Blogs from Antarctica - page 13

WOW! I can't believe we have booked our trip. After looking a many options for a special holiday to celebrate Craig's 50th and our 25th Wedding Anniversary, we have finally decided and booked a 3 week trip to Buenos Aires and Antarctica. We booked our Antarctica cruise with Chimu Adventures. They have been great to deal with and very helpful. After much research we ended up with a great price on our airfares and booked those using zuji.com.au. We depart Sydney and fly direct (well a little stop over in Auckland) to Buenos Aires. 6 nights in Buenos Aires staying at Lola House - a very high ranking hotel on tripadvisor.com.au. Booking direct with the hotel saved us a few hundred dollar against what hotel booking sites offered. On November 18th we fly to Ushuaia to ... read more

"The Danks - Sold Me Out" "Radiohead - The Reckoner" "The Doves - Satelites" I wasn´t sure what to expect while on board the Antarctic Dream. I had heard various opinions about the boat, the trip and the staff. The only constant was that the scenery was friggin amazing. So I decided to board the boat with an open mind and try to leave any expectations behind. That´s a lie, I had high expectations! I thought I might be stuck on board with 70 or so old rich people from around the world. I was worried that it would be early nights occupied with book reading and solitaire. I was a bit nervous to meet my roommate, hoping for someone around my age who didn't snore, smell and would be nice and relatively normal! Well, to ... read more

"Craig Cardiff - Dearest When You Called" "Craig Cardiff - Dirty Old Town" "Craig Cardiff - Smallest Wings" "Craig Cardiff - When People Go" Antarctica, I´m not sure how to describe it! I would like to gather the greatest poets and see what they have to say! However not our best poets or most skilled photographers and painters could capture the natural beauty that Antarctica has to offer. It is simply mind blowing on so many different levels. After a long journey across the Drake you awake to your first glimpse of Antarctica early in the morning. It´s much like Christmas, only a thousand times better! Penguins jumping in the water doing their best to imitate Dolphins, soaring Albatroses and Curious Seals over whelm your senses. And you haven't even had the chance to scan the ... read more

Antarctica is covered by Ice, so much of it that the entire continent has been pushed hundreds if not thousands of feet down into the Earths crust by the sheer wieght. Its over 3 miles thick in places- pretty amazing really. In the winter the entire landmass is surrounded by a ring of ice that can go out over 100 miles or more in places, its the seasonal Sea Ice, which in summer often breaks up and floats away, exposing rocky shorelines and the very few sand beaches. But here at Mcmurdo Station, which actually sits along a 40 mile wide bay (or sound) the ice has been locked in for over 10 years, some of the thicker ice up to 30 years. All many of us have ever seen here is a thick carpet of ... read more

So far I haven't told you much about my fellow passengers on the ship except for the 5 that I joined the boat with and my kayak partner. Well it was an intersting mix of people ranging from the very old (over 70) down to mid 20s. A significant portion of whom were Aussie and Canadian. Whilst we were on the boat I did manage to make friend with quite a few. There was Terry the mid-30s Canadian "bridge" engineer. We had plenty of beers and long chats together. There was Warren and Betsy the 40-something couple who had sold their entire possessions and were spending as long as possible backpacking around the world. I think their aim is 5 years. There was Kevin the mid 20s Canadian Environmental Scientist who came to visit one of ... read more

So on teh 28th, after another rough weather morning with no landings we finally got to make a landing / go kayaking in the afternoon. This was pretty exciting for everyone! Although it wasn't "continental" Antarctica and was just an island it was still the first time we were setting foot on Antarctic soil / rock / snow / whatever - we weren't really sure. The location for this momentous event was Petermann Island. So again we kitted up in thermals and dry suit and this time we were allowed to actually get in our kayaks. It was kinda weird seeing all my friends leave and head over at a much faster pace than me to the island. They were getting there faster, they were taking their good cameras, they didn't have to do any work ... read more