http://www.iceberg.co.nz/
Our last day in NZ was taken up with a visit to The International Antarctic Centre, by the airport. This is a huge complex, currently used as a base for Antarctic expeditions for New Zealand, the USA, and Italy. There was also a visitor area and interactive display that we visited. We got to see the history of Antarctic exploration, lots of old-fashioned equipment, and, our favourite, a snow room. This large room was kept at a constant -8 degrees C, and every hour they had a snowstorm. I didn't feel the need to experience this, but John and the girls went in for a few minutes to play around in the real snow they have.
We went on a ride in a Haaglund, a snow vehicle designed for the Antarctic. It took us, from the front entrace to the building, out around the back on a course designed to show the versatility of this machine, going up and down hills, across simulated crevasses, and through a little pond, where it can float (the water was 4 m deep) and still be propelled by the tracks. Fun.
We saw the Little Blue Penguins up close, and at feeding time. These are the smallest penguins in the world and they live in NZ and the south coast of Australia, where they are called Fairy Penguins.
We dropped the camper off, and went to the airport for the uneventful flight home. The only surprise waiting for us was the fact that someone had broken into our car while it was parked outside John's sister's house for the two weeks. The thieves (who didn't get away with anything, maybe just a 20 cent piece from in the ash tray) were kind enough to only break one of the small triangular windows in the rear door, not too much trouble to fix!
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