Day 5: There'snow-ay up the mountain

We awoke to the unexpected news that Mt Hutt would be closed today after a weather front due for tonight came in early (dropping another 40cm of snow on the mountain). This increased the risk of avalanches on the access road and hence the mountain was closed. Some of us woke up a little older though with Eliza Mckay turning 17 this morning. A team of girls with Ms Adams and Ms Battoraro got underway filling her room with balloons and hanging bunting at breakfast in phase 1 of the birthday celebrations.

Gearing up for Antartica

The change to the day’s events meant a rapid reshuffle of activities. Mr Melchiori was promptly on the phone sorting replacement activities for our eager team. It was decided that we would venture to the International Antarctic Centre in Christchurch to find out exactly how New Zealand contributes to research efforts in the Antarctic. 

Students were first treated to an information session from a research scientist. Our birthday girl got to play dress-ups, stacking on an impressive 12 layers of clothes, the average outfit of an Antarctic researcher.

 We then got to go into the blizzard simulator and experienced 40kph winds and freezing conditions not unlike those experiences by researchers in the Antarctic (although real storms can last up to 2 weeks and boast impressive 320kmp). One daring (and perhaps very silly) candidate, Roan, braved the cool conditions shirtless, whilst others chose to huddle together.

Hanging out in the blizzard room

Resembling penguins in the blizzard simulator

Hagglund obstacle course

Next we visited some of the cute little residents of the research centre, Little Blue Penguins who were undergoing rehabilitation. Then we headed outside to tackle the Antarctic centres obstacle course in genuine Hägglund vehicles.  These vehicles can navigate ice, crevasses, hills, and even convert into a boat when necessary. Loaded up in the vehicles we proceeded to drive through the centre's impressive obstacle course, over fallen logs and even near vertical 7m hills with 1m wide crevasses to mimic Antarctic conditions. Our time at the Antarctic Centre was not yet over though. The final activity was a 4D cinema experience which features moving chairs, water sprays and bubbles as we were taken on a boat journey to Antarctica. Lunch was quickly consumed and we left the centre for our next surprise impromptu activity.

Laser Tag Team

We soon arrived at our next stop for the day, Laser Skermish. This activity definitely bought out the killer instinct in some of the students. Notable mentions to Cyrus for being an absolute wildcard in the room who, with no particular plan, managed to annihilate members of the other teams. Some very tough competitiveness was also witnessed from the girls in the form of Olivia and Emma who surprised us with their thirst for assassinating teachers. Jean-Luc and Lewyn demonstrated some scheming tactics for taking out their opponents and were relentless on the course.

The Birthday Girl!

Tonight was the annual dinner at the Green Parrot Bar and Grill in Methven. This dinner was made extra special by the fact that it was Eliza’s birthday which meant that the students were treated to the biggest red velvet and cream cheese frosted cake we had ever seen! A big thank you must be given to Mr Melchiori for organising the cake. 

With full bellies and the night temperatures dropping (6⁰c, but felt like -4⁰c) students have retired to bed for the night, with hopes that tomorrow the slopes will open up so we can get back into what we came to do….. ski/snowboard.