The International Antarctic Centre and the USAP
The International Antarctic Centre in Christchurch is next to the airport and is the headquarters for many countries who do science research in Antarctica. The United States Antarctic Program also has offices there. It is also a place where people can go to learn about Antarctica and see many different displays and shows about the continent. The can see real penguins there, go into a very, very cold room that blows snow and lots of wind where they can pretend that they are in Antarctica, and they can also go for a ride in a Hagglund!
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| The Christchurch Airport is very nice. In front is this lawn, where lots of people like to lay on the grass and take naps and have picnics outside. |
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| This is the Antarctic Centre. It is across the street from the aiport. It is very big! |
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| This is where the United States Antarctic Program has their offices. |
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| All the people with the orange vests are in the program with me. We are walking down the street to our classroom at the airport. |
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| This is inside the Antarctic Centre where people can go see different shows and displays about Antarctica. What are all the different things you see in this picture? |
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| This is a very big, heavy parka that a man wore each time he went to Antarctica. Each time he went, he added a new patch! He has patches all over the front and back of his parka! He even designed some of these patches himself! (Mommy, there's a very special patch his coat, but only you can look at it. Can you find it?) |
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| This is a display about the man and his parka. |
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| This is a Hagglund. They are very interesting machines! They have tracks intead of wheels so they can drive over lots of different terrain, including mud and ice and deep snow! They can carry people in the front or in the trailer. They can also carry lots of equipment in Antarctica, too! |
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| There isn't very much water in Antarctica for the Hagglunds to drive through, but they can still do it at the Antarctic Centre for tourists! |
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| They can go through very DEEP water! |
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| These are the mountains to the south and west of Christchurch. They are very pretty mountains with lots of snow on them! |
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| This airplane is a fighter plane from World War II. It is called the Supermarine Spitfire. It was flown by England, Australia, and New Zealand. It was a very, very good airplane. |
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| I get to see this airplane everyday when I go to and from the airport! |
Dear Daddy!
ReplyDeleteHow interesting - we injoyed seeing those buildings and seeing what you get to see! We found interesing items in the picture - we saw a penguin, a man hanging from the ceiling, a snow mobile, and a picture of Antarctica! We also liked seeing the spitfire. Grey noticed the target on the side of the spitfire - he wants to know what that means and who shoots at the target! The Hagglund is very intersting - so cool that it can ride through water - did you get to ride in it? We love you and thank you for sharing! Grey liked the spitfire a lot! And Mommy will look at that parka again in a bit! : )
Hmmmmmm.....I just couldn't find a patch that was out of the ordinary! ; )
ReplyDeleteI didn't get to ride in the Hagglund yet. Maybe that's something we can do as a family someday!
ReplyDeleteThat's not a target on the side of the Spitfire, but it does look like one, doesn't it? It's the symbol that the British Kingdom used during the war (England, Australia, New Zealand, and India). If you look at the Kiwi Air Force sign, you can see that still still use circle "targets" as their symbols. (Maybe not a very good idea for airplanes back then...)