Travel Tips

The flight was QF 2902.
The gate was no. 7.
The trip was to countdown 2005 in broad daylight... hehe, just joking.
The trip was to venture to the last frontier, again.
Different perspective, same year.
Different mode of transportation, same anticipation.
Different group of people, same name (Brad, that is...)!

What's the chance of someone going to Antarctica twice... no, I'm not referring to people who work there or on "business" trip ;-) ?
For vacation, on leisure.
Yep, you are seeing one, albeit it's virtual.
Those who know me, well, I bet you never knew how crazy I could be ;-)
Now you know.
It's never too late, isn't it?

Total Distance from Sydney to Antarctica & return = 10,160 km.

Some Interesting Facts About
Antarctica:
(Text courtesy of Croydon Travel)

Total area of the actual ice continent:
12,000,000 sq. km.

Key Attributes:
The coldest, windiest, driest, & (on ave.) the highest continent.

Comparative Area:
Almost 1.5X the size of the continent of Australia (or the same size of the whole of Australia, plus Western Australia & Northern Territory added again!!).

Diameter:
The continent is roughly circular in shape & has diameter of around 4500 km.

Cont. on next chapter...

... Cont. from last chapter.

The South Geographic Pole:
Even when travellers reach the edge of the Antarctic continent, they still have another 2200 km to travel inland before they reach the actual South Geographic Pole situated high on the Antarctic plateau.

The South Magnetic Pole (SMP):
This is where compasses point to.
The SMP is several thousand kilometers from the Geographic Pole, & is located close to the coast in the area due south of Hobart, Tasmania, north of the French base at Dumont d'Urville.

Temperatures:
Temperatures vary with latitude, elevation & distance from the ocean.
The lowest surface temperature recorded for the whole world is -89.6 degrees Celsius high on the plateau of East Antarctica. On the Antarctic plateau "heatwave" conditions in summer can see temperature reaching minus 40 degrees Celsius! In most coaster regions in winter temperatures fall to minus 40 or 50 degrees Celsius, but often rise to above freezing in mid summer.

Winds:
Antarctica is the windiest of the world's continents. Average wind speeds at some coastal stations average 30 knots over the entire year (that's close to gale force!), with gusts frequently exceeding 100 knots or more during blizzards.
Most blizzards bring winds stronger than those experienced in Darwin during Tropical Cyclone "Tracey".

Cont. on next chapter...

... Cont. from last chapter.

Terrain:
About 98% is continental ice sheet & only 2% barren rock.
The average elevation of ice continent exceeds 2000 m. The highest mountain peak is 5140 m (Vinson Massif). Our flights often overfly Mt. Minto - 4163 m.
The thickest ice is 4800 m deep.
Floating ice shelves make up around 12% of the continent & add around 10% to the ice area.

The World's Largest Glacier:
The Lambert Glacier, located between Australia's Davis & Mawson stations, is the largest valley glacier in the world.
It fills a massive valley some 400 km long, is 80 km wide, with a maximum depth of 2500 m.

"Government" of the area:
The region south of latitude 60 south is "governed" internationally via the Antarctic Treaty of 1961.

Land Boundaries:
7 nations claim territory in Antarctica.
They are: Argentina, Australia, Chile, France, New Zealand, Norway & United Kingdom. Not all nations recognise those claims which are effectively "frozen" under the terms of the Antarctic Treaty.
No formal claims have been made in the sector south of the Pacific Ocean.

Australian Antarctic Territory:
Totals around 40% of the whole continent, or equivalent to the size of Australia minus the State of Queensland!

Australian Stations On The Continent:
3 year-round stations are maintained by the Australian Government. The nearest to Australia is Casey Station which lies some 3800 km south of Perth, in Western Australia.
Over summer a total of around 180 people are at the 3 stations, while in winter the number is around 70.

Population:
The continent has no indigenous inhabitants, staffing of research stations varying seasonally.
Over 4500 people work in Antarctica in the summer period November to February at some 60 stations operated by 25 nations & one private operator.
In winter the number of stations drops to 45 operated by 16 nations, personnel numbers during that time totalling around 1100 people.

Text - Courtesy of Australian Antarctic Division.

THE HEROIC ERA, McMURDO STATION & SCOTT BASE:

The British explorers Robert Falcon Scott & Ernest Shackleton based many of their expeditions within the Ross Sea Region, making several attempts to reach the south geographic pole in addition to conducting scientific explorations from this base. Several historic huts of the Heroic Era exist today in the McMurdo region, with New Zealand maintaining huts at Cape Royds, Cape Evans & Hut Point.

Cont. on next chapter...

... Cont. from last chapter.

The American McMurdo station is the largest station in Antarctica, supporting a population of around 1100 in summer & 250 in winter.
The station was established in 1956 following extensive aerial surveys in the lead up to the International Geophysical Year of 1957-58.
Scientific research is conducted on & around the station, & as far away as 1500 km in the field, supported by ski-equipped LC-130 Hercules aircraft. Researchers also travel via helicopter to study the Dry Valleys area in summer.

Cont. on next chapter...

... Cont. from last chapter.

New Zealand's Scott Base is located within 2 km of McMurdo station.
Named after the British explorer Robert Falcon Scott, the base consists of 8 buildings linked by all-weather corridors.

In summer, 80 people work from the base, but can decrease to 10 over winter.
Major science programs have been mounted from Scott Base to the Transantarctic Mountains, the Victoria Land Basin & the Dry Valleys.

National operator contacts:

Australia - Australian Antarctic Division
France - Terres Australes et Antarctiques Francaises
Italy - Programma Nazionale di Ricerche in Antartide
New Zealand - Antarctic New Zealand
United States - Office of Polar Programs