Journal

The display in the hall of the airport at Auckland reads Oct. 23rd. Another year, another trip around the sun. Today, I am 43 and I am in Christchurch, New Zealand. My luggage arrived intact and on time, customs vocally admired the cleanliness of my hiking boots and I stopped to smell the roses in one of the most spectacular botanical gardens I have ever been to, the theme of tonight's photo journal. What more can a girl ask for on her birthday?

Auckland Airport
Display in Auckland's Airport.

Christchurch Arrival
We made it to Christchurch, New Zealand!

My Fitbit logged one hour and 6 minutes of total sleep since leaving Milwaukee. I have little left to give to this journal before I completely crash. My 6am wakeup call will come far too early. Though the pics will never do the gardens justice, enjoy my views from today! Flat Lorax cards for Weston and Emily tonight are shown below.

Christchurch Cathedral since Earthquake in 2011
Christchurch Cathedral after an earthquake destroyed many parts of the city in 2011.

City Centre scuplture
Sculpture in City Centre next to Cathedral.

Plackard on E. Rutherford
Father of nuclear physics, Ernest Rutherford, won a nobel prize and worked in Christchurch.

Botanical Gardens
Botanical garden's Peacock fountain.

Purple flowers
Lily-like flowers blooming beautifully.

White Flowers
White flowers, Irises, in full bloom.

Pine Cones
Female pine cones from a Japanese Larch starting to crack open.

Large tree trunk
Cypress tree rivals sequoia trees in California.

More white flowers
More white flowers, monocot family.

Shell house
Shell house display in Christchurch's history museum.

Flat Lorax Post Cards
Flat Lorax postcards for Weston and Emily.

Details
Author
Jennifer Bault
Date
Location
Pavillions Hotel
Expedition
Seasonal Sea Ice Production in the Ross Sea
Weather Summary
Sunny and Windy
Temperature
58˚ F
Wind Speed
19 MPH

View Comments

Comments

Mon, 10/23/2017 - 07:51

Judy Fahnestock

What a way to spend your birthday! What beautiful flowers and fountains. Hopefully, you had a good night's sleep! I read somewhere that they are going to repair the cathedral. Do you see other damage left over from the earthquake still?

Mon, 10/23/2017 - 10:25

Jennifer Bault

Hi Judy,
There is still a lot of damage from the earthquake. A great place to
get photos of primary succession happening on the concrete that I can
use with my students! Hongjie said he was here in 2006 and also last
year. He says it used to be so busy with people all of the city, but
since the earthquake not so much. They are rebuilding, but of course,
this takes many years and a lot of money. The parks are fantastic, very
family oriented. I enjoyed walking through the botanical gardens
yesterday. The trees were amazing!

Getting cold weather gear today!

Jennifer

On 10/23/17 7:51 AM, PolarTREC wrote:

Mon, 10/23/2017 - 13:54

Adeena Teres

I'm glad everything went well on your trip. You don't need sleep it's totally overated. The pictures of the plants are amazing. I love those 2 Flat Lorax.

Mon, 10/23/2017 - 19:50

Jennifer Bault

Thanks Adeena,
Hope all is well with you! Getting a little nervous. We depart for the ice tomorrow!

Jennifer