16 January 2017 So what is there to do at McMurdo?

So what is there to do at McMurdo?

McMurdo is like a small town. But the community has to make a lot of their own entertainment because there is only limited access to television and internet. The entire bandwidth for the station is likely less than what your house has. My webcasts use up about 15% of the station's bandwidth. Luckily, there is plenty to do around McMurdo.

There are a lot of hiking trails. You can check out cross country skies, fat tire bikes, or snowmobiles (after appropriate training).

There are often science lectures and entertaining talks given by the scientists, artists, or journalists that pass through McMurdo. In fact, most folks are more than happy to talk about their research or job at McMurdo.

There is a coffee shop that shows movies from time to time and the residents of McMurdo are very creative. There is a knitting club one can join, there was recently a ping pong tournament, and also an art show.

The residents of McMurdo are very creative. There are numerous charity events, just the other day there was an event that supported Doctors Without Borders as well as a few other charities, it was called mustache roulette. Folks with facial hair had people bid on the ability to shave their beard/moustache in whatever way they saw fit. One resident had his 47 year old moustache shaved off ... quite the price to pay for charity.

Currently, there is a bit of excitement that the ice breaker is pulling in. Over the course of a few days it takes several passes through McMurdo Sound to clear the ice. It is common for wildlife to follow the ice breaker in. I haven't seen much yet, but the seals are a bit more active than they have been, so I am hopeful.

Anyway, if you ever get down here don't expect to be bored, there is plenty of good natured fun to be had.