Saturday, December 10, 2005

Day 177 - Christchurch, New Zealand

Day 177 – 2nd December 2005 +13:00 GMT Total Miles 30099

Jill is still not feeling to well so Reece and I headed out on our own.


River by our Hostel

We walked into the city centre and caught an airport bus from Cathedral Square to the International Antarctic Centre.


Monument


Cathedral Square


The Cathedral in Cathedral Square

The International Antarctic Centre is where 70% of the flights to the Antarctic come from and is the training and preparation place for most of the people who go there.


The Antarctic Centre

We paid for a combo ticket and started off with a ride on a Haggland vehicle which they use to drive around the ice in the Antarctic. The ride drove us over very steep hill and over crevasses and along at strange tilting angles and then through a 3 metre deep water, where the Haagland Vehicle actually floats. The Vehicles cost half a million dollars each to buy.


The Haagland

After our ride we entered the main centre and learnt about the camps they have out in Antarctic and the various research programs they do there.


The Antarctic Centre


The Antarctic Centre

We saw several films and got to go into a room full of snow and ice which is at minus five Celsius and experience a blizzard where the wind chill drops to minus 18 Celsius, so had to put on rubber boots and large wind proof jackets, you then had the option of standing in the open or hiding in one of the shelters, they had an igloo and a tent, Reece and I both stood in the open and braved the full force of the storm.



Realo Snow and Ice in Antarctic Centre


-5 Celsius



-18 Celsius - it's cold

The Antarctic is the coldest, and Driest continent, the South Pole only gets 5mm of snow fall a year which is almost on par with the rainfall in the Sahara Dessert. We then learnt about the animals and vegetation in the area and about the ozone, as there is a huge hole in the ozone layer above the Antarctic. We then had a bite to eat at the centre before catching the bus back to the hostel. I cooked some soup and chatted to a few of the hostel guests then Jill and I watched “Chris Rock – Never Scared” DVD.

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home

Counter
DSL Service Provider