Winter wonderland or do I mean summer here.

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15^thJanuary



We made it to 65 degrees yesterday afternoon before being forced to turn round because of fog and ice in a narrow channel. We got just beyond Palmer station, which is a US research facility. We have 16 of their scientists on board who came by two zodiacs from the station yesterday afternoon. They came aboard up a rope ladder apparently to deck 3! - I don't know how, or if, they are going back to their station, as we are cruising away from it now. They gave a talk on their work yesterday and we are being encouraged to approach them where ever we see them around the ship but you know what we British are like - we would not even talk to them in the dining room (where they were eating for American as you can imagine) incase we were intruding. How very mannered we Brits are! Other nationalities on board did not have the same reticence! I felt rather sorry for them actually with some of the inane questions being asked… embarrassing!



So we are in effect on the way home now. We are cruising beside huge white cliffs and see the occasional seal on an ice flow and lots of small icebergs. Penguins keep us company from time to time and the occasional large Petrel and Skua. We had a rough night in the open sea now are in another quiet channel at 7.30 am. It must be another passage en route to the South Shetland Isles.

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