TIGER in Antarctica, November 11, 2003

Getting Outfitted

In the morning, I take a walk in the Christchurch Botanical Gardens. I do a bit of birdwatching, but New Zealand has been overrun by foreign species (starlings, pigeons, european blackbirds and finches, etc.). The native (endemic) species are now mostly in the mountains. I also walk past the nice Christchurch Art Museum, but don't go in this time.

Christchurch Art Museum

At 1 PM, I go to the Antarctic Center to get outfitted. The Antarctic Center has a museum and you can get Haaglund rides (see Vehicles special report for a Haaglund picture) through a course that simulates Antarctic terrain. There are also offices for the US and New Zealand Antarctic Programs, and the Clothing Distribution Center (CDC) is there. It is mandatory that you get outfitted with gear before heading down to McMurdo. I did a longer description of the outfitting and gear two years ago. You can check out the November 9, 2001 journal and the Extremely Cold Weather (ECW) Clothing web pages.

The Antarctic Center

In the evening, I have dinner with Kurt and Paulette Liewer from JPL. I've known Paulette for a while (she does heliospheric physics), but this is the first time I've met Kurt. But he is heading down to McMurdo two days after me to work on the Anita payload that we've added to TIGER. We have a great dinner at an Italian Seafood restaurant. Two years ago, I did my last civilized meal before heading down to McMurdo at this same restaurant.