Antipodes Travel Trivia

[Tony Crocker]

Antipodes - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

It is relatively difficult to have visited antipodeal points on the earth because only 3-4 % of Earth's land surface has an antipodes that is also on land.

I was aware that the antipodes of Hawaii is nearly all within Botswana after the 2002 trip but I got closer this time. The southern tip of Hawaii's Big Island is an exact match for Splash Camp in the Okavango in latitude and only 1 degree off in longitude.

I have two other close calls. Las Lenas, Argentina and Xian, China are off by 1 degree latitude and 1 degree longitude. Angkor Wat, Cambodia and Nazca, Peru are off by 1 1/2 degrees latitude and 1 1/4 degrees longitude.

In 2019 Liz and I had dinner in Hamilton on New Zealand's North Island. It is the exact antipodes of Cordoba, Spain. We have never been to Spain but will be there for a tour and the 2026 eclipse.

I recalled this issue after the marathon flight discussion. The Cape of Good Hope and Cape Leeuwin in SW Australia are both antipodean latitude matches for L.A. But the antipodean longitude is in the Indian Ocean, as for all of the continental U.S.

 

[jimk]

Many moons ago I was a geography major at the University of Maryland. The exotic travel you undertake and related trivia you discuss is often of interest to me. However, I have to admit I had to brush-up on the concept of antipodes after this post. I discovered that the Kerguelen Islands sit opposite of northern Montana and Google says the little town of Rudyard, MT is the only community in the United States that sits on top of a non-oceanic antipode.

The problem with visiting this antipodal pair is the isolation of the Kerguelen Islands (aka Desolation Islands). They are among the most remote and barely inhabitable places on the planet, surrounded by rough seas and 1800 miles from Madagascar. The climate is harsh and chilly with frequent high winds throughout the year. There are no indigenous inhabitants, but the country of France maintains a permanent presence of 45 to 100 soldiers, scientists, engineers, and researchers. There are no airports on the islands, so all travel to and from the outside world is by ship.

I worked at Defense Mapping Agency from 1977 to 1985, it's now known as the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency. That agency at times deployed teams to remote places for scientific purposes. One remote location they sent people to was the island of Diego Garcia, which is also located in the Indian Ocean, but closer to India and much warmer than Kerguelen. Diego Garcia is the site of a strategically important joint British-US military base and airfield. The guys I knew that were familiar with the place joked that is was a good location for improving your skills in scuba diving (outdoors) and bowling (indoors). Other recreational activities were scarce. Chilly Kerguelen sounds much more foreboding than tropical Diego Garcia.

 

[Tony Crocker]

Yes I noticed that spot on the antipodal map near the U.S./Canada border and knew it was Kerguelen. A cruise to the Antarctic eclipse of 2003 was supposed to port call there but did not due to weather (what a surprise!).

The Cook Ice Cap on Kerguelen is the largest glacier in France at 156 square miles. Kerguelen gets lots of precipitation and its warmest month is still less than 50F, so no surprise there is a big glacier with high point of 6,000 feet.

 

[Tony Crocker]

I have another close call within 1 degree of both latitude and longitude: Perth and Bermuda. Rottnest Island (where we did not go) is closer but the exact antipodes to Bermuda is a bit farther west in the Indian Ocean.