The Thin Ice..... Antarctica Part 2

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It’s the first day of 2011 and seeing in the New Year in Buenos Aires was an evening not to be forgotten. The last time i was away from the UK for New Year was the Millennium in Sydney. Last night, at Pepe’s, his daughter, ex–wife Anna and good friend Jorge came over and we sat down to eat the food we had all prepared at about 1030pm. Empanadas, salads, and a variety of meats. Laura, his performance-dance artist daughter had brought a projector and from the balcony of the apartment we beamed onto the opposite building’s wall images of fireworks, volcanoes erupting and my photos from Easter Island and Antarctica. (Eva...you looked amazing!). We also got a Banksy slideshow going projecting his works onto the wall (Arran...you were right, I was wrong. Admitted now in public for all to see!) and I recommend watching this

&feature=related The astonishing graffiti work of BluBlu.

At midnight Buenos Aires erupted into a crackling fiesta with bangs and whizzes going on throughout the rest of the night. We popped champagne and downed 12 blueberries each...1 for luck for each month of the year. At about 130am, other friends arrived...Horacio the economist, Orlando and his wife Sylvia the tango singer with a permanent cigarette on her lips(!) among others. Great to catch up as its been over a year since i saw them last. We drank bubbles and danced tango, milonga and salsa in the evening heat of 28 degrees into the dawn.

A late start on the day of the 1st for all and i thought what better way to recover than to type up part 2 of my Antarctica adventures so hope you are all nursing not unreasonable hangovers and this may be a distraction from the excesses of last night. Happy New Year or Feliz Año Nuevo.... enjoy Part II. If you don’t want to read (but go on!!) then photos to accompany Part II are here....

Album 1 - http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=317010&id=691995235&l=bf74caf9a5

Album 2 - http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=317029&id=691995235&l=5c0bd16eb3

/b/ 21 December: Our landing this morning was to Port Lockray (http://www.ukaht.org/port-lockroy.html ), a station set up and used by the British in WWII, now run by the British Antarctic Survey and complete with museum detailing the life and work of Operation Tabarin which did all sorts of secret service things as well as ice/ionosphere monitoring in the first half of the century. Deserted for some time between the 1960s and 90’s, the gentoo penguins took charge setting up colonies around the base. Although restored in 1996 it is with deference to the penguins that it is now one of the most popular places in the Antarctic where all the cruise ships stop. I expected it to be rather tacky but it’s an enchanting spot and the guide was encouraging me to apply to work their next season (job desc on the afore mentioned website!). The post office there sends 70,000 cards each year to over 100 countries and the shop sells Antarctic branded merchandise to raise funds to continue with the restoration of the base and the monitoring of the impact of humans on the gentoos.

From Goudier Island, the zodiacs took us to Jougla Point where we had time to just soak it all up, Should i seriously contemplate applying to work here for 5 months?? Something to seriously consider.....

The enormous bones of a blue whale lay embedded in the deep snow and others floated around the shore. Ribs as long as a grown man lay bleached from the sun and ice in the shallows. Gentoo penguins had created rookeries around bits of the remains and these huge reminders of an animal long since dead loomed over the colonies reaching up into the sky. I ventured closer to get some superb shots showing the elegant curves of the carcass against a snowy backdrop and the reflections of the giant bones in the salty water. Others simply sat and observed the stillness, penguins sploshed around...washing themselves clean from the putrid mudbaths that the rookeries become as the snow melts. The dirtier the white belly of the penguin, the more its been slipping around in its own faeces! That said, they are beguiling creatures...watching them waddle up and down collecting individual stones in their beaks to add to the nest is hilarious. One collects and places a stone, only to turn its back and another penguin steals the stone for its nest. Personally, i think there is way too much anthropomorphism that goes on with penguins (though i understand why) but their upright stumbling couldn’t fail to put a smile on the most dour of faces. Spring has come late to Port Lockray and many eggs are still being incubated. Grubby golfballs appear hidden under a safe parental haven, away from the predatory eyes and claws of skuas – vultures of the Antarctic (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skua ).

Back to ship and we steamed down the wide Peltier Channel to collect the group of frozen kayakers who had been paddling for a few hours. The temperature had dropped and snow had started to fall gently. The weather here is so very changeable and as we navigated the 7mile long Lemaire Channel, blue patches appeared above. The jagged, serrated shark teeth looking mountains bordering each side of the channel were enveloped in a shroud of cloud but the sunshine penetrated down marking its spot on huge lumps of brash ice (http://www.aspect.aq/brashice.html ) and the gigantic chunks of glacier berg.

Going through the channel, the weather changed again and a monochromatic gloom descended over the bay and Pleneau Island . With the snow falling we cruised around the island in a zodiac marvelling at the immaculate pure colours that bring the icebergs to life. When the sky is gloomy, the vision is a grey monotonal watercolour and then suddenly, the aquamarine or turquoise colours of a berg assault the eyes. Emerald coloured pools of shallow water congregate where the berg has not yet melted beneath the surface. Judd, the expedition leader knows his ice and carefully selected a strong berg for us to climb onto. Some are in precarious states and fissures could crack at any time, shattering off and falling with artillery level noise into the frozen waters. Others are at a point whereby they could tip and roll over with disastrous consequences for us mere humans in a tiny zodiac.

The afternoon amongst the bergs and pack ice today was mesmerising. So many different formations – as though each chunk bobbing around is a unique piece of sculpture. From the Cubist giants such as Georges Braque or Picasso (http://www.google.co.uk/images?um=1&hl=en&rlz=1T4ADFA_enAR344AR344&biw=1345&bih=500&tbs=isch%3A1&sa=1&q=cubist+sculpture&aq=f&aqi=g2g-m1&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai= ) to the swirling organic forms of Andy Goldsworthy (http://www.google.co.uk/images?um=1&hl=en&rlz=1T4ADFA_enAR344AR344&tbs=isch:1&q=andy+goldsworthy+sculptures&revid=595439542&sa=X&ei=cH4fTdmzIYaKlwej6ojPCw&ved=0CDIQ1QIoAA&biw=1345&bih=539 )....... this is art in nature without, dare i say it, the tarnish of a human hand.

I know i keep banging on about this but to view these mighty creations of ice with their swirls and sharp edges, their eroded and sculpted sides, huge ice stalactites dangling down from ice ledges, all a greeny turquoise hue is a visceral feeling. You feel unworthy to be in the presence of such utter natural grandeur ....I don’t wish to offend but forget God or Mohammed, the Queen or the President. This is it. Throw away your bibles, your torahs your korans and worship the complete brilliance of Nature in its most purest elemental forms. No “being” could possibly create these environments...this is the power of the Earth, doing what it does best.

Amidst snow flurries we spotted a lone Adelie penguin (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ad%C3%A9lie_Penguin ) on a berg. Of of the 3 varieties we have come across (gentoo, chinstrap and adelie) I think Adelie’s are my favourite as their markings are so precise and bold. That said I have completely fallen in love with all of them as you have probably gathered from my gushing adoration from Otway Sound and the Magellenic species. I remember seeing my first penguins in the wild in New Zealand, camping out to see the yellow eyed species (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellow-eyed_Penguin ) and undergoing a startling encounter with a Little Blue (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Penguin ) which i nearly ran over in the campervan. Poor thing. Im not sure who was more distressed. Me or the penguin. Since then i have also come face to face with Galapagos (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galapagos_Penguin ) and the Humbolt (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humboldt_Penguin ). Ive yet to see King or Emperor’s and unlikely to on this Antarctic trip as they tend to congregate in colonies further South. Damn...another trip might be needed!

The disappointment today was due to inclement weather and heavily falling snow we had to abandon plans to ice camp. To have slept under the stars, actually on the ice was something i was really excited about doing. Many companies charge extra but it comes as an optional inclusion with Aurora. However, one bows to the hands of the skies and it wouldn’t have been possible to see the night through so the ship was turned round and we retraced our course back through the dazzling Lemaire Channel – a different place altogether in the lower light levels of later afternoon and the misty envelope of snow. The ice was literally drawing in and the Polar Pioneer carved her way (with noble Uri At the helm) through the closing formations.

22 December: Each day in the Antarctic has been utterly different – down mainly to weather conditions which effect, temperature, snowfall, light levels, berg erosion. It seems impossible to tire of this alabaster crystal desert of snow and ice. Its not just white...its shades of white and textures and shadows. Each day getting back off the zodiac and going for a sauna and hot shower I am overcome with ecstasy and awe. Today was another highlight as we managed 3 landings and were treated all day to blue skies and warm sunshine!

Woken early by the repeated banging of one of the external boat doors near my cabin i concluded something was happening and without thinking dashed outside , in my cow pyjamas, face mask dangling round my neck and wellies to witness a huge pod or Orcas skimming through the bow waves of the ship. Their emblematic black and white markings appearing as they glided above the surface. The guys already up and on the bridge said it was hilarious...they didn’t know what to look at, the incongruous vision of me so inappropriately dressed and half asleep or the killer whales!

The boat continued on to anchor in sunny Cuverville Island and following the bright orange polar clad Judd, many of us made it up high in the deep snow to gaze down on the grandiose bay, the blue sea punctuated with mammoth pieces of ice and our floating home waiting for our return. Heading bck in a zodiac with keith at the helm, an infamous leopard seal (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leopard_Seal ) was spotted and all expedition staff were immediately walky-talkying each other so the zodiacs could converge at a respectful distance for us to view this predator of the sea.

They have a formidable reputation and i read of an account in a book on board the ship about diving in Antarctica about a leopard seal attacking a diver. Treating the diver as prey, the seal bit on and dragged her down into the deep. She was found floating and dismembered with a depth gauge that indicated how far the seal had taken her beneath the surface...a staggering 70metres. She didn’t survive. Leopard seals are not evil but their renowned ferocity and daring is something to be respected and avoided. Quite reptilian looking, they have elongated heads and a wicked set of knashers with incisors to die for. An adult can grow to 450kilos.

We witnessed this gargantuan, shady looking creature swim round a berg, bobbing up and down in search of a sad solitary penguin. This seal was in the Antarctic equivalent of Waitrose but none were apparent so this monstrous hulking beast of streamlined spotted blubber heaved itself out of the water and put on a show for the discerning zodiacers. I got some incredible photos of this carnivorous monster, yawning, stretching and chilling in the sun.

As the weather was so conducive to being out and about, after a quick lunch we were out on a second landing of the day for a quick stop at a chinstrap colony or Orny island. Blue eyed shags and gluttonous skuas looked on at the chicks...the latter taking any opportunity to dine out on some baby chinstrap. With such warm rays I actually lay out in the bows of the ship in a vest top and shorts as we cruised through the Errera Channel to anchor in Andvaard Bay at Neko harbour. This was our 3rd and final landing of the day and our final landing on the Antarctic mainland. As Keith highlighted where we could walk and what we could explore i headed off in the opposite direction to the masses , carefully picking my way between giant boulders, washed up hulks of ice and the resident gentoos having a rapturous field day on the beach and in the shallows. Darting streamlined through the water and then propelling themselves onto the unstable pebbles, wobbling on the land.

All of a sudden I heard a sighing/blowing noise and there on the beach lay a basking Weddell seal (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weddell_Seal ), puffing and grunting. I sat down slowly and we looked straight into each other’s eyes. It had huge chocolate brown sad eyes. I just sat and watched, echoing its noises back (probably much to the amusement of the gentoos). That was a heartfelt moment - totally alone in Antarctica in the company of a Weddell seal. Im not embarrassed to admit it but it had a particularly profound effect on me. An extremely intense and emotional moment and i defy anyone not to be reverent. I seem to be prone to many lachrymose moments here. Being so sensitive to the magic of this place, it has moved and affected me. The tears are not ones of sadness, rather sheer elation and the feeling i am a very very lucky lady.

Anchored in the bay til gone midnight, the most spectacular day yet climaxed in the Antarctic evening sunshine with a BBQ on the deck and the trip “hat” party. Having discovered this takes place on every trip marred by enjoyment minimally as it somehow became a little naf but then again dancing to Abba (groan!) on the stern end of a Russian icebreaker wearing an Arabian princess veil and eating a huge pork chorizo sausage, whilst guzzling Glühwein was muchos muchos fun! Surrounded by fellow passengers doing the same but in nurse caps, viking helmets, clown wigs, rasta adornments, and reindeer masks was a happy moment. boogying our butts off in the light of the Antarctic Night.....

So thats Part 2 for now. Enough i think. One final part to come and then its back to the summer heat of Buenos Aires.

Feliz Año Nuevo to you all and may 2011 bring as many wondrous moments as 2010 has.

But its up to you to make them.....!

Hannah xx

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