Antarctica

26th(contd)

Head to the pier just before 3pm, decided to simply walk the 3 blocks – downhill – with our bags on our backs. Checked through customs and immigration and our names were on the list. We had to wait off the boat until 4pm for boarding, but time flew while talking with various people. There is a huge mix of nationalities! On board we were given our rooms. Ours is on the top floor and is a good size! We then had a safety briefing lecture followed by an emergency drill. Life jackets etc, plus also how to get into the life boats. Each holds 48 passengers and is an extremely snug fit once all 48 are inside! It also comes with seat belts, meaning it is obviously going to be rough… Got talking with one of the staff, and she reluctantly said they had just came back in 10m waves and travelling at 4 knots, 1/3 the normal speed. Hopefully it has passed. It was excellent to actually do a life boat drill. Once everyone had got out and returned the lifejackets we had an overview of the trip and met a few important staff, followed by a welcome cocktail drink as we departed Ushuia. Dinner was served at 8pm, had higher hopes to be honest after all our other boat trips, but we had salmon with potatoes so can’t complain too much. Was still rather full from the lunch! Not much to do after dinner, so headed to bed while we headed for the infamous Drake Passage.

27^th

Didn’t sleep to much last night. We entered the Drake passage after midnight when I awoke to the startling feeling of falling, realizing I almost was for a change. It was close, I was moving around in my bed. Any item that could move was, and it took some time to put everything in a suitable place. It was then restless sleep from then until around 6:30 when Chris got up to wander around. Breakfast was not until 8am so some time to kill doing Sudoku. Neither of us felt up for much breakfast so after some toast we went for a short walk outside before Sandy returned to bed. Chris took a sea sickness pill and it helped to ease the unpleasant feeling in the stomach. Sandy was already on her 3^rd so no more for a bit. Chris spent most of the time outside watching the Albertros and other birds, got rather wet - despite being on the top deck, due to a few larger waves. The boat is really moving around and they are only up to 5m swells. In the bridge a reading of 22 degrees was read for the amount the boat was listing. The main problem is the waves are coming directly side onto us, otherwise known as “abeam” in nautical terms. A lecture on marine animals and the food chain was presented at 10am, was interesting but nothing really new. Lunch was a mission as plates, cutlery, drinks etc were all on the move. People were even falling out of their seats! Lots of people bouncing off walls, literally! So far no injuries… but a couple of close calls. More time outside, helps to keep Chris awake and is getting a work out simply from keeping vertical. Got a couple of nice photos of the Albertros hopefully. Talking with (crap, nearly fell off my chair!), other people, one is a photographer doing some work for a photo book coming out later in the year. Another is a journalist working in Australia. There is a very diverse mix of people on this trip, but everyone who is not sick, that leaves only a handful, is talkative and we are looking forward to a fun trip. Another lecture on Albertros this afternoon which informed us they can stay at sea for years at a time until the age of 12 when they become sexually mature. The large Albertros only has 1 egg every 2 years! Not many people in the lecture as the room downstairs made a few people feel worse… Dinner was around 8pm, and was stewed steak and mashed potatoes. Desert was some ice lemon sorbet. Sat talking with a group of people our age for the rest of the night, until 2:30am! So many stories and joking around, it is great to be with so many people who have had many travel stories and tales from their home countries.

28^th

Bacon and toast for breakfast for Chris after he got out of bed at 8:15. The boat is not moving as much today so slept fairly well. We should be sighting land around 3pm all going well. Had a lecture on Antarctica, Land of Records, which is the coldest, completely surrounded by water, strongest winds, along with a list of others. The coldest temperature was -86 celcius on record I think! After the lecture Sandy was awake so sat talking with people until lunch. There are many more new faces around today as more people are feeling better. Lunch was much less entertaining and was mushroom soup followed by salmon. Chris is finding the food challenging. The first iceburg was spotted shortly before finishing lunch, so this prompted most people to venture outside. It is much colder today, in the morning it was 1 deg C. The iceburgs are still amazing and we passed close to the first one we saw. People were hasseling Sandy as she said there would be penguins, until we got nearly past it and saw a small group residing on the slopes. We had to cut our burg watching short for our safety lecture on making landings, including treaty rules and correct zodiac procedures. We all are issued a lifejacket with a number on it. We are logged when we leave the boat, and again when we return. Nice to know they are not going to leave without you! The staff are excellent and are very humerous so everyone is having a great time. We are told that because we are early, we are able to make an extra landing today! Off to get suitably dressed as it is now snowing quite heavily now. 3 pairs of socks, a pair of light thermal pants, a thick thermal pants, normal trousers, rain pants, thermal long sleeve top, polar fleece, down jacket, rain jacket, balaclarva, sunglasses, gum boots was the list we both wore. Sooo hot in our rooms so hastily gathered our cameras and packs and set off. We were in the zodiac in 10mins, there are 6 boats, each takes up to 15 people. All powered by Mercury 40hp 4 stroke motors, or 50Hp Yamaha’s – the preferred choice for the female zodiac drivers as they are apparently smoother and easier to operate. They sound really powerful, run smooth and are very quiet at the same time. The water temperature is approximately 0 deg C, so no-one is keen for a swim! About 200m to the shore and landed on a rocky beach on Barrientos Island, an island forming part of the Aitcho Archipelago. It is so nice to be on firm ground again! The island is located between Robert and Greenwich islands and is part of the Archipelago group of islands of South Georgia. On it are Fur seals, Leopard Seals, Gentoo Penguins, Chin Strap Penguins, Brown skuas and some petrals. The Fur seals, 2 of them, are both young males kicked off from the breading pack. There are not many breeding places left, but the population is slowly increasing. Most breading occurs on South Georgia island. They feed on Krill + fish to minimize competition with other seals. They appear relatively thin as they do not rely on fat for insulation. The fur seals have 2 layers of fur, a long thick protection “guard hairs” + dense inner layer. They have true earflaps and can support their body on the hind flippers. True seal can’t do this. Weigh – 175kgs male , females 50kgs, average 1.5m long. 1 pup in social groups. Compared with Leopard seals – 3.5m long. Females are slightly larger than males. Leopard seals feeding on penguins – the young experienced ones. Also feed on Krill. 100 kgs per meter on average. No fixed territory. 1 pup on floating ice.

Time flew and we were on the island for nearly 2 hours. It was snowing heavily but only got cold toes and fingers. It was nice having relatively uninhibited freedom to move around the island. We simply had to keep 5m from penguins and 20m from the Fur seals. Sandy was in the last boat back and Chris in the one before as we had got distracted by some penguins and hadn’t seen most people hading back. Back onboard it was download time, followed by a hot drink for Sandy. Everyone was keen to see photos, including Frederico, so Chris brought down the laptop and went through them. Is excellent talking with Frederico, we saw some of his work and it is truly on a different level. Tomorrow will be great to try and put some ideas into action. He liked a few of the photos which was re-assuring we were on the right track. A de-breifing and the plan for tomorrow was had before dinner. Calamari and muscles with rice, not a favourite for Chris, followed by a chocolate dessert even he couldn’t finish. They do have excellent fresh bread rolls, it will be a staple food for the coming days I am sure. Afterwards we saw some more of Frederico’s work before sitting talking with people until now… 12am already!! Backup the photos etc and now finally going to bed, 2am!

29^th

Earlier wake-up this morning, 7am rather than 8am but not too much trouble even after only a few hours sleep again. Chris could handle bacon and toast this morning so was much happier. Sandy settled for cereal and fruit. The first zodiac landing starts at 8am, so after breakfast we headed upstairs to become the Michelin men again with all the layers, although will do 4 pairs of socks from now on. The weather is very good, overcast but almost no wind and flat sea. Another short zodiac ride delivered us to the shore of Hannah Bay. A fairly steep island with lots of lichen and small grasses in places, apparently there are only 2 flowering species of plant on the entire Antarctic continent. A group of Gentoo penguins were inhabiting the island and did not mind us walking around at all. We are divided into groups, each with a guide, and this time they actually keep everyone together (when needed). We walked to the top of the island and looked over a very steep cliff to the ocean below. The view from here is nice and there is frequently the booming sound of ice falling off a glacier into the ocean. We head along the side of the island past some fur seals, and spot the giant Elephant seal. We make our way over and observe from a safe distance. There are actually a number of them in the area, a group of 4 or 5 are lying next to each other enjoying the mild weather. Watching them move is almost the same as a garden slug, only the small male here weighs more than 3 ton. We are told they can dive to depths up to 1200m but average around 800m! The Elephant seals have evolved a number of adaptations to do this such as colapsable lungs, the ability to slow its metabolism down to conserve oxygen, the body is able to deform when under the immense pressure without damaging it as well as the ability to see at the great depths to find squid. Elephant seals are the biggest of the seals, the males grow up to 5m and weigh 5 tonnes. The unique feature of these seals is their special nose which looks much like an elephant trunk. These seals are commonly used as oceanographers by scientists – they strap on gps and other devices to measure salinity, water temp, ocean depth etc. Special pigments on eye to detect squid and fish at depth. Interestingly females grow only up to 2-3m long and I think this is the largest difference between sexes of any mammal.

Continuing to walk we came to an area where a number of rocks had been gathered to show a variety of fossils. Back to the zodiacs to get back aboard the Ushuaia. It was a very quick trip back as the sea was calm and the driver opened up the 50Hp Yamaha. The usual download of photos followed. We were soon underway to Deception island, a 4 hr trip. The sea remained calm and it was soon lunch time. Pork and beans with a tomato soup. The bread rolls on here are divine! Freshly made each day, perhaps more often and taste soo good.

We arrived at Deception island at 2pm, with our shore landing at 2:30 at Whalers Bay. It was great to see the island again, and it looked quite different this time due to the large amount of clouds and all the snow on the slopes. This time we entered the harbour through Neptune’s Bellows and were amazed to see how large the crater was – 9.2 miles in diameter. We headed towards a group of buildings abandoned by the whaler’s and also by the British Airforce. It then became a research center for a few years until a mud flow destroyed many of the buildings. We had on our usual number of layers, plus our togs this time. Not a normal way to dress in order to go to the beach for a swim! Once on the shore we looked around the buildings before heading all the way along the beach to climb up to Neptune’s window. The view was nice, bit our attention was now on the prospect of a swim. As we got back to the beach where the zodiacs were, a group of us had decided we were definitely going for it. The fact it was now snowing rather heavily and 0 degrees C, plus a moderate wind, did not deter what turned out to be a large number of people. After quickly stripping off the numerous layers Chris and a few other posed for a photo (Sandy was a bit slow with a couple of layers) before they all sprinted to the water. Everyone was hoping for some warm patches, but there were none! The water was absolutely freezing! After a few steps, feet were going numb and only momentum carried everyone forward to the point where it was either dive under or get out. We both went in a got under the water, but not for long. One person – Jono - even did it naked! Once back to shore it was a quick dry off, followed by putting on some pants and jacket. The swimmers had first priority on the Zodiacs waiting on hand to go back to the ship. Back on the Ushuia and straight into the shower for Sandy to warm up. They had Hot Chocolate downstairs, very nice! Also a variety of snack foods including huge pieces of white chocolate – excellent, fill up now as who knows what dinner will be…

30^th March

We were woken by the now normal “Good morning, Good morning everyone” voice of our tour leader for a scenic cruise through the Errera Channel before breakfast.

After breakfast we made our continental landing on Antarctica in Neko Harbour. It is a stunning place with Gentoo Penguins and a HUGE glacier with a fair amount of calving activity. We all sat patiently waiting for the next bigger piece of ice to thunder into the ocean creating waves which crashes all the other floating pieces of ice together making an amazing set of sounds in this otherwise silent paradise. People only have so much patience, so it didn’t take too long for snowball fights to start and snow angels to be made. Some people climbed a large snow hill for a better view of the harbour, but we decided to stay, and just as well as there was a very large piece of the glacier fall off just after everyone had started climbing. Time was soon up, so after a few silly photos of people, and some more penguins we headed back to the zodiacs.

After some lunch it was time for a zodiac tour around Paradise Bay which is surrounded by glaciers and has many iceburgs. The colours of the ice is amazing, especially being so close in the zodiacs. I was hoping to be a bit closer, but our zodiac was having some engine troubles so we didn’t venture as close as others, however we did get to see a colony of nesting Cormorants and some beautiful icicles on a cliff. We did not see a Minky whale that apparently made a brief appearance, but there is still time. The trip back to the ship was rather tedious due to the engine cutting out every minute – hmmm, perhaps this one needs some maintenance. Back onboard we enjoyed some afternoon tea followed by the usual evening debrief and outline of tomorrow. We also had the contest of naming the travelling bear brought along by John for the Australian Childrens Hospital in a world record attempt where a teddy bear travels the longest distance in a year. The winning name is Pamuk, meaning cotton. A relatively relaxing evening followed.

31^st March

Our landing this morning is at Port Charcot, a small island covered in ice, home to another colony of Gentoo Penguins. The scenery was breathtaking with all the ice, sheltered harbours with iceburgs and distant views of more ice burgs and islands. This island even has a small fort which is over 100 years old. Amazing this small pile of rocks forming it has stood all this time. The boat was divided into 2 groups, we were in the first group so went to the island first. This was followed by a zodiac cruise around the island and bay area amongst large iceburgs brought in by the ocean currents and get stranded in the shallower waters. This time we had a zodiac with a proper engine and our guide was excellent. We carefully navigated between iceburgs where at times we only had a few centimetres either side of the zodiac. Chris and Michael nearly got taken out by some overhanging ice while passing one of iceburgs! Alex wanted to lick an ice burg, so was very funny watching their zodiac try to get close enough for her to do so! We had been outside for quite some time now, and sitting in a zodiac occasionally getting wet soon meant people were getting a little cold. Back to the Ushuia for a hot drink and to warm up.

From here we sailed to one of the Argentine Islands where Vernadsky station is located. It is a Ukranian research station brought from the British for 1 Pound in 1996, and they do a lot of research in the Ozone layer amongst other meterological areas. There are 13 men stationed there for 13 months, a lucky number for them. They are also home to the most southern bar in the world and even make their own Vodka. Our ship brought them more sugar as they had run out, perhaps from making the Vodka J

We were shown around their station with the different rooms and functions. Some of the girls even found some “Adult Material” which I am sure most people could not fault them for having! Here we also got our passports stamped and many people sent postcards home for next Christmas. I think they might leave this November, so we will see when it arrives home. Everyone tried the vodka, and if women donated their bra, they were able to drink for free J No one in the first group did this, but a couple later on did. From here we headed to Wordie house, an historical building set up in the early 1930s by Sir James Wordie who was the geologist on Shackeltons Endurance expedition. A large glacier, or rather ice-cap, sits behind the hut, so we all climbed the steep slippery slope to the top for the view. After this there was a bit of scenic cruising by some glaciers before returning to the ship.

1^st April

This morning the weather is not good with high winds which cancelled our morning landing. However all was not lost as 4 Humpback whales were spotted in Errera Channel. They were not bothered by the ship at all as we slowly made our way closer to them. There was a lot of krill present as seen on the ships radar, and the whales were feeding on this. They put on quite a show for a mammoth 3 hours! A record for whale watching on the ship. They showed up their fins and tails, a couple even brought their heads out of the water to look at us before rolling over and hitting the water with their fins. Absolutely amazing seeing them so close! They really are HUGE and the noise the make when blowing out the air is easily heard. Half way though our D70 decided to die, grr, not sure why as it is not really that cold. The mirror is locked up and the shutter closed. Trying to anything results in the lights going out and nothing happening. After 3 hours we left the whales alone and headed to Cuverville Island. The weather had improved enough to allow our landing. There were 2 large colonies of Gentoo Penguins along with a few other birds. They are such funny animals to watch. At one point a large group returned from fishing, all porposing together towards the shore where we were sitting. Then all at once they lept from the water in a loud commotion before stopping dead in their tracks to observes their new guests. Some people left the island a little earlier for a zodiac trip around the bay – we didn’t – so unfortunately we missed out on seeing a leopard seal up close. Never mind, their might be other opportunities. The guides wanted to keep this visit short as we have enough time to go to Endurance Island for a zodiac cruise to see a sunken ship left from the whaling industry. So back onboard and off we set. We were again divided into 2 groups, and unfortunately we were in the second group this time. The light was fading fast as we cruised around the bay in the zodiacs to the sunken ship. It was a whale processing ship which caught fire. The captain realized he could not put out the fire, so ran the ship aground in order to save his crew. We also got to see a lone Adele penguin sitting on the shore waiting for some other penguins to join up with. Back to the ship just before dark for our usual briefing and dinner.

2^nd April

This morning we made a landing at half moon bay. It is home to a colony of chinstraps along with Fur seals, gentoos, and an Argentinian research base. It was beautiful in the morning sun – yes the sun had come out! Sandy couldn’t resist a bum slide down a snow hill on her way back! Plenty of photos and walking around this morning so made the most of the freedom as this is our last day off the ship. From the island it is possible to see Livingstone glaciers in background. The wind was picking up so back to the ship. The plan was to do our final landing at Yankee Harbour, but the wind was now up to 50 knots so this was not possible. The captain decided to take us to an iceburg that had drifted from the ice shelf – tabular iceburg. It is over 30m above the water and 160m below. We didn’t get too close – nearly a kilometre from it – but distances are so hard to judge as it looked only a few hundred meters away. We carried on past and had a scenic view of Livingston Island, but by now not many people were venturing outside due to the wind. The sea is still fairly calm, but the Drake Passage is now only a few hours away. We set out for home at 8pm, and within 15mins, the ship started to rock. Thankfully the seas are much calmer than originally predicted (over 10m!) and are only up to 5m. We are heading almost directly into the swells, so there is not so much rolling motion. It is still impossible to sleep however as chairs are moving around the room, and you have to stay vigilant to remain in bed. A couple of people fell out during the night.

3^rd April

Woke up or rather just got up for breakfast but not many people around due to sea sickness. Both of us are actually feeling ok though just tired. After breakfast went back to bed to try and catch up on some more much needed sleep. Lunchtime and there are more people about although Jono made it about 5 seconds in the dining room before quickly evacuating. The drake passage is being kind to us though after the predictions of over 100 knot winds as we seem to be only getting between 30 and 40 knots. The boat still rocks a lot though. After lunch we just chilled out in the lounge talking to people and looking at photies. I started shortlisting some from the trip but it is taking ages! Dinner time and we started chatting with an older American couple which was interesting before having a hot drink and then bedtime again J

4^th April

No sleep, the sea had picked up again around midnight, so everything was flying around the room again. The rubbish bin in the bathroom was impossible to keep still! Chairs kept tipping over, bags moving, was very challenging just to stay in bed, let alone sleep. Apparently a few people had been thrown out of bed! Breakfast was at the bar, not in the dining room, and there was no bacon for the first time due to it being too dangerous to fry things in the kitchen. A very lazy day as we make our way closer to land and out of the Drake Passage. The seas are only up to 5m, so much better than earlier predictions. Chris went to a lecture on the Ozone layer, something to do rather than learn much, however the guides on board are excellent, and always humerous. Lunch was ham and cheese sandwiches, again in the bar. It is amuzing watching everyone try to stay standing, especially while holding a plate with food. There is the occasional accident which always ends up with either food or a person flying across the room. We should be out of the swells by late afternoon! Land was sighted late afternoon and we were in calm waters by dinner. We had our final trip summary in the Conference room where we found out we were all going to get a DVD with our itinerary, ships log, lectures and photos! Excellent (Using it now to finish this off)! The guides and crew are excellent! Shortly after a quick shower now it was possible, we went to the bar to receive our certificates from the Captain followed by a farewell dinner. What was going to be an early night turned out to be late. We left the party around 1pm, then realized we had 3 more DVD’s to burn so we could post them home tomorrow in Ushuia. Chris got to sleep around 3:30am and yet there were still people in the bar…apparently until 5am!

5^th April

An early start before leaving the MV Ushuia. It is rather sad to be leaving such an excellent group of new friends, however the trip must go on. We say our goodbyes and head into town in the hope something is open, prefereably an internet café. We are in luck so catch up on the latest news, not much really, before heading to the post office. We were expecting the large number of DVDs to cost a lot and for it to take us ages to get sorted, however it cost 39 pesos, or around US$10 for half a kilo express mail to NZ! And it only took 15mins! A miracle! We wandered around for the rest of the morning, got some more DVDs and talked to those who we bumped into. Headed out to the airport a little after 12 to start our journey to Guatamala. Our flight left on time from Ushuia to Buenos Aires Internation airport – yay – no bus transfer. We picked up our bags and left them in a storage place as we have 10 hours to wait! The next flight is not until 3am… and is a 7hr 20min flight to Panama. We went on the internet, ate some dinner and killed time until we could finally check in. Caused a bit of a fuss briefly as we bypassed a line of people who were filling in forms, but too bad. The flight went well, sort of slept due to being soo tired. Talked with a man named Carlos from BA who works for Nike, so was interesting to hear about different life experiences. Wished we knew more Spanish, but oh well, we are only tourists.