight, only two peeps were staying at the Commodore, and everyone else was staying downtown. I didn't mind as long as it wasn't too isolated, which it turned out to be. The Outrigger was actually some sort of golf resort, quite swanky and with very well manicured lawns. There were apartments, terraces, and rooms, and all of them were on lakes. My room was on one of the bigger lakes and had an awesome view across the lake to the Southern Alps. I have no idea how they manage to charge the same as the Commodore, which is nice, but nowhere close to this place. I took some pics of my room and the view but they got saved to the internal memory and so I can't get them off till I get back. Anyway, you can go here to see pics of the resort.
We'd agreed to meet up with Don (Dr McEwen) at around 3 pm at the Antarctic complex. I wanted to shoot some emails and check up on my baggage. The hotel had a comp shuttle which was good because it was quite far from the airport. No word yet on my bags, they hadn't even located them! This was quite bumming. Time is always short at Pole and if I didn't get my bags in the next couple days, I'd have to call Stephen, tell him to bring some backup equipment, and I'd have to go buy some new clothes, gear, toiletries, etc (I was surviving in the one change of clothing I'd packed in my carry on!). I'd also have to get my flights re-routed (they have me scheduled out on the Wednesday flight, day after tomorrow), which is bound to be a pain.
While we were chilling at the Antarctic center, all of a sudden it turned insanely windy. Chairs and stuff at the restaurant were being blown around, and peeps were like grabbing on to railings and stuff. Don and I asked one of the locals at the bus stop and he said this had been going on for weeks, and had caused some heavy rains in the Alps. He also said this was normal for CHC this time of the year, even though neither of us ever remembered it being this windy. We caught the bus downtown (7 $NZ!), and got off right at Cathedral square, which is in the center of CHC's
tourist district. I took some more pics of the cathedral and the ghastly blue statue-thing, even though I have enough pics of it anyway. Stopping by the info center, we grabbed some brochures on places to eat. There is a huge Asian presence in NZ, and it reflects in the restaurants: lots of Thai, Indian, Burmese, Chinese places to eat at. They also have the ubiquitous McD, BK, KFC, and also Subway. We settled on one Indian place that was right in the middle of the square. Both of us had lamb curries, which were quite good. I didn't think I was going to finish mine, but Don ate so slowly that I got hungry enough again to finish mine off. I still don't know if he ate slowly or if I am just used to eating quickly (thank goodness it wasn't Levavie!!)
Right next to the restaurant was Base Backpackers, which seemed to be the happening hostel for the backpacker crowd. It seemed a little expensive (NZ $28 = US $24) for a dorm room and US $60 for a private room. Hostels in Europe are way cheaper. That, and its close proximity to the "saints and sinners bar" made me think it was probably not the quietest or best hostel around. After eating, Don wanted to head back but I needed to stick around for the shuttle back to the hotel, which had pickups at 8:30 and 11:30. I walked around downtown and was kind of surprised how early everything was shutting down. I also went to the Signature Travel place to find out where it was so I could go back tomorrow and check out my options for some travel after coming back from the ice. I still need to find out if Tahiti is do-able. NTS: all the good restaurants are on Colombo--left from Cathedral Square.
After chilling in a park watching some ducks in the river I headed over to the Holy Grail (I still remembered my bearings from last time) and chilled out for the shuttle. Like he'd warned me, Ryo was late. I'd planned on getting some work done in the evening but the jet-lag was catching up with me, but the bed was so warm and fluffy and inviting. It was pretty cold outside (low 50's), and they had this complicated system complete with a remote control...I figured out how to turn on the ac but not the heat but it was all good coz the bed was heated. I fell asleep praying that they would get my luggage tomorrow.
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