We had a relaxed breakfast at a nearby restaurant in Lake Tekapo. As the trip draws to a close, I cannot help but wonder that I have seen more Indians and Chinese faces on this trip rather than Kiwis! I shouldn't be surprised given they make up one in 4 people on this earth, and that countries like NZ are short of workers. However, to what extent that it dilute the feeling of travel? In NZ though, nature has a lot of distractions to not make one ponder too much on this topic.
We have noticed a pattern that the kids always start fighting with each other after a good brekkie, and that continued today. We don't really have a concept of a brekkie in our household, which a lot of people have told us to commence, but as we realised, there are always pros and cons with such things! 
The drive to Christchurch was mostly dull, which is such a rarity in NZ. Maybe our eyes had got saturated, as seeing lush green fields and silky smooth roads would have been an awesome drive in most countries. We stopped over at Ashburton, the second most populous town in South Island, for a quick refuelling and car cleaning before heading over to return the rental car. However, I missed a highway exit thanks to the confusing Google maps display (I am more used to Waze), so i had to take a detour through CHCH city before reaching the hotel at the airport.
We had made a good decision to stay over at Novotel Christchurch (cutely abbreviated as CHCH by the locals) Airport, which was within the airport complex and a stone's throw away from the airport entrance. This not only helped with the early morning flight check-in, but also saved us a day of car rental. It was novel seeing aircraft taxi down through your hotel window too!
We refreshed and went to the International Antartic Centre (IAC), and was greeted by the sight of a LC-130 that is used by the US Airforce to ferry scientists to Antartica. The IAC had many novel attractions that kept us busy until close. There was a cold room with a 15 second exposure to an Antartic storm that left me worried about getting a frost bite, and an igloo that the kids sneaked into. There was a 4D show and a model of LC-130 cockpit with videos that made you feel you have journeyed to Antartica.
There were live webcams from Antartica to take a look at and a lot of informative displays. There was a 1 min polar ice challenge that only my daughter completed with her hands still intact.
There were a feeding session with rescued little blue penguins native to NZ. Reading about them, it made us feel they are no different to humans, each one having a distinct characteristic, including a penguin who feels more comfortable in the presence of humans than other penguins! There were some huskies that are no longer needed on the arduous trip to the south pole.
But the unexpected surprise was reserved for the last, as we took the last trip of the day on the Hagglund, which was an all terrain amphibious vehicle developed by the Swedish army and used extensively in Antartica now. I thought it would be a kids ride, but was amazed by the short demo of its capabilities as we all took a ride in this amazing vehicle that could go through land, mud and water, over a stack of tyres and loose gravel, up and down 2m high ridges, all while giving its occupants the feel of being in a rickety wobbly carriage. We were shaken up by the trip, literally that I stumbled out when the doors opened.
The kids were tired out by now and wanted to relax at the hotel. I had wanted to take them on the CHCH tram, but the tram service had already ended for the day, so we didn't venture out into the city and decided to hit the bed at 7pm, so that we can get back up at midnight for the flight back.
Today was a fun trip to the IAC that offered a lot more to see and do than I had thought!
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