Where am I??

I wanted to give people an idea of where I am in the world.  Lots of people talk about me going to Alaska and the Arctic and polar bears.  I couldn't be farther away from that and still be on the Earth.  Also, I am not actually on the continent of Antarctica.  I am at McMurdo station which is on Ross island off the coast of Antarctica in the Ross Sea.  We can drive to the South Pole because the permanent ice shelf connects us to the continent via the Ross Ice Shelf. 

I am on the tip of the continent near the Ross Sea.  We leave out of
New Zealand as it is the closest land mass.  It is still over 1500 miles away.



This is Ross Island. McMurdo Station and Scott Base are on the lower tip of the island.  Cape Royds and Cape
Crozier are the closest penguin rookeries to us.  Cape Royds is only about 20 miles away.  So close, yet so far away.
We are only allowed to go on certain trails for hiking and the other destinations must be reached by helicopter.