Christchurch ReCentered

U.S. researchers and support personnel have been transiting through Christchurch, New Zealand, since the modern research program began there in the 1950s. Before then, even the early explorers passed through New Zealand in their ships. In other words, the Kiwis are inextricably linked to the Antarctic, and particularly the U.S. Antarctic Program. The earthquake in September 2010, followed by the more destructive and deadly quake in February 2011, destroyed the center of the beautiful Garden City. But it did not kill its heart or the spirit of its people. I was fortunate to be passing through Christchurch a week after it had reopened a small strip of its pedestrian mall, re-purposing cargo containers for shops and a two-floor coffee shop. It's a start, but the Kiwis have a long way to go to rebuild the city.

A creative solution to rebuild commerce in downtown Christchurch.

This specialty store even sells haggis.

Scorpio Books was a familiar shop to Christchurch visitors.

Outdoor seating for the new coffee shop.

The new shopping mall with construction behind it.

A destroyed church. Many of the city's stone churches were damaged.

Scaffolding everywhere.

Buttressing a building in the Arts Centre, one of my favorite places in Christchurch.

How did you fix a crack like that?

Stormy weather

Weather at the beginning of the season has been pretty nasty. Just checked the McMurdo Intranet site, and it looks like most places are under Condition 1, which under the rating system, represents the nastiest weather. There's an official definition, but it boils down to snow, high winds and little visibility. It also means no flights in or out. My Ice flight isn't scheduled until Friday, so hopefully things will clear up ... Here's a screen shot of the McMurdo homepage.

Dusting it off

It's been an embarassingly long time since I've written a blog post, but now seems like a good time to dust it off, as I'm returning to Antarctica for my seventh time since the 2003-04 season when I wintered at the South Pole for a year.

This time around should be a little more special. Andrea is also headed back to the Ice after a five-year absence. Unfortunately, we'll be about a thousand miles apart, as she'll be at the South Pole Station, while I'll be mostly stationed at McMurdo. We will reunite briefly in mid-December with a few hundred other people for the 100th anniversary of when the first people reached the bottom of the world. It's promising to be quite the party, with the prime minister of Norway expected to be in attendance to celebrate his countryman Roald Amundsen's historic achievement.

Unlike last year, when I had the privilege of traveling to a deep-field camp in the mountains, I'll spend most of my time around McMurdo. There's lots of cool science under way on the nearby sea ice where seals and penguins can be found, though the ice has been difficult to work on because of cracks and weather, so we'll see what happens there.

The journey south is a familiar one: I fly from Denver this afternoon, then to LAX, where after a rather long layover, I'll head to Auckland, landing across the International Dateline and into the future on Wednesday. Then it's a short hop to Christchurch on the South Island. I'm excited about the trip but not looking forward to seeing a city I know has been much altered by the earthquakes of the last year, especially the one on Feb. 22 that wrought great destruction on the central business district. But apparently this weekend parts have reopened in makeshift containers ... Kiwis are incredibly resilient folk. (Hmm. I re-watched the Lord of the Rings trilogy over the weekend, and I seem to be writing in Middle Earth-ese.)

We only get two short days in Christchurch before flying down to McMurdo on a US Air Force C-17 cargo plane, though it seems as if weather and mechanical issues invariably extend that time by at least a day or two. It'll be a busy two days for me, as I have an interview set up with the head of the Antarctic Heritage Trust, which is working to conserve the historic structures in Antarctica, including Capt. Scott's hut at Cape Evans from which he launched his bid for the South Pole in 1911, losing to Amundsen by about five weeks -- and losing his life, along with his four companions, on the return journey.

Here's a few photos from my deployment last year to whet your Antarctic appetites: