A hot Halloween on the cold continent

Tuesday, 31 October 2017

Scenes from a Halloween party at McMurdo Station in Antarctica.

Count on Americans to celebrate Halloween with more enthusiasm than Kiwis.

Especially on Antarctica.

Hundreds of staff and visitors celebrated Halloween in Antarctica on Saturday night.

Last Saturday night, the American polar base, McMurdo Station, rocked to its annual Halloween bash.

Several hundred McMurdo staff and visitors – plus some of the younger crowd from Antarctica New Zealand's Scott Base – broke out the fancy dress.

The sun never set during the annual Halloween party at McMurdo Station in Antarctica.

* Americans going all out for Halloween in New Zealand

* Emperor penguins in Antarctica curious about making a friend**

Jon Snow from Game of Thrones mingled with an astronaut, a T-rex danced with a Transformer, and several penguins drank beer with the Pope.

Kiwis could choose from an extensive Scott Base fancy dress wardrobe kept for this purpose – and other costume parties throughout the year.

Ample quantities of Tui and Speight's beer shipped in from New Zealand lubricated the crowd until the early hours.

A blistering hot dance hall forced many partygoers outside, where the temperature was about minus 12 degrees Celsius on a mostly cloudless night. The sun never set.

Antarctica New Zealand provided Scott Base staff and visitors with transportation and designated drivers.

A quieter Halloween was acknowledged at the New Zealand base. The dining hall was decorated with orange and black and roast pumpkin was added to the evening menu.

Stuff journalists Will Harvie and Iain McGregor are spending 10 days in Antarctica part of Antarctica New Zealand's community engagement programme, which allows New Zealand media, artists and other non-scientists to visit Scott Base to learn and report on the work of scientists on the ice.