We had another late sleep in and an exceptionally lazy morning. I don’t know if it’s the small time change, the feeling of Fall in the air, our small and cozy Airbnb, or if we’ve just lost all motivation at the tail end of our trip… but it’s been a very lazy week or two.

Millie drew and drew, as she does. She has also started leaving us secret notes which is just the best. She is so close to sounding out words on her own which I’m beyond excited for. Is there anything sweeter than a phonetic misspelling?

Our original plan for the day was to take a day trip to the scenic old French town of Akaroa, but before we knew it it was 1pm, which felt too late for a day trip to somewhere 1.5 hours away. We pivoted and decided to head to the Antarctic Centre.

Antarctica is the only continent we aren’t visiting on this trip, so this will have to do! The museum was really interesting and entertaining for Millie. It is located here in Christchurch because this is one of the 5 main jumping off points for visits to Antarctica. The museum was located at the airport and near the actual research center.

The highlight of the museum was their cold room, which recreates 5 minutes of an Antarctic windstorm. They gave us coats and it was still so, so cold. The room generated freezing wind to demonstrate wind chill. My face has been bright red and chapped since my 5 minute Antarctic experience earlier today.

There were adorable penguins.

An ice bucket challenge where you see how long you can hold your hand in the freezing water. This was to mimic the penguins’ experience of swimming in icey water. Millie seems to have inherited my high pain tolerance and beat Nick.

There was a very ridiculous 7 minute 4D movie. That 4th D means the chairs shook and the sprayed wind and water in our face to make it feel like a seal was spitting on you, the water from the boat was splashing you, etc. It was so over the top.

There was an exhibit with a Māori man and his huskies. Like an actual man and actual huskies whose job it is to just hang out at the museum. And then, of course, there were a bunch of typical museum exhibit things, like signs and photos. I learned a lot more than I expected to. I have never been very interested in visiting Antarctica (too far, not worth the climate impact, not much to do there) but after today’s visit, I am.

After the museum it was a bit early for dinner, so we headed back to yesterday’s playground to let Millie get some energy out. She played for a while but then fell, got embarrassed in front of her friend, and had a bit of a scream. I carried her to the car and we drove 5 minutes to the Riverside market for dinner. The market is a food hall that was built about 5 years ago, but feels much older. I love places like this but struggle with the amount of decision making they require.

We had a quick dinner but Millie was still not feeling great after the park incident so we headed home. We’re expecting cold and rain all day tomorrow, so it might be another lazy day in Christchurch.