15 November 2012 Kiwi Adventure

Last night Mike Osmont (another WISSARD member) and I went over to Scott Base to see what it looked like. Scott Base is the New Zealand Antarctic Research Base and is just over the hill from McMurdo, maybe two miles away. It’s one of the few times you can visit another country and not need a passport to do it. People go back and forth between the two bases regularly, and every week there are shuttle runs between them to let people visit. The night we went over I think the U.S. group may have outnumbered the Kiwi contingent.

Scott Base is fairly small, but a nice layout. All the main buildings are connected to one-another with passageways so you don’t have to go outside to get from the dormitory area to the dining room or other public areas. It has an assortment of shop and storage areas that are separate. It also has a great location with a very nice view out over the McMurdo Sound, looking Southeast toward the Sea Ice runway that is used by both New Zealand and the U.S.