31 December--New Year's in Antarctica

Panorama of Mt. Erebus crater

Brilliant days...

...alternate with cloudy ones.

The cloudy ones are the hardest to drive in.  The light is "flat" making it difficult, if not sometimes impossible, to see the road features.  You drive blind and hit the bumps and holes. 

Ob Hill



There is a whole series of newer Cases with Red themed names.  Think of how many you can guess.



Known as Apples or Tomatoes, these emergency shelters are scattered around the base and on hiking trails and are stocked with sleeping gear, food, and a stove.





This is the floating ice pier.  When the Swedish icebreaker arrives here in 2 weeks, it'll dock here, as will the fuel tanker and the supply ship when they arrive about 2 weeks later.  It floats to adjust to the tides in the Sound.

This is a photo of the Swedish icebreaker in dock last year.

This is the broken route in from the open water to McMurdo Station.  While here, the icebreaker opens up a wide turning basin.

Readers may remember an earlier posting about the Russian cruise ship in the area and some of their passengers visiting town.  Wild rumors said that the passengers had paid huge sums to come down here.  A Google search showed that corner cabins with a view went for just over $55,000 and rooms without a view for $35,000.  This is actually even slightly more than what the rumor had said.

The big doing tonight, New year's Eve, is Ice Stock.  It's an outdoor concert featuring all of the many bands active down here.  Lots of talent, but the ones I listened to as of 2100 were still garage bands.  It's supposed to get better as the night wears on and it did.