On the fourth floor of the library at my university there is a large collection of French texts on Proust and Voltaire.
In a small corner of this floor is the room holding the university's Antarctica collection.
In a small corner of that room is a table where I can sit in silence and look over the maps, photos and research data compiled by scientists from all over the world who have had the privilege of traveling to the South Pole.
Antarctica is my real life Narnia but getting to it will take a lot more than stepping through a wardrobe.
Tourists can't just hop on the C-17 here in Christchurch and bum a ride down.
To go the cruise route you need at least $6,000.00 and that's for a crappy compartment in a bilge tank.
Every now and then the UK government hires people to go down and man their post office at Port Lockroy but Nick wasn't keen to lose me for four months so I didn't apply. It's a shame too because part of the job involves keeping a count on the local penguin population.
The law school does offer studies on legal issues arising out of Antarctica but I can't see myself getting a plane ticket out of it.
I got my hopes up recently when it was announced that Air New Zealand will be trialing a flight down to Antarctica in one of their jumbo jets in order to practice ice landings and possibly carry scientists down south in commercial jets in the future.
Maybe I can get a press pass and get on one of those flights.
Until then, I will still have the golden silence of the Antarctica room.
In a small corner of this floor is the room holding the university's Antarctica collection.
In a small corner of that room is a table where I can sit in silence and look over the maps, photos and research data compiled by scientists from all over the world who have had the privilege of traveling to the South Pole.
Antarctica is my real life Narnia but getting to it will take a lot more than stepping through a wardrobe.
Tourists can't just hop on the C-17 here in Christchurch and bum a ride down.
To go the cruise route you need at least $6,000.00 and that's for a crappy compartment in a bilge tank.
Every now and then the UK government hires people to go down and man their post office at Port Lockroy but Nick wasn't keen to lose me for four months so I didn't apply. It's a shame too because part of the job involves keeping a count on the local penguin population.
The law school does offer studies on legal issues arising out of Antarctica but I can't see myself getting a plane ticket out of it.
I got my hopes up recently when it was announced that Air New Zealand will be trialing a flight down to Antarctica in one of their jumbo jets in order to practice ice landings and possibly carry scientists down south in commercial jets in the future.
Maybe I can get a press pass and get on one of those flights.
Until then, I will still have the golden silence of the Antarctica room.
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