Summer is coming, but...

In the category, 'Interesting things to see in New Zealand':

Icebergs.  There are icebergs calved from the Ross ice shelf in Antarctica, some up to 2 km in length, floating near the south island.  Close enough that sightseeing helicopters are going out to see them.  They have ponds and waterfalls.  Little chunks (little, like a Volkswagen) are washing up on shore.

It's unusual that the ocean currents come straight up from Antarctica.  The last time this happened, in 2006, the helicopters actually landed on the icebergs and people walked around on them. 

Also in Antarctic news, (warning, sad:)  this weekend is the 30-year memorial of the Erebus disaster, NZ's worst air accident.  It was a large commercial jetliner, chartered for a low-fly-over sightseeing trip across Antarctica (there and back is just a 10-hour trip from Auckland).  A combination of miscommunication re: flight paths, young pilots gawking at the penguins along with the passengers, and the low visual contrast between land and sky led to the plane smashing right into Mount Erebus, and there were no survivors.  Several family members of the victims made a trip yesterday to the crash site in Antarctica to pay their respects.

I'd never heard of this event before, but news stories refer to 'The Erebus Disaster' as if no explanation is needed.  Like the Challenger Explosion, or 9/11--it's part of the collective psyche here.   It must have really shaken everyone up.