Jan 8 (contd.)
Went for a walk up to the sports deck on the 9th floor and got the basics from one of the staff on how to play shuffleboard so at the moment it is 2 all. Also played a game of tennis which is damn difficult on a boat when you are moving – although chris had no trouble beating me J
Went for a swim this afternoon with mom in force 5 winds so the pool reminded me of being in a rockpool with the waves crashing everywhere but at least its got no rocks J Went for a spa before getting dressed for our first formal dinner. The boys looked very swish in their suit and ties. Decided to go watch the show which was a broadway love song theme – not too bad but I was so tired I started falling asleep at the end !
Jan 9:
Early wake up at 6am. Boarded the transfer boat to Puerto Montt for our Osorno Volcano and Petrohue rapids trip. Raining outside so glad we packed our wet weather gear. Took the bus to the Petrohue rapids in the Petrohue National Park. The rapids are huge with a lot of water being pushed between these massive boulders and rocks. The water has this lovely emerald colour – our trip is definitely designed for old buggers as this was the total of our walk and is described as active – I think we only walked about 500m in total. Onwards to the Osorno Volcano we made a stop on the way up to look down the valley at the lakes and took a couple of photos. The parking/cafeteria area of the volcano was extremely cold and lots of fog which kept rolling in. We managed to see some of the side of the volcano but not the actual cone as there was too much cloud. They ski down the mountain it is a 12 to 20min run (2,5km) and cost between 5,500 and 6,500 chilean pesos (US$11 to 13). I imagine the view up here on a good day would be amazing. Apparently it rains 200 days a year with an average rainfall of 2500mm a year.
Had lunch at a cafeteria by the Lake Llanquahe : tomato soup, piesco sours, fresh salmon with mash and raspberry tart. The piesco sours is made from distilled grapes, piesco limes and sugar, this is the national alcoholic drink of Chile and is really, really good!
Salmon farms in Chile and Norway produce 70% of the worlds demand, 40% is in Chile! They also produce 40% of the worlds copper.
Stopped at Puerto Varas on our way back which is a small town on the edge of the lake. Wandered along by the lake and then around some of the shops, before passing back through the main square to the bus. Puerto Varas is also known as the city of roses.
On to Puerto Montt to transfer back to the boat. Once aboard we had half an hour before we set sail so decided to take some photos from the top deck. Also resumed our game of shuffle board but it’s now 6-4 to Chris L Had to stop our game as the wind picked up so much that our disks were being flipped by the wind.
So went and sat by the pool with mom and craig and had a rum and coke. Dinner tonight was casual and Chris managed to eat two mains! The peppered steak and chicken parmigiana. The dessert was good, frambe banana and vanilla ice-cream.
Chris went for walk around deck for 5km – 7 times around the boat – probably needed it after all the food J
Watched the waves from our window that managed to make it up to our window every now and then. Also snowed before it started raining tonight.
Jan 10:
Early wake up to see the Darwin Channel, got dressed and went up on board but was so cold outside I came back for our jackets and gloves. Really scenic and similar to NZ fjords so far. Saw a few albatross and cormorants. Spent a few hours outside taking photos and watching until we left the Darwin Channel for the open sea again. Decided I needed a snooze and went to bed while Chris went for Breakfast.
In the afternoon we went to the gym (think we needed it with all the good food at the moment) and then wandered around the ship. Went for a spa and had a margarita by the poolside. Chris talked shop with a guy on the ship with a D300. He had it on order and only got it the week before he left for the cruise. An amazing camera, and quite a lot more features than the D200. There is always something better, but Chris is still very happy with our one. The days are starting to get longer with a sunrise of 6:25am and sunset at 9:59pm.
Smart casual dining tonight with a Dutch theme so all the Dutch people on board were singing and waving flags J
Jan 11:
This morning we woke up to the sight of icebergs floating past our window!! So a quick change of clothes and a run up the stairs to the bow. They open the bow area when there are no big waves – obviously J We slowly crept up to the Amalia Glacier which apparently had dropped a lot of its ice since the last time the boat was there – 2 weeks ago. The boat used its thrusters to push the ice out of the way of the propellers so we travelled fairly slowly up to the front of the glacier. The glacier was this amazing deep turquoise colour so lots of photos. Then made our way back out to the pacific ocean through the fjords – lots of mountains with caps just whitened. Out on the ocean by about 3pm with force 9 winds (40miles/hour). Had a small lunch before heading for the gym for an hour – we need it on this boat there is way too much good food. Staring out our port window a lot as you can see the huge waves crashing into the side of the boat – can sit there for hours J Amazing how much water 60,000 ton of ship can move when travelling at 18knots!!
Formal night dining tonight.
Jan 12:
Docked at Punta Arenas this morning. Took a shore excursion to Otway Bay which is a penguin colony located on a private farm. The hour drive to the penguins showed the scenery of Patagonia with flat lands and shrubbery with tall mountains in the distance. As we entered the farm we spotted lots of Rhea and their young (a bird which looks similar to an ostrich but much smaller), rabbits (much bigger than what we get in NZ) and two Condors sitting quite high up on a rock face. We didn’t see them fly but they have a wingspan of 3m! Arrived at Otway Bay were thousands of Magellanic penguins roost with their young. The penguins hatch in early December and take 90days to lose their fluff and get their tuxedo. We saw them when they were just losing the fluff and were in different stages of growing their tuxedos J Very cute and obviously not many predators as they were frolicking around in the water and not fussed by humans either. Tried to get a photo of them diving in the water but very difficult – got 2 or 3 but not very good. They can travel up to 20km/h in the water but normally at a speed of 5-10km/h. Spent a few hours at the penguin colony before heading back to Punta Arenas. We were taken back to the port so we took a taxi into town. Headed for the Plaza del Armas (city centre) where they had an arts performance, as it is Saturday there were lots of people out and about. Got dropped off at the cathedral and walked up to the top of the town, Cerro La Cruz, to get a birds eye view. There are so many colours from the viewpoint as the Chileans seem to paint their roofs every colour of the rainbow, we had a perfect day so could see all the way down the strait and the islands of Tierra del Fuego in the distance. Back down to the town and a walk around the town, visited the museum of regional history which is an old mansion built in the 19th century by a millionaire called Braun Menendez. The mansion is basically an insight to a prosperous merchants family life. We then tried to find a supermarket as the water and coke is expensive on the boat – we found a supermarket on the way back to the boat with more normal prices so indulged in some coke, wine and chocolate J Back to the boat and had dinner in the casual restaurant so that we could get an earlier night.
Jan 13:
Early wake up as we pass through Glacier valley. Had to go back to the cabin as my polar fleece just wasn’t warm enough so out came my down jacket – very warm J We passed a number of very impressive glaciers all very different to each other, also saw a couple of hanging glaciers as well that sit on the top of mountains. The weather is excellent and we can see for miles at the moment – apparently some of the best weather they have had in a while! We passed the Alemania, Romanche, Italia, Francia and Hollandia Glaciers which are the major five in the glacier valley. They are all named after the types of languages in Europe. As we passed the last glacier we saw a humpback whale broaching in the distance and were lucky enough to see it again as our boat got closer. Spent a while longer on the deck taking photos and admiring the scenery before grabbing a quick lunch and a snooze. At 1:30pm we finally docked in Ushuaia an hour late due to another ship not leaving on time. We decided to do a trek/hike/tramp through the Torres del Fuego (Land of Fire) National Park. The park is 155,000 acres in size and extends from the Chile border and is shared by Chile and Argentina. So a half an hour bus ride outside the city of Ushuaia and we were in the beautiful park. Our trek took us through peet swamplands into the forest and past dams constructed by beavers, whilst in amongst all the mountains of Torres del Fuego. Ushuaia has approximately 60,000 people and most are new to the city due to the rising tourist industry. Ushuaia used to be a penitentiary and means “bay in the west” by the native Yamana, Patagonia means “land of the big footed man“. The native Yamana tongue is dying and apparently only one women remains that can still speak the language but she is 81 and is trying to pass on the culture and language to her daughter. Ushuaia competes with the city of Puerto Williams for the southernmost city in the world – not sure which one is true but Puerto Williams, Chile is lower but not as many people and a much smaller port.
Anyway spent 2 hours hiking around the park with a few people losing their footing in the ancient peat bogs/swamplands and a couple getting stuck in the mud J The peat bogs are ancient lakes filled with algae and even a human was discovered in the bogs which had been there for 1600 years. It was so well preserved by the peat that you could still see its hair, beard and facial features. Unfortunately though beavers have been introduced to the area and are slowly taking over and damaging the ecosystem. Very strange hiking in gumboots! Back into town and we went for a wander around town and found a café that sold hot chocolates and wine J Slowly made our way back to the boat, loads of boats docked at the port destined for Antarctica but they are expedition boats where as the Holland America only does observations. Basically on this boat we can’t land – so we have organised to go back in March to do an expedition with Kumuka. Back on the boat and stood on the bow whilst we departed and then hurried back for dinner. Early night so we can get up for Cape Horn.
Jan 14:
Woke up early again to see Cape Horn stood on deck for a couple of hours but it is getting colder. It started to drizzle as we rounded the cape but still very clear, waited at the last island of South America for the Chilean navigation captains to disembark the ship.
Onwards to the Drake passage – I think we are very, very lucky the wind has been blowing for a while so the waves aren’t as big as they can be, force 9 winds and the waves are between 2 and 6 metres. Had a bit of a snooze to catch up on some sleep and downloaded all the photos. Mum and I went for a hot spa to warm up and then a quick lunch before Chris and I headed for a lecture on where we were going in Antarctica. Pretty much they have no idea and have plan a, b, c and d and probably more depending on the weather and number of icebergs J
Dinner tonight was entertaining it was a Masterchef dinner where the staff sing and dance between meals. Quite funny really we all had to wear chef hats while we ate and had people dancing around us with napkins and salad flying everywhere J The finale had a whole lot of streamers go off around the dining hall and then the best chocolate truffle cake ever was given to us for dessert ! Entered Antarctica at 8pm.
Jan 15:
Woke up early this morning – we are in Antarctica !!!! I cant believe we are finally here it is so beautiful and pristine and very different to what I expected. I suspect this is because we are on the peninsula that juts out to South America. There are lots of really steep mountain ranges all capped with snow and glaciers everywhere. Not as many icebergs as I expected but that is probably because of the time of year. I expect our next voyage down here in March will be a completely different experience and a lot colder. The weather is fantastic and very clear, a lot of the mountain ranges are visible and most of the crew are out photographing the landscape. Apparently this is some of the best weather they have ever experienced down here. A few facts about this continent : There is a huge ice sheet which covers 99% of the surface and accounts for 90% of the worlds ice and holds 70% of all the fresh water on earth. Six of the worlds 18 species of penguins are found here and an estimated population of 17-20 million breeding pairs. A penguins sight is blurred on land, but with eyes sensitive to blue, green and violet light its vision is sharp in the water.
Our first port of call is the U.S. Palmer station and then on to Lemaire channel via the Northern entrance. We have been lucky and the weather is so good we have been able to navigate all the way through the channel and beyond Petermann Island to a latitude of 65 degrees 09 minutes about 81 miles from the Antarctic Circle and 1491 miles from the South Pole. We have spotted two sailing ships so far – absolutely mad people trying to sail in a place so baron and unpredictable. There are no places to land or very few as the mountains rise out of the water and straight up where there seems to be flat ground there are glaciers or huge ice sheets. The stations seem to have found the only places where you can put a house but there is normally only one or two. I don’t think you would want to stay in them as there is normally a glacier right next to you and if a piece falls off it creates this huge wave. We only saw a little piece fall off today but that made a decent wave! Lots of scenic cruising and on to Neumayer channel which we also managed to pass through – so far the weather is holding up for us hopefully it will the whole trip J Lots of penguins and have spotted the odd whale and lots of leopard seals a couple which have been feasting on penguins. Apparently they only eat a penguin every 2 days. We cruised northbound in Gerlache Strait to Dallmann bay and passed the Melchior Islands to an offshore spot for our overnight sleep. We have taken so many photos so far, I am glad we brought the computer to store them all! We got the furtherest south this ship has gone so far, a further 2 miles than a couple of weeks ago.
Jan 16:
Early wake up again for the scenic cruising of paradise bay via the Gerlache Strait and Dellmann Bay. Sunrise is at 4:40am and Sunset is at about midnight so you tend to go to bed really late and can’t really sleep because it is so light. Paradise bay is amazing the weather is perfect again and you can see all the reflections of the mountains in the bay there are also two stations located in the bay, the Chilean (Gonzalez Videla) and the Argentinean (Almirante Brown). Saw a Minky whale in the bay and loads of penguins in the water darting around, also quite a few by the Argentinean station – you can smell them a mile away- but we are not allowed to get close because of the permit on the boat. Although we have seen quite a few sitting on ice as we pass by on the ship. On to the Errera channel which we also manage to pass through and is apparently only the second time the ms Rotterdam has made it through the channel. We then stopped off at Cuverville Island and cruised through the Gerlache strait to Crocker channel and Bransfield Strait.
Had dinner in the buffet restaurant tonight so that we could be out and about at 8pm for the scenic cruising of Deception island. It is a volcano which last erupted in 1970, and the crater has been breeched by the sea, making a sheltered harbour. How safe it is to be in there however due to the volcanic action is another story. There is apparently an evacuation plan if the entrance gets blocked, however “all bets are off in the event of an eruption”. Overall rather a dull island from where we were. Due to the size of our ship, we could not go in through the entrance. We were told that we would only have a meter or so clearance on either side of the hull, therefore, an unacceptable level of risk to take. There are more penguin colonies and we saw a few whale blows in the distance, however nothing close. After a cruise along the eastern side passed Neptunes Bellows and Bailey head, we altered our heading for Hope Bay, and Paulet Island via the Bransfield strait. We stayed up downloading photos etc, to the point where the sun was setting. An amazing site, the sun is able to be looked at without glasses it is soo low in the horizon. An ice burg added the perfect finish to the evening. We tried to get up and see the the Aura Australis, however at 2am the night was far too light, so promptly rolled over and went back to sleep.
Jan 17:
Hope Bay is beautiful, especially as we have another PERFECT weather day. There are many more icebergs in this area, and quite a few large rectangular ones. Many are larger than this ship. It is always amazing watching ahead of the ship. Many times it appears we are in a bay, and will be turning around, however a few more minutes reveals more of the passage in which we can cruise through. A lot less birdlife around here, but the scenery is breath taking. We are unable to make it all the way to Paulet Island, however this normal, it has only been reached 3 times in the 5 years the tour has been operating and we were only 8 miles away. We still had time to do some more cruising, so we visited Esperanza (Argentine Station) another science base, with another colony of penguins beside it. After this we headed for Elephant Island. Time for a bit of a sleep catch-up, with dinner early at the Buffet. On our way to Elephant island we passed a number of small islands : O’Brien Island, Eadie Island, Aspland island and Gibbs Island. We arrived at Elephant Island on time as always. The light was still great, so yes, some more great photos. On one corner of the island, icebergs commonly get grounded so there were numerous large bergs there. One was really blue! We cruised the south, east and north coasts of Elephant island and passed the Endurance Glacier. Rounded Cape Valentine before stopping to view Wild cove and Cape Wild where 22 of the survivors of the Endurance spent 135 days waiting for rescue. We could just see the silhouette of the plinth monument with the bust of Captain Luis Alberto Pardo Villalon who rescued the men from the island. This concludes our Antarctic adventure, an amazing few days with the best weather possible.
Jan 18:
Lazy day after not much sleep for the past few days so only woke up in the afternoon. Went for lunch and then attended a Q&A by the captain and chief engineer.
A few stats on our ship:
5 engines, each consuming up to 2 Ton of fuel per hour. At peak output, the ship can use 100Ton per day of Heavy fuel oil. Each engine has 16 cylinders, with each cylinder producing 1000Hp! All up, a total of 80,000 Hp.
The engines run at 513 RPM, which equates to 60Hz electricity at 6,6kV. This is then stepped down to 1kV for propulsion motors, and further for general purpose use thoughout the ship. The ship produces its own fresh water using up to 3 evaporators, capable of producing 1400Tons of water per day. Generally only about 600Ton of water is used per day. Mostly they are run on waste heat.
The ship cost around 300Million dollars. Fuel use per day is around $50,000.
Had a talk with the Chief Engineer, and there is a very slim chance I can get a look around, however they have an engine undergoing reconditioning so the chance is only very slim. Fingers crossed.
Dinner at the restaurant tonight.
Jan 19:
Slept in until about 7:30am before getting up for breakfast and grabbing a tender to shore. However this didn’t quite work out as well, the shore excursions get first priority so we landed up waiting until 9:15 before getting a tender and then a 30minute ride to port. We are in Port Stanley, in the Falkland Islands basically a small English town in the middle of nowhere. It has a population of 2500 people and with our boat and the M/V Discovery in the harbour we have equalled the population of the island. Once ashore we grabbed a local shuttle to Gypsy cove about 10km from the centre of town. We tried to get on a tour to Volunteer point to see the king penguins but missed out apparently only room for about 20 people on that tour L Oh well, we saw some more Magellanic penguins nesting on the beach and a pod of dolphins. Loads of birds around and they aren’t scared of people, I am guessing there aren’t many predators around as there are nesting birds everywhere. We basically walked past a whole lot of nesting penguins and one was swimming in the beach below us. We walked around the cove to Engineers point which is the entrance to Port Stanley where we stumbled on a national geographic moment. I felt like I was in my lounge watching a documentary on these falcons (I think ?) except I was about 3-4 metres away from a youth falcon and its dad feeding it a mouse – spectacular ! It’s mum also decided to visit but wasn’t too keen on us so didn’t stay long – I think we must have sat there taking photos and watching for about an hour. Finally gave up, us and not the birds and headed around the point to where a number of the shipwrecks are in the bay. The most impressive of the shipwrecks is a ship called the Lady Elizabeth with her three masts still intact. I wish I had a book of the birds of this area as we saw so many and the biggest ducks and geese I have ever seen. Plus they are really not fussed by humans it was almost a dare to see how close you can get before they walk away – note walk and not fly! Anyway finally gave up on harassing the wildlife and started walking back to town, got about 2km away from the town centre and then stopped a shuttle for a ride back. In town we walked around the main sites which probably took about 20 minutes at the most and then settled in a small pub for a beer away from the rest of the tourists at the back of town. I think a couple had the same idea and we landed up chatting to some people on the M/V Discovery over a pint, the M/V Discovery is the old Love Boat but has just been renamed. They are on their way down to Antarctica so hopefully the good weather is still around. Back to the port to get a tender boat back to the ship and we had a mother duck and her ducklings sitting right next to the pier not fussed by the hundreds of tourists taking her photo and being a couple of metres away from her young. Port Stanley has really amazed us, probably because we didn’t know what to expect. On board and watched the tender boats being hauled back up onto the ship. Then showered and dressed for dinner which I was needing after a long day of walking. Decided to have a drink up in the Crows nest which is on the 9th floor of the ship overlooking the sea with a moonlit night – although didn’t get a dance as someone keeps ordering more than one dessert!
Jan 20:
Lazy day today at sea, got up for brekkie and then chatted to some people that had managed to get on the Volunteer point excursion – gorgeous photos! Chilled out on the deck in the warm sun while Chris went to the gym. Saw a huge pod of whales about 20 or so but still away from the boat. Dinner tonight is formal and then we attended the Captains black and white officers ball. So had a few spins on the dance floor and were even the last ones to leave at 2am!
Jan 21:
Slept in today and will probably be another lazy day in port tomorrow J
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