Cold Day, Hot Pool

Hedgerow Visit  

We began the day with a visit to a native hedgerow. Dr. Hostetler explained that this hedgerow was one of the first in the entire neighborhood to be filled with native plants back in 2006/2007. We got to meet the residents, Pauline and Malcolm, a delightful elderly couple who explained that they switched to natives to be more environmentally conscious. Hedgerows are important in the Canterbury Plains as they act as windbreaks to keep soil from blowing away of off farmland.  Since it was cold, wet and windy we took a very brief look around the property and Dr. Hostetler explained how much the native hedgerow had grown in about a decade. 

Pauline and Malcolm barely want to leave their house due to the cold 🥶 

Dr. Hostetler points at a distant plant 

Nico loves the camera 🤪📸

Gear Stop

Afterwards, we had a little bit of time before our appointment at the hot pools so we spent some time shopping for gear for our trip out west. We also got to choose our freeze-dried meals - I chose a chicken curry. 🍛

Gear shopping!

Haiden is excited to find pants

Fun at the Hot Pools

Since it was such a miserable day, we visited Christchurch’s hot pools (He Puna Taimoana development in New Brighton) to warm up. This revitalization development after the earthquakes has also won an award for energy use for heating the pools with ground-sourced heat pump technology. They were warm and toasty with a great view of the beach with the waves rolling in the wind. There was also an ice bath that we dunked ourselves in to rejuvenate our senses. It left us with a slight burning tingle. After drying off in the sauna, we went back to our dorms. Another successful day in the books!

The colder the air, the hotter the pool!

Except when the water is 50 degrees (f) 🧊 

Catch you all tomorrow! ✌️  

- Ryan