Friday 13th April 2007. Christchurch, New Zealand.

Today I am off to the International Antarctic Centre where I can get to see New Zealand's famous Little Blue Penguin (a link back to our time in the Galapagos Islands).

Antarctica...what is it? Where is it? Why is it of such growing global significance today, and what important role does New Zealand play in Antarctica today?

Before we get started lets sort out that common mistake...Antarctica is a frozen continent surrounded by water whereas the Arctic is a frozen sea surrounded by land.

Did you know that Antarctica is the coldest, windiest, driest and highest continent on earth? A cold desert twice the size of Australia, sixty times bigger than New Zealand; or the size of Europe and the Mediterranean Sea...but this is only in summer however.

When the tilt of the earth brings dusk to Antarctica in April the sea begins to freeze spreading out around the continent during the cold months of winter. In fact the sun disappears for four months at Scott Base rising at the end of August, while at the South Pole it disappears for nearly six months. By the end of September/early October 17 million square kilometres of frozen ocean has formed around the coast more than doubling its size.

Antarctica is the world's 5th largest continent and yet rain has never been recorded down there. The snow that does fall has no moisture content and so humans dehydrate very quickly.

In July 1983 the lowest temperature of -89.2 degrees celsius was recorded at Vostok a Russian base high up on the polar plateau. Add the windchill factor to that and temperatures can plummet below -100 degrees celsius.

It is difficult for us to comprehend how cold that is, but walking out into that temperature would kill us within a minute. If the air temperature falls below that of the body then body heat will be taken away by the moving air. The faster the air moves the more heat it drags away.

The moisture in our lungs would instantly freeze and our blood would set like jelly. Our hearts would not cope. Fortunately Scott Base and other research stations on the periphery of the continent don't get that cold. Temperatures haven't been recorded below -57 degrees celsius at Scott Base. This is one of the reasons why almost all bases are on the coast. Only Vostok and South Pole Station are located inland on the Polar Plateau. The average mean temperature in Antarctica is -35 degrees celsius and at Scott Base -22 degrees celsius.

Katabatic Winds flow down the coastal slopes from the Polar Plateau under the influence of gravity. These wind gusts can exceed speeds of 180 miles per hour. The highest wind recorded on the continent peaked at 320 km/h. Antarctica is a large white dome shape because there are no valleys, forests, rivers, trenches and very few mountains. Nothing can slow the winds down from building up speed as they rush across the continent towards the coast.

Antarctica is the driest continent on earth. The amount of precipitation that falls is comparable to that of rain falling in the Sahara Desert. Only an average of two inches of snow per annum falls at the South Pole; Christchurch gets around twenty six inches of rainfall per year.

Because of the dry atmosphere where humidity is around 0%, and the strong winds, and the lack of water fire is the greatest danger for people working on the ice. This is one of the reasons why they hate smokers there.

It is also vital to keep up your water intake. Approximately one litre of water every three to five hours is required to prevent dehydration. When camping out in the field your fluid intake comes in the form of ice. This ice is very dry with little moisture unlike the wet ice in New Zealand. A lot of melted ice is required for daily requirements. Field workers can spend many hours just melting enough ice for their drinking and cooking needs. A small kerosene primus is used to heat ice for water and to cook dehydrated food while out camping.

The ice is like grains of sand from a beach or icing sugar. It doesn't melt easily in your hand and squeaks when walking on it. Survival clothing does not need to be waterproof, as it does not get wet! You can lie on the clear blue ice of Lake Vanda (in the Dry Valleys) for as long as you like and you won't get wet. The ice is dry!

Mount Everest may be the highest point on earth but Antarctica can proudly claim to be the highest continent. The average elevation of landmass is 7500 feet. The highest point on the continent is Mt Vinson Massif at 14,691ft in the Sentinel Range south of the Antarctic Peninsular.

On top of the already high landmass is an ice cap covering 98% of it. This ice block equates to 90% of all the world's ice and 70% of the world's reserves of fresh water. The thickness of the ice cap away from the coast is between 1.5 - 3 miles. If it was to melt today the world's oceans would rise by 150 - 180ft and the weight of the ice is so immense that if removed it is estimated that the underlying bedrock would rise approximately 1500ft.

The 2% of the continent that is ice-free allowed scientists to discover that Antarctica yields some of the most ancient of rocks at over 400 million years old. They have been formed under very high pressure and in high temperature conditions at great depths. In these dry valleys of rock the ground is permanently frozen half a kilometre deep. It hasn't rained or snowed in these valleys for over two million years and organic material is preserved for centuries. Despite the severe climate some plant life survives there.

Over 500 species of algae have been found in Antarctica along with some 125 different lichens and 30 moss species. The growth rate of lichen can be as little as a millimetre every 100 years or more.

Wildlife in Antarctica is abundant and is not endangered in any way. All wildlife are marine animals. There are four types of penguins, five species of seals, baleen and toothed whales, birds, around 125 species of fish, plankton and zooplankton...and that is it! No polar bears, no Eskimos and no Santa Claus!

Polar bears and penguins have never actually met. All wildlife rely directly or indirectly on Antarctic Krill (a small red six centimetre shrimp-like crustacean). The biomass of Krill is estimated to be as high as 500 million tonnes or 36 million square kilometres i.e. four and a half times the area of Australia. The Blue Whale alone eats up to 4400 kilograms of it a day! No wonder - it is some 40 metres long, has a tongue the size of a baby elephant, and the heart the size of a small car - hence it is the biggest animal to ever live on earth!

Antarctica has no peer as a wilderness. This vast land and its surrounding seas are dominated by nature, by cold, wind, ice and snow. The continent itself is barren. Antarctic wildlife depends on food from the ocean for its survival. Humans can only exist there with support from the outside world, survival is dependent on technology.

Antarctica does strange things to the human body. In the long dark winter you must survive months without sunlight. Body hair grows twice as fast and the body lays down more fat with the skin losing pigmentation during winter.

There are over 40 permanent scientific research stations in Antarctica most crowded onto the Antarctic Peninsula south of South America. New Zealand's research activity is concentrated on the opposite side of the continent on Ross Island, 3,832km due south from Christchurch.

Countries have established bases in Antarctica with the predominant desire to understand more about this great continent and its global significance:

Politically - by living within the stipulation's of the Antarctic Treaty (being there for peaceful purposes and guaranteed freedom of scientific research). This treaty is fifty years old this year and governs the continent.

There is no need for a passport in Antarctica as the continent belongs to no-one...several countries just occupy it! The Antarctic Treaty is a unique legal agreement that ensures the use of Antarctica for peaceful and scientific purposes through international cooperation. It bans all military activities and promotes freedom of scientific research on the continent.

Scientific work is principally based around three main themes: Antarctic Physical Environments Research, Southern Ocean Research and Antarctic Ecosystems Research; giving an insight into the importance of Antarctica as a global indicator of the earth's health. This region after all contains some of the most undisturbed ecosystems in the world with global environmental pressures such as climate change and ozone depletion having the greatest potential to impact on the very fragile ecosystem that exists.

The Antarctic is a great cooling tower for the planet and what happens to it WILL determine global weather patterns.

Environmentally - by encouraging on-going awareness and education of people to keep this land unspoilt and as pristine as it is now.

The geology of much of Antarctica is a pre-Cambrian shield similar to those of Western Australia and South Africa which are rich in minerals. Whilst mining is possible the Protocol on Environmental Protection now bans mining and mineral exploration for fifty years.

Antarctica could be mined just like Alaska if we don't fight to protect the last great 'and fragile' wilderness on earth.

New Zealand has carried out an annual science program from Scott Base since 1957. The current emphasis is given to the impact of human activities, ecosystems, climate research and terrestrial evolutions.

Antarctic science is exciting and covers a wide range of activities such as biological sciences, atmospheric and space physics, glaciology and medical research.

Antarctica New Zealand operates from the International Antarctic Centre. It also houses the United States Antarctic Programme operations, the National Science Foundation and the Italian Antarctic Programme. 70% of all personnel going to the ice each year leave from Christchurch.

Therefore Christchurch can proudly claim to be the Gateway to Antarctica, the Great White South. It has been this way since the early discovery expeditions of Robert Falcon Scott from Lyttelton at the turn of the century.

New Zealand's anti-nuclear stance in the early 1980's placed the programme under threat as it meant US warships were no longer welcome in New Zealand's ports. Until the late 1970's everything went down to Antarctica by sea but fortunately for the Antarctic Programme technology had improved such that aeroplanes and thus the US Airforce could take over the transport in the early 1980's and the naval role could be removed...avoiding any difficult diplomatic situations.

New Zealand continues to set firsts in the Antarctic and one of its greatest sons, Sir Edmund Hillary was actually the first man to reach the South Pole by land mechanized means when he became the leader of the New Zealand contingent of the British Trans-Antarctic Expedition in 1957/8 and pioneered along with his team a new route to the South Pole.

Antarctica is a unique ecosystem...The Antarctic ice and the air trapped in it can tell us a great deal about the past as the ice formed from snow that fell over thousand's of years. It allows scientists to tell when major volcanoes erupted, you can even tell that the industrial revolution has started.

This is an excellent attraction educational, fun and informative...and as you are reminded here "if Antarctica is well, the rest of the world will be healthy!"...We all need to look after it!!

I had great fun. One of the first things you learn here is that coloured flags are used to designate safe routes for vehicle and foot travel in the Ross Region with black flags indicating areas of danger or places of caution such as crevasses, sea ice cracks, fuel lines or communications cabling.

Practical planning means that all vehicles are attached to an electric plug at the hitching rail when not in use. The plug connects to the vehicle and keeps the engine, battery and coolant warm to make starting the vehicle easier. It also runs a heater in the cabs of the vehicles keeping engines warm reduces wear on the vehicle increasing its useful life.

I had to have a ride on one of those vital Antarctic vehicles, the Hagglund. It was better than a funfair and it was here that I began my staring role in a Thai family's holiday video. This continued when I took in the simulated Antarctic Storm and met the family again.

It was cold enough in the simulator at -5 degrees celsius before the temperature fell and the wind hit 60 knots...it was freezing!

The highlight though were the Little Blue Penguins (45cm). I have gone from the world's rarest penguins in the Galapagos to the world's smallest here in New Zealand.

The oldest penguin remains in the world have been found here in New Zealand at Waipara near Christchurch. The fossil has been named 'Waimanu' the Maori word for waterbird. It is believed the species inhabited the east coast of New Zealand some 60 - 62 million years ago.

Little Blue Penguins are nocturnal. Before the arrival of man marine mammals and sharks were the only predators of the penguin in New Zealand. Today sadly land based threats come from dogs, cats, stoats and ferrets. Further threats come from marine pollution like plastic wrapping and oil spills, and from threats such as urban sprawl into nesting sites and motor vehicles on beaches and coastal roads.

Unlike fish whose eyes work really well under water and most other birds who can only see properly on land, penguins eyes work really well on both land and under the water.

On these Little Blue Penguins there are approximately 10,000 feathers packed densely to provide a multi-layered plumage that is both waterproof and supple assisting in streamlining in water. The downy under-feathers trapping a layer of warm air close to the skin whilst the dense outer feathers offer a watertight barrier against the cold sea water.

Oh yes...and as they are birds and not fish the penguin needs air to survive and thus they dive only for about one minute at a time.

The Maori Legend... Taroa the albatross and Tawaki the penguin were constantly arguing about which of them was better at flying and fishing. Eventually Tane Mahuta the Lord of the Forest got fed up with their bickering and decided to settle the matter by offering each a gift.

To Taroa he gave the longest wing of any seabird so that he could sail the ocean winds far from land in search of food and to Tawaki he gave narrow flipper wings so that he could fly beneath the ocean waves to catch all the fish he needed.

Our time on this planet is short and we are only caretakers of the environment in which we live.

Got the bus back from the airport only to discover that it was a $7 fare and not the usual $2.50...tourist rates you see!...but if I walked one stop down it would only be $2.50. Anyway the lady driver was cool and as I am currently a local resident and she's seen me on the bus before I got a locals fare!

I dined at the oh so trendy Dux de Lux (...so cool it has one other branch only and that's in Queenstown) where few patrons are aware at first that this is not a meat restaurant, veggie and seafood only. Trendy it may be, lovely it wasn't!

Tonight I am off to the art house cinema where I see Miss Potter at the Cloisters Cinema. This movie theatre still feels like the small lecture theatre it once was.

I tried tonight to attend the late evening ghost walk. My friend, the Christchurch actor Michael Lee Porter had advised me that this show was not up to Edinburgh or even London's Jack the Ripper walk, but I thought I would give it a go anyway. Turns out that all the other tourists thought the same and there are no spaces available.

I had a drink at the Bard on Avon (just for a heat...it is a freezing cold night) whilst waiting for the bus that was forty minutes late. The one thing Christchurch needs to do is review its public transport system. The routes are not bad, if only you could rely on the buses turning up on time, or indeed turning up!