We were surprised the other day to hear helicopter traffic outside
our window. It was a Sunday and there weren't supposed to be
any helo flights scheduled. It turns out that tourists had arrived
from the Kapitan Khlebnikov tourist ship and were visiting Hut
Point and the historic Hut. If it looks rather dangerous in the
photo, that's because it is! The helicopter and tourists are actually
walking on ice, over fairly deep water that is not as thick as it
should be this time of year. I'm happy to say that everyone had a
safe visit and the helo took off with no incidents.
We get visited in the Ross Sea Region by a couple of cruise ships
every year. When it's convenient, numbers of McMurdo residents
volunteer to lead tours of the town, including the station store,
science facilities, historic sites, etc. It's really the only way to see
McMurdo unless one is a member of the US or NZ Antarctic
programs. Most cruises also cost upwards of $10,000 to take.
It gives one a new appreciation of spending time here and being
able to take in the local attractions.
