August 31, 2025  |    6 Comments

I left Colorado 2 weeks ago and I am still in Christchurch, New Zealand waiting for my flight to Antarctica. As I said in my last post, the plan was that Kara, the post-doc that I am working with on this trip, and I would spend three nights in Christchurch before flying to Antarctica on Friday August 22nd. As often happens with Antarctic field work what is planned and what happens can be two very different things.

There were four flights scheduled to go to Antarctica in August during WinFly. WinFly refers to a small number of flights to Antarctica at the end of winter to help get McMurdo ready for the summer field season. The first flight went successfully just before we arrived. The second flight, the day before we were scheduled to fly, made it to Antarctica but didn’t land due to a mechanical problem and returned to New Zealand. Fixing this mechanical problem has taken more than a week with a lot of the delay caused by difficulty getting the necessary parts from the US into New Zealand. Each day during this delay we would get a new message from the US Antarctic Program telling us that the flight was being delayed another 24 hours. Finally, this weekend the part arrived and the C-17 was deemed ready to fly. 

The second WinFly flight was scheduled to head to Antarctica today but bad weather in McMurdo resulted in another 24 hour delay. With this delay the second flight is scheduled for Tuesday September 2nd and Kara and I are scheduled to fly south on Wednesday.

Because of this long delay we have had a lot of extra time in New Zealand. If I had known a week ago that we wouldn’t be flying for more than week I would have rented a car and toured around the South Island but we needed to stay in Christchurch so that once the plane was ready we would be here and ready to go too. For this post I’ll share photos of what I have been doing to fill my time in New Zealand while waiting for our Antarctic flight.

Map
Last Tuesday I rode to Little River southeast of Christchurch at the edge of the Banks Peninsula. On Wednesday I took a day trip to Mt. Sunday in the high country of the Southern Alps. This past weekend I took an overnight trip to Lake Tekapo with a ride out to Lake Ohau. On Sunday Kara and I visited Akaroa on the Banks Peninsula.
Little River trail and Lake Ellesmere
A 30+ mile rail trail goes from the edge of Christchurch to the town of Little River on the Banks Peninsula. Along the way, the trail passes between the hills of the Banks Peninsula and a large coastal lake, Lake Ellesmere (right side of this photograph).
Lamb on Little River trail
It wouldn’t feel like New Zealand if you didn’t see sheep. I saw this lamb, and lots of other sheep, on my ride to Little River.
Little River trail and Lake Forsyth
Once the trail reaches Banks Peninsula it winds past Lake Forsyth nestled in the hills. Little River is at the far end of this lake.

I am a huge Lord of the Rings fan having read the Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings trilogy when I was a teenager. I am also a fan of the movies which were filmed in New Zealand. On Wednesday I took a tour to Mt. Sunday where the scenes from Edoras in Rohan were filmed.

Rakaia River Gorge
On the drive from Christchurch to Mt. Sunday we passed the Rakaia River gorge. The water in the Rakaia River, like in many lakes and rivers draining from the Southern Alps, has a beautiful blue color due to the glacial silt suspended in it.
Mt. Sunday / Edoras
Mt. Sunday (to the left) is an isolated, rocky hill sitting in the middle of the broad Rangitata River valley and surrounded by the snowy peaks of the Southern Alps. The Golden Hall of the Kings of Rohan in the Two Towers movie was located at the crest of this hill.
View from Mt. Sunday
This is the view of the Rangitata River and the Southern Alps from the top of Mt. Sunday.

On Friday I rented a car for the weekend and took an overnight trip to Lake Tekapo in the Mackenzie Basin high country of the Southern Alps. 

The Mackenzie Basin is a dry grassland, dotted with tussock grass, and surrounded by hills and snowy mountains. It is a landscape that reminds me of Wyoming and like Wyoming ranching is a major activity here.
Church of the Good Shepherd, Lake Tekapo
The Church of the Good Shepherd sits on the shore of Lake Tekapo. The church was built in the 1930s as a memorial to the early settlers and ranchers in the Mackenzie Basin. What it lacks in size it makes up for in the beauty of its surroundings.
Lake Tekapo
Lake Tekapo is one of my favorite places in New Zealand because the lake and surrounding mountains are so beautiful. I was treated to an amazing sunset view across the lake when I arrived Friday night.
Lake Ohau
On Saturday I rode to the shore of Lake Ohau. Like my home in Colorado, New Zealand experiences strong downslope winds off the mountains. In Colorado these winds are called a chinook but here in New Zealand they are called a norwester because they usually blow from the northwest. A strong norwester, with gusts to 50 mph, pushed against me as I rode out to Lake Ohau.

Yesterday (Sunday) Kara and I took a day trip to Akaroa, on the Banks Peninsula. The Banks Peninsula is the hilly remnant of two extinct volcanoes. The harbors of Lyttleton and Akaroa are located on large, sheltered bays on this peninsula.

Akaroa
Kara and I went for a rainy hike on the hills outside of Akaroa. The trail offered views across the bay to the town.
Children's Bay
Looking across Children’s Bay with Akaroa on the shore (left side of the photograph). Sailing out of this bay and turning left will bring you to the open Pacific Ocean.

While it has been frustrating having such a long delay getting to Antarctica I have been enjoying my time in New Zealand and am trying to see as much as I can. Fingers crossed that the weather in McMurdo cooperates so Kara and I can finally make it to Antarctica this week.

Thanks for reading. 

6 comments on “Delays”

  • Once many many moons ago I endured a 10 day delay getting to my destination on Baffin Island (NWT) – had a good bed and manageable food at the Cape Dyer DEW line site but scenery not so much! Delays are the hazards/manageable joys of polar travel! Hope you get out on the 2nd.

    Reply

    • Hi Ron. Delays are definitely part of doing polar field work. I feel pretty fortunate to be delayed in Christchurch since it is such a nice place to be.

      Reply

    • The strongest gusts were just near the lake – mostly it was 20 to 30 mph gusts the rest of the way and they did help push me back to town for the second half of my ride.

      Reply

  • I am intrigued by the grid pattern in the beach sand in that last image. Do you have thoughts/explanations about that? (Also, that is not a real lamb, it’s a stuffy, right?)

    Reply

    • I thought the pattern in the sand was fantastic and really makes this photo. To me it looks like the horizontal lines of the “grid” are just ripples from waves coming onshore during high tide. The vertical lines are where water drains back after a wave pushes onshore. Not sure why they are so regularly spaced but it makes a great graphic effect in the photo.

      The lamb was a real, live New Zealand lamb and it baa’ed at me the entire time I was trying to take its photo.

      Reply

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