Science is alive and well in Antarctica

               

Today on the last day of January 2014, we snuck into the US Antarctic Base McMurdo Station, just before the ship arrived to resupply/redeploy.  The timing was fortunate, and we were all very excited to catch a glimpse of life on this gigantic science station.  The ice this year is so lean that they have been having a few problems with the ice runway!

We saw the Science Laboratory, National Science Foundation Chalet, with all the flags and the bust of Byrd outside, the Chapel of the Snows, the General Store (with ATM), the MacOps centre where the call centre, air traffic management and weather station are located, and finally coffee and yummy cookies in the Coffee House, which was the original building at the station and is an old aircraft half cylinder galvanised iron building (can’t remember what they are called!)

After lunch back on the ship we sailed on round Observation Point to the New Zealand Antarctic Station at Scott Base.  This is significant!  Apparently this is the first time in anyone’s knowledge that a ship has been able to sail into Scott Base.  Usually the ice is so packed in, the original plan was to zodiac back to the McMurdo landing, and drive over to the base.  We believe the Akademik Shokalskiy has sailed further south now than any other ship in memory!

Scott Base is like the small boutique station compared to the huge metropolis of McMurdo.  They all utilise each other’s services, but they are polar opposites (pun intended) as to how they operate.  McM is very regimented, Scott Base very typically laid back.

A great day was completed with a quick visit back to McMurdo to visit the currently-undergoing-restoration Scott’s Discovery Hut at Hut Point.  It looks just like an Australian outback house with the verandah surrounding all sides – in fact it did originally come from Australia.

Fortunately they will be keeping the wood a natural colour.  Scott Base buildings are all painted a very bright hospital green – must have had a sale on paint!  However they did redeem themselves by providing yummy scones for us for afternoon tea!