tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7397639407944475642024-02-18T22:15:25.938-08:00Going to Antarcticaby New Zealand author Philippa WerryPhilippa Werryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10459995279772723450noreply@blogger.comBlogger31125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-739763940794447564.post-85880265273275168562017-03-06T10:51:00.002-08:002017-03-06T10:53:37.040-08:00Back in the world <div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span lang="EN-NZ">A week might not seem
like a long time, but my time in Antarctica was one of the most intense weeks I’ve ever
experienced. A phrase that stuck in my
mind was a scientist talking about something happening “back in the world”, and
it did feel as if we had been to a different world. Going into town the day
after getting home, I felt overwhelmed by so many people and wondered how the
base workers readjust after not just a week, but six months or a year on the ice.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-NZ">I also found my head full
of ideas, thoughts and images. I think going down to the ice is an experience
that sinks deep inside you and may influence you in different ways for years to
come. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-NZ">So I'm still thinking a lot about Antarctica. It is in my head and probably in my heart forever. I'm still keen to answer any questions you or your students have about it, and still thinking what else I might write about it. </span></div>
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Philippa Werryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10459995279772723450noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-739763940794447564.post-74200845798502513732016-12-08T10:34:00.000-08:002017-02-05T14:12:07.943-08:00Day Eight: Thursday 8 December<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span lang="EN-AU"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Back
to NZ</span></span></b><br />
<b><span lang="EN-AU"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></b>
<span lang="EN-AU"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Today we were due to fly back to New Zealand - probably! </span></span><br />
<b><span lang="EN-AU"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></b>
<span lang="EN-AU"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">You can never tell for certain until the flight leaves, and even then there are sometimes boomerang flights going back to NZ, as well as coming down to the ice. But we kept our fingers crossed that we wouldn't get one.</span></span><br />
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<span lang="EN-AU"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Leaving Scott Base involves a whole new set of procedures. First is bag drop, which means packing everything up into your two Antarctica NZ bags, the large black one which gets checked in, and the smaller green one which you keep as carry-on luggage. If the flight boomerangs, or is delayed, you might have to go a day or so without your large bag, so you need to think carefully what to put in which one. </span></span><br />
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<span lang="EN-AU"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The night before departure, you bring both bags to be weighed (and you get weighed too) and the black bag is taken away. Then you keep an eye on the noticeboard to see what time you need to be ready the next morning.</span></span><br />
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<span lang="EN-AU"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Our meeting time was 6.30am - that meant 6.30am in the locker room, all packed and dressed in cold weather gear, and hopefully with nothing left behind, including lunch in a brown paper bag, put together the night before from sandwich fillings and other treats that Mike the chef left out for us.</span></span><br />
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F<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">our of us were leaving this morning, and Ash drove us out to the airfield - not Pegasus Field,which we flew into, because that's now closed for the season, but Williams Field which is closer. The American bus was coming over the hill from McMurdo with their passengers for the flight, but Ash managed to sneak in front of it.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">Ivan the Terra Bus from McMurdo <br />(this is what picked us up the first day when we landed at Pegasus) </span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I didn't really take in Pegasus Field at all when we arrived, but Williams is pretty scenic. No passport control or any formalities -you just wait for the call over the radio that they have finished refuelling and are ready to take "Scott pax". Ash zoomed over as soon as we got the call, so we could beat Ivan again and get good seats on board!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This was another seven-hour flight in a Hercules, but it all went very smoothly. I guess we knew what to expect! There were more people, but it wasn't as hot, and this time I even had some leg room. All the green bags got stacked in a pile down the middle of the plane, but this time I brought a smaller day pack as well, so didn't have stuff falling off my knee. The windows were harder to get at - you had to climb over and stand on things (in fact I nearly stood on a person, not realising that the US Air Force guy two seats along had unrolled his sleeping bag on the floor and gone to sleep in it), but most people looked really tired and slept a lot of the way (although not on the floor)!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">That's another thing about being down on the ice in summer. The constant light outside makes it easy to think that you'll stay up for a bit longer, and a bit longer again, and people who have come down with work to do are focused on getting that work done, which is another reason why Scott Base has a big focus on set work hours and the importance of recreation and having time off. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Woody was waiting to pick us up at Christchurch airport, and then it was back to the Antarctica NZ offices to de-kit and hand the gear back. her we were back in the same place we'd been a week ago, but what a lot has happened in that week!</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">Proving I was actually there (under all the hats and hoods) </span><br />
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Philippa Werryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10459995279772723450noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-739763940794447564.post-91409793366452529012016-12-08T00:10:00.000-08:002016-12-08T00:10:11.566-08:00Day Seven: Wednesday 7 December<div class="MsoNormal">
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Real science!</span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Today was set aside
for visiting one of the teams working out in the field this season. Scott Base
is the hub for all science activities, but for many of the teams it is the
place that they leave from and come back to, and it takes a lot of organisation
to get that to happen.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Just as the food and
all other supplies for Scott Base have to be carefully planned, ordered and
sent down by air or sea – which means you feel guilty leaving even a mouthful
of food because you know what it has taken to get it to your plate - so the
science teams have to plan in detail what they need and how to get it to
Antarctica. And because of the extreme conditions, things don’t always go as
smoothly. Equipment breaks down, or doesn’t work the way people thought it
would, or lots of other unexpected events can happen – like equipment not
arriving on time - to hold up the work, and living and working conditions are often challenging as well.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The team from K001 (each
science team or event has a number, even mine – I’m K136) took me out with them
on a day trip to the site.There were seven of us, so we took five in a Hagglund
and the other two rode on skidoos. They left after us and I tried to get a
photo of them zooming past halfway there, but they were too fast!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This team is led by
David Prior from the Dept of Geology, University of Otago. They’re trying out a
new way of taking ice samples from a hole in the ice shelf, and they’re also
hoping to freeze seismometers into the ice shelf to listen for sound waves and
ice quakes. This is a test of technologies for a bigger programme in the
2017-2018 summer season, and it’s connected with bigger issues of ice flow
towards the ocean, ice shelf collapse and global warming.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We passed the site
of our AFT camp and continued across the ice shelf. This is the way to Cape
Crozier, which three members of Scott’s team travelled to in the middle of
winter to try and collect emperor penguin eggs. One of them, Apsley
Cherry-Garrard, wrote about their horrendous trip in a book called <i>The worst journey in the world</i>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Our hour-long drive
was much more straightforward, and even the AFT camp site didn’t look so alarming.
In fact I realise now that I spent the first few days feeling completely overwhelmed
and intimated by the environment, but I’m proud to say that I went on my first
solo walk later today.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The camp is built around
tents and linked containers for living, eating and sleeping spaces, with the drill
site off to the side. It's all by itself in the middle of the ice shelf, surrounded by vast expanses of unbroken snow, overlooked by Mt Erebus and Mt Terror.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuODUNB8B9Hkka45hRKo0tIbmR-AjYcbFQiqaltF-QRJw8FEZkhZvn0CLzZxtKoP3dRH1BStvhTsBkoHbffaNKfZQkVltaXxunT4loJbAoZVZBj0Vqo6o20QeKD1sQ-8ZLlUXsN7nuf8Te/s1600/P1000396.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuODUNB8B9Hkka45hRKo0tIbmR-AjYcbFQiqaltF-QRJw8FEZkhZvn0CLzZxtKoP3dRH1BStvhTsBkoHbffaNKfZQkVltaXxunT4loJbAoZVZBj0Vqo6o20QeKD1sQ-8ZLlUXsN7nuf8Te/s320/P1000396.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Cosy camp kitchen!</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeh8ACeLH-pJzYfFevQPoMe4pZ1X03894c-A_uzm5LXtHYLwDBn5lVziUB1Z7oM4NCxH2IrAEzapEegmgNTZDEKLL61c2f4aBzjR72-t0ZJt3mHMZSK_dmF75BKSDt0pE4b15BDrKgD2rj/s1600/P1000372.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeh8ACeLH-pJzYfFevQPoMe4pZ1X03894c-A_uzm5LXtHYLwDBn5lVziUB1Z7oM4NCxH2IrAEzapEegmgNTZDEKLL61c2f4aBzjR72-t0ZJt3mHMZSK_dmF75BKSDt0pE4b15BDrKgD2rj/s320/P1000372.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">The view from the camp toilet!</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">The on-site team members welcomed us with cups of tea and
even toasted our sandwiches for us (we’d made lunch before leaving Scott Base). They talked about how the project was
going and the problems they’d come up against, and gave us a tour of the drill site. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">It was really interesting to see how things don’t always go to plan, or work
out perfectly first time, and part of the process is figuring out what to do next.
What makes that specially difficult, and often very frustrating, down in Antarctica is that everyone knows
what an expensive and time-consuming process it has been to get things to that
stage, and they also know that they only have a limited time available when they
can be out in the field doing this work.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We got back to Scott
Base at about 5pm, and spent a few more minutes de-kitting, getting back into ordinary
clothes and putting gear away. At quarter to six, I was supposed to be meeting the
American group who were coming over for dinner, including their writer in
residence, <a href="http://www.mariswicks.com/">Maris Wicks</a>. But just before that, I found out that our bag drop for
the next day’s flight was at 6.45pm, and I hadn’t even started packing. So I managed
a quick chat with the American group, then 15 mins of crazy throw-everything-in
packing before hauling all my stuff to the bar for weighing (this means
weighing the check in luggage, which is taken away and disappears and weighing your carry-on luggage and yourself.)
Luckily the American group were still finishing dinner so I could join them
after that. It’s so nice to have made a link between the US writers and artists programme
and our NZ one.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Later that evening,
at about 10pm, I went out to the pressure ridges by myself, and everything went
fine, even if I did have a bit of trouble working the radio. But Jim who was on
the late shift on comms obviously knew it was me calling in, and patiently waited
til I got it right! The seals were blobbing out as usual and some of the Scott
Base crew were out kite surfing. It was a lovely evening.</span><br />
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Philippa Werryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10459995279772723450noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-739763940794447564.post-13234058025394369992016-12-06T11:57:00.000-08:002016-12-06T11:57:29.525-08:00Still Day Six: Tuesday 6 December
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When we went into the
labs at McMurdo, Paul bumped into some people he knew and one of them,
Caroline, offered to take us downstairs to the wet lab and touch tank, full of
sea stars and sea anemones and other graceful, colourful and beautiful sea
creatures. Look at these - (this water was freezing, I had to warm up my hands in my gloves afterwards)</span></span><br />
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"></span></span><br />
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;"></span><br />
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We were so late
getting back that lunch morphed into afternoon tea, at which I’d arranged to
meet Lizzie who was going to show me the work she and the other conservators
are doing on the contents of the TAE Hut .More on that hut later! And then
Trudie tracked me down to say that Tim Naish, one of the scientists on the hot
water drilling project, had some very cool fossils if I wanted to see them – so
here they are. Leaf fossils and bits of wood from 15 million years ago, when
small beech trees grew in the Dry Valleys.</span></span><br />
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"></span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFRpGWVoFb0kqvf6zt6R47KWyw6bSzLchp5EXBtcoREcJuX4un6LgkjpY_epQ3R0gWSXS8ueNIdv2jHTxssPkqgwlh0bn-3JuWx2cgIhNJzUyIzhxfRGLWFnyhqqEodkAxQ_Dq1G1r861T/s1600/P1000323.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFRpGWVoFb0kqvf6zt6R47KWyw6bSzLchp5EXBtcoREcJuX4un6LgkjpY_epQ3R0gWSXS8ueNIdv2jHTxssPkqgwlh0bn-3JuWx2cgIhNJzUyIzhxfRGLWFnyhqqEodkAxQ_Dq1G1r861T/s320/P1000323.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"></span></span><br />
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And the day still
wasn’t over, because after dinner at about 8pm, Kat offered to take us out for
a walk in the pressure ridges (more on them later!) just in front of Scott Base.
So much snow had fallen that Kat took a pole to probe the path between the
flags -</span></span><br />
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></span><br />
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;"> </span><br />
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But we made it round to the spot where you can see the seals – fat black
blobs contentedly lolling on the ice. </span></span><br />
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"></span></span><br />
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As as we stood marvelling at the weird
and wonderful ice shapes -</span></span><br />
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></span><br />
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">we heard a puffing and snorting and saw the tip of a seal’s nose
emerging as it came up through one of the breathing holes. What a magic way
to end the day.</span></span><br />
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Philippa Werryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10459995279772723450noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-739763940794447564.post-266180168307297442016-12-06T02:13:00.001-08:002016-12-06T02:13:29.603-08:00Day Six: Tuesday 6 December<div class="MsoNormal">
<strong><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Snow, seal blubber and fossils</span></strong><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Today looked as if it
was going to be a quiet day because it started to snow and the forecast was for
worse weather to come, but it has been really busy and full of fascinating
stuff, from smelly seal blubber to fossils.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;"></span><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This morning I had a
trip to Discovery Hut organised with Paul, the science tech, as driver and
guide. Discovery Hut is the hut from Scott’s first expedition, and it’s tucked
away in a small bay only a few hundred metres from the American base at
McMurdo.</span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;"></span><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We took the main road
from Scott Base to McMurdo (only 5-10 mins drive away) and drove through a
muted black-and white world, so different from yesterday’s blue sky and
sunshine.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEjw0oOXQcjQUuuTO01rGq1w9zLX3RXi92pRebGbd3vR2blClVVJD2CpAMobRQ7cM0bWxUN3opzNm6JPxGZ02h3KkxRBSjwVcUPSmIVeoaUgYif56mkdA8F7hpB8AymPB8aMvKD0Rfb43z/s1600/P1000262.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEjw0oOXQcjQUuuTO01rGq1w9zLX3RXi92pRebGbd3vR2blClVVJD2CpAMobRQ7cM0bWxUN3opzNm6JPxGZ02h3KkxRBSjwVcUPSmIVeoaUgYif56mkdA8F7hpB8AymPB8aMvKD0Rfb43z/s320/P1000262.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span></span> <span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I’m glad to have been able to experience such contrasting weather
conditions, especially for visiting the hut where Scott’s team lived through much
worse weather. In fact the hut was prefabricated in Australia and
based on an Australian bungalow with a wide verandah, and it proved so cold
that the men ate and worked there but slept on board their ship anchored nearby.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilsy649HPavvk6ZhuQQX5Wv97OeHRRknqIG9dJ2lYw6wpOSaLI53grifko9EjBuY3JpSFL6DayoUtYniychIyoQp5eY3qPvHaklF6nGNQ2Xft5rF8Bb8-6NEa1wCLFc7IJJjTooz-_OrPe/s1600/P1000300.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilsy649HPavvk6ZhuQQX5Wv97OeHRRknqIG9dJ2lYw6wpOSaLI53grifko9EjBuY3JpSFL6DayoUtYniychIyoQp5eY3qPvHaklF6nGNQ2Xft5rF8Bb8-6NEa1wCLFc7IJJjTooz-_OrPe/s320/P1000300.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;">Just inside the front door was a pile of seal blubber leaking ooze, and the whole hut smelt of it - and lying outside the front door was this - a very dead, mummified seal. </span></div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;"></span> </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCoA_-0hImM9yUzlO9inoaIEnqKQftdMsoS4pbNKG8V-NXdkEgug496QXZAzbjKitgs-ihVqfj5SOI85bchg74Yh78Z-6pP6kQwc219pT7kwPK6w8bb-KwpVuirDY69weTG9afIyuyUz2y/s1600/P1000298.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCoA_-0hImM9yUzlO9inoaIEnqKQftdMsoS4pbNKG8V-NXdkEgug496QXZAzbjKitgs-ihVqfj5SOI85bchg74Yh78Z-6pP6kQwc219pT7kwPK6w8bb-KwpVuirDY69weTG9afIyuyUz2y/s320/P1000298.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;"></span> <span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I was lucky
enough to have ten minutes or more inside the hut on my own, just soaking up
the atmosphere. These huts are so evocative of history that you almost expect
to hear voices or catch glimpses of the men at work.</span></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmaDHaBE8vmdy1rLJ1UZXPlFHzeTJuXmF80bpXrX2aYGyih1xDhyphenhyphenEupmHxX53yEA8ydUpPnxnPfxo78-dj5noMqeK6IsT4ZciAqNhgye72IdKD91pIdBoscDQfgX69omS0Euj0kienuQbd/s1600/P1000293.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmaDHaBE8vmdy1rLJ1UZXPlFHzeTJuXmF80bpXrX2aYGyih1xDhyphenhyphenEupmHxX53yEA8ydUpPnxnPfxo78-dj5noMqeK6IsT4ZciAqNhgye72IdKD91pIdBoscDQfgX69omS0Euj0kienuQbd/s320/P1000293.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">Remains of the last dinner cooked here, still in the frypan</span></td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu1CgrTg-tjAMgA-V2mEahwPfnD2tn6JGsPaEwDOwt8stPdM7Be5ECIciyUYbaODHAlP2MSwn6NPCNjUi6lK6Vtmu6uy5mT9ekSSInR5Dt8ClXDQuZU1vGFa3WBSFb5UzvUJmIYNRlaSN4/s1600/P1000277.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu1CgrTg-tjAMgA-V2mEahwPfnD2tn6JGsPaEwDOwt8stPdM7Be5ECIciyUYbaODHAlP2MSwn6NPCNjUi6lK6Vtmu6uy5mT9ekSSInR5Dt8ClXDQuZU1vGFa3WBSFb5UzvUJmIYNRlaSN4/s320/P1000277.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7n9V14Vqs84Fu4HMJyuDBQYQlX5dbw-z3-ba7yqnc42WWU6T_Ltfnr83mYSQ3OvkOPdkcanrf-amVoZq9WLED3w1FCiD3lF9wk2WC2pFy6FFyn4SeLFVxFqiS9MKh2VeO6Cueh3EjKHp8/s1600/P1000279.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7n9V14Vqs84Fu4HMJyuDBQYQlX5dbw-z3-ba7yqnc42WWU6T_Ltfnr83mYSQ3OvkOPdkcanrf-amVoZq9WLED3w1FCiD3lF9wk2WC2pFy6FFyn4SeLFVxFqiS9MKh2VeO6Cueh3EjKHp8/s320/P1000279.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;"></span> <span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Afterwards we had a
drive around McMurdo, which makes you see Scott Base in a whole new light. McMurdo
is so much bigger, housing over a thousand people, and it has big accommodation
blocks, a fire station, hospital, helicopter pads, warehouses, a gym, a chapel,a
coffee house/wine bar and huge computer labs, and a more industrial,
mining-town feel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Having said that, the
people we did meet in the labs and the canteen were all really friendly. Scott
Base has an American night every Thursday and apparently the Americans from
McMurdo love coming here for dinner.</span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;"></span><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Whenever you leave
Scott Base, even if just for a walk, you have to sign out, say which vehicle
you are taking (if driving) and what time you expect to be back. At least one
member of your party has to take a radio and spare battery, and you have to
call in to the comms team at regular intervals with updates. We signed out from
11 to 12.30pm, but were out longer than planned as there was so much to see, so
we called back and asked comms to extend our return time to 2pm. We also asked
if they could arrange to put aside two lunches for us and lovely Ruby (who was
on our Cape Evans trip yesterday) sorted that for us too.</span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;"></span><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">There was more to come
– I haven’t even got to the fossils yet! The day wasn’t over!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBUIffcxqNyaMk7hMTZjPWyb__KEz0ZbxHq_SNNdPrfbnhhoKqykz3qf7preEC2crsV0da_RLpGcGUwSDejgMXwfqUaILtsiVbUPIBx2LInX1JZBrdkVvFb0xizxs9frCd7ZBuLheDNflk/s1600/P1000307.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBUIffcxqNyaMk7hMTZjPWyb__KEz0ZbxHq_SNNdPrfbnhhoKqykz3qf7preEC2crsV0da_RLpGcGUwSDejgMXwfqUaILtsiVbUPIBx2LInX1JZBrdkVvFb0xizxs9frCd7ZBuLheDNflk/s320/P1000307.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">Christmas at McMurdo</span></td></tr>
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</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman";"> </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXxBkLVz8r8GTUPv0j-HH8J0UlYAT0NpVIMTZsgjjZKzuxSBEF1bngcoOH9WLWcCU8uPBwGd_-qtJ4KESyD1Fg2jno3cvAz-G4jbOSDAUl7InLpXJRNQm1M7x_RxRafSTKeoMkLrSEO0yg/s1600/P1000313.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXxBkLVz8r8GTUPv0j-HH8J0UlYAT0NpVIMTZsgjjZKzuxSBEF1bngcoOH9WLWcCU8uPBwGd_-qtJ4KESyD1Fg2jno3cvAz-G4jbOSDAUl7InLpXJRNQm1M7x_RxRafSTKeoMkLrSEO0yg/s320/P1000313.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">Chapel of the Snows at McMurdo</span></td></tr>
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Philippa Werryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10459995279772723450noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-739763940794447564.post-84365513116144728322016-12-05T00:24:00.001-08:002016-12-05T00:24:48.017-08:00Day Five: Monday 5 December <div class="MsoNormal">
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</span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Unexpected treats (but everything down here is
a treat)<o:p></o:p></span></span></b><br />
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Today our programme
got rejigged slightly and suddenly a trip to Captain Scott’s hut at Cape
Evans was on offer. How could anyone refuse that?</span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;"></span><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There are three huts
that are either very close, or fairly close to Scott Base. Discovery Hut (from
Scott’s first expedition) is at Hut Point, right beside the American base at
McMurdo. Cape Evans houses the hut from his second Terra Nova expedition, the
one from which they launched their attempt on the South Pole, and further away
at Cape Royds is Shackleton’s hut from his Nimrod expedition. (Discovery, Terra Nova and Nimrod are the
names of their ships.) I could never get the positions of these three huts
straight in my mind before, but now I’ve been to one – and might see another
tomorrow – it all makes more sense.</span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;"></span><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Departure time was set
for 8am, we got away by 8.15, packing the survival kits on the roof of the
Hagglund in case it went through the ice, so they would float. (Comforting
thought.) </span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;"></span><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Mark drove us out from
Scott Base, and across the sea ice in front of McMurdo, then just
kept going in a straight line across the ice for about an hour and a half –</span>
</span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But we did stop to have a look at these amazing icebergs frozen into the ice,
near the islands we saw from the top of Castle Rock. The icicles were melting
and we could hear the tinkling of water, the only sound in that vast landscape
apart from the odd screeching skua overhead.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhp3kVE3yY4AN12qlQKQ9dC5Aye0in-MvufgIkjjZ70WpK2cpCfKxT_5n_EusBhvRn8gg4rFcL6lRGYKfibwvSCagd-cQS-9HYXHCR6Fe6TO_Pm88XSn7ao-Zjjp2i0c9hZCkPr17tFT3qu/s1600/P1000130.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhp3kVE3yY4AN12qlQKQ9dC5Aye0in-MvufgIkjjZ70WpK2cpCfKxT_5n_EusBhvRn8gg4rFcL6lRGYKfibwvSCagd-cQS-9HYXHCR6Fe6TO_Pm88XSn7ao-Zjjp2i0c9hZCkPr17tFT3qu/s320/P1000130.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The hut at Cape Evans
is right on the water’s edge, or where the water would be if the sea ice
melted, which means you have to watch out for tide cracks and make sure you
don’t fall into one.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiX7nvjwjtyAmReoCS7cf02LVmMD7ct3NGAShvOQYas_hoQ5yuXXJRL4mEJj0zS9bHfnC42Ku7sAk9v3UENZ8N204V-AiGyGO3eI6MsMq49kqCQj0yYhjYyCEbcouR1Qc5dFajrPHM_NCHq/s1600/P1000199.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiX7nvjwjtyAmReoCS7cf02LVmMD7ct3NGAShvOQYas_hoQ5yuXXJRL4mEJj0zS9bHfnC42Ku7sAk9v3UENZ8N204V-AiGyGO3eI6MsMq49kqCQj0yYhjYyCEbcouR1Qc5dFajrPHM_NCHq/s320/P1000199.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span></span> </div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I’ve read so much
about these huts and expeditions – books and diaries written by the men
themselves – that I knew it would be an amazing experience to go there, but
everyone finds it amazing, no matter how much you know (or don’t know) about
the early polar explorers. For a start, it’s astonishing to think that they
brought everything they needed with them to build the huts, and then built
them, and what they left behind is just a fraction of what they needed for
their time on the ice.</span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;"></span><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And inside, it’s so
beautifully restored that history seeps out of every dark corner, and you can
close your eyes and imagine it all being used: the kitchen, bunks, tables, jugs
and bowls, chairs, scientific equipment, clothes, sealskin shoes, tins of food,
piles of skis leaning against the wall…</span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I especially love the tins and cans of food and other kitchen equipment -</span> </span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtzcmy5YuNmiZYuetR4i6oJn7auxTzyqVf-AXMcgzzqF9hhICAKrr6yIWCZC7FPJ4HqTDBQ56Z58frqeZUU2c4XBG9u3_OvfP48HOJsJC_v74EDyyM05NdwkHCvSLe8HwI2sec-43WYMOw/s1600/P1000165.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtzcmy5YuNmiZYuetR4i6oJn7auxTzyqVf-AXMcgzzqF9hhICAKrr6yIWCZC7FPJ4HqTDBQ56Z58frqeZUU2c4XBG9u3_OvfP48HOJsJC_v74EDyyM05NdwkHCvSLe8HwI2sec-43WYMOw/s320/P1000165.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And the way that all the bunks differ because the men built their own ones, some better than others.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9GZZVSd5f_P9TOq00nK91RaoxasL9RZ106kTeewPwe1vWtArt03MSKJGk7H6BNDRIuJiDL3uPO1faA4ZPrIzds5JBIFJwgv-N6zkklE-aRWjZtySgbguYcVtc7e5hCLT4rmjWpAxSvVg5/s1600/P1000178.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9GZZVSd5f_P9TOq00nK91RaoxasL9RZ106kTeewPwe1vWtArt03MSKJGk7H6BNDRIuJiDL3uPO1faA4ZPrIzds5JBIFJwgv-N6zkklE-aRWjZtySgbguYcVtc7e5hCLT4rmjWpAxSvVg5/s320/P1000178.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And other random stuff...</span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyq0idUUTvFG8hu2F_rOI1SFen8gkzshjZFr-Rp9H1r6y68qLY6gInTQ5j7yMoVNdCtHgXkkaOkdcvuhJFDTMbe-6Vnd43Z04hcqdKDb8w6iN_iNZiXs9cjT75C7WKD_LnAsMUObBVtXff/s1600/P1000189.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyq0idUUTvFG8hu2F_rOI1SFen8gkzshjZFr-Rp9H1r6y68qLY6gInTQ5j7yMoVNdCtHgXkkaOkdcvuhJFDTMbe-6Vnd43Z04hcqdKDb8w6iN_iNZiXs9cjT75C7WKD_LnAsMUObBVtXff/s320/P1000189.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Seal blubber!</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPBZZMMwYB2vJWf6RiWXJvkPz-nowqQ3VJhUxnZWZivKGPIIpjpsdLyC8Kc8F69cAx9QHsG1xt4feYhxTPVsk9O-2YOUNmh1ONTcLQ_rKFPZHUTBY4gjsh_tWLELTUX9IQWEtUkAm5bV2j/s1600/P1000188.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPBZZMMwYB2vJWf6RiWXJvkPz-nowqQ3VJhUxnZWZivKGPIIpjpsdLyC8Kc8F69cAx9QHsG1xt4feYhxTPVsk9O-2YOUNmh1ONTcLQ_rKFPZHUTBY4gjsh_tWLELTUX9IQWEtUkAm5bV2j/s320/P1000188.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">A box of penguin eggs!</span></td></tr>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After we’d dragged
ourselves away, we drove a little way further to see the Barnes glacier
spilling off the slopes of Mt Erebus –</span> </span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And on the way home, we saw one Adelie
penguin - the first one we've seen (because they need to live near the edge of the sea ice) that caught sight of us too and scurried away.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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Philippa Werryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10459995279772723450noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-739763940794447564.post-38417909104220434032016-12-03T20:56:00.001-08:002016-12-04T09:38:28.257-08:00Still Day Four: Sunday 4 December<strong>Castle Rock</strong> <br />
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Today Richie, one of the field safety guys, offered to take a group of us out to Castle Rock - a half hour drive in a Hagglund, then a scramble up the side of a big rock. Does that sound easy? Well, it wasn't! <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5go3x4Qw5XkDj-JjUz6tfmH_15BeODbvWSKyOOq4Ao69hyphenhyphenBlToGQ02xFnhduzrYTaR2Rjup97f43LrWXmosyufhN1Ucu5ggiVcYERqAys7CP0esoNL4BMW1x7hnUuTvwfloIl9qInX5lK/s1600/P1000112.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5go3x4Qw5XkDj-JjUz6tfmH_15BeODbvWSKyOOq4Ao69hyphenhyphenBlToGQ02xFnhduzrYTaR2Rjup97f43LrWXmosyufhN1Ucu5ggiVcYERqAys7CP0esoNL4BMW1x7hnUuTvwfloIl9qInX5lK/s320/P1000112.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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I've left out the whole bit about getting ready - although I'm much better at that now. I know where to collect a day pack and snacks from, what sort of clothes I might need, and what else to put in my pack, and I remembered to sign out without having to traipse all the way back and do that, and I gave myself enough time so I didn't get completely hot and bothered pulling on all the jackets and boots, and I don't feel quite so overwhelmed when stepping outside into the cold.<br />
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I've also left out the bit about slipping over on the ice, and figuring out how to use the cows tails (I think that was what Richie called them? like carabiners) to haul myself up the rock face, and not getting freaked out by Richie's descriptions of what would happen if you got too close to the edge. <br />
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But once at the top, it was pretty amazing, with views from Mt Erebus smoking away to the peninsulas of Cape Royds and Cape Evans (both sites of historic huts) sitting behind Razorback Island, and glaciers spilling into the sea ice, and away across the other side, the mountains and glaciers of the Dry Valleys, and bits of McMurdo and Scott Base down below, just visible behind Hut Point. We stood up on top for a while and then ducked down into a less windy spot and had a cup of tea and biscuits while still admiring the view. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdupJz0kjphG7HZqWom68RbH5LK2AGlswuvax4i5OC8vTtD17AQoo5npQCp2Aoh3G0oijM24ClftRTZgtVyf-iqxI6DTsYkdVwdCLfXX0XA6S1FYwaRuvyaUmmOgaYG4t2my5ED4uMcZMS/s1600/P1000085.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdupJz0kjphG7HZqWom68RbH5LK2AGlswuvax4i5OC8vTtD17AQoo5npQCp2Aoh3G0oijM24ClftRTZgtVyf-iqxI6DTsYkdVwdCLfXX0XA6S1FYwaRuvyaUmmOgaYG4t2my5ED4uMcZMS/s320/P1000085.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-_va0CoLLG5w7jBS0QS1y0_xfaLhPgUP97fsyfX9AGaylU9RxglB9yqusGWCEhDyT8C01zQB_mFwT8RblT9zQ5Q-Sr9Ud53hUXqPt_rYeL3n5Dy8yguGgMJEkI7VA_wJk1lhqfQBguKnH/s1600/P1000086.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-_va0CoLLG5w7jBS0QS1y0_xfaLhPgUP97fsyfX9AGaylU9RxglB9yqusGWCEhDyT8C01zQB_mFwT8RblT9zQ5Q-Sr9Ud53hUXqPt_rYeL3n5Dy8yguGgMJEkI7VA_wJk1lhqfQBguKnH/s320/P1000086.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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I've also left out the bit about scrambling down again, which was just as challenging as climbing up,. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLh5JGi7ZVKTcVw4a7mY-1ZfxHoZEDpAdvnbx_iQz5oyr57uDzotKf3GCSsPYroa_HPotxyM2UOvcw2Cyl7VtuiDKd_l3Kltr3mwDcYxz_RWoe0dcjjFvziAujgBkVIn6ANRU0wqb6maS3/s1600/P1000107.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLh5JGi7ZVKTcVw4a7mY-1ZfxHoZEDpAdvnbx_iQz5oyr57uDzotKf3GCSsPYroa_HPotxyM2UOvcw2Cyl7VtuiDKd_l3Kltr3mwDcYxz_RWoe0dcjjFvziAujgBkVIn6ANRU0wqb6maS3/s320/P1000107.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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A few of our group set off to walk back, but I felt like I'd had enough adventure for the day by then, and anyway we had another science team lined up to talk to - a group of four guys from Wellington who've been working on rare atoms and cosmic rays, which sounded pretty enticing. <br />
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Scott Base is a long way from anywhere, but there's a lot to do, both indoors and out. People have been on walks for their day off, watched movies, visited McMurdo, or joined in supporting the NZ teams in the man hauling competition, with teams of four pulling one other team member on a sled from McMurdo to Scott Base. (Sadly the Americans won this time... )<br />
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After dinner, the science team we'd talked to gave a general talk about their work in the bar, but Guy and I missed it because we were on dishwashing rota in the kitchen, which involved a whole pile of dirty pots and pans (but it was a very delicious dinner) as well as sweeping and mopping the floor. Dessert was provided by My Crew Rules! (Part of an ongoing competition between the different groups at base) and their entertainment also included a "surprise mystery speaker" who turned out to be Richie, talking about leading a group on a 75-day climbing expedition up Everest back in May. Castle Rock is tiny in comparison, but it was big enough for me!<br />
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<br />Philippa Werryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10459995279772723450noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-739763940794447564.post-11935799929103012852016-12-03T11:47:00.002-08:002016-12-03T20:32:04.091-08:00Day Four: Sunday 4 December <div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Brunch and Fam trips</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Sunday
is a day off for Scott Base staff, and often there's a “fam trip” (which stands for "familiarisation trip", but "family trip" works quite well too!) This is a day trip out somewhere, </span><span lang="EN-AU"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">usually
announced on the noticeboard outside the kitchen/dining room for people to sign up to. That's what we're doing later today.</span></span></span><span lang="EN-AU"><br />
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<span lang="EN-AU"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Scott Base sleeps
about 80 people, but in summer there are people passing through all the time –
coming for short visits, or staying for a few nights on the way to their
science base out on the ice. At the moment, it’s pretty full. There’s a huge
amount of organisation goes into managing all the people coming and going.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;"></span><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It’s a very social
place. Everyone eats together in the canteen, and the eating arrangements are
described as being like a “catered backpackers” – the food is amazing, but you
line up to do your own dishes afterwards, and if the trays are full when you
get to the top of the line, you take your turn to put the dishes through
the steriliser, wait through the 90 second cycle and put them away. People take
turns on the dishwashing roster and the bar roster. There’s even a coffee
machine, for you to make your own coffee! All the food takes a long journey to get there, so people are very conscious about not wasting anything. </span></span><br />
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span></span><br />
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Every Saturday at 3.15pm, there’s a
meeting in the canteen for all staff to get together and talk about what’s
happening on base. It’s also very noticeable that people aren’t glued to
cellphones and digital devices – maybe because of the limited connectivity, but
also because it’s a place that encourages you to engage with each other and
with the environment, not with personal technology. When you sit down for a meal, everyone is dressed casually and the person next to you could be a scientist, a staff member, a politician, a DV (distinguished visitor), a writer or an artist - it's a very "levelling" atmosphere. </span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;"></span><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The main building
consists of a series of interconnected huts, linked by corridors and stairways.
It’s about 400m from end to end, and to start with (even sometimes now) I just
couldn’t get the directions straight, and was constantly getting lost, or
heading confidently in totally the wrong direction. The corridor walls are
lined with big framed photos of NZ scenes and science posters of work that has
been done down here, and there are lots of windows, so you can be walking along
thinking of something else, and then you suddenly look out the window at blue
sky and white ice, and remember where you are.</span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;"></span><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Every morning, there’s
a voiceover giving the weather details and news of the day, usually some quirky
item from NZ. Today it’s minus 4 degrees, sunny, but there’s a wind blowing
that will make it feel more like minus 21 degrees, and the news was about the crashed McLaren supercar on the Queenstown-Glenorchy road.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>Sunday is most people’s day off, and there’s
a big Sunday brunch at 10am, featuring make-your-own waffles as well as a cooked breakfast. After that, we’re heading out for our "fam
trip” to Castle Rock!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span><br /></div>
Philippa Werryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10459995279772723450noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-739763940794447564.post-46377362598780640032016-12-03T10:53:00.000-08:002016-12-03T10:53:00.939-08:00Day Three: Saturday 3 December<div class="MsoNormal">
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;">20 to midnight and still just as sunny outside.</span></b></span><br />
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">We were very lucky
with our AFT overnight. Other new people who arrived earlier in the season had
to do their in temperatures of minus 20 or 30 degrees. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">This morning we awoke
to another fine day, got dressed, packed up our stuff, made cups of tea and
packed up the tents.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This was when I
spent about 20 frustrating minutes hunting for one glove (of the many pairs)
that I couldn’t find – even though it was just me in the tent!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If I couldn’t find it, I’d have to report it
because you can’t leave anything out in the environment, but finally – after
searching several times through bags, sleep kit and all my cold weather gear - I found
it tucked away inside one of my (many) hats. </span></span><br />
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;"></span><br />
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;"></span><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">We stamped down the
snow trench and camp kitchen, so the Hagglunds wouldn’t fall into a hole, and
just before we left for Scott Base, Mark took us over to the Square Frame. This
is a container hut that base staff can book if they want some privacy, time out or a fun
night out with a group of friends. It has a bunk room and was incredibly warm
(so it can be used as an emergency shelter if needed for AFT). <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">We were back at base
by about 9.30am, but of course that wasn’t all – sleep kits had to be draped
over racks in the drying room, any uneaten packets of food put back in the food
cupboards, dirty dishes washed and kitchen equipment put back in the kitchen
room, rubbish disposed of, tents out away and the Hagglunds refuelled. We had
to de-boot and get back into indoor clothes in time for a quick session debrief
with Mark before morning tea. It was only 10am and once again it felt like the
day had been packed full already.</span></span><br />
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;"></span><br />
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;"></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;">The rest of the day: more meals. </span></b><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;">Lunch, afternoon tea, dinner (all delicious). Paul the tech guy
connected me up to the internet, Trudie organised for Guy and<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>me to meet with the two science teams who are
flying out tomorrow (weather permitting) to talk about what they’ve been doing.
At 3.15pm everyone was in the canteen not just for afternoon tea but also for the
weekly base meeting, followed by base tasks for volunteers. I volunteered to help tidy up the carrels room, where the dress ups are stored. (For dress up parties of course!) </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>Inside after dinner, people were hanging out in the bar or catching up on emails in the computer rooms. Outside, people were kite surfing on the ice
or going for walks on the marked tracks in their brightly coloured jackets. And now it’s midnight, and the sun is still shining…<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></span></b></div>
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Philippa Werryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10459995279772723450noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-739763940794447564.post-9516031228459977832016-12-02T20:06:00.000-08:002016-12-03T11:38:45.582-08:00Still Day Two: Friday 2 December<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><strong>Antarctic Field Training - overnight!</strong></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><strong>or</strong></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><strong>Glamping in Antarctica</strong></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We packed every single item of clothing we'd been issued with, ready for anything, but it was the most amazing weather. Such a gorgeous night - sunny, hardly any wind at all, and the ice crystals were glittering in the snow. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Mark, our field trainer, drove us in the Hagglund about half an hour out of Scott Base. We unloaded the gear and started practising our outdoor and survival skills (which some of us have more of than others). This meant, first of all, putting up the survival tent and three Scott Polar tents, and laying out our sleep kit - four layers of sleeping bags - so it was ready to climb into. </span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-JHhZERbJYU0fdsMWNrZmcVyZHlLQDPltNhVO-1G8xcN1cwWkO0-Sk7s15GEP1XUNBz_TNhA8q-8U37sjf6vsrdqG2ferdiPwfmroS10f6Gn0Wx5bwnX6NXVwzE-z-6NlbdGfJJsdKRLW/s1600/P1000051.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-JHhZERbJYU0fdsMWNrZmcVyZHlLQDPltNhVO-1G8xcN1cwWkO0-Sk7s15GEP1XUNBz_TNhA8q-8U37sjf6vsrdqG2ferdiPwfmroS10f6Gn0Wx5bwnX6NXVwzE-z-6NlbdGfJJsdKRLW/s320/P1000051.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">Scott Polar tents in the gear storeroom</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The Polar tents are modelled on the style that Scott and his teams would have used, which is pretty incredible to think about. In fact you can't help wondering, even just such a short distance from Scott Base, what it must have been like for them ploughing and manhauling their way to the Pole, in far worse weather and less adequate clothing than we were experiencing last night. </span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6u7J7sTn0Bk9IlSsRasiSuBqca0Clb1DVeyA8TuDaga2CUKnYWr-uno3Nt_QoYO8ZYRaMNGaFzLmM7dEv1qa7YQSH3TpYsQzQe5EsDa_GpYCwKuDWR-ofz_KWSZBvlhOxHjeRgtPreykB/s1600/P1000058.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6u7J7sTn0Bk9IlSsRasiSuBqca0Clb1DVeyA8TuDaga2CUKnYWr-uno3Nt_QoYO8ZYRaMNGaFzLmM7dEv1qa7YQSH3TpYsQzQe5EsDa_GpYCwKuDWR-ofz_KWSZBvlhOxHjeRgtPreykB/s320/P1000058.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">Setting up tents</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Want to know how to build a snow kitchen? I can tell you! It involves digging out cubes of ice with a snow saw and spades (I didn't even know there was such a thing as a snow saw.) The ice cubes get built into a wall to give you shelter from the wind. (There wasn't much wind - but you have to be prepared for a change in the weather.)</span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSC39LuWDfxSNNsE5Gva1eL1-dXEXErfn5ErxrSBcnqwOiCN3EtJSvY8neyaG_Bshz_e_CTncNJ1f8-u7qVTp8rXqed0WoFW8-qG0Rc1GNw1LTpBE8jdEthzG2sclbyLh9FxBLT84KwB_g/s1600/P1000061.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSC39LuWDfxSNNsE5Gva1eL1-dXEXErfn5ErxrSBcnqwOiCN3EtJSvY8neyaG_Bshz_e_CTncNJ1f8-u7qVTp8rXqed0WoFW8-qG0Rc1GNw1LTpBE8jdEthzG2sclbyLh9FxBLT84KwB_g/s320/P1000061.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">Still no wind!</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">There were six of us plus Mark in our group: me and Guy, Jeremy from NIWA and Gerry, Chris and Andrew from LINZ. When we were working out who would go in which tent, Jeremy said he'd like to sleep in a snow trench, so that's what he was making while we were constructing our kitchen. I hope he wasn't just being nice to me, because he really did seem to want to sleep out in his trench (which did look pretty cool), but as you can see from the list of names, I was the only female in our group. I'd been happy to share - but actually it was pretty nice to have a tent to myself. (And I ended up with so much stuff spread all over it that I don't know how the others managed with two to a tent.)</span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi886aRArUAEycsCPQpx-ersd9qpm46Ivv4Cmhyphenhypheno0gF1HaoxVkuxiHhm2soMBJ2WK-MKqvxxaxYaYHsAh2IfoOlPZCTjSffbHai-dqg5PZa69K1iTT_T5rE7rP94wg6aL5kdxFu2zVF32MW/s1600/P1000059.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi886aRArUAEycsCPQpx-ersd9qpm46Ivv4Cmhyphenhypheno0gF1HaoxVkuxiHhm2soMBJ2WK-MKqvxxaxYaYHsAh2IfoOlPZCTjSffbHai-dqg5PZa69K1iTT_T5rE7rP94wg6aL5kdxFu2zVF32MW/s320/P1000059.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">My home for the (sunny) night</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBtSkmmZ-W6uTDeVhYoH_3LxP6OIxBlW4FhyphenhyphenhjeW7Kgq7Qkt5LHMigScTvFPRoz4fe7BV93RK4gjvbS53ridOtjd0wGXhIGtLfAbyD4AG57KQnnMDPeM9ggiCeNzkHr7RXYNmuMExVviBr/s1600/P1000071.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBtSkmmZ-W6uTDeVhYoH_3LxP6OIxBlW4FhyphenhyphenhjeW7Kgq7Qkt5LHMigScTvFPRoz4fe7BV93RK4gjvbS53ridOtjd0wGXhIGtLfAbyD4AG57KQnnMDPeM9ggiCeNzkHr7RXYNmuMExVviBr/s320/P1000071.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">And me!</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The sun slowly circled around the horizon, and away in the distance, but looking so close, Mt Erebus was wreathed in a shawl of clouds, with a faint puff of smoke sometimes coming from the summit. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXoVJXzsdQ5UR3-QkbiokSwUfdYSYKfd_dpyQREeBKJgAZRT5ZXRYhEom7NjrW1nqtmvvoT9iMYubNLVjeQVl_kIDXMOsBYsNvof9R7Gd0z3dDUpMHPhQevloR5JgMhiyPI_S5jzC1tes9/s1600/P1000075.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXoVJXzsdQ5UR3-QkbiokSwUfdYSYKfd_dpyQREeBKJgAZRT5ZXRYhEom7NjrW1nqtmvvoT9iMYubNLVjeQVl_kIDXMOsBYsNvof9R7Gd0z3dDUpMHPhQevloR5JgMhiyPI_S5jzC1tes9/s320/P1000075.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">By about 8.30pm we were all set up and sitting in our camp kitchen, eating cheese and crackers and drinking cups of tea. It was still sunny and warm and we stayed there for nearly two hours, talking and having dinner (dehydrated meals from the Scott Base store) and more cups of soup, tea or milo. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_sQJyVmFu4nec0lYsvHOCPrVik1-jbKr8K34FUGRapJM4z92SK7ch0_BS9goLNwY55OdwBZEBpOOzo7l5E0lUGUOwi1nTpXi072Hh7AqQjIUs9i2NJzvD-tiQoOZB2YplPv0bVqWQM2V1/s1600/P1000072.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_sQJyVmFu4nec0lYsvHOCPrVik1-jbKr8K34FUGRapJM4z92SK7ch0_BS9goLNwY55OdwBZEBpOOzo7l5E0lUGUOwi1nTpXi072Hh7AqQjIUs9i2NJzvD-tiQoOZB2YplPv0bVqWQM2V1/s320/P1000072.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial";">I discovered that eating is quite hard when you are wearing snow goggles and can't see what you are doing, and when you want to be very careful not to spill anything, because it will have to be scooped up in its bed of snow and put into the food contamination bag. The aim is always to keep the Antarctic environment as pristine as possible, so there are lots of processes for waste management that have to be carefully followed. </span><span style="font-family: "arial";"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial";"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial";">The sun was high in the sky and still bright as day when we started getting ready for bed at about 11pm.Then everything went very quiet, for hours - apart from a plane that came in sometime around midnight, and a few gusts of wind that set canvas flaps fluttering. But it was light all night, which was so weird. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial";"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial";">PS The toilet arrangements could have been a lot worse. There were a series of buckets (enough said). But at least it was inside a tent!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span>Philippa Werryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10459995279772723450noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-739763940794447564.post-15883941121831469642016-12-02T19:50:00.001-08:002016-12-03T00:25:59.031-08:00Day Two: Friday 2 December<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Antarctic Field Training (AFT)</span></b><br />
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">One of the first things
you have to do at Scott Base is Field Training. And everyone does this - VIPs, visiting MPs and all. So less than 24 hours after we arrived, we were putting up tents out on the ice and preparing to build an outdoor kitchen and table out of blocks of snow.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Field training is to help you understand more about
Antarctica’s unique cold-weather environment, and how to cope with its
challenges and recognise potential hazards, including the signs of hypothermia,
frostbite and snow blindness. The field trainers teach you basic survival skills and safety routines and show you how you could cope in a crisis
situation. Everything from the most basic (how do you know what the weather is doing, what do you wear to go outside, what colour flags do you follow?) to h</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">ow do you pitch a
tent in snow and ice? How do you anchor a tent peg? </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">How do you build an
emergency shelter?</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><o:p><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">OK to tell the truth, I wasn't totally looking forward to this. But it has been amazing. </span></o:p><br />
<o:p><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span></o:p><br />
<o:p><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The 6 of us who came down on the plane together were matched up with Mark, one of the field trainers. We spent Friday morning going over theory stuff, and after lunch Mark took us outside for an intro walk over the pressure ridges (where the sea ice meets the land). First thing this morning, it was snowing! The snow had stopped by then, but there was still a sharp wind blowing which made us realise that we really might need all that outdoor gear. </span></o:p><br />
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<o:p><span style="font-family: "arial";"></span></o:p><br />
<o:p><span style="font-family: "arial";">Mark's favourite three words are "let's boost" and "wicked". So we did a lot of boosting - in fact we never seemed to stop all day - and everything was pretty wicked. (That's not quite true, Mark did allow us 15 mins for afternoon tea, which came with three different <o:p>choices: muesli slice, caramel slice or lolly cake, all delicious. Morning and afternoon tea are taken very seriously at Scott Base.) </o:p></span></o:p><br />
<o:p><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span></o:p><br />
<o:p><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Later Mark let us have a go at sorting out which clothes to wear, preparing the food boxes, practising lighting the portable stove and getting our sleep kit together. Then we got into our outdoor clothes, packed all our gear plus some Polar tents into a Hagglund, signed out and set off about 6pm. </span></o:p><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCWGxX3rJuc4qGoHK0x_ThrXHfql5gu_5kXee4JQyZ8WIVJbagvV-cUE2KwXvG99dBMi4GjXLM_Ixn-Uqj16Vs74drs-sPr3rQP1ndBXmvd9mcfaS0DwAqaOVj9ZcYCOUYpb9kQIxyXg9R/s1600/P1000052.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCWGxX3rJuc4qGoHK0x_ThrXHfql5gu_5kXee4JQyZ8WIVJbagvV-cUE2KwXvG99dBMi4GjXLM_Ixn-Uqj16Vs74drs-sPr3rQP1ndBXmvd9mcfaS0DwAqaOVj9ZcYCOUYpb9kQIxyXg9R/s320/P1000052.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9cAWCwr1eWdNZHKwa4O__VS8aldnQm_mHDpFM8JDAGv43pMdo9aCdxJwOvlv5stQLXsRQT4ABB5-wKXXl6f9R0kVkI3P2YMRBx02S9EvbWy3b1hURNttMd_R_yYW_n1iaMkoSqlksPM5h/s1600/P1000053.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9cAWCwr1eWdNZHKwa4O__VS8aldnQm_mHDpFM8JDAGv43pMdo9aCdxJwOvlv5stQLXsRQT4ABB5-wKXXl6f9R0kVkI3P2YMRBx02S9EvbWy3b1hURNttMd_R_yYW_n1iaMkoSqlksPM5h/s320/P1000053.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<o:p><span style="font-family: Arial;"></span></o:p><br />
<o:p><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">"Got into our outdoor clothes" sounds easy, but it takes us newbies a ridiculous amount of time. Even lacing up boots takes forever, and by the time we've struggled into all our layers and jackets in the locker room, we're hot and thirsty and already worn out! </span></o:p><br />
<o:p><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span></o:p><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">More on AFT soon! </span></div>
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Philippa Werryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10459995279772723450noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-739763940794447564.post-25117051969262390242016-12-02T16:56:00.000-08:002016-12-03T00:13:55.931-08:00Day One: Thursday 1 December<span style="font-family: "arial";"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><strong>Flying to Antarctica!</strong>
</span><br />
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial";"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">11pm and sitting in my
top bunk and it’s still light outside!</span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial";">
</span><span style="font-family: "arial";"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">So I’m actually here
at Scott Base feeling slightly discombulated (partly because it’s 11pm and
still sunny) but also very glad that we didn’t have to experience either a
cancelled flight from Christchurch, or a boomerang one, which is when you get
halfway there and the pilots decide it won’t be safe to land and turn back.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial";">
</span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7XabCCNbHem9x4H9CnaVNa4zpA4WFLkg0Vp1n98jK8NSIhHisqCs16E1F-FjsYn4keY3V4kFOTxiHTEtfulGCkmKwRi_3CigZIviAk4JmtZ-lAmF17PxBSDXbW892JaeAJxP4-EMTN3S2/s1600/P1000027.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7XabCCNbHem9x4H9CnaVNa4zpA4WFLkg0Vp1n98jK8NSIhHisqCs16E1F-FjsYn4keY3V4kFOTxiHTEtfulGCkmKwRi_3CigZIviAk4JmtZ-lAmF17PxBSDXbW892JaeAJxP4-EMTN3S2/s320/P1000027.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Christchurch airport - that's our Hercules.</span> </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "arial";"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><strong>Things I did expect about the flight:</strong></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial";">
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;"></span><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It was so noisy! You
couldn’t talk to anyone without getting right up beside them and yelling in
their ear, or passing a written message along the rows. Most people had
earplugs or headphones and watched movies or played games on their phones or
read or did crosswords (you can guess which I did).</span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;"></span><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It was so cramped! And
that was with only about 15 of us on board - 6 Kiwis and the rest Americans -
when there can be up to 60. I knew that you sat along the outside of the walls,
and another row of people sat in the middle, but I didn’t realise the two rows
would be so close together that our
knees were almost touching, and whenever you wanted to get up for a stretch you
had to squeeze between everyone’s big boots. I reckon the 8 of us in
our section (2 facing rows of 4 each) were crammed into a total area not much bigger
than a big double bed. There aren’t any armrests and it took me some minutes of
practising and a bit of help from the American guy opposite to get the hang of the
strange seatbelts.</span></span><br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiht81J8KxXSvCtOuVqPmse18WlTzdNyh9osNofAnXdcqDMYFD8rmKMmK-VSt_MR1BMr4Z_SMtaKINyucSKmYl9-nQ0CSiuL9Ho8heTFD0EgN4l3S9JN9yHdVeCbQJh6VLvm2wtDaeT5dM1/s1600/P1000030.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiht81J8KxXSvCtOuVqPmse18WlTzdNyh9osNofAnXdcqDMYFD8rmKMmK-VSt_MR1BMr4Z_SMtaKINyucSKmYl9-nQ0CSiuL9Ho8heTFD0EgN4l3S9JN9yHdVeCbQJh6VLvm2wtDaeT5dM1/s320/P1000030.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Inside the Hercules - pretty much the only place to stand and stretch your legs.</span> </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Yes, we did get a
paper bag lunch and a big 1.5 litre bottle of water which was lucky as it was
so hot (see below). Inflight entertainment consisted of burrowing about
inside the paper bag to see what treats were there: sandwiches, crisps, a
muffin, a muesli bar, a mars bar, a packet of cookies, a packet of crisps and
an apple. Someone passed a written message down the row: anyone want to swap
for a vegetarian option? (yes, please!)</span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;"></span><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Yes, the toilet really
is a bucket down the back, hidden behind a curtain.</span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo9M9_Ys44KRafFLoGimtMKuLjSvyD1e0A1M2TjalOihkM6De-5SL2ye8ffrJPiReVWTUIyyxSOFY6rwI4KL3IfXNC8q6E8nmEtu34GwwT641AJWfsQPQnewnHO1w7PWrjwCzwTA5Enkp0/s1600/P1000031.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo9M9_Ys44KRafFLoGimtMKuLjSvyD1e0A1M2TjalOihkM6De-5SL2ye8ffrJPiReVWTUIyyxSOFY6rwI4KL3IfXNC8q6E8nmEtu34GwwT641AJWfsQPQnewnHO1w7PWrjwCzwTA5Enkp0/s320/P1000031.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Yes, that's it!</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><strong>Things I didn’t expect:</strong></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;"></span><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It was so hot! We’d
been told to wear our extreme cold weather gear in case of an emergency - possible emergencies were described at length in the safety briefing - and
once in the cramped conditions inside (see above), it was pretty hard to get
changed into anything else. </span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;"></span><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The lighting was quite
dim, and the windows are very small (more like portholes) so it’s hard to see
to read. One person had brought a mini book torch attached to her book. I’ve got
one too but it was packed away and no use!</span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Because it’s so
cramped (see above), you have to stow away your stuff and sit down as quickly
as possible, so other people can sit down. But once your bag has
been squashed into a spare space, you can’t get at it again. So all those 32 pockets
were no use, because I had put stuff in my bag instead, that I couldn’t get at.
Like a mini torch for reading with! And once you sit down, there’s nowhere to
put any of your stuff, so I spent most of the flight trying to balance books,
drink bottle, lunch and camera on my lap.</span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;"></span><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It takes a lot of
taxiing to take off and land. When we landed we seemed to be taxiing along for
about 10 minutes.</span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;"></span><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I thought we would see
a lot of ocean and then we’d be at Scott Base. We did see ocean – lots of it -
and then a lot of clouds -</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqlAjFYI7DqHKKEEbgEzb-gTtrswVNFQG8WMHPA14CGXcUklZe9dKttBh3TdlFjOtWqab7wGTRHs4rgbrQZNB6xfqKllZ0-ijXHWFRhjTFNKmYwWIcYQMWp4BgiVI5sExlE-n5Ptfm0IIo/s1600/P1000029.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqlAjFYI7DqHKKEEbgEzb-gTtrswVNFQG8WMHPA14CGXcUklZe9dKttBh3TdlFjOtWqab7wGTRHs4rgbrQZNB6xfqKllZ0-ijXHWFRhjTFNKmYwWIcYQMWp4BgiVI5sExlE-n5Ptfm0IIo/s320/P1000029.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span></span><br />
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">but then we saw floating sea ice, exciting! This was
about 5 hours out from Christchurch.</span></span><br />
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span></span><br />
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span></span><br />
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">And then we flew over Antarctica itself –
even more exciting! </span></span><br />
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijHgVSe2Dat_LK5IYS2C0LOzREW1W-SGpMeoZtuNQcXR4SxjPCEa90tfXhOsXa7doJcUO6DNPO-GfNzSGQOBU8ZgayvZnn3rMDgYcVQRYO3IkHD3d-6eXh60MorQao00QvAdJqDxpXowQ1/s1600/P1000035.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijHgVSe2Dat_LK5IYS2C0LOzREW1W-SGpMeoZtuNQcXR4SxjPCEa90tfXhOsXa7doJcUO6DNPO-GfNzSGQOBU8ZgayvZnn3rMDgYcVQRYO3IkHD3d-6eXh60MorQao00QvAdJqDxpXowQ1/s320/P1000035.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_1rImzPXP_uOFMD_-Hg1wTl4b_AbjPMmlkV4HGJIpHSErVsNJglv9pHw1OYUQoDKL-0HjjwL-T-Za5aS6qJPiEeosezLJdSFDQSI6ceCQCjrqFjamq7THFeSOnI55FOAEVEv9qNAhwAK7/s1600/P1000036.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_1rImzPXP_uOFMD_-Hg1wTl4b_AbjPMmlkV4HGJIpHSErVsNJglv9pHw1OYUQoDKL-0HjjwL-T-Za5aS6qJPiEeosezLJdSFDQSI6ceCQCjrqFjamq7THFeSOnI55FOAEVEv9qNAhwAK7/s320/P1000036.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span></span><br />
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">And when we landed, and climbed into an American truck, it took
another 40 mins of driving to get to Scott base, while the Americans on board kept
going to McMurdo).</span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;"></span><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It was sunny and not
too cold at all, and all the ice was glittering in the sunshine!</span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;"></span><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><strong>Things I didn’t know
but could have guessed:</strong></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;"></span><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It is very hard to do
up the zip of a bulky jacket when wearing two pairs of gloves and a balaclava.
Obviously didn’t get the order of that quite right. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">
</span><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Then we arrived at Scott Base, climbed out
of the truck and got welcomed and ushered inside, and</span></span><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> now here we are! This is my bunk room, shared with three room mates. </span></span><br />
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span></span><br />
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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</span><br />
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;"><o:p><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">
</span></span><br />Philippa Werryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10459995279772723450noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-739763940794447564.post-28061481805997318352016-11-30T00:21:00.001-08:002016-11-30T09:32:05.780-08:00Day Zero: Wednesday 30 November<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span lang="EN-AU"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In Christchurch!</span></span></b></div>
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<span lang="EN-AU"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Getting to Christchurch took a while as our flight was delayed by about an hour, but<b> </b>at least we weren't trying to go any further, because<b> </b>today's flight to Antarctica was cancelled due to bad weather down on the ice. That means there will be two flights going down tomorrow, and I'm quite pleased that ours is the second flight that will leave at about 10am. </span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-AU"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-AU"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">On the flight down from Wellington, I met three other people heading south: two from LINZ who are surveyors and one from GNS Science. Gerry has been to Antarctica twice before - the first time 20 years ago, Andrew once and Chris never. They're going to be on the same flight tomorrow, so I'm glad I won't be the only newbie on board. </span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-AU"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Woody picked us up from the airport and brought us over to the Antarctica NZ offices and </span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Clothing Warehouse</span><span lang="EN-AU"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">. (Woody has worked for Antarctica NZ for over 30 years, so he's a good person to know.) </span></span><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Everyone who goes to Scott Base shares some of the same experiences,and one of the first things you have to do is </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">report to the Clothing Warehouse so you can get kitted out with all the gear you need, and special kit bags to put your stuff in. It’s important to have the right extreme cold weather clothing (ECW) for outdoor wear – so Antarctica NZ makes sure you do. </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-AU"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Guy Frederick (who is my team mate on the programme for writers, artists and media people) and I had our kit-out sessions at the same time in two different rooms while Bob went from one room to the other, making sure everything was the right size and fitted properly. </span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The trickiest thing is
working out the correct order to put things on – there’s a sequence of layers
(base layer, mid layer and outer layer) that you need to get right, and then
you need to figure out – and remember – which pockets to put things in –
gloves, hats, camera…</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">So this afternoon I tried on:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">4 different jackets</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Thermal leggings </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Overtrousers</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">7 different pairs of gloves</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">2 pairs of socks</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">2 pairs of boots</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">A balaclava, a hood, and neck gaiter - and once you have those on, as well as the heaviest duty jacket all zipped up, you're not supposed to have any skin showing (also you have to work out how to breathe through all the layers)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Then Woody explained what to wear on the plane tomorrow and what to pack in which bag. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">And do you know how many pockets there are altogether? (I just counted them) </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">32!!!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">32 pockets! No wonder it's hard to remember what goes where. </span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWvIQpPhUqqAd8dAT1Dwigrg8V5X_ZkEV0eFvwLmMnXZVOcAly7fOBD9Me6JykvrNOJfN-s6Cf7iT90xAiq_Qul5XMHRegEy2rpu7vcMCrZkakSgZ3O6KOlsfRJgtetT-853nh0B3fpC_o/s1600/clothing+store.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWvIQpPhUqqAd8dAT1Dwigrg8V5X_ZkEV0eFvwLmMnXZVOcAly7fOBD9Me6JykvrNOJfN-s6Cf7iT90xAiq_Qul5XMHRegEy2rpu7vcMCrZkakSgZ3O6KOlsfRJgtetT-853nh0B3fpC_o/s400/clothing+store.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Where I spent yesterday afternoon: the Antarctic NZ Clothing Store<br />©Antarctica New Zealand Pictorial Collection; CC licence</span></td></tr>
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Philippa Werryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10459995279772723450noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-739763940794447564.post-14017033003971842732016-11-29T10:47:00.002-08:002016-11-29T13:33:51.410-08:00Packing for Antarctica: one day to go!Plane ticket to Christchurch - tick<br />
<br />
Passport - tick (I don't actually need it, but I'm hoping to get it stamped)<br />
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Sunscreen - tick<br />
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Sunglasses - tick<br />
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Camera - tick<br />
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Towel - tick (nearly forgot. Scott Base provides sheets and bedding for visitors, but it is BYOT)<br />
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Camera, phone and tablet all charged - tick<br />
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Spare batteries - tick (the cold temperatures means they get used up faster than usual)<br />
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Book to read on the flight south - tick<br />
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Maybe another book to read? (it's a 7 or 8 hour flight - and no inflight movies!)<br />
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Clean shoes - tick (you have to take care not to introduce any unwanted organic material on the soles of your shoes)<br />
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Lip balm - tick (you get dry lips because the air is so dry down there)<br />
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Handkerchiefs - tick (wouldn't have thought of this, but it's in the briefing materials. The air is so dry that people often get nose bleeds to start with, so a supply of handkerchiefs is recommended)<br />
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Pencils - tick (because the ink in pens might freeze outdoors - or so I've read??)<br />
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Notebook - several - tick<br />
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Removed all packaging - tick (so as not to take any rubbish down there)<br />
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Money to buy some souvenirs from the Scott Base shop - tick<br />
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Outdoor Antarctic clothing - no! Luckily, Antarctica NZ is going to give me everything I need, from head to toe!<br />
<br />
Also taking lots of good wishes from family, friends, school teachers and librarians - thanks everyone for your support!<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOIBVO5b0PUbl-tCaA-X1-UC6IzTZ9oWBGE7QxFrFvwBzqIhf6ZjogXt7G85cDCIMjDZAW65QYDSodiSGUkNQR9qHwHQKZdEC_xya3QgyWrjYTdeVOEBtf1QxPDfzS0_BKqeO6weczAy-p/s1600/clothing+store2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOIBVO5b0PUbl-tCaA-X1-UC6IzTZ9oWBGE7QxFrFvwBzqIhf6ZjogXt7G85cDCIMjDZAW65QYDSodiSGUkNQR9qHwHQKZdEC_xya3QgyWrjYTdeVOEBtf1QxPDfzS0_BKqeO6weczAy-p/s400/clothing+store2.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Antarctic Division Clothing Store showing tramping books and mukluks [what even are mukluks??] Photo by Chris Rudge <br />©Antarctica New Zealand Pictorial Collection 1988-1989; CC licence</span></td></tr>
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<br />Philippa Werryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10459995279772723450noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-739763940794447564.post-46959517684481263862016-11-20T21:40:00.001-08:002016-11-20T21:40:33.960-08:00One week to go!<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One week is very close… But I’m still finding it hard to imagine
that I will actually be going to Antarctica!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One of the first things
we do down there is Field Training, so I found this clip from Jason O’Hara (recent Antarctic
explorer!) very reassuring. Jason has just been down to Scott Base, and he
posted this clip called <a href="https://jasonohara.wordpress.com/2016/11/18/happy-homemaking-on-the-ice/">Happy homemaking on the ice</a>. (Those 7 layers of sleeping bags do look toasty warm.) </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Jason also has some other great posts from his trip on his blog,
including a <a href="https://jasonohara.wordpress.com/2016/11/14/weddell-seal-in-antarctica/">Weddell seal filmed underwater</a>, and <a href="https://jasonohara.wordpress.com/2016/11/14/warren-maxwell-international-singing-day-in-antarctica/">a rendition of <em><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; color: #444444; padding: 0cm;">Purea
Nei</span></em></a><em><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; color: #444444; font-style: normal; padding: 0cm;"><a href="https://jasonohara.wordpress.com/2016/11/14/warren-maxwell-international-singing-day-in-antarctica/"> by Warren Maxwell </a>for
International Singing Day.</span></em></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Now I’m off to do some packing. Or maybe to think about what
to pack. (At least I know I won't need to take any sleeping bags.) </span></div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw6ibY7Q0DdXT4hBZiJ7Zi9znpfso_GfLo33T5bl2OH8FKNPC5LBWlWdbx_osqwqeKEfuBWnS9HUTL8x-ZGpTv0OopHocENQeNKdVNa5YW7xwDaqJ-XiTcvCC67Y2JcMJQFVwGEDjJvqbg/s1600/field+training.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw6ibY7Q0DdXT4hBZiJ7Zi9znpfso_GfLo33T5bl2OH8FKNPC5LBWlWdbx_osqwqeKEfuBWnS9HUTL8x-ZGpTv0OopHocENQeNKdVNa5YW7xwDaqJ-XiTcvCC67Y2JcMJQFVwGEDjJvqbg/s400/field+training.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Field Training kitchen. Photo by Dick Frizzell <br />©Antarctica New Zealand Pictorial Collection [2004-2005] CC licence</span></td></tr>
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Philippa Werryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10459995279772723450noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-739763940794447564.post-41004065361551172022016-11-19T21:35:00.000-08:002016-11-19T21:35:03.278-08:00The South Pole(s)<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.15pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Is it true there is more
than one South Pole?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">How do you know when
you've got to the South Pole?</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Two good questions!</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Th</span><span lang="EN-NZ" style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">ere are actually <b>four</b> South Poles (and some of them don’t even stay in
the same place). They are the Geographic South Pole, the Magnetic South Pole,
the Geomagnetic South Pole and – my favourite – the South Pole of
Inaccessibility.</span></div>
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<b style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-NZ">The Geographic South Pole</span></b></div>
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<span lang="EN-NZ" style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This</span><span lang="EN-NZ" style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">lies at a latitude of 90 degrees south. It is the southernmost
point of the earth, so whichever direction you look, you will be
looking north. This South Pole was the goal that all the early explorers were trying to
reach, and where Edmund Hillary headed on his Ferguson tractor in December 1957. Today there is an American station there, called the US Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station, and if you are very lucky, you can fly there. </span></span></div>
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<b style="background-color: transparent;"><span lang="EN-NZ"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Magnetic South Pole</span></span></b></div>
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<span lang="EN-NZ"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The
position of the Magnetic South Pole changes over time, as you can see from <a href="http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/map/9214/changing-position-of-the-magnetic-south-pole">this map </a>– in fact it now lies in the Southern Ocean, over 2800 km from the Geographic
South Pole.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If
you use a compass in the southern hemisphere, the needle points south to the
</span><a href="http://www.windows2universe.org/earth/Magnetosphere/earth_magnetic_poles.html" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Magnetic South Pole</a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">, which means a compass is no good for finding your way to
the Geographic South Pole.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lots more good info about magnets </span><a href="https://www.polartrec.com/forum/icecube-in-ice-antarctic-telescope/compass-the-south-pole" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">here</a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">, including what would a compass do at the Magnetic South Pole, and a suggested answer to the question about how you would know you've got to the South Pole, and especially how the early explorers</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> knew, if they couldn't rely on compasses (keep scrolling down for that one - a clue - it's to do with the sun.) </span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-NZ"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Geomagnetic South Pole</span></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I’m not even going to try and
explain what this one is but here’s <a href="http://passporttoknowledge.com/antarctica2/ask/new/South_Pole__geomagnetic_South_Pole__and_magnetic_south_pole.txt">one of the best explanations</a> I’ve found for
the differences between those three Poles.</span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-NZ"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The South Pole of Inaccessibility</span></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is the very centre of Antarctica, if
you define “the centre” as being the part furthest away from the sea. But there
are different opinions as to exactly where that is, because it depends on where
you say the coastlines are, when some are buried under ice sheets. (There is
also a North Pole of Inaccessibility in the Arctic, and Poles of
Inaccessibility in the other continents - you can read about them <a href="http://www.atlasandboots.com/poles-of-inaccessibility-middle-nowhere/">here</a>.)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Another site suggests
there are three more South Poles (making <b>seven</b> altogether): the South Pole of
Rotation, the South Celestial Pole and the South Pole of Cold. You can find out more </span><a href="http://antarcticguide.com/about-antarctica/antarctic-geography/how-many-south-poles-are-there/" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">here</a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">.</span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0IRWVNFWWxZdMyW_7wzNSi3Ik3OpQrA1nHwl-G85_rFOS5oua4BWkOoHBNt4zqoQfGDJbk9paCBKlAxKXY0SZEDZpT0l7X2djTVjH75U_OY-_5W6oNG6YEs8E-zP0DCBW6EWH8s6KZSd6/s1600/geo+south+pole.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="268" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0IRWVNFWWxZdMyW_7wzNSi3Ik3OpQrA1nHwl-G85_rFOS5oua4BWkOoHBNt4zqoQfGDJbk9paCBKlAxKXY0SZEDZpT0l7X2djTVjH75U_OY-_5W6oNG6YEs8E-zP0DCBW6EWH8s6KZSd6/s400/geo+south+pole.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">South Pole; Photo by Josie McNee <br />©Antarctica New Zealand Pictorial Collection [1989-1990] CC licence</span></td></tr>
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<o:p><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></o:p></div>
Philippa Werryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10459995279772723450noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-739763940794447564.post-4786426029992528282016-11-19T20:20:00.000-08:002016-11-19T20:21:23.507-08:00Random weird questions<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Is there a secret place there where people might be living, and how long might they have been there?</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Ooh - who knows?? Do you think there might be?? </span></div>
<div style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 15.4px;">
<span style="font-size: 15.4px;">The idea of a secret place located amongst the snow and ice of Antarctica has teased people for many years. </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15.4px;">The mystery of what might be hidden there has inspired many films and books.</span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 15.4px;"> </span></div>
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 15.4px;">Some p</span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15.4px;">eople even believed in the Hollow Earth Theory, which claimed that the earth was hollow with entry holes at the North and South Pole, and ancient tribes and woolly mammoths living deep inside. Jules Verne wrote a famous science fiction book about this called <i>A journey to the centre of the earth</i>. </span></span><br />
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15.4px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Is there anyone buried there under the ice and snow?</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Yes! and it is a slightly creepy but very sad story.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">For many years, there was a race to see who would be first to teach the South Pole. In 1908, the British explorer Ernest Shackleton had to turn back when he was just 180km away. He didn't reach the Pole, but he didn't lose any of his men, either. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In 1910, Captain Robert Scott set off from England to lead his second expedition to Antarctica. He and a small hand-picked team reached the South Pole on 17 January 1912, only to discover they had been beaten by Roald Amundsen and his Norwegian team, who had arrived 5 weeks earlier. Captain Scott and his four companions then had to try and walk all the way back to the safety of their hut at Cape Evans, 1300 km away. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Edgar Evans died of a head injury in February 1912. Lawrence (also called Titus) </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 15.4px;">Oates felt that he was holding the others up, and very bravely walked out into the snow to try and give them a chance of reaching safety without him. He was never seen again. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 15.4px;">On 22 March 1912, </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 15.4px;">Captain Scott, Edward Wilson and Henry Bowers were within three days of a food depot, but by then they were very weak. Then a</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 15.4px;"> blizzard trapped them in their tent and they could go no further. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Nobody knew what had happened to them for many months. After the winter, a rescue party set out from Cape Evans and on 12 November 1912, they spotted a tent pole sticking up out of the snow, with three bodies inside it. The rescue party learnt what had happened by reading the men's diaries. They</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 15.4px;"> built a cairn over the tent and left the three men buried there. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Nobody has ever seen the cairn again, and it is now buried under metres of snow. But because the Antarctic ice fields move gradually towards the Southern Ocean, the bodies of the famous explorers will eventually - in a few hundred years - fall into the sea, or even drift away in an iceberg. </span><br />
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Philippa Werryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10459995279772723450noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-739763940794447564.post-45325295488725078132016-11-15T13:15:00.000-08:002016-11-15T13:43:56.750-08:00Two weeks to go!<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Two
weeks is not very long, although there is a lot of other stuff to think about
at the moment, like <a href="http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/nz-earthquake/86468965/what-happened-in-new-zealands-magnitude-75-earthquake">earthquakes</a>, <a href="http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/86506586/earthquake-aftershocks-pass-1500-mark">aftershocks</a> and <a href="http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/nz-earthquake/86501701/perfect-storm-hits-the-capital-with-quake-followed-by-torrential-rain">wild weather</a>. </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I’ve
also been thinking about the whole process of getting this far, which has gone
something like this:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">December 2015: See Antarctica NZ notice about community engagement programme for 2016/17</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Think: <i>Antarctica!
That would be amazing!</i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Think: <i>I could apply! I wouldn’t get it! But it would be so amazing! I could try!</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Lots of
helpful emails from Antarctica NZ</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Think:
I need a writing proposal</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">(<i>Lot of thinking here</i>)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">January
2016: Submit proposal</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">February
2016: Email from Antarctica NZ to say they are working through all the
proposals</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">March
2016: Email from Antarctica NZ to say that my proposal has made it through to
the next round, and - just in case - enrol in Victoria Uni Antarctica Online course (the equivalent of a Stage 3 paper, and the only science paper
I’ve ever taken at uni)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">March/April/May: readings, videos and online discussion about history, geology, other science projects, governance (ie who's in charge) and Antarctic inspired art and literature - so glad I enrolled in this course, even if I don't get chosen to go!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">April
2016: Email from Antarctica NZ to say they can’t promise anything, but it isn’t
yet a definite no, and it <i>could even be a possible yes</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">May
2016: NZARI Winter School on Great Barrier Island – a weekend of hanging out
with scientists and a range of other people – journalists, TV reporters,
artists, teachers – all fascinated by Antarctica</span></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD-_PXy2iJWYDobHiyVXqEZmvFzDISPkKdX0xbtZvF8b1hGYqvrbqUsaNyJuHS1X-2PMtFAmXbzgujzNSdsdI5LDIP5Y6v7QJ8FvFXOcdYLyt07vRDz622fwVo46s7hXbNNACBiMzDazV7/s1600/20160521_155047.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD-_PXy2iJWYDobHiyVXqEZmvFzDISPkKdX0xbtZvF8b1hGYqvrbqUsaNyJuHS1X-2PMtFAmXbzgujzNSdsdI5LDIP5Y6v7QJ8FvFXOcdYLyt07vRDz622fwVo46s7hXbNNACBiMzDazV7/s320/20160521_155047.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfhpjiIhfsAp8SviiqYe8wmrb5qmjTAdwe2PCyjf_uhqVc_PBO0bBk-T7Z29CYypX_HeXSmwse0mx1DNcX9z8r2tAJGdd50M0nK-zVeD4hvxJ_GrXB0v4eFkcWMkUu2-nSFS2cjnzZfm5h/s1600/20160521_155636.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfhpjiIhfsAp8SviiqYe8wmrb5qmjTAdwe2PCyjf_uhqVc_PBO0bBk-T7Z29CYypX_HeXSmwse0mx1DNcX9z8r2tAJGdd50M0nK-zVeD4hvxJ_GrXB0v4eFkcWMkUu2-nSFS2cjnzZfm5h/s320/20160521_155636.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">June
2016: Email from Antarctica NZ to say </span><b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">YES</b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">First
thoughts: <b>WOW AMAZING! I am going to Antarctica!</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Second
thoughts: <i>Antarctica? Really? Ice, cold, remote, far away, windy, freezing… </i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Thinks:
<i>I am going to Antarctica? This is </i><b>SCARY</b>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Is it
too late to pull out?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">(Lots of
supportive and encouraging emails from Antarctica NZ)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">June –
November: pulling project together, starting this blog, putting together a Schools Pack of resources, gathering questions from school children about what it's like down there, emailing teachers and librarians, sending out copies of the Schools Pack, trying to work out what gear I will need, feeling totally inadequate when looking at <a href="https://jasonohara.wordpress.com/2016/10/19/packing-for-antarctica/">Jason O'Hara's pile of gear</a>, feeling relieved when he says that his pocket-sized point-and-click camera turned out to be his hero. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Four
weeks to go</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Feeling delighted, apprehensive, still a bit unbelieving, excited, still slightly nervous... </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Three
weeks to go</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Two
weeks to go…</span></div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
Philippa Werryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10459995279772723450noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-739763940794447564.post-56500070844262332772016-11-13T23:30:00.000-08:002016-11-13T23:30:03.137-08:00Does Antarctica have earthquakes?<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This just occurred
to me today, during one of the many, many aftershocks following last
night’s big earthquake just after midnight. I know they have volcanoes
in Antarctica, but do they have earthquakes?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Well, they do have some. There was a <a href="https://www.sott.net/article/311360-Rare-powerful-magnitude-6-0-earthquake-recorded-in-Antarctica">magnitude 6.0 earthquake</a>
on 31 January 2016 that struck the area around the Balleny Islands.<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>I’d never heard of the <a href="https://www.nzgeo.com/stories/balleny-islands-end-of-the-line/">Balleny Islands</a>,
but they are a remote, uninhabited group of islands </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2000 km south of NZ.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">According to the <a href="https://www2.usgs.gov/faq/categories/9827/3370">US Geological Survey</a> (USGS), “</span><span style="background: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Earthquakes do
occur occasionally in Antarctica, but not very ofte</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">n.” Or if they do
occur, they may not be noticed, because there are very few seismograph stations
for the size of the continent.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But they do have </span><a href="http://www.livescience.com/28907-earthquakes-trigger-antarctica-glacier-quakes.html" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">icequakes</a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> – I didn’t know that! Ice quakes vary in intensity, just like earthquakes
do. They are vibrations in the glaciers and ice sheets, “</span><span style="background: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">similar to earthquakes, but [they] occur within the
ice sheet itself instead of the land underneath the ice</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">.”</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And
yes, there is a seismograph station at Scott Base. Good to know. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</div>
<br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSe5yYeVp-t_dDf6AkTJSa9LxKj6BuXC6JRImAIWo5QSIrKhMxpkVe10MNf6XeBAqz7fquslqXToM0qCI2P6s5isrsHRkFkc94G4Vi6pRs3xPrr5ElAqw1yqAinfC3sB-jrMSmnzlFMlRS/s1600/seismograph.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSe5yYeVp-t_dDf6AkTJSa9LxKj6BuXC6JRImAIWo5QSIrKhMxpkVe10MNf6XeBAqz7fquslqXToM0qCI2P6s5isrsHRkFkc94G4Vi6pRs3xPrr5ElAqw1yqAinfC3sB-jrMSmnzlFMlRS/s400/seismograph.jpg" width="268" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Ray Dibble monitoring Erebus seismograph<br />©Antarctica New Zealand Pictorial Collection, CC licence</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div>
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Philippa Werryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10459995279772723450noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-739763940794447564.post-71894648618426342112016-11-07T19:03:00.001-08:002016-11-07T19:03:25.902-08:00Your questions: Who's in charge?<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Is Antarctica a country?</span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">That's a good question! After all, what makes a country? </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">You might want to think about what sort of things your own country has: a flag, a national anthem, its own currency, Parliament buildings... what else defines a country?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In fact, Antarctica has none of those things I just mentioned (although there is an Antarctic Treaty flag - more about the Treaty later.) It makes up a whole continent, but not a country. Scott Base runs on New Zealand time, and you can use New Zealand money. As a New Zealander, you don't even need your passport to visit there - you can just take a driver's licence. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Nobody owns Antarctica. A number of different countries have laid claim to various parts of it, starting with the British in the 1800s. Explorers would land, plant flags, and claim that bit of the continent for the country they came from. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">But in 1959, the Antarctica Treaty was signed by 12 countries, including New Zealand. The Treaty said that "<span style="background-color: white;">Antarctica shall continue forever to be used exclusively for peaceful purposes and shall not become the scene or object of international discord." Instead it was to be used for scientific purposes. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">The Treaty said that nobody owned the land - but also that none of the countries had to give up the claims they had already made, which is why New Zealand scientists continue to work from Scott Base. If you want to read more about this, have a look <a href="http://www.worldatlas.com/articles/is-antarctica-a-country-who-owns-it-and-what-do-international-laws-state.html">here</a>. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgykMieVY-GO9zoz943uTNF7clC1rvI0qQATY9LBOGpOJzz56Q8E-bcAzvVe3rRbFxGxqp_v6mTC07mxXKnfMZ5xvBb0VJrxxOA2t6yqnZDk9SoI-zGUV4J16s07SGDijPYbncy8Uh6pmK/s1600/treaty+flag.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgykMieVY-GO9zoz943uTNF7clC1rvI0qQATY9LBOGpOJzz56Q8E-bcAzvVe3rRbFxGxqp_v6mTC07mxXKnfMZ5xvBb0VJrxxOA2t6yqnZDk9SoI-zGUV4J16s07SGDijPYbncy8Uh6pmK/s400/treaty+flag.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Antarctic Treaty Flag flying at Scott Base. Photo by Alison Welch<br />©Antarctica New Zealand Pictorial Collection [1984-1985]</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Under the Antarctic Treaty, Antarctica is a region officially set aside for peace and science. If you haven't heard about NZ photographer Stuart Robertson's "Peace in 10,000 Hands" project, you can read more <a href="http://www.peacein10000hands.com/?page_id=12">here</a>. </span><br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6Lx8dGhcA_UXOBDfJDjX4HBkEJLGOSCN7vjCybxCVEtZItX3rbOWthWOUIBLsvXwwWSqWFYalrqsG3E3QGgyeUmOPKUoNJ5TLDTSEmvPL-iBUsUwC65Mh1w8ps2ucwDA2SerrtCT69nZg/s1600/peace+in+10000+hands.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6Lx8dGhcA_UXOBDfJDjX4HBkEJLGOSCN7vjCybxCVEtZItX3rbOWthWOUIBLsvXwwWSqWFYalrqsG3E3QGgyeUmOPKUoNJ5TLDTSEmvPL-iBUsUwC65Mh1w8ps2ucwDA2SerrtCT69nZg/s400/peace+in+10000+hands.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Stuart Robertson's Antarctica, Peace in 10,000 Hands, August 2016. <br />CC licence http://antarctica.recollect.co.nz/nodes/view/61662</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Philippa Werryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10459995279772723450noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-739763940794447564.post-24381679545431556132016-11-07T11:34:00.002-08:002016-11-07T11:34:45.837-08:00Three weeks to go!<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My departure
date is getting closer and I now have a full itinerary, which is pretty exciting.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The
first thing on it (apart from flying to Christchurch) is heading over to the Antarctica
NZ Clothing Warehouse to get kitted out with a vast array of Antarctic
clothing.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And
once in Antarctica (which still seems unbelievable), there are some fantastic opportunities
which the Antarctica NZ team (thanks, guys!) have lined up for me. It’s all weather
dependent, but it includes a trip to Discovery Hut with a hut guide. I’ve been secretly
hoping for the chance to see one of the huts from the Heroic Age of Exploration,
so this is wonderful.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There
are a number of these huts near Scott Base, but Discovery Hut is the one that
Captain Scott and his team used as their shore base on his first expedition in
1901-1904 (</span><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Discovery</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> was the name of
his ship). Everyone who visits it seems to find it a really powerful and moving experience, because many things inside remains just as they were when the expedition left.
You can read a few accounts and see some photos </span><a href="https://polarscienceiscool.wordpress.com/2012/12/07/a-visit-to-scotts-discovery-hut/" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">here</a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> and </span><a href="http://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2016/01/discovery_hut.html" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">here</a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">.</span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0Lm0PIvBcp4dMPphMp_QUhYzWvuS45_Yc6s9HbxebE5dcHvbcalXCSOwUnqZUqWaiW8weh9LrtOaSbKZdOs8C1Mw0seeyJC4RxiSrV9WjBnb20We7aV3cor3Q-i6zRb5F7YNesrkmNGvT/s1600/Scott%2527s+Discovery+Hut.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0Lm0PIvBcp4dMPphMp_QUhYzWvuS45_Yc6s9HbxebE5dcHvbcalXCSOwUnqZUqWaiW8weh9LrtOaSbKZdOs8C1Mw0seeyJC4RxiSrV9WjBnb20We7aV3cor3Q-i6zRb5F7YNesrkmNGvT/s400/Scott%2527s+Discovery+Hut.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Scott's Discovery Hut, with McMurdo Station in the background; <br />©Antarctica New Zealand Pictorial Collection [1982-1983]</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnq8t2ZUkHyabTl3bp-LLztfB1_ry7l1mxsuiJy9liIdP7xY5BJJ4kPbw_PlvpwAJUURz9YMZAq55gelF2u4ZGut0Lniq6zJhkzriAXzsq3-_6zXfT0yp4HY23r3yq3bCijPHAvg1kY86v/s1600/Discovery+Hut+clothing+and+supplies.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="257" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnq8t2ZUkHyabTl3bp-LLztfB1_ry7l1mxsuiJy9liIdP7xY5BJJ4kPbw_PlvpwAJUURz9YMZAq55gelF2u4ZGut0Lniq6zJhkzriAXzsq3-_6zXfT0yp4HY23r3yq3bCijPHAvg1kY86v/s400/Discovery+Hut+clothing+and+supplies.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Discovery Hut clothing and supplies; Photo by Nigel Roberts <br />©Antarctica New Zealand Pictorial Collection [1979-1980]</span></td></tr>
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Philippa Werryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10459995279772723450noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-739763940794447564.post-27852187700789688762016-10-30T20:36:00.001-07:002016-10-30T20:36:40.219-07:00Four weeks to go!<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It’s just over four weeks now until I head down to Antarctica. I’ve had all the
blood tests and a medical check, and it looks like I’m good to go!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Other
years, I’ve not paid much attention to news items about the first flights to Antarctica after the winter. This year, I’m way more interested! </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The
first flight for the 2016/17 summer season left Christchurch at 9.04am on 3
October, and touched down on the Pegasus Runway at 2pm after a five hour flight
(on a US C-17 Globemaster, if you want to know). You can see a video of their
arrival <a href="http://www.newshub.co.nz/world/first-flight-of-the-season-lands-in-antarctica-2016100317">here</a>. (It looks pretty windy when they get off the plane!)</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPnqPJjEbWefnHOKH9pzn7GGHsEYYWj9Pcz_Z96pVxZGWDCvFgHEN35RusQWfNvnOEPbo3EkRC6Oxbvz_gswi9TJz1IsAaT2cglLbk7hqi-MVd0i793AWVkTKHO2COssd9t_NG77NNESvM/s1600/161003-Scott-Base-Crew-2016-17-arrival-of-first-flight-Photo-by-Anthony-Powell.-Antarctica-New-Zealand-Pictorial-Collection-2016-17.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPnqPJjEbWefnHOKH9pzn7GGHsEYYWj9Pcz_Z96pVxZGWDCvFgHEN35RusQWfNvnOEPbo3EkRC6Oxbvz_gswi9TJz1IsAaT2cglLbk7hqi-MVd0i793AWVkTKHO2COssd9t_NG77NNESvM/s400/161003-Scott-Base-Crew-2016-17-arrival-of-first-flight-Photo-by-Anthony-Powell.-Antarctica-New-Zealand-Pictorial-Collection-2016-17.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Scott Base Crew 2016/17, arrival of first flight. Photo by Anthony Powell.<br />©Antarctica New Zealand Pictorial Collection, 2016/17</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Many people are fascinated by the idea of going to Antarctica</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">. These are the most common questions I've had so far:</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">How long does it take to get
there?</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It’s
3832km from Christchurch to Scott Base, and it takes from 4 ½ to 10 hours to fly
there, depending on what kind of plane and what the weather’s like. (By
comparison, Christchurch to Sydney is 2137km and takes about 3 hours. Or Auckland
to Rarotonga is 3006km and takes about 4 hours.)</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">How cold will it be?</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I’ve just
had a look at the Scott Base webcam and today’s weather info online. Then I wished
I hadn’t. It’s minus 19.5 degrees!!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">However
– look on the bright side. This is what the weather table records for rainfall:
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">·<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span><!--[endif]-->Rainfall (last hour): 0.0 mm<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">·<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span><!--[endif]-->Maximum rainfall per hour (last six hours): 0.0 mm<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">·<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span><!--[endif]-->Yesterday’s rainfall: 0.0 mm<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">·<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span><!--[endif]-->Rainfall (this month): 0.0 mm<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">·<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span><!--[endif]-->Rainfall (to date this year): 0.0 mm<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So at
the moment, it’s cold – but dry. In four weeks’ time, I’m hoping it might be a <i>little bit</i> warmer.</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What sort of clothes will you
have to take?</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Luckily,
I’m pretty much sorted for clothing, thanks to Antarctica NZ. All I have to
pack is indoor clothing for Scott Base, much like what you’d wear at home. The
day before I leave, I’ll be trying on masses of gear to make sure it all fits -
and after that, the main problem will be trying to figure out what order to put
everything on.</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here are some of the more unusual
questions I’ve been asked:</span></b></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">·<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span><!--[endif]-->How long can you stay outside before you freeze?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">·<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span><!--[endif]-->Why does the sun not melt the ice? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">·<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span><!--[endif]-->Could you snow board there?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; text-indent: -18pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: -18pt;">Is Antarctica a country?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You can
find answers to most of these questions here on <a href="http://kiwikids2antarctica.blogspot.co.nz/">my Antarctica blog</a> (and if the answers aren’t
there yet, they will be soon). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I’d love
to get more questions, so let me know anything you’d like to know about Antarctica,
and I’ll try to find out the answers. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Teachers
and librarians – click Follow on the blog to follow my trip, or <a href="http://www.philippawerry.co.nz/contact.html">contact me</a> (or email me at books[at]philippawerry.co.nz) if you’d like a copy of my
Schools Pack, with everything you need to run a Thinking about Antarctica Day, and
templates for Ask Me About Antarctica and Winter Letters to next year’s wintering over staff at Scott Base. </span><o:p></o:p></div>
Philippa Werryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10459995279772723450noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-739763940794447564.post-28673255749230815792016-10-30T02:41:00.000-07:002016-10-30T02:44:21.480-07:00Your questions: Keeping safe<div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15.4px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>What happens if a big snow storm comes, where would you go? </b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Keeping safe in Antarctica is very important. You have to be constantly checking that you are eating enough food (for energy), drinking enough liquid (so you don't get dehydrated) and wearing enough warm clothes. </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 15.4px;">You also need to plan carefully so you don't take risks that would put you in danger. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">One of the first things that new arrivals to Scott Base do is field training, where you learn how to cope in sudden emergencies. If you were caught outside in a storm, away from a tent or hut, you could build a snow cave. You pile all your gear in a mound, cover it with snow and pack the snow down. Then you dig a tunnel to pull out your gear and make space for you to sleep in. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Here's a very cool video of some people actually <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gUMWWRf51Q0">building a snow cave</a>. </span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieFuKTQAMeCUUHukP6xA7TSFZPE6WN4sHbdzSza0B9cDKGBtpUnnldEqf9hbvQGfhA3uNoD-IcX8iwzPE9CCseq3CEjNU-g8MVNmH5_-TsV2JycjOb28OZW_V0Y_o6qwlGwuzh7KxBVNPG/s1600/snow+cave.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="270" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieFuKTQAMeCUUHukP6xA7TSFZPE6WN4sHbdzSza0B9cDKGBtpUnnldEqf9hbvQGfhA3uNoD-IcX8iwzPE9CCseq3CEjNU-g8MVNmH5_-TsV2JycjOb28OZW_V0Y_o6qwlGwuzh7KxBVNPG/s400/snow+cave.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">Digging out a snow cave. Photo by Jim Barker<br /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;">©Antarctica New Zealand Pictorial Collection [1970]</span></span></td></tr>
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<b style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.4px;">How do you know where the ground is that will not collapse through?</b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Something else you start to learn on the field training course. Around Scott Base, there are flags to show where the safe walking routes are. If you go further away, there are rules to follow about how to keep safe. But it can still be dangerous. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jan/12/canada-helicopter-pilot-dies-australia-antarctic">A Canadian pilot died in January 2016</a> after falling into a crevasse at an Australian base. Part of the danger is hypothermia, because you might get so cold before you could be rescued. </span></div>
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<div style="font-size: 15.4px;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>If you are walking on ice and there is a crevasse underneath and you fall, will you fall in water or more ice?</b></span></div>
<div style="font-size: 15.4px;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">If you are on sea ice, there would be water underneath. But if you are on the land, the crevasse could be like a slice taken out of a glacier, with ice going a long way down. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvcZt1eyJrqXRqvICLT7lFxm5MVtv6ZEQ8Vr_7f2BYRr9w3tCONGM7f_FbCw7QpIyszCDFIXcGoxBjMHWoxay5DFS08Ig-6y4AohKoqPsz9CsubXxjYVFf0NVcdHdoaretlg8B9sYwp1IE/s1600/crevasse.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvcZt1eyJrqXRqvICLT7lFxm5MVtv6ZEQ8Vr_7f2BYRr9w3tCONGM7f_FbCw7QpIyszCDFIXcGoxBjMHWoxay5DFS08Ig-6y4AohKoqPsz9CsubXxjYVFf0NVcdHdoaretlg8B9sYwp1IE/s400/crevasse.jpg" width="265" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Survival training; practising going down a crevasse on a rope; <br />Antarctica NZ Pictorial Collection [1974-75], CC licence</span></td></tr>
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<b style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.4px;">What do you do with dangerous animals?</b></div>
<div style="font-size: 15.4px;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Well, there aren't any dangerous land animals, so that's a good start. (There aren't many land animals at all, apart from tiny ones like mites and ticks.) And there are no polar bears, either. They only live in the Arctic. </span></div>
<div style="font-size: 15.4px;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Antarctica NZ has an <a href="http://www.antarcticanz.govt.nz/assets/Environment/2015-Code-of-Conduct-Brochure-Final.pdf">environmental code of conduct</a> which says you have to stay 10m away from any animal (unless it comes up to you), but you might want to keep a lot further away from some of them, like killer whales (orca) or leopard seals. There are some very scary stories from the early explorers about encounters with those animals. </span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Leopard seal with Adelie penguin. Photo by G Court, <br />@Antarctica NZ Pictorial Collection, CC licence</span></td></tr>
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Philippa Werryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10459995279772723450noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-739763940794447564.post-2575091903869167112016-10-28T21:39:00.000-07:002016-10-28T21:39:01.189-07:00Your questions: What it's like living there<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>What’s the population? Do people live there permanently?</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The overall population would be bigger in summer than in winter, because most people go down there in the summer. About 37,000 tourists visit Antarctica each year, but they don't all go ashore. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But nobody lives permanently in Antarctica (and it has never had an indigenous population). There are about 66 bases owned by different countries. Some of them are quite big (like the American base at McMurdo) and others very small. One estimate is about 4000 people living on all the bases in the summer and about 1000 in the winter. On Scott Base, there are up to 85 people at any one time in the summer (but a lot of people coming and going), and about 10 during the winter. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Most people go to Antarctica to work on scientific projects. They might stay for a few weeks, or a year, and they might come back another time to keep working on their project, but they wouldn't stay there forever. Other people are there to help keep the bases operating - they might be engineers, cleaners, cooks, mechanics or drivers. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.4px;"><b>How many layers of clothes do you have to wear?</b></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.4px;">It depends on the weather and the season and what you are doing. Inside Scott Base, you can wear what you might wear at home. But whenever you go outside, even for a short time, you have to think carefully about what to wear and how to put the layers on in the right order. </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15.4px;">Have a look at this video (you have to scroll down the page) on </span></span><a href="http://www.antarcticanz.govt.nz/education/classroom-antarctica/for-teachers-and-students/">What to wear in Antarctica</a><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15.4px;">. See if you can count and identify how many items of clothing she puts on. </span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.4px;"><b>Could you snow board there?</b></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">At Scott Base, you can go cross-country and downhill skiing and mountain biking. I wasn't sure about snowboarding, but then I found this photo. So maybe you can!</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">Santa snowboarding at Scott Base, <span style="color: #333333; text-align: start;">Photo by Yvonne Martin <br />©Antarctica New Zealand Pictorial Collection [Image No] [1991-1992]</span> </span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.4px;"><b>Is it hard to live there because of the cold?</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Well, it is cold. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /><b>Do people live in igloos?</b> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Most people live in the buildings on bases, or if they're out in the field, they might live in tents or even converted containers. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Do you eat disgusting food? </b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">No! The food at Scott Base is apparently pretty amazing!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Becky Goodsell was Winter Base Leader at Scott Base in 2013, and she did an online interview about "What I Do" that you can read <a href="http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10879322">here</a>. She said, "</span><span style="background-color: initial;">The chef is the most important person on base for many reasons! Yes, the food is very good. In winter it pretty much all comes from the freezer or our dry goods store, but thankfully our chef makes it exciting. </span><span style="background-color: initial;">My favourites: Thai Green Curry, Sweet n sour pork, Roasts, the cakes & biscuits, and sometimes the traditional kiwi fish n chips nights served in newspaper."</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: initial;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If you can find a copy of School Journal Part 4 Number 1 (2006), you can read my article Frozen food, about one of the Scott Base chefs, Donna Wightman. </span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: initial;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Why do people want to live down there?</b></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: initial;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here's Becky Goodsell again: "I think it started out being the place, which is definitely the best place on earth, but these days it's mainly about the people. The environment is stunning but it's also a great bunch of people to work with." (That's an interesting quote. Where do you think is the best place on earth?)</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There is a gift shop at Scott Base. Just one! You can buy souvenirs, toiletries, phone cards, stamps and snacks. </span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">Shop at Scott Base, <span style="color: #333333; text-align: start;">Photo by Chris Rudge <br />©Antarctica New Zealand Pictorial Collection [1987-1988]</span></span></td></tr>
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<b style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Do you get wi fi there?</b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Good news and bad news. You can get news from home via letters, phone calls and emails. There is enough Internet for you to use gmail and Facebook, but not enough to use applications like Skype and You tube. But wi fi - I'm guessing not...</span></div>
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Philippa Werryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10459995279772723450noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-739763940794447564.post-41859869113048685602016-10-08T18:20:00.002-07:002016-10-28T20:36:40.810-07:00Your questions: Snow and ice<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15.4px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Is the snow everywhere? </b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Good question! and I can answer it with statistics, if you like numbers! (Even if you don't, the numbers aren't very hard to follow.) </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">More than 98% of Antarctica is covered with ice. Only a very small area - less than half a percent - is bare rock. Part of that is a fascinating place called the Dry Valleys, and it's not too far (a helicopter ride) from Scott Base, so New Zealand scientists get to work there. </span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">Wright Valley in the Dry Valleys; photo by Brian McKerrow;<br /><span style="color: #333333; text-align: start;">©Antarctica New Zealand Pictorial Collection [1969-1970]</span></span></td></tr>
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<b style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.4px;">How does the ice taste?</b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 15.4px;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I don't know how it tastes yet, but I do know you can drink melted sea ice, if it's not too new, because as ice gets older, its saltiness is pushed out into the surrounding seawater. The early explorers used to heave up hunks of floating ice from the sea, to use on board. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">You can find out more fascinating stuff about sea ice <a href="https://nsidc.org/cryosphere/seaice/index.html">here</a>. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>How old is the ice?</b> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">One of the interesting things about snow in Antarctica is that it builds up in layers, year after year. Sci</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 15.4px;">entists can drill <a href="http://www.gns.cri.nz/Home/Learning/Science-Topics/Ice-Snow/About-Ice-Cores">ice cores</a> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 15.4px;">in the ice to find out how old it is, and what the climate used to be like (a bit like dating a tree by the rings in the trunk). The ice cores can go back hundreds of thousands of years. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>I want to know how thick different pieces of ice are and how much weight they can hold. </b></span></div>
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 15.4px;">Some of the ice is thick enough to hold a plane! </span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 15.4px;">Thanks for this great question because it's made me find out a lot more about runways. (I guess it's important to trust them when you are flying to Antarctica!) </span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 15.4px;">There are several different sorts. </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15.4px;">Ice runways are made early in the summer season and can be used until the sea ice (which is about 2 metres thick) starts to melt and go slushy. </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 15.4px;">But there are also snow runways that can take smaller planes (like ski aircraft) and then there are </span><a href="http://antarctic-logistics.com/2016/08/29/blue-ice-airfields/" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.4px;">blue ice runways</a><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15.4px;">. These are on areas of ice that have no snow on top, and even if snow falls, the wind and evaporation take it all away. The blue ice is strong enough to support wheeled planes carrying heavy loads. </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15.4px;">Travelling from New Zealand, you land on the Pegasus Ice Shelf Runway or the Williams Field Runway</span></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 15.4px;">. You can read about them <a href="http://huey.colorado.edu/77DegreesSouth/week2_04.htm">here</a>. </span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 15.4px;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 15.4px;">H</span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 15.4px;">ere's an article about the <a href="http://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/a-beautiful-look-at-antarcticas-harrowing-ice-runways">ice runway</a> </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15.4px;">at McMurdo Sound, and you can see </span></span>some more photos of it </span><a href="http://antarctica.recollect.co.nz/nodes/index/q:YLWU" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.4px;">here</a><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 15.4px;">. </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "source sans pro" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Approaching the McMurdo sea ice runway </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "source sans pro" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">through the cockpit window; Photo by David Geddes </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "source sans pro" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">@</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "source sans pro" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"> Antarctica New Zealand Pictorial Collection [1988]</span></span></td></tr>
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<b style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.4px;">If you squirted water out of a bottle, would it freeze? </b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I can show you a very cool video clip about this. Imagine you are inside at Scott Base, and you go outside (just for a moment, with plenty of warm clothes on!) and toss some boiling hot water into the air. What would happen?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Here's Dr Ed Butler showing you <a href="https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=876827982356230&id=540942315944800&refsrc=https://m.facebook.com/Antarctica.New.Zealand/videos/876827982356230/">what does happen</a>. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">(Complete with scientific explanation as to why, in the comments below.) </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Why does the sun not melt the snow/ice?</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Because there's such a lot of it, and it's so cold! </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">If you think about the snow and ice here in New Zealand - e.g. on Mt Ruapehu - a lot of it will melt away over the summer. But the Antarctic ice sheet holds about 30 million cubic kilometres of ice. I can't even imagine how much that is - it's enough to cover the whole of Australia in 4km of ice. And not only is there heaps of ice, but the temperatures are incredibly cold, so it never gets warm enough to melt much, even when the sun is shining. </span><br />
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Philippa Werryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10459995279772723450noreply@blogger.com0