Click photo to enlarge
A C17 Globemaster leaves McMurdo Station for Christchurch.
Vince's Cross and Hut Point are in the foreground and the
Royal Society Mountains are visible in the background.
Photo by Tony Harrison.
Queenstown priest Fr Tony Harrison, who is working as
a chaplain at McMurdo Station, Ross Island, the Antarctic,
concludes his exclusive series for the Queenstown Times
about life on the Big Ice.
As you read this I will hopefully be packing in readiness for
my journey back to New Zealand. I say hopefully because the
weather has been very unhelpful for flying. Most flights from
Christchurch have been able to get through, and after delays
at the beginning of the season they are on schedule.
On the Antarctic continent it is another story. Flying has
been much more difficult. The weather may be good for flying
at one place, but aeroplanes cannot land at the other, or
vice versa. By now there should have been six flights to the
South Pole, but so far there have only been three.
Last week, a group of 50 Australians arrived here to be flown
to the base at Casey. The first group left on Monday, after
Saturday's flight had to turn back, because of weather, when
they were within 30 minutes of landing. The aeroplane was in
the air for about seven hours before landing back at McMurdo.
This means the population of McMurdo has boomed. There is
limited space, and more travellers are due this week, which
is causing a headache for the housing people - so much, the
flight scheduled for Monday with another 50 passengers was
delayed a day.
Among the group here for the Australian mission is Margot
Rhys-Jones, from Queenstown. Margot is not new to the
Antarctic, having previously been a chef at Scott Base.
Other field camps serviced by air include Siple Dome and the
WAIS (West Antarctic Ice Sheet). Getting people to these
sites has been difficult. At the WAIS Divide, they are
drilling for ice core samples. As ice freezes it captures the
atmosphere at that level.
From this study it is possible to work out what the air was
like at the time it froze. It all helps to tell the story and
fill in the gaps about global warming and climate change,
whether it is fact or fiction, or part of the cycle of
naturally recurring weather patterns. At a time many years
past, trees grew in the Antarctic, and dinosaur fossils have
been found.
Last Saturday we celebrated Halloween. All kinds of costumes
suddenly appeared. My fellow chaplain made use of a green US
Navy chaplain's uniform and with a little help from me, went
as Father Mulcahy from M*A*S*H.
I have a deep admiration for those first explorers who came
here.
On the wild days, and we had another last Wednesday, some
people must work outside, but they can return to the heated
buildings, and some only have to go out for meals and to
bedrooms. Those early explorers only had a tent for shelter,
and did not have the benefit of today's clothing.
Whether looking at the sky or drilling into the ice or sea
bed, scientists here are discovering more about the origins
of our planet and the universe every day. And because of the
care that is being taken to protect the Antarctic and its
environment, that research will continue and be of benefit to
future generations.
