NZ +24: Is it cold in here, or is it me...?

We've been off into the chilly wastelands of Antarctica today! (Apparently if you go there really, it takes 8½ hours in a Hercules, so we opted for nearly going there instead.)

What we actually did was go back to the airport! It's from Christchurch Airport that most flights to the Antarctic leave. There is even a passenger terminal...



...but you don't need a passport because Antarctica doesn't belong to any one country. It's administered by a treaty signed by lots of nations so, if you withstand the sub-zero temperatures and look good in a parka, you can go.

This part of the airport is surrounded by big hangars looking like this...



...which is where the store all the parkas.

And (this is the bit we really went to see) they have created a Visitor Centre...



...opened by Sir Edmund Hilary who, as a New Zealander and conqueror of Everest and first man to go mechanised to the South Pole, is a bit of celebrity here.

Anyhow, inside, you see lots of audio-visual things and there are buttons to press and there's a huge orrery. I bet some of you have to look that up.

But you also get to go to the Antarctic in a little room. They give you special covers to put over your shoes and a big fleece and then shut you in a large freezer done up to look like the South Pole. (A bit like the Ice Bar in Queenstown, but without the vodka.)

You can ride on a snowmobile...



(Please note the ultra realsitic backdrop!)


...and you can go in an igloo...



(...some of which is obviously made of plastic.)

And then they make it go very dark and turn on these special wind chill fans, and suddenly, it gets what can only be described as "bloody freezing". There are no pohots of that bit, because my fingers would have dropped off - the special thermometer in there got down to -18ºC. I don't think I'm quite cut out for polar exploration, although I did like the next bit...

They have retired one of these...



...which has a special name I can't remember, and they put you in it and take you round the car park. Which is all very fine, but then they take you on the specially designed obstacle course too...



...and then down a Very Steep Hill...



...and then through 1m of water...



...and then, fortunately, back to the safety of the car park!