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Published: September 15th 2007
Wow!
It's hard to describe Antarctica with out gushing too much. Although you'll probably think we'll have done this anyway! I have even resisted the temptation to start this blog with a line of poetry (unlike And!) & believe me the temptation was strong!
We travelled there on a Quark cruise & I think the enthusiasm of all the expedition team & staff was infectious. Our time was spent cruising through the Fjords of the Antarctic peninsular, making landings on the mainland & little islands in the channels & taking Zodiac cruises to get closer to the landscape, icebergs & wildlife
Friday the 2nd of March
We were woken at about 6.30 am by Laurie´s morning announcement. it was especially early that morning as he wanted us to know that there was an amazing sunrise outside. We peered bleary eyed out of the porthole to see snow & ice covered mountains bathed in golden light looming out of the water, it was an amazing sight.
After our usually hearty breakfast we boarded the zodiacs to make our first landing on the Antarctic continent at a manned Argentine base called Almirante Brown. It was a beautiful day,
the sky was pure blue & the glare of the antarctic sunshine made the white of the snow glisten & sparkle. There was no wind so the sea was calm & all the mountains, glaciers & icebergs were reflected beautifully in the water. We were very excited as we flew across the water of paradise bay towards the shore. The buildings of the little base were painted a warm, bright orange & stood out cheerfully against all that pristine white & blue.
Santiago chatted to the two men working there while we climbed to the top of the hill being very careful not to step off the footprints of the expedition staff as we had been told that there were many hidden crevices under the snow. There was a little rocky outcrop at the top where we sat and gazed out over the bay. It was hard to know where to look, it was all so beautiful & there in there middle of Paradise Bay was the Sarpik Ittuk, which seemed large when we were on it but looked tiny when dwarfed by all that towering ice. All too soon it was approaching the time to go. And &
I started to walk down but when we saw other people sliding we decided to wrap our Parka´s over our ripped trousers & slide down the hillside. And´s coat gave her a good ride but unfortunately mine just wasn´t the sliding kind so after a while of humping over the snow like an elephant seal I gave up & walked down. Then it was back on the zodiacs for a cruise around the bay, cruising up to the glacier our zodiac crunching it's way over hundreds of floating chunks of ice.
After we returned to the ship the Sarpik set off down the beautiful Lemaire channel. During lunch we were sitting by the window chatting when suddenly a huge humpback reared out of the water right next to the ship during lunch its jaws snapping together as it gobbled up Krill (shrimp like invertebrates that are abundant in the cold waters of the southern ocean & are the staple food of most of the creatures that live there). Everyone who was lucky enough to see it let out a gasp & ooh & ahhed like they were at a fireworks display. Unfortunately my head blocked And´s view so all
she said was "What? What?!!!!"
After lunch we squeezed ourselves back into our thermals to get ready for our next activity a zodiac cruise along the most beautiful part of the Lemaire Channel. We had been boiling in all our clothes earlier so had some discussion as to whether we needed to wear more or less, eventually we decided to put on an extra layers of thermals as it might get chilly as we zoomed along on the Zodiacs. We headed off down the channel in a Zodiac driven by Phil from head office who was filling in for Roger who we suspect had caught Andrea´s nasty cold. We hadn´t gone far before we had to turn back to rescue one of the other zodiacs that had broken down. After a bit of fiddling Phil got them started & we were off. It was a beautiful place, a narrow channel off towering mountains with groups of penguins jumping out of the water as they swam (which is known as porpoising). We wound our way through icebergs that sometimes had a seal or two resting on them & at one point I looked back to see the Sarpik following us
& it really hit me what an amazing experience this was & how privileged we were to be able to do it. After an hour of cruising it had started to cloud over, the temperature was dropping & a few flakes of snow were starting to fall from the sky. We were starting to feel the cold & retreat into our Parkas when suddenly a pod of minke whales appeared & literally played with the zodiacs & the cold was forgotten.
After the whales had bored of us we ended our cruise with a landing on Petermann island. The waters around the island was teeming with Gentoo's that leaped out of the water flying on to the rocks in large groups & as we landed And said she thought she could see a seal throwing a penguin around but I couldn´t see anything. Once we were off the Zodiacs we realized just how cold we really were so we jumped around and ran on the spot to try & warm up. The worst things were my hands which hurt like hell as I had been too busy taking photos to wear my thick gloves. Eventually we thawed out but
the cold of the cruise had really got to Claire & I (in other words we really needed the loo) so we got a lift back to the Sarpik leaving And to explore. Poor Emily had a hell of a time trying to line up the Zodiac with the ship as the current was so strong it took several attempts (while Claire & I were trying not to think how badly we needed the loo) At one point the Captain came over the radio cheekily joking that if she wanted Emily could leave the zodiac where it was & he would move the boat. Eventually we made it on board, Claire decided to stay on board but I ran back to the ramp hoping to catch a lift back. I was lucky as Laurie arrived in a Zodiac at the same time to pick up Suzie so I jumped into the Zodiac & we whizzed back to shore. As we entered the little bay I saw that Andrea had indeed been right. A Leopard seal had caught a Penguin & was playing with it's catch in a cat like way, throwing it into the air & pulling it under water
then letting it float back to the top. The poor thing was still alive but was either too hurt to move or paralysed with fear, it was letting out little quiet honks & for once I was glad I had left the camera with And as it was a fascinating but terrible thing to see. Laurie, Suzie & I watched engrossed until the seal got fed up with our proximity & swam further out into the bay to carry on its game in private.
Back on the Island I watched the Gentoo's fly out of the water understanding now why they were in such a hurry & always travelled in large groups, then I wandered off to find And. I could see two people in Yellow parkas one sitting far from the animals chatting to someone, the other lying on their front deep in the snow taking pictures of Penguins. It wasn't hard to work out which Parka belonged to the person I was looking for. And was taking pictures of the Adelie penguins which nest in a small commune on the island. This is about the farthest north these little penguins live. They are much more shy than
the Gentoo's but are very cute with there black & white curved markings and bright blue eyes (they looked a lot like Pingu to us). Meanwhile all around us the Adelie's noisy neighbours, the cheeky Gentoo's were running about. The full grown half fluffy chicks were bothering their parents relentlessly for food & when the parent had enough it would run away with the clumsy chick waddling as fast as it could behind it & quite often falling over or sliding on it's belly propelling its self along with it's flapping feet. We spent ages watching these antics & laughing till our cheeks hurt. At one point whie I was watching the penguin antics And suddenly started oohing & aahing. She'd seen a Humpback come hurtling out of the water & this time it was my turn to miss it! By the time we left the island It had started to snow quite heavily, which we were delighted about. We're in Antarctica & it's snowing!!!!
Later that night as the Sarpik sailed further south we sat in the Aft Saloon all warm & snug, sipping whisky & reading books about Antarctica borrowed from the library & watching the snow
fall heavily outside the window. Lovely!
Saturday the 3rd of March
In the morning we had another zodiac cruise around the icebergs Pleneau Bay. Phil was our driver again & gave us a good tour around the bergs pointing out more seals & minke whales. It was a grey over cast day & still snowing quite heavily & the duller light really brought out the Glacier blues in the icebergs. We made a landing at Port Charcot which had been the base of a famous french explorer many years ago (nothing remains there now except a memorial to Monsieur Charcot). The little island was heaving with Gentoo's but the star attraction on this island were the views from the top of the hill over the fjords topped off by moody skies (it had stopped snowing by now). There was a blue iceberg just off the shore which gave us a wonderful display as it creaked & groaned when some of it fell off and rocked dramatically almost flipping over.
After lunch we were supposed to go to Vernadsky, a Ukrainian base but they were busy decorating (!) so we had to change our plans and made another
landing at Port Lockroy. This British base was built during the second world war by a handful of soldiers who were sent to Antarctica to lay a British claim to the land & as a bluff to hide the fact that the enigma code had been broken. It sounds a bit of a farce & apparently even Churchill asked why we were sending good fighting men to the south pole when he heard of it. The men had no idea where they were being sent but thought they were going somewhere exotic as they had all been issued with sunglasses (see, I did pay attention during your history lectures Victoria)! After the war it fell into disrepair but in the last 10 years it has been restored & is now a museum showing how the men lived there.
Being good British girls we were excited to see the Union Flag flapping above the penguins & of course had our photo taken with the British Antarctic sign. Inside the base there is scientific equipment, which was partly responsible for the research that discovered the hole in the ozone layer, a living area, kitchen & bar with old photos of the
Queen & Doris Day proudly displayed. The Kitchen was stocked with tins of things from home, like Marmite & Bovril. Rick, one of the men who lives & works there during the summer months proved himself a true Brit when he asked me if we had ever met before. Even in the middle of all that ice a true British man sticks to the same old chat up lines! We felt quite wistful amongst all that British stuff after spending so long away from home & we spent so long snooping around the base that we almost missed the last zodiac to the second landing around the bay where there was a reconstructed whale skeleton made from bones found on the beach and the usual adorable but noisy & smelly Gentoo's.
And and Claire were also chuffed as they found the name of one of their geography lecturers in a book at Port Lockroy. He had worked for the British Antarctic Research Survey based in Antarctica for a couple of years. In fact I feel I know him as they mentioned him quite a lot in Antarctica!
Sunday the 4th of march
At dinner the previous evening
we had had a lovely time chatting with the artists in residence Andrew & Imelda. Imelda had been quite adamant that I should get up in the morning to take photos of the sunrise so I struggled out of bed & out into the cold on deck. Andrew was there but Imelda was tucked up safely in bed! It was worth it though, the sunrise was beautiful, deep reds & purples swathed the sky. To make things even more cheesily perfect the full moon was also setting behind stained pink mountains. It was really beautiful & And soon joined me on deck to share the moment & help defrost my fingers so I could take more photos)!
That morning we had our last landing on the Antarctic Mainland at an unmanned Argentine base in Neko harbour. The sun came out again to give us beautiful skies & the little Orange huts loved lovely against the snow. It was a steep climb up the hill to the top but we were rewarded with more stunning views over the channel. We sat for ages just starring in awe then Laurie started to head back down. he stopped half way then slid
down the steep slope to the bottom. Yippee more sliding And & I waited for a few more people to go down to make it nice & slippery then we headed down the trail gave our camera & bags to a friendly man who carried them down for us watched Andrew & Imelda go down & then we whooshed down the hill. It was steep enough to give you butterflies in your stomach & the snow flew up covering your clothes & flying into your face (luckily Imelda had warned us to wear our sunglasses). We loved it & I couldn't resist running (well as close more like staggering up the hill) to go again. Later on the ship we found out that by the time the last person slid down the hill we'd rubbed away so much snow that he got a face (& mouth) full of penguin poo. Not nice!!!
Back at the shore we watched the Gentoo's swimming under water where they are incredibly fast and agile & waddling along the beach where they are anything but agile or fast. They seemed to be having great time leaping out of the water on to a large
rock climbing to the top & jostling for position on top to dive back off in to the water. We lingered for as long as possible on land, trying to hang on to every moment on Antarctica but all to soon it was time to get back on the zodiac & head back to ship but it wasn't too sad as we knew we had another landing to look forward to on one of the islands in the channels later that day.
After lunch we got back in the zodiacs to hoon out to Danco island. The beach and lower levels of the island were quite rocky and covered in Gentoo's. As we climbed up the slopes got steeper and slippery and as they were covered in ice. Some of the older passengers were finding it quite hard to manage. One lady had got completely stuck. I tried to rescue her by getting her to grab onto the end of my walking pole and dragging her across the worst of the ice. Meanwhile her husband nearly spoilt my rescue attempt when he suddenly lost his footing and slid down the hill nearly taking us both with him. I could
Fur seal
those scars are probably from a leopard seal or orcasee Andrea out the corner of my eye laughing at us all! She told me later that from where she was standing it looked like I was trying to prod the lady with my stick!!
We climbed on up the hill to the top which was covered in thick deep snow. And and I sat at the top and admired the view. It was a beautiful 360 degree view from the top of the island . We had fun frolicking in the snow and tossed a few snowballs at each other. We knew we were leaving Antarctica so we made sure we took a few moments at the top to absorb everything we had done and seen here. We climbed back down the hill trying not to slip and stood on the shore watching the antics of the Gentoo's until the last possible moment.
Then we got into a zodiac and Santiago took us for a cruise around the Errera Channel. We went over to a small island were we got off and admired some cute fat Weddell seals with mottled underbellies. Then we cruised around the icebergs and saw more seals sleeping on the bergs before we
had to return to the boat. As we set sail along the channel we were given an amazing display of four hump-back whales who were fishing right alongside the ship. The Captain stopped the boat so that we could watch them for over half an hour as they surfaced continually blowing air and waving their tails in our general direction.
We sailed from the Antarctic mainland as the sunset. I'm not ashamed to say that I shed a couple of tears. We'd had such an amazing experience and all three of us felt that out of all the travelling we had done this was the most incredible place that we had been & some how we feel that we have to go back there again one day.
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Mum & Dad Aburrow
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Fantastic photography