McMurdo

Ok, I promised some more pictures of my last days in Antarctica. I thought I start with a nice overview over the station McMurdo. Compared to the Pole, McMurdo is HUGE. During the time I was there, there were about 900 people there (with roughly 25% of them being female). After being exposed to about 160 people at the Pole, the masses of people in McMurdo were almost overwhelming.

The whole "town" is way bigger than South Pole. Many different houses, a port, hiking trails, vehicles etc. It almost feels like a mining town rather than an Antarctic station. And somehow to me it felt almost like a let down. So different than the whole atmosphere at the Pole. Close by (just around the corner, basically) is the New Zealand station "Scott Base". So much smaller, and really pretty.

Since I got stuck there for about two days, I had some time to look around, and enjoy some of the entertainment possibilities. On the second day, I hiked up Observation Hill, that is located directly next to McMurdo. A nice hike up, but since I only had borrowed shoes (my own shoes were already checked-in and not accessible for me anymore), the hike down was really not pleasant. At least the view was great that day, as you can see on the pictures!

McMurdo station (or "town") as seen from top of Observation Hill. You can see that it is quite a lot bigger than South Pole station.

Top of Observation Hill. In the background you can see the Ross Ice Shelf (I think), with "White Island" on the left and "Black Island" on the right.

Scott Base, the New Zealand station. Just on the other side of Observation Hill. And really close to pressure ridges which you can see in the background.