Memorials to the ice pioneers

The memorial to US Navy Petty Officer Richard T. Williams, who died when the bulldozer he was driving broke through the ice and sank 640m. In the background are McMurdo Station and Observation Hill. Photo by Fr. Tony Harrison.

One major occurrence last week was the last sunset and sunrise for the year.

That was Thursday evening/Friday morning.

The next sunset sunrise will be on February 20 next year.

But that was matched by the storm we had on Wednesday which caused most of the area to go to Condition 1.

When that happens, you must stay where you are.

McMurdo town did not go to that status but people were not moving too far.

Sunday, October 18, was quite different.

The temperature rose to -14degC and with no wind and Sunday being a non-work day, a large number of people were out walking.

There are a number of places to walk to, depending on how adventurous you are.

Observation Hill is a large hill (750ft/230m) beside McMurdo Station in the Antarctic and is commonly called "Ob Hill".

It is frequently climbed in order to get good viewing points across the continent.

Regular clear skies give excellent visibility.

The search party that set out to find Robert Falcon Scott's party, only to find them dead in their tent, returned to what is now known as McMurdo and climbed Observation Hill.

There they built a large wooden cross, inscribed the names of the deceased and a short quote from the Alfred Tennyson poem Ulysses, which reads "To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield".

A more easily accessible site is Hut Point - very little climbing is involved.

Hut Point is where Scott built his hut for the 1901-04 expedition. It is known as Discovery Hut.

Inside the hut items from the expedition, such as tinned food and clothes left hanging to dry, are still there.

A seal that was caught for food is still outside but now in mummified form.

Discovery Hut is a world heritage site and has more visitors than the other huts at Cape Evans and Cape Royds which are much further away.

Parties do go out to these other huts as weather and ice conditions permit.

Also at Hut Point is Vince's Cross. This stands in memory of George T. Vince, an Able Seaman aboard HMS Discovery, who drowned near the spot on March 11, 1902.

From there, you can take a short walk up the ridge to another memorial.

This is in the form of a statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

It is in memory of Richard T. Williams, a Petty Officer in the US Navy.

On January 6, 1956, he was in a D8 bulldozer dragging cargo from a ship anchored 30 miles away to start the construction of McMurdo.

The bulldozer broke through the ice and sank 350 fathoms (640m).

His body was never recovered.

Another walk is through the pass at Ob Hill to Scott Base about 5km away.

Don't be surprised on this walk if you find Kiwis from Scott Base coming in the opposite direction.

Later in the season, as conditions improve, there is a much longer walk to Castle Rock.

When going on this walk there are safety measures that must be adhered to.

Ross Island, on which both McMurdo Station and Scott Base are situated, is not always covered in snow and ice.

In fact, as the summer progresses, pictures from previous years show Ob Hill quite bare of snow.

Only 2% of the Antarctic Continent is exposed dirt.

On Ross Island is Mt Erebus, an active volcano.

Much of McMurdo is covered with the volcanic dust.

When the wind blows, the volcanic dust gets in through every little opening, providing that the blown snow doesn't get there first! The snow here is different from the flakes we are accustomed to in New Zealand.

The snow is in the form of very fine crystals that get in through cracks in window and door frames.

If the opening is big enough you will need a shovel to get rid of the snow.