Antarctic Centre Recount "Antarctic Centre Trip"

 Antarctic Centre Trip

Orientation: 

As a part of the Antarctic study topic, the 10 ESOL Class with Mrs Flores, Briggs and Handley went on a trip to the Antarctic Centre on Friday the 4th of September.

Arriving there with 2 taxi vans was horrific, since I wasn’t paired up with my friends. With the anticipation of excitement, the arrival of students was very noisy. When the last student got off the van, we had to wait for the instructor to arrive before we could begin our trip. 

After waiting for a couple of minutes, the instructor arrived! The presence of the instructor made us silent. She introduced herself as Jane and after a while she started talking about safety around Covid and the facility. She then finished with a welcoming mood.

As we walked into the building, my mind was in wonder, thinking what surprises there would be. Jane had instructed us to go upstairs into the workshop room where we then viewed a little slideshow about Antarctica’s history. One of the most memorable stories shown to us, was about Roald Amundsen and Robert Scott’s race to the South Pole. 

At about 10am, we began to go back outside again to ride one of the modern technological vehicles that is used in Antarctica, a Hagglund. Its other name is Bandvagn 206. It’s a tracked articulated, all-terrain carrier developed by Hägglunds for the Swedish Army. It consists of two units, with all four tracks powered. It can carry up to 17 people, and the trailer unit can be adapted for different uses. 

Just at the end of the introduction of the Hagglunds, the mood began to rise, from boredom to hearts filling up with excitement. As we set foot into the Hagglund, it had the same feeling of going into a tank, even though I haven’t been in one before. Suddenly, it started moving. The movement of the Hagglund was bumpy but with the sufficient number of hand straps we could keep ourselves safe. 

Finally, the whole part that we have been waiting for, the track. The track is an all built course to give the customers the experience of what it can be like riding one in the harsh conditions of Antarctica. Leaving the track felt as if we were leaving a roller coaster ride. We were exhausted from how fun, scary, and nerve-racking the ride was. 

To the next bit of the trip, the rescue animals; the penguins. One of the most treasured wildlife in the facility was the little blue penguin. It is the smallest penguin in the world. We were lucky that we arrived there at the exact time before it was feeding time. We watched as the penguins swam around elegantly through the waters. It is as if they were soaring through the beautiful night sky. 

Even with that experience, we still had enough excitement in reserve for the 4D movie. The movie was in 3D but with extra stuff like wind, sea spray, and snow. As we were watching the movie “The Voyage”, we all felt like we were there. Tingles rattled our spines throughout the whole movie. 

After that, we were given free time to eat and explore the facility. Me and some of my friends went into the cafe and we bought two things: A bowl of fries and a bowl of wedges. We all felt like we were scammed because of how small their servings were. With our bellies half full, we were called to meet outside the Storm room. 

The Storm Room was the most anticipated event that we were all looking forward to. However, before that, me and my friend “Daniel” did the “Cold Ice Challenge”. It is when you put your hands in the water, that is under 10° degrees for a minute.

At last, the long awaited event in the trip has come, going into the Storm Room. We waited for everyone to arrive. After that we were told to wear shoe covers; being technical, they are called surface shield shoe covers. This is so we wouldn’t slip on the slippery, icy, snow. As we got into the room, the sudden cold shocked us instantly with a slight breeze. After a moment of waiting, a siren started screaming. It was a warning that a storm was coming.

The room had suddenly gotten dark as if a real storm was coming. The room temperature suddenly dropped into negative 8° degrees. As our instincts reacted, our class formed into small groups. The rush of adrenaline made everyone think of how they could stay warm. Some people came rushing into the igloo and some huddled into a form of circle. The storm stopped. 

We all felt sadness since it was over but with a slight relief. With our hands cold, we took off our shoe covers and came into the next phase of the trip. 

At the start of the trip, we were each given a paper to fill out. We were given time to finish it as we wandered around looking for answers in the building. 

With exhaustion, I sighed with disappointment since the trip was ending so early. We got back into our vans and started to go back to school.

In the end, I enjoyed the entirety of the day.