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Published: September 15th 2007
Overnight we sailed away from the Antarctic peninsula so we wake feeling a little sad. Kate gets up for early to watch sunrise over a huge tabular glacier. I´m slightly more lazy and get up at 7.30am!
In the morning we have a landing at Half Moon Island back on the South Shetlands. We land on a beach and walk along the shore and over some rocks to the tip of the island. There are lots of Chinstraps here and only a few Gentoo´s. Kate is still looking for the perfect penguin shot so we spend some time watching the penguins and their antics. There´s also a large colony of fur seals here. They are not as pretty as the Weddell seals with their mottled belly but there are lots of them and they are very active. In fact if you get to close they growl at you and also make dog like whimpers. Some people take a chance and get a little to close, not advisable as these seals can chase you and bite! We watch them playing in the water and then wander back along the beach.
There isn´t as much snow here but we try to
make the most of it by crunching through the patches that we can find! The views are still spectacular of glaciers and snow. We walk to Camera base - an Argentinean base. There are some men based here so we are kissed hello and given a coffee. Its bigger than the other bases we´ve seen, but all the Argentinian bases are beautiful with their orange colours set against the white snow. Here we have a look around the base - they´ve even got a DVD player and a gym (not sure how big it is though). We also send our postcards from here. I feel extremely sorry for the man selling the stamps as he is inundated with people and each postcard takes 6 stamps. Some people don´t realise you can overlap the stamps so they stick them all on separately and have no space to right a message, duh!
We stay there as long as we possibly can then get the second to last zodiac and watch the base get smaller in the distance. Back on board we have lunch and then a little lie down. We have an announcement from Laurie saying that the swell is quite
big so there is a possibility that we may not be able to do our last landing. We sail from Half moon island to Aitcho Island. Laurie thinks landing will be possible so everyone gets ready. The other group are going first and are lined up waiting for the zodiacs. I go to the boot room to get our wellies when Laurie announces that unfortunately we can´t do our last landing as he doesn´t think it is safe. We´re gutted, I can see it in the faces of everyone else too. We go out on deck to feel the wind but we´re all really sad that we couldn´t do this last landing. Supposedly its normal to not be able to do a few landings but we feel like we have unfinished business as we haven´t been able to say goodbye to the penguins. Then on que a group of them swim right past us porpoising out of the water. They came to say goodbye to us! We sit on deck feeling subdued as we cruise towards the Drake Passage. We finally bid farewell to the white continent and go back inside to batten down the hatches in preparation for the
crossing. Claire and I go to the bridge where the captain tells us we are likely to have a bad crossing, eeek!
We have dinner and take our sea sickness pills. At dinner we are sitting there having desert when all the staff come traipsing out with a birthday cake and singing happy birthday. They are coming straight for our table but it isn´t our birthday. They even sing "happy birthday dear Katherine" and we still don´t think it is for our table. But then they hand it to Kate and she has to blow the candles out. Oooops, somebody got the dates wrong - Kate´s birthday is 3rd May not 5th March!!! Because most of the people who travel are American & in their passports the month comes first they read Kate's birth date 03/05 and got confused, bless. Plus we´re so stuffed from dinner that we can´t eat the cake so we hand it out! Still its a nice gesture and very funny & we got kisses from some of the expedition staff too!!
We retire early to try and get some sleep. Ha ha, not really possible as we are thrown about our beds. Its
worse than the crossing over and everything is difficult to do, even trying to get to the bathroom or put your shoes on in the morning as you roll around so much! At one point in the night Claire´s rucksack comes flying out of her wardrobe - we find out a couple of days later that these lock! In the end she has to leave all her stuff on the floor as it keeps falling out!
In the morning we´re told that the outside decks have been closed as its so bad and at breakfast we have to be served by the staff and hold on to the table. We feel brave and help ourselves from the buffet! The chairs are tied down as before but that doesn´t always help as you just swing on the spot! Several times we have to grip the table to stop ourselves from falling over! Its all slightly comical for us but not so for the people who aren´t steady on their feet. There is quite a poor turnout for brekkie.
We still feel sad today but try to keep busy by watching all the lectures of the day. We watch one
on global warming and another fascinating one on Amundsen and Scott and their race to the pole. We also attend one from Laurie about his personal expedition to the North Pole which is fascinating. We try to sleep in the day to catch up but its difficult as the waves are so bad. They reach 9 meter swells and we´re told this is the worst passage of the season. We don´t feel sick but after awhile it gets to you if you sit on the top deck as the movement seems so much worse. Attendance at the lectures is lower than normal but not surprising.
Most people attend evening dinner and watch a film later called "Around Cape Horn". Its an old black and white movie about an american farm boy who left home to sail on a huge old sailing boat around the horn and is very interesting & amusing.
We actually sleep better the next night as the waves aren´t quite as bad. The deck is open for us to go out on, which is good to get some fresh air. We attend a lecture in the morning on the Antarctic treaty. It sounds very dull
The last zodiac at the base
This was our last time on a zodiac but we didn´t know it thenbut is actually fascinating. In the afternoon we have our final re-cap as the staff say a few words about the trip etc. Its quite poignant and I´m sure they are just trying to make us cry! We also have the Captains cocktail party with champagne and the staff dress up! We have a photo competition where photos taken by passengers are put up on screen and the best one wins (deemed to be the winner by the loudest amount of clapping!). There are 5 categories and Kate and I win two so we´re quite chuffed. I should really give the credit to Kate as she took the majority of the shots in Antarctica including the two winners. We win two bottles of red wine, a great start to the evening, especially as we have two more in our cabin!
There is also a slide show put together by the two artists in resident. Its brilliant and captures our trip really well, but it is also sad to watch it. We´ve had such a good time that we don´t want it to end. I would go back tomorrow irregardless of the money. Its well worth it as is the
crossing of the Drake!
We have our final farewell dinner and then go to the aft saloon for dinner where we manage to polish off all of our wine and some more! I´m sure we must have shared it with someone as I don´t think I can manage 2 bottles to myself and champagne and whisky! The crew also have their farewell party and their own showing of photos. This is their last journey of the season so its sad on all counts! Most people head to bed but Kate and I stay up until 2am to watch the pilot board in the Beagle Channel. The same manoeuvre happens where a small boat pulls along side ours and the pilot climbs up on a ladder. Very dangerous as we are all still moving. At least we´ve left the Drake so it is much calmer.
The next morning we are awake at 6am, feeling every so slightly the worse for wear. However we still mange to pack in the bacon and fried breakfast, yum! Finally we have to disembark so we say a very sad farewell to our cabin and the boat. Its sad watching other people say goodbye
but finally it is our turn. We give each member of the expedition staff a hug goodbye and then we leave the boat for the last time.
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Mum & Dad Aburrow
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Happy Birthday Kate
Oh what a hoot that they thought it was your birthday and what a lovely surprise for you, you will have to go some to beat that one then And !!!! Excellent blogs by the way, makes very enjoyable reading