Up early this morning with a plan to be at the Antarctic Centre when they opened at 9am.

Despite having packed last night, we still managed to take longer than expected, but did manage to get there by quarter past! The Centre itself is quite small, with some good static displays and some special activities. The displays, while interesting with some good opportunity for the kids to get hands on, were overshadowed by the real hands on experiences.

First up was the Snow and Ice experience. A room where the temperature is set to about -8 degrees, with snow and ice on the ground. They lend you a jacket to help with the cold. Which is really needed when a ‘storm’ comes through and the wind chill factor (about 40km/hr) dropped the temperature to -18 degrees. The kids learnt pretty quick that trying to make snowballs was actually quite painful without gloves!

Next up was a Hagglund ride. These all-terrain vehicles are apparently used quite widely in Antarctica as well as other places. They have rubber belts, like a tank, and the Centre takes groups in the vehicles around an obstacle course. These included showing us first-hand how they can climb up a 45 degree incline, drive over a 1m gap (like an ice crevice) and drive across a sideways slope. Quite a bumpy ride, but great fun and amazing to see what these very sturdy vehicles can do.

Next was a chance to see some husky dogs. There were 5 rescue dogs with their new owner. Apparently there are issues with huskies being bought for aesthetic reasons by people with little insight into the demands of their personalities, and so they are all too often surrendered to the rescue group. Liam loved these beautiful dogs and I think he would have been happy to have spent hours just patting and cuddling them. They were all very affectionate.

Finally we had two 4-D mini-movies. The basic 3-D movie idea, with the fourth dimension being provided by movement of our chairs and sprays of water, gusts of air and falling ‘snow’ and bubbles. The first movie was Ice Voyage which took us on a very realistic trip to Antarctica seeing some of the impressive scenery and wildlife. The second was an animated short based on the movie, Happy Feet, and was especially appealing to the kids.

After the mini-movies, we drove around the corner to the airport, dropping off the hire car. I had checked in online, so it was interesting to do a slightly different process. It did seem to make everything simpler. We managed to get our luggage sorted with some last minute redistribution of weight and borded on time. The flight was slightly shorter than advised but noticeably longer than the trip over there. Comfortable enough though and no dramas.

We have had an amazing 4 weeks of adventure and excitement in New Zealand. I certainly felt it was all I had hoped it would be. Colin and the kids have had their first taste of this sort of holiday and by all accounts enjoyed themselves immensely. We are all exhausted though by being constantly on the move and doing so much. It is nice to be back in Mandurah, knowing that we are going to be in the same beds, without hours of driving to do, for a while. Emily and I are both appreciating the warmer weather and everyone is so happy to be home.