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September 30th 2006

Published: October 6th 2006

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RTW2006

NEWSFLASH

Gigantic penguin abducts child...

Every now and then, I am reminded as to why not everyone enjoys the dorm-room hostel experience.....and at 3.30am when I awoke to a girl next to me snoring, sounding like a cow, on a train, wielding a chainsaw, this was one of those moments. Projectile-throwing, bashful "do you mind turning over" and a chorus of "Can you SHUT UP PLEASE" from the rest of the dormroom failed to quell her efforts. Truly, a champion of consistency, she kept this up for the 3 nights she spent as our roomate.

And so after a champagne breakfast courtesy of Quantas on our flight over, we landed in Christchurch, to temperatures reminiscent of Scandinavia. Woolly gloves and hats were out, and since it wasn't cold enough in the town proper, we decided to visit the Antarctic Centre (Christchurch being the primary gateway to Antarctica) to experience an Antarctic Storm with windchill of -25degrees Celsius. We followed this up with a quick trip on a Hagglund - an all-terrain amphibian vehicle - and powered up 45degree-angled hills, dipped into 1.5mdeep mud pool and careered over 1mwide crevices. Topped this off with a new penguin enclosure, and it certainly lived up to its claim

Aotearoa

Land of the Long White Cloud

of being the world's best (and possibly only!) antarctic attraction.

Already on a sporting buzz, after catching the AFL match in Sydney, we booked tickets to see Canterbury vs Auckland in the rugby. Like many a valiant knight before us, after searching high and low for a venue for the AFL Grand Final to see the Swannies, we found.... THE HOLY GRAIL (thanks for the tip Daibhi!), an old cinema with a 10m big screen converted into NZ's largest sports bar, with grandstand seating so it feels like you are at the match itself. Great atmosphere....well...apart from the abysmal display by the Sydney Swans, it was almost like watching Mayo in the All-Ireland all over again!

After the disappointing loss, we set off for the Jade Stadium to watch the rugby, and we were lucky enough to catch a few of the All Blacks on the pitch too, including Dan Carter (mmmmmmm) Aaron Mauger, Leon MacDonald, Doug Howlett, Mealamu and big Joe Rokocoko.

And so, to start our trek round the islands, we hired a rental car... for NZ$15 (which converts at euro7.50) a day.....I'm just hoping it doesn't cave in on us somewhere in the Misty