Face a blizzard and pat a husky: inside Christchurch's Antarctic Centre

Before slipping into the Storm Experience at Christchurch's International Antarctic Centre to be buffeted and chilled to the bone, our guide asks if we want warm jackets. A pair of strapping Swedes declines the offer; ditto for the English couple. When I say yes, she says: "Australians always want one."

Ooh, burn. I'm a wimp, though, and unsure what I'm about to encounter upon stepping into the centre's cold-weather simulator where temperatures plunge to minus-eight degrees. Add a breeze gusting at up to 42kmh that creates a wind-chill factor of minus-18 degrees, and it's no wonder I'm trepidatious.

With shoe covers on and snuggled into that eagerly borrowed jacket, I gingerly step onto the storm room's snowy floor. A timer counts down to the launch of the next "blizzard". Until then, I peek into the igloo (some kids inform me it's good for escaping the wind), clamber onto the stationary snowmobiles and keep checking the countdown. As my hair whips my face, I can confirm that the experience is freezing but a lot of fun.

For some visitors, the storm room will be the highlight - but other distractions include adorable huskies that can be patted, a waddle of rescued little blue penguins that can be admired and, out front, all-terrain Antarctic Hagglunds vehicles (the Swedes share how to pronounce the brand correctly) that take you for a very bumpy spin through an obstacle course behind the centre that incorporates steep hills, angled side slopes, a tyre-studded rough patch and a one-metre wide "crevasse". Hold on for the ride.

An unexpectedly hilarious activity is watching a short film in the 4D Extreme Theatre - it punctuates its points by spraying you with water and releasing other "sensations" (luckily, it skips re-creating the splodge of bird poop). All of this is included with admission but I opt for a guided tour to gain deeper insight into Antarctic life.

I'm glad I did, mainly to understand that New Zealanders still keenly feel the trauma of the 1979 Mt Erebus disaster in Antarctica. An Air NZ sightseeing flight crashed into the active volcano on Ross Island, killing all 237 passengers and 20 crew aboard. Our guide says she always checks if any guests have a personal connection to the tragedy. Indeed, on my way to the centre, my Alpine Luxury Tours driver told me her father was involved in the post-crash retrieval operations.

The writer was a guest of the International Antarctic Centre and Alpine Luxury Tours