Terra Antarcticus - Night 113

I slept deep and late despite the apparent seizure the kid in the bunk above me had at numerous occasions throughout the night (I awoke briefly as the bunk shook like a washing machine a few times, but fell immediately back to sleep). After this trip is over, I am certainly I’ll likely slumber straight through the apocalypse…given that white rider of death arrives at night. Such is my ability to ignore strange noises and commotion from crazy roommates. All bragging aside, I didn’t do much in the morning with the exception of gathering supplies for the rest of my journey. Never before in my life have I actually realized how long things like toothpaste and deodorant last, until now.

International Antarctic Center

In the afternoon I jumped a bus out to the International Antarctic Center. As Christchurch is the closest large city to Antarctica so New Zealand, Italy, and the United States all base their Antarctic research operations out of this large campus located adjacent to the airport. Quite obviously, the actual American operations are off-limits to civilians; however, the New Zealanders have built a large tourist trap/museum on site. Part historical, part interactive it houses nearly everything you could ever wish to know about the white continent. Presented through a variety of mediums, the three hours I spent there went by in a flash. One of

Inside the Antarctic Center

the main attractions is a ‘blizzard room’ in which they bundle you up in a large coat and boots and drop the temperature to -10 Fahrenheit, with a wind chill of -20 F. When I told the operator that I would pass, he asked why. Naturally, I told him that I had grown up in the Midwestern United States and a -20 wind chill was nothing new to me. He just laughed. On the bus trip back, I found out from the driver that just two days ago, a man from Colorado had been on who was departing to Antarctica to run a research project at the South Pole for 13 months. I imagine it would be hell going through a six-month night, but secretly adventures like this call to me. We must all possess some preternatural desire to push the limits, to strike off into the unknown…I guess some people have learned how to quell theirs, for mine pulls at me with increasing fury.

What I Learned Today: Too much about Antarctica to even remember, so you’ll have to settle for an interesting tidbit of hometown pride. The head of the 2007 U.S. team based at the new South Pole Research Center is Jerry Marty, hailing from Wisconsin.

written by

exumenius on January 31, 2008 from Christchurch, New Zealand

from the travel blog: Kiwis and Kangaroos

Send a Compliment

comment on this...