Last thoughts from the last continent

My last blog from the Ice. Heading back to Christchurch hopefully tomorrow, after a weather cancellation of our flight today. The RNZAF own 2 Boeing 757’s, and have been flying them down here since 2009. Reportedly they didn’t like the forecast crosswinds, but I didn’t see anything different today from many other days. Ah well. These first pictures go way back to Halloween.


Lissa getting into the spirit, some guy reportedly from Google, and Larry.



Some pictures of Scott Base, ~2 miles from McMurdo.

The Tatty Flag, my favorite bar down here.



The Observation tube inserted near Discovery Pt. Essentially a manhole with a large viewing area 20 ft. down.




Our trip to the pressure ridges. These are where the sea ice grinds up against the permanent ice shelf of Antarctica. The sea ice is maybe 10 ft or so thick depending on many factors, while the permanent ice shelf can be hundreds of feet thick. The ridges are formed much like plate tectonics creates mountain ranges.
A seal and her pup seen up close in the wild.




A trip to the summer runway, close to McMurdo. We got to see an LC-130 up close while she underwent repair work.


This is a Basler, an old DC-3 purchased and completely stripped and rebuilt into essentially a new aircraft.


Visit to Scott’s Discovery Hut inside. Looks very similar to the Cape Evans one.
This chopper actually does run, but is reportedly so dangerous to control (you can only go essentially in a straight line) that it is a semi-permanent display in front of the Science Support Center.



Lissa ran in several races held down here, including this particular photo where she had just finished her first full marathon, and down in Antarctica! Way to go, honey.











I was invited to go to Happy Camper, or camping out on the ice. We had to dig a trench for a kitchen, assemble an ice block wind wall, build tents, and then “chill”. More once we get to New Zealand.