With a long flight across the Pacific, a few days on the Coromandel Peninsula of New Zealand, and a brief logistical stop in Christchurch, Lars, Pat and I began our journey to McMurdo Station, Antarctica.
Extending northward from the New Zealand North Island, the Coromandel Peninsula is a humid, lush region of towering fern trees, steep coastal cliffs, and bright green pastures and hedgerows. Our instinct was to compare our environment to those landscapes familiar: the rolling farmland of Northern California, the quiet coastal towns of New England, the steep volcanic hillsides of Ecuador. Ultimately, what we saw of the North Island was like nowhere else. A trip up from a sandy cove found us at a small pool, where a timid yet persistent eel nibbled our toes. At Hot Springs Beach, we rented shovels ('hired spades') and dug a dozen prospect pits before finding the perfect zone where the scalding water upwelling from a hot springs mixed with cool water from the surf. Amid a global crowd of other beach-goers, we dug a tub, sculpted seats, and soaked in the thermal water. There is no feeling like watching a rogue breaking wave invade your hot tub with freezing surf.
Check out a panoramic time lapse from Pat Brown of the thermal prospectors at Hot Springs Beach.
Link at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bmx_bJpBgZg
After a few days of vacation on the Coromandel, we took a brief flight down to Christchurch, on the South Island of New Zealand. As we landed, I caught a brief, exciting glimpse of the massive gray C-17 cargo plane that will take us for the last leg of travel from New Zealand to Antarctica. Touring the historic downtown this morning, we all reveled in the stimulating environment of the botanical garden. The brilliant flowerbeds, active unfamiliar waterfowl, and complex fragrances were a spectacle of life. This morning's jaunt will provide a counterpoint to the harsh, austere environment of the Antarctic.
In Christchurch, evidence of powerful recent earthquakes took many forms. For many people, the iconic image of the Christchurch earthquakes is the broad sky over the city's historic church, where a spire once rose. Visiting Christchurch for the first time, the post-earthquake city is the only version I know. As I looked over the rise of a barricaded bridge leading to the ruined church, I was instead struck by the hundreds of tiny plants that had pushed through the bricks to colonize the bridge deck. In the off-limits shopping district, the only sign of a collapsed department store were the mirrors and clothing racks still clinging to the second-story walls of the adjacent buildings. My strongest impression of the downtown was of quiet emptiness. Many of the businesses still operating downtown are concentrated in a modern redevelopment zone, where playfully colored converted shipping containers are roughly stacked like building blocks to form retail shops and cafes. The bright, indestructible containers are safe and inviting amid a landscape of broken facades and condemned skyscrapers. Some aspects of living under the threat of natural disasters are more mundane. At a cafe, I chatted with a pair of museum employees, who complained that frequent aftershocks kept them busy dusting the exhibits.
Our flight down tonight has been delayed by six hours. Tonight at the US Antarctic deployment center, we'll be issued extreme cold weather gear, receive briefing information, and load up into a military cargo plane for the ice flight.
Thanks to Pat Brown for taking the excellent photos in this post! For his perspective on our trip and more photos, check out Pat's blog at:
http://www.patrickbrown.org
