Day 18: At Christchurch Raj got his physics fix by visiting the basement of the Christchurch Arts Center (used to be a university) where they have perfectly preserved Nobel Prize-winning scientist Rutherford's laboratory, complete with wax figure of Rutherford, himself, hard at work there. We also got to see a hands-on Science museum. At lunch we headed to Cathedral Square in the center of town, where the town crier tradition lives on. We watched a transvestite get into a screaming match with a sidewalk bible preacher.

But The Wizard stole the show. Appearing there every day at 1:00 pm for 25 years, The Wizard is a guy dressed in a sorcerer's outfit (funny hat & all), and he just gives goofy, off the wall speeches. While we were there he talked about how women are jealous of men because men can be lazy without feeling guilty about it. When he's done with the speech he sells upside down maps, where New Zealand is at the top of the world, for less than $2 each.

Later in the day we went to the Strange Film Festival, where we saw the 1936 American propaganda film Reefer Madness. We recommend the film highly. According to this movie, if you smoke marijuana, you will go stark raving mad and play ragtime music at high speeds on the piano. In the evening we discovered the only Casino in New Zealand, just opened 2 weeks earlier (in a town called Christchurch!). Tammy caught a wicked gambling bug & had to be dragged out by her husband. Blackjack was the game.