The Dome

The Dome is in the Christchurch museum in New Zealand as part of an exhibition about Hallett Station in Antarctica. This geometric dome was taken to Antarctica in pieces and assembled on site by United States Navy Seabees at Hallett Station in 1957. The dome is made of fibreglass with a tongue-and-groove wooden floor. The wall sections were originally fastened together with brass bolts that can be seen around the windows and vent edges. Brass fittings were used because they are non-magnetic and therefore did not effect the scientific instruments used in the dome.

The dome was used for weather recording and observation and also contained a variograph which recorded changes in the Earth’s magnetic field. The dome was initially positioned on the roof of a laboratory, which had stabilised foundations to reduce weather or vehicle interference with the sensitive scientific equipment. The observatory dome was kept free of magnetic contamination by ensuring that it contained no metal furniture or other items.

In the 1984/85 season, the dome was repositioned at ground level on a foundation of beams and refurbished as an accommodation and supply hut. From 2000 until it was dismantled in 2004 it was used as a latrine for Hallett Station clean-up personnel.

St. Michael and St. Gudula Cathedral

The St. Michael and St. Gudula Cathedral is a Roman Catholic church at the Treurenberg hill in Brussels, Belgium. In French, it is called Cathédrale Saints-Michel-et-Guduleand in Dutch Sint-Michiels- en Sint-Goedelekathedraal, usually shortened to "Sint-Goedele".

In 1047, Lambert II, Count of Leuven founded a chapter in this church and organized the transportation of the relics of Saint Gudula, housed before then in Saint Gaugericus Church on Saint-Géry Island. The patron saints of the church, archangel St. Michael and the martyr St. Gudula, are also the patron saints of the city of Brussels.

In the thirteenth century, the cathedral was renovated in the Gothic style. The choir was constructed between 1226 and 1276. The façade was completed in the mid-fifteenth century.

It is an archiepiscopal cathedral of the Archbishop of Mechlin-Brussels, the Primate of Belgium, currently Archbishop André-Mutien Léonard. It is located in the national capital and therefore often used for Catholic ceremonies of national interest, such as royal marriages and state funerals.

The south tower contains a 49-bell carillon by the Royal Eijsbouts bell foundry on which Sunday concerts are often given.

Punting on the River Avon

These are some of the historic buildings you can see on the River Avon, Christchurch, New Zealand as you enjoy a punt on one of the wonderful punts that you can hire. A punt is a flat bottomed boat that does not have a keel. The Avon runs right through the centre of Christchurch and eventually out to an estuary, which it shares with the Heathcote River. The Avon River was known by the Māori as Ōtākaro or Putare Kamutu. The Canterbury Association had planned to call it the Shakespere. The river was given its current name by John Deans in 1848 after the River Avon in Scotland.