The Mind Creative FEB 2014
Outside the Terra Nova hut on the small beach at the slipway, we
see the two submerged anchors of Shackleton’s ship Aurora, which
was blown out to sea in a blizzard in 1915. The ship was unable
to return, and the men were marooned for 20 months until they
were eventually rescued. Behind the hut on the small and
accessible Wind Vane Hill, is a cross, which was erected as a
memorial to two of Shackleton’s men who perished in a blizzard.
They were part of his 1914 TransAntarctic Expedition. The
Reverend Spencer-Smith who died on the Ross barrier in 1916,
is also remembered here.
From this hill, we
are able to enjoy the
astoundingly
beautiful landscape.
From here, one can
see
expansive
graphic views of
Mount Erebus, the
bay of Cape Evans,
and
behind
us
stretch the mighty
Tr a n s A n t a r c t i c
mountain range.
One of our friends is so overcome by the day’s experience, that
he drops to his knees at the memorial and proposes marriage
to his girlfriend!
As we sail at late afternoon to the most distant south position
of 77o 43’ S of the cruise, we have a bonus to the day. We enter
the beginning of the ice channel into the American Base
McMurdo, and see the edge of the fast ice. In the distance, an
American icebreaker is at work, venturing further south than we
are able to sail.
This was a day where we were enlightened to the heroic,
exploratory and mechanical age of Antarctica history.
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