Antarctica. The word conjures up images of vast expanses of ice, calving glacier fronts, diving penguins, and heroes bent double in a ferocious blizzard. Listen closely, and beyond the roaring gale the strains of a classical soundtrack will filter through. Violins and ice, accompanied by more shades of white than you know what to do with. White ice, white breath, white fingers, white light. Can you picture the scene? So could my 15 classmates and I, right up until the moment we touched down on the ice runway by Ross Island. As students of the University of Canterbury’s Postgraduate Certificate in Antarctic Studies, we were about to discover what Antarctica is really like…

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