Stepping on the continent

Today was a red letter day for the cruise. Our first steps on the Antarctic continent proper. Having said that not all of us made the big step.
With the frivolities of the night before 4 members of our party did not make it out of bed in time for the first landing of the day, and unfortunately Dave was amongst their number. Having said that I only made it by accident.
I got up late and thought they had already left. When I walked out on to the deaprture deck there was still one boat to go so I ran back down, grabbed my boots, pants and lifevest and bolted back up to be the last one aboard.
When I say the last aboard I mean the last aboard a rather private boat tour. There were only 3 of us on the zodiac and we had a maniac driver (read good maniac - not bad). The other 2 on the boat were the 2 Dutch friends from across the hall (Linda and Rob) and they spoke Spanish so were egging our driver on to greater and greater speed for our tour of the glaciers. I thought I was going to be sick. It was a case of yes, yes go faster, oh no, please make it stop!! The glaciers themselves in Paradise Bay were pretty amazing with lots of Antarctic Cormorants nesting on the cliffs, icicles hanging from the overhangs and and huge walls of glacial ice and snow just waiting to calve. Unfortunately we only saw a small calving but it was still pretty cool.
The walk onto the continent itself involved a visit to a closed station (Brown Station - Skontorp Cove) and a look at some more gentoo penguins.
This was our coldest morning yet with overcast skies and a slight hangover did nothing for the weather. I was pleased to get back on the ship, my toes were too numb to feel through the boots.
Having said that the frosty reception from those that missed the mornings activities made the return less warm than expected. Apologies and explanations aplenty and seemingly forgiveness was granted across each group.
The afternoon landing was a spot called Niko Harbour, Anvord Bay where we were invited to watch a glacier in the hope it would calve. Dave and a dozen or so others of the group took the opportunity to gain some high ground for viewing and they made an awesome sight as figures walking a white line against a white sky. Fingers crossed but those photos should turn up next time I have the hard drive plugged in (sorry I am so disorganised photo wise).
I didn´t see the glacier calve as I was busy playing with the penguins - adelie this time - but I heard it. The crash is amazing.
This landing was really rather pleasant as we all seem to be taking a bit more time away from our cameras to just sit and watch. Not so snap happy, more of a connected observer. Instead of taking heaps of photos I decided to take a few movies instead which I need to figure out how to post. They are amongst the funniest things I have from the holiday. Penguins are truly amongst the most character filled birds in the world.

Palmer Station and Iceberg Alley

The photos above are not all from this days travel but my computer skills are proving hazardous when working in internet cafes.
So...
The day started with a trip to the US Base of Palmer Station. We were all pretty excited by the prospect of seeing a working Antarctic station and by the promise of a "shop". The station does a vast array of research that runs from checking on the chemicals used in sedentary organism defenses at the bottom of the ocean, seismic activity, subglacial topography, astrological studies, ice movements and the impact of decreasing icve on the krill and penguin populations, salinity levels and a whole range of goephysical monitoring. It was a really cool place although I think the thing that most intrigued me was the hot tub! Yes ok, I realise that science is important but I could really see the value of a hot tub in Antarctica - hey, it´s cold down here!!!! There are 45 permanent staff during summer and 19 that stay through the winter. The shop did proive a hit and I went a little crazy. I bought a really cool/warm jacket with Palmer Station on the front and Antractica on the back. The others hadn´t seen the writing on the back and that jacket was coveted by many back on board the ship.
That afternoon we went to the Lemaire Channel (Kodak or Iceberg Alley). OMG!!!! What a place. We split the ships passengers into 2 groups and took turns to do an iceberg cruise in the zodiacs.
We were first out to iceberg alley and seriously, neither words nor photos can do justice to what we saw. The colours and formations were spectacular. Dave asked our driver if he could hop onto one of the bergs. The guys said yes and drove right up to it. Whenm Dave jumped off I thought the driver was going to have a breakdown. It seems we had a slight language miscommunication and he thought Dave just wanted to reach out and touch it. All ended well though with Dave safely back in the boat and the driver having a good chuckle at his bravado. Not only did we spy icebergs of fantasy colours and shapes but also leopard seals, weddel seals and crabeater seals. Awesome place - truly, awe inpsiring.
While the second group did their tour we were watching whales frolicking (sp) alongside the boat when a whale did a really close turn then came up for a look at the people gathered on deck. Again I didn´t have the camera with me but a friend got a great shot that I will post later when I work out how to downsize a file (darned Spanish computers). The minke whale was literally looking straight up at us - the line between watcher and watched definitely blurred there for a moment.
What an amazing day. And it was not over yet...
For reasons of beer - well lets be truthful - we decided to wait for sunset and sunrise. That meant that about 10 of us stayed up drinking beer and wine until 4.30am. The sight was truly awesome. It didn´t get truly dark at any stage and the light that was playing across the ice at dusk and dawn was fantastic. It felt like it was only 10pm at 3am. The no dark thing really messes with the mind. This was another reason I really liked our little no-porthole dungeoun. We had to turn the light on whereas others couldn´t get rid of the light. Made for better sleeping for us I think.

And now for a catch-up

January 12 and day 4 of our Antarctic adventure took us to Hydrurga Rocks and Cuverville Island.
The day had started with overcast skies and our first landing was over rough water in the zodiac. Don´t mind saying it was a bit bumpy and the knuckles were quite white.
The trip was worth it though. We got to see a colony of chinstrap penguins doing their thing. These little guys are so cute to watch. They look like a bunch of little fat old men with their pants pulled up to their armpits as they make their way along their highways between the nests and the sea. They are so endearing to watch and seem very nonplussed by the attention of the tourists.
The afternoon at Cuverville was something else. The weather was pristine again and the colours of the ice bergs as we travelled to from ship to shore was incredible. The light is amazing and the bergs gleam in colours from pristine white, to iridescent blue and sparkling green. Each shape is so different from the last and really makes you appreciate the power of time and water, compressing the ice into these amazing colours then whittling it away into such incredible shapes. At this landing the colony was of gentoo penguins (orange beaks) and these guys and girls had babies. They were utterly amazing. These little balls of fluff that popped out from under the parents belly demanding to be fed at regular intervals. They ranged in size from a tennis ball of fluff up to a mini-sized penguin shaped fluff ball. Too cute. And these guys can really talk. The chinstraps made noise too but the gentoos have a real chorus going on. I have unashamedly taken so many photos. I am truly loving this!!!!

Land ho!!!

"Good morning Antracticans. Last night one of your fellow passengers earnt himself a bottle of wine for being the first to spot an iceberg. Congratulations Thomas...." This announcement had us all scurrying topside with our cameras. And there on the horizon under a perfect blue sky was a massive tabluar iceberg (the huge flat ones that have calved from the iceshelf). What an amazing sight to see. It was perfect against the deep blue sea and the clear blue sky as a block of stark white on the horizon.
Cameras were snapping like crazy - setting the tone for the days to come.
The afternoon was spent with whales being spotted all about the ship. And for those that think I am talking spouts on the horizon.. no, no no. The humpbacks were feeding right alongside the ship. Their massive mouths would swing open in unison after they had bubble netted krill into a ball then massive gulps would be enough to have the crowd in raptures. I have included a photo taken by one of my fellow passengers (I had unwisely not taken my camera up with me when I went for a stroll then once the whales arrived I was too transfixed to miss anything by going back inside for it).
Then in the afternoon we had the call we were all hoping for...
"Good afternoon Antarcticans. We have made better than expected time on our crossing and to the front of the ship we have our first sighting of land with the South Shetland Islands. We expect to launch the zodiacs for our first landing this evening..." Yay!!!!!
Now we were getting excited. We all scurried down to the zodiac/landing briefing and picked up our lifevests and boots. Dinner scoffed and we were all loaded into our zodiacs.
Looking back now it is quite funny. I think most of us ladies were a bit nervous about gettig down into the zodiacs and I know that I was not the only one hanging onto the ropes with white knuckles. That first trip was such a buzz. Our first solid ground in 2 days and our first penguins.
Chinstrap penguins are sooo cute. They trundle around like they own the place - which they obviously do compared to us. The colony was complete with babies tucked into the feet of their parents. Our rules were to stay off the penguin highways (tracks they walk in to get across the softer snow), no closer than 5 meters to penguins and at least 15m to seals.
The trick is that no one told the penguins this. If you sit in one spot they come waddling past like you aren´t even there. Being so close is one of the true delights of being ashore. There as not a person amongst us that didn´t fall in love with these delightful little guys.
I had forgotten how cold snow is and my toes were defintiely suffering in the rubber gumboots we were given but it was such a small discomfort to endure to see wildlife up so close.
So our first landing completed all safely back on board and photos to prove I was there. What a great way to start our introduction to Antarctica.

Drake Lake or Drake Shake???

Talk about fortunate - we got Drake Lake. YAY!!!!! Drake passage is renowned for being one of the most violent pieces of water in the world nad was my source of greatest fear for the journey. I hate being seasick and seasick and scared together is even less fun.

When I say lake I don´t mean lake like you would think of a lake. We were still rocking and rolling but it was not too bad. My tablets took care of the worst of it and apart from feeling a bit fatigued I was quite relieved that it was tolerable.

Breakfast told a different tale however. Where dinner had been a full compliment of passengers (84), breakfast had no more than 30 poeple. Apparently the ships doctor had been kept fairly busy through the night with people who had not taken their tablets before we hit rougher water and were suffering for it. Dave of course took nothing and was almost disappointed that it was Drake lake - I think he wanted to pit himselñf against the mighty Drake heh heh.

I was so impressed with my feeling of well being I decided to go up onto the bridge deck and check ou the scene. What a stupis idea.

While our little cabin might have seemed a bit rocky it was nothing compared to the top decks. The movement up there was horrendous!!! I was hanging onto the railing for dear life and couldn´t get back down to the bar level quick enough. My opinion of our cabin changed plenty over the course of that day. Those who had portholes were now subjected to watching the heaving sea at close quarters, had constant light (sunset was officillay 10.45pm but I´m pretty sureit didn´t actually get dark for amore than a couple of hours at most) and had heaps more movement than those of us in the bowels.

The day was spent in lectures, birdwatching and photographing off the back deck and gettign to kow our fellwo passebngerts.

The bird photography became a real challenge for me. I had attended a lecture in the morning and was so exctied to see the petrels, skuas and albatross cruising the wake of the boat. It turns out that catching a big bird as it effortlessly soars past at speed while standing on the deck of a heaving ship is a far bigger ask than I had anticipated. Certainly took my mind off the seas though and was a nice activity to pursue outside.

On this particular voyage we were lucky enough to have a fantastic bunch of crewmates. A group of 3 guys had left their overland tour to take a side trip with us to Antarctica. Steve (Aus), Troy (Aus) and Sam (UK) were a breath of home in a sea of USA voices. Nanja (Neth) was to prove gold for me as she and I hit it off straight away and have very similar personalities. Bascially, we got on like a house on fire. To round out our little group there was Dennis (Irish) and Philana (US).

Robb and Linda (Neth) were across the hall from us and Linda had a wickedly quick sense of humour which kept us all in stitches when the boys weren´t up to some form of mischief.

Our first day at sea passed with ease and relatice comfort. The excitment of actaully being out there doing it made the time pass quickly for all of us I think.

 

 

What a life changing time I´ve had!!!

To say that Antarctica is amazing is such an understatement!!!

I´ll start at the beginning...

Jan 9th we wandered down to the main docking wharf in Ushuaia. It is a long pier with a dozen ships docked to the wharf. We passed through immigration and made our way down the dock to our ship - the MV Ushuaia. She was a fine looking vessel although I must admit to being more than a little nervous about getting on and being "stuck" on board for the next 12 days.

We were taken to our cabin by one of the crew and a smaller dog box I have never seen. We were tucked away in the bowels of the ship with no window (or port hole in ship talk) in a room with 2 bunks, a cupboard, a table and a sink, our bathroom shared with the folks next door. I couldn´t get out of there quick enough. My comment to Dave was that I could never commit murder as I definitely would not be able to do the time.

We dumped our gear and went exploring. The ship is well appointed with a lovely bar/lounge area with huge big windows. The decks run all the way around over 2 levels so we went up onto the bow to check out the sights. It was such an exciting moment. An announcement called us all in to the bar for a meet and greet where we got to check out our fellow passengers.

What a fantastically mixed bunch we were. People of all ages, all langauges and all types. There was a large group of US University students with several of their professors (the loudest group in the room :) lots of older passengers and a smattering of 20-40yos.

A quick toast and we were off. Next stop Antarctica!! Even now typing this I can feel the nerves bubbling away inside. Such excitement but so many nerves.

Once we were underway we had our first introduction to our crew and lecturers/guides. My head nearly fell off when the group leader was introduced - Agustin Ullmann (said just like my name). It was to prove amusing for me over the next 12 days to hear my name in constant use when not in reference to me. (Yes I realise most people in the world hear their name in use when it does not reference them but not for me, I´m the only Augustine I know).

We were warned to go below and secure our belongings as at approx midnight we would be starting our Drake crossing and it could get rough. Then we had all of our lfe boat drills. The lifeboats are fully enclosed orange pods that looked quite seaworthy so I was feeling fairly well at ease with that idea.

We met a few of our fellow passengers that night and many of them had special patches that they put behind their ears to ward off seasickness. I was quite jealous as these patches don´t make you drowsy unlike my medication, until a fellow Aussie said that we can´t get them in Aus because they have been shown to have permanent sight damage as a possible side effect. No thanks, I´ll just stay drowsy.

So after a fine dinner and a movie about Antarctica (through which I was falling asleep) we retired to the dungeon for the night. I was so scared of the tight confines of our room I slept with the light on (yeah I know - what a chicken but I was worried I´d bash my head if I sat up in a hurry looking for the bin to throw up). Seasickness tablets taken and I was ready for the infamous Drake.....

 

The city at the end of the world

The end of the world looks nothing like I thought it would. I´m not sure what I thought it would look like but I was unprepared for the stunning beauty of Ushuaia.

Flying into the Argentine island of Tierra Del Fuego is like watching a tapestry of snow capped mountains, heavily wooded valleys and intricate waterways unfold beneath the wings of the plane.

The town itself is bounded to the north by the stunning snow topped Martial mountain range and the south by the serene Beagle Channel. A more eclectic mix of housing styles would be hard to find: everything from super modern hotels to small one room dwellings made completely of corrugated iron. It seems that every language of the world can be heard on the main street as people make last minute purchases against the cold. And cold it is - I thought I was prepared but nothing could prepare me for this. I had forgotten how cold it is when there is a slight wind and drizzling rain. I too have had to join the other tourists in the outdoor outfitters buying warmer clothes.

We have spent the last couple of days getting a good look at the area. After the first day spent strolling town and trying to become better equipped for the cold we had a good sleep and headed to the Tierra Del Fuego National Park. What a glorious place. We took a walk along the seashore (approx 8km) through forests where the ground was carpeted in beautiful small white flowers (similar looking to a small orchid), daisies or fallen wood. The whole of the national park only has 4 types of tree, 3 of which were beech trees.

We watched as hawks stooped, wood peckers pecked and ducks ... well you know.

It is the most amazingly still and calm place. We felt like the only people on earth. The beauty of the sound as it stretched over to the mountains is hard to describe - grandeur is the first word that springs to mind.

The light here is proving hard to deal with, 10.30 is dusk although we have had no "sunset" and dawn is somewhere between 3 and 4am. No dawn or dusk shots from me just yet. Might try for tonight.

Dave has venture up Martial Mountain today to check out a local glacier. I took the cab ride but once I saw that the "cable car" to the top was really just a ski lift with no capsule I bailed out and left him to it. There are some things I am just not brave enough for - plus we are going to see plenty of glaciers further into the trip.

I have included 4 photos - The Antarctica Office where info and bookings can be made, The Beagle Channel as we saw it yesterday on our walk, downtown Ushuaia and the ships ready to depart from the main dock for Antarctica.

Our ship to is due to dock tomorrow morning and we are due to set sail in the late afternoon.

Until next time - Buenos Dias mi amigos.