Scott Base

Every Thursday night the Kiwis open their base for the Americans to invade.  Its the only night we are allowed over there.  The Kiwis can come to McMurdo whenever they want.  I guess they can only tolerate Americans for a couple hours a week.  The Kiwi base has a much different feel than McMurdo.  It feels more like a clubhouse and you can tell that the Kiwis have a sense of tradition.  For instance, they have group pictures of all the previous winter over crews with various themes.  Some are shirtless, some are wearing tuxedos.  Each year has a different theme.  The bar at Scott base is bright and cheery with plenty of seating and a beautiful view of the Trans Antarctics.  McMurdo, on the other hand feels like a clunky machine in comparison.  A much more industrial feel than Scott Base.  One other neat thing about Scott base is that it is all interconnected so you don’t have to walk outside to get from building to building.  I like walking outside all the time though for the same inexplicable reason that I like to pump my own gas.

Wind surfing on the sea ice.

This is probably my favorite machine so far.  Its a home made can crushing machine.  There is a foot pedal at the bottom of the trash can that is linked to a system of levers that crush the can.  The levers are configured such that the pin between the two cylinders buckles the can before it gets crushed.  Then, the two opposing cylinders fully crush the can and it falls into the basket.  Neato.  The plaque on it says that it was made by a former winter over crew member and donated to the station.  It only works with 12 oz cans though.  What a great little project.

This is about as “dark” as it gets in the summertime in Antarctica.  This was taken from the van on the way back to McMurdo.