World

Midwinter Revelry In Antarctica

June 21, 1999 / 10:01 AM EDT / CBS/AP

Workers in Antarctica ate a 12-course banquet Monday and held an international darts tournament to celebrate midwinter, the halfway point of the long polar night.

Midwinter celebrations are a tradition on the frozen continent, where the sun doesn't rise for months at some of the icebound stations.

The shortest day of the year is a holiday for about 80 Australian workers at the three Antarctic bases of Davis, Casey and Mawson and at Macquarie Island.

The weather this year was kind.

"It's quite warm, (3 degrees)," Mawson base leader Ross Belcher said.

At this time of year Mawson and Davis don't see the sun at all, just a couple of hours of twilight. Casey, a little further north, gets a midday dawn followed almost immediately by sunset.

Belcher said a grand banquet with music skits was planned in a mess hall decorated with the flags of the 27 Antarctic Treaty nations.

Celebrations started Sunday night with a darts competition, via radio hookup, between the Australian, New Zealand and American stations. There was no winner.

"Communications got a bit confused," Belcher said. "We'll have to work on an easier system."

Further north, in the relatively warmer climes of the sub-Antarctic Macquarie Island, some residents took part in a traditional nude swim.

On the island, chef Chris Kane was the only person working on a menu that included cold roast suckling pig, crayfish, seaweed and rice rolls, cold fillet of beef, kangaroo fillet in red wine sauce, smoked chicken and smoked lamb.

Outside the kitchen, others took a dip into the ocean, which Kane said was around 27 degrees.

In England, it is the summer solstice taking center stage. Click here for more on that celebration.