So I've come to realise I'm all about milestones. It started with travelling a certain amount of kilometres, then it was about getting to Ushuaia, the southern most city in the world, though once we were there we weren't sure quite what to do. However, on heading north we started running out of milestones. I mean passing from one country to the next is cool, but until you get to the top of South America no one really cares. However, we would soon be passing another pretty special milestone. High up in Northern Ecuador, we would eventually pass from the Southern Hemisphere to the Northern Hemisphere. The middle of the earth, or middle earth for short. (I've also come to realise that New Zealand is famous for two things, little people with large feet, and one giant rugby player with a mean fend).
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| Charlotte in both spheres |
So the equator ignited my curiosity for two reasons. First
for the milestone, but secondly for what happens when you cross the equator. What
happens you ask? Well prior to crossing it I knew of two things.One was that Orion's
Belt turned around and instead of seeing a pot, you saw the belt. The second
was that water flushed one way in one hemisphere and another way in the other
hemisphere. Now I believed that this all happened pretty close to the line,
which many disagreed with, including my old boss at work. With childish glee (I'm
not kidding, I was pretty excited) we found out there was a museum which
promised experiments (who doesn't love experiments) on the actual equator. So
one morning we left Quito and headed to this magical invisible line.
Well it didn't disappoint.
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| On the equator, sundials are vertical, not horizontal |
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| Me and my egg |
It turns out there is a big monument dedicated to the equator outside of Quito, but that its not actually on the line (it was built before the days of GPS). 50m down the road was our little museum and in we went. So what did I learn? Well, on the equator there is the exact
same hours of sunlight and daylight all year round, regardless of season. Also, on the Equinox, at midday exactly, the sun passes directly overhead and you have no shadow. It is only at this point in time, on this day, on this line, where you have absolutely no shadow. I know you're thinking
wow, these facts are blowing my mind, well there's more.
So the first experiment was to balance an egg on a nail
head. This is very hard to do and apparently impossible to do anywhere else in the world except on the equator. The gravitational force is directly down
so the yolk flows straight down and you can do it. Of our group I was the only
one that could and I was even awarded a certificate.
Other factors that changed was your strength, being on the
line and just off, and apparently a sign said you weighed less on the equator,
though that could not be substantiated.
Finally though, the big test, the water
draining. It was everything I could of hoped for and dreamed of. In an
effort to prove my old boss that I had been right all along, I filmed it. Be prepared to be blown AWAY. On the line water doesn't spin, and a few metres each way it spins different ways as it drains.
On the Equator, no turn
A few meters into the Southern Hemisphere
A few meters into the Northern Hemisphere
The milestone had been something special, and it was now time for
our future adventure in the Northern Hemisphere, well actually it was not just yet. As it
turned out our road was a dead end and we had to drive back to the Southern
Hemisphere, change roads, then back into the Northern Hemisphere, THEN onwards
with our adventure. - Reece
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