My colleague

One of the joys of this position is the great, close relationship I've had with the New Zealand Catholic Priest who I've worked with since I arrived. He's leaving tomorrow and finally, today, got to particiate in a very meaningful ceremony nearby. New Zealand has had a long and close relationship with Antarctica, primarily because it's a great port to leave from for exploration down here. Thirty years ago last November, a tourist plane that came down here (they would fly out and around the continent so sightseers could snap pictures). The plane got off course and crashed into Mt Erebus, the tallest mountain here and the southernmost active volcano on the planet. Phillip got to make the trip today by helicopter to dedicate the site and a TVNZ crew happened to be there for the event. Here's the link to their story (which I haven't seen since our internet connection doesn't support streaming video well).