A pause in New Zealand after the third leg of the journey

After three flights, two custom clearances and three Gravols, we've made it to Christchurch New Zealand. Just two more flights to go before we reach our final destination tomorrow evening. We are benefiting from much needed fresh country air at the farm of Chris's cousin Matt and his wife Kate, with added entertainment from 13 month old Jacob, sheepdog Paddy, and sundry cows, pigs and chickens.

It's wonderfully quiet here, though apparently when the northwest wind is blowing it can get much more rowdy. The view from the windows to the east is the southern Alps mountain range, which is experiencing an excellent snow season. Southern hemisphere skiers come here, and wrestle with their ski bags in an airport decorated with penguins. We managed to miss seeing the NASA 747 plane SOFIA with an infrared telescope that was apparently on the tarmac when we landed, heading off or back from an Antarctic expedition.