Picture Gallery for Sat 2006-10-28 05:35:41 UTC

	Boarding of the 747 commences at LAX.
	Getting ready to depart LAX.
	Meal choices on the flight. I went with the penne for dinner, and the frittata for breakfast. Tasty.
	Possibly the boringest flight imaginable: 12 hours over the featureless Pacific Ocean.
	Night from the back of the 747.
	I get screwed out of having Friday... that always seems to happen.
	Over the Pacific at dawn.
	Our first glimpse of land since leaving the USA.
	Flying onto North Island.
	Landed in Aukland.
	Final statistics for the flight.
	Taking off from Aukland bound for Christchurch.
	The Egmont Volcano (Mt. Taranaki) pokes above the cloud cover.
	The northern tip of South Island, enshrouded in cloud.
	A view of South Island.
	The peaks of the Southern Alps.
	The peaks of the Southern Alps.
	The peaks of the Southern Alps.
	Christchurch in the distance.
	Sheepies in a field near Christchurch.
	Marco and Marie wait for the meet-and-greet in Christchurch Airport.
	Mark waiting in Christchurch Airport.
	Many other Antarctic Programme participants.
	In a shuttle van heading out from the airport. Note that I'm sitting in the passenger's seat, on the left hand side of the vehicle. If I squinted, I could pretend I was driving the car using my mind alone.
	Train!
	My room at the Grange B and B.
	The Canterbury Provincial Council Buildings, next to the River Avon.
	Christ Church in Christchurch.
	Big chess.
	Koi in the River Avon.
	Christ Church from the side.
	Looking across Cathedral Square at the cathedral. Unfortunately the Wizard of New Zealand has apparently retired, and no longer orates in the Square.
	The Chalice in Cathedral Square.
	The base of the Chalice.
	A large beech tree in the Botanical Gardens.
	A tall monkey puzzle tree.
	The Peacock Fountain.
	Happy Happy.
	Happy Happy.
	Ducklings on the bank of the river.
	Marie checks out some birds hiding under the rhododendrons.
	A World Peace Bell recently erected in the city.
	The path to the greenhouses.
	The sun dial is surprisingly accurate. It's reading approximately 2:24, which is right, considering day light savings time. Added:Gaelen made me realise that I might point out that this sun dial, like all in the southern hemisphere increase anticlockwise, unlike those in the northern hemisphere.
	Important Notice at the entrance to the greenhouses.
	Inscriptions at the entrance to the greenhouses.
	It's a jungle in here.
	This one's the flower greenhouse.
	There was a mind bogglingly large number of Solanceae in the flower greenhouse.
	Here's the cactus greenhouse.
	And, as far as I can tell, this is the "weird plant" greenhouse. A couple of the weird plants appear to be growing out of the concrete wall.
	Looking down into the jungle.
	A helpful sign in the Gardens.
	An impressive pillar-like lawson cedar.
	A really bold bird.
	Two really bold birds. They're acting defensive. We weren't sure whether they were worried about us or each other.
	The Bridge of Remembrance over the Avon.
	Another view of the Canterbury Provincial Council Buildings.
	My plug adapter. It converts a New Zealand socket (a "sad" face) into a North American/Japanese ("surprised" face) or British ("sleeping" face) socket.