Day 7 – 2 January 2013. Mikkelsen Harbour, Christiania Island.

Usual start to the day, with Gary’s wake up call at 7.00 announcing breaky at 7.30. Must say the meals are certainly looked forward to, all this cold, ice, penguins, etc makes us incredibly cold and hungry.

Overnight we had sailed to Trinity Island in the Orleans Strait.

Morning landing was to Mikkelsen Harbour, the site of an Argentinean Refugio, another penguin colony, along with seals and an old whaling boat and whale bones. It was a beautiful sunny day and so much easier to be on shore, we were in the last zodiac home to the ship, after many, many photos and time to just sit and watch the penguins, seals and people. The old boat and bones were also interesting to see and photograph.

Just to give you a bit of an idea about getting ready to go ashore or out in the Zodiac for a cruise. Here is what getting dressed entails.

·         Thermals – socks, shirt, pants, gloves

·         Pants, shirt, jumper

·         Another layer of socks and gloves

·         Waterproof pants

·         Another jumper

·         Rubber boots

·         Goretex jacket

·         Cap, beanie, neckwarmer

·         Outer mittens

·         Life Jacket.

Plus cameras x2, sunnies. Needless to say getting ready for the zodiacs is not a quick task.

Lunch today was a really nice vegie pasta. After lunch we donned the gear again for our ‘extreme’ zodiac cruise around Christiania Island, on the edge of the Drake passage (sort of). It was amazing in this area, rocks, ice caps, penguins, icebergs, waves, all just beyond description again. I braved the conditions and took the big EOS camera this time…so glad I did, the icebergs were amazing, we were zodiac-ing up close, the sculptural shapes and colours of the bergs and the sheer enormity fo the mountains on the island was astounding. The photos don’t quite capture it.

We went through bergs into little inlets blocked by bergs, heaps of brash ice and huge free floating bergs that literally bounced up and down several metres in slow motion. Mary got a video, which hopefully caught it. The blue hues and colours are just so hard to put in words. Many of the bergs look like they have a light on the inside and bits of them glow blue, one looked like purple ultraviolet light.

We saw penguins up on icebergs in the most impossible places, walking up near vertical slopes, turns out they use their claws like little crampons.

Back to the ship, where we bravely signed up for camping out on the ice tomorrow night – brrrr!!

Dinner tonight – lovely salmon and roasted fennel, not something I would choose, but it was very good, as have been all the meals.

Up to the bridge after tea, saw a bit of a Minke whale. In the Gerlache strait we saw a US research vessel, whose orange colour contrasted brilliantly to the surrounding mountains and ice – the ship was the “Laurence M Gould”. A bit later they radioed the captain of the Polar Pioneer to tell him, they were changing course and would cross our path, they crossed in front with the sun behind them, so I hope I got a good shot of the ship in silhouette.

 Glacier, amazing cracks and crevasses.

 Looks like breaky, L-R - Mary, Karen, Nic.

 Penguins in Mikkelsen Harbour.

 A Skua coming into land.

 A penguin coming down his penguin highway.

 Loved the flippers on the seals, this guy is a Weddell Seal.

 Here he is, sneaking a look around the corner

 Linda and Mary.

 Remains of a whaleboat.

 This little guy looked like he was having a bath, he splashed around for ages.

 Another guy in the penguin highway. Tracks they make in the snow through many many penguins treading the same path.

 A view of iceberg and ice and glaciers and mountains.

 These penguins are sitting on their nest of rocks. Both mum and dad take turns to do this.

 Incoming Skua.

 An iceberg calving, one of the zodiacs was much closer than us, caused quite a little tsunami.

 Icebergs

 A lone chinstrap, hig up on an iceberg.

 A whole flock of Pintado Petrels, some were actually sleeping on the water.

 Icebergs

 This one has the ultraviolet light turned on underneath.

 So many shapes and styles, all come about through different histories of the bergs.

 A view of the brash ice etc, where we were looking at the bergs

 A whole group of penguins, standing around on an iceberg. One hell of a climb to get up there.

 The Lawrence M Goold - the orange really stands out. An american research vessell.

 Watching from the bridge, which was open to us 24/7. Looks a bit wet, not sure if is was.

 Linda sketching some of the wildlife from the reference books that were scattered around the bridge.

 The Lawrence M Goold, crossing our path in the sunset.

Mary and I standing somewhere during the day, probably at Mikkelsen Harbour.

 

 

Day 6 – 1 January 2013. Gourdin Island, Astrolabe Island.

A good nights sleep, but still not feeling 100%. Woken by Gary’s wake up call and announcement that breakfast would be followed by vacuuming of our outer gear. Prior to breaky we both went up to the bridge to get some fresh air and a breaky of toast and vegemite went down really well. Thirty minutes later we were onto the Zodiacs for our first landing – Gourdin Island to view the penguins.

Getting geared up is bit of chore, and not done quickly, there are layers upon layers, plus camera gear and spares to take, then the lifejacket and gloves, by the time this is done it feels like you are going to cook, so quickly up the stairs, to the tag board, to turn our tags to ‘off’. Then out on the bow to sterilise boots, before clambering down the gangplank and stepping into a bouncing zodiac, with the help of a Russian crew member and an Aurora staff member on the zodiac.

As we neared Gourdin Island, we could smell the penguins before we hit the rocks, it wasn’t unbearable in the windy conditions.

There were thousands of penguins, some resting, some with chicks, some attracting mates. It was all just out of this world.

Upon landing, we put life jackets in the bag and await a briefing about the island and what to look for, what to do and what not to do.

Having been asked to stay 5 metres away from wildlife, it is impossible, only the photos can tell the story and maybe not even then.

It was cold out today, wind and overcast so we only lasted 90 minutes (Rob had measured the temp, it was -1, with -8 wind chill) but it was fabulous. A bit of a worry that we were so cold, how could we last the distance…

The Island had 3 species of penguin, Gentoo, Chinstrap and Adelie – all cohabiting the rocks and ice.

On return to the ship we spotted a leopard seal on an iceberg so our guide Gary detoured by for a look.

Back to ship for lunch, then a rest and snooze as conditions weren’t great, the ship moves to a new spot for the afternoon and we attend a lecture from Alan on birds and penguins, it is a battle to say awake in a warm room with a rocking boat.

At 6.00 we were invited to the bar for Captains drinks and nibbles. They were great, sushi, prawns, cheese platters etc, plus a lovely alcoholic punch.

Off to dinner then once we hear the anchor dropped, there is an announcement from Gary that we have half an hour to be ready to go out again, this time for a zodiac cruise around Astrolabe Island – despite the cold. We saw more penguins and quite a few seals, fur seal and several Weddell seals. Back to the ship at 9.45. Another great day, buggered and ready for bed, but not before 12pm.

Hard to get used to this everlasting daylight, it never actually gets dark.

 Iceberg

 Chinstrap penguin

 L-R - Adelie, Gentoo, Adelie, Chinstrap.

 Having a bit of a 'to do' about something.

 Cute fella, looking so handsome, just standing there.

 Captains drinks at the bar. L-R - Gary (expedition Leader) and Captain Yuri.

  A gentoo, looking out over the bay full of icebergs.

 Mary, all dressed up and ready to go. Boots are dipped in steriliser and we line up to await the zodiac.

 Our dessert, the meringue resembling Icebergs, it was very clever and tasted great too.

 Gary and Leanne, coming back in from a trip.

 All abourd the zodiac. Mary and Margaretha I think

 Here is our crew for the day, ably steered by Dr John, the ship's doctor. All the staff turned their hand to whatever needed doing, including dishes etc.

 A Cape Petrel, also known as Pintado Petrel. These buggers flew around the boat in droves.

 A leopard seal. Lazing on his/her iceberg.

A little bergy bit, blocking our return to the gangplank. They lifted the gangplank so it could sail past.

Day 5 – 31 December – Punta Arenas to Antarctica.

6am, no news overnight, so we are playing the waiting game to see when/whether we will get a window within which the plane can fly and land on King George Island. Worst case we might be spending New Years Eve in Punta Arenas, however conditions can change quickly – so we remain packed and ready.

We spend some time downloading photos and generally ‘phaffing’ around when the phone rings…Mary answers and it is Sappho from Aurora – we need to be ready to go, downstairs by 8.50 to catch bus to the airport at 9.00. So it’s a scurry to pack up the last of the electronics, take a last photo and try to settle the mounting excitement.

While I settle the hotel account, Linda and Mary go downstairs to make us a sanga for breaky. We are on bus and out of there by 9.10. OMG this is really going to happen!!!!!

At Punta Arenas we had to check our bags, receive our boarding “plastic pass”, then pass through immigration, as we are leaving Chile. We celebrated Aussie New Year while standing in the line. Then through to the lounge to wait…

Then it was time, we walked onto the tarmac to board the plane, to wing our way south to ANTARCTICA.

Unfortunately no window seats for us, but Margaretha was generous in letting Mary stick her camera out a bit and we could see bits and pieces that way.

The flight was with DAP airlines and the crew fed and watered us really well, we had a Baileys to toast new year and Antarctica.

We had an uneventful landing at Frei base, got our cold weather gear sorted then walked past back down the runway, into one of the buildings to get our gumboots and then down to a rocky beach along an icy, slushy track. Walking along with Alan the Aurora Naturalist, we came upon a two month old Elephant seal. Also had to get off the track for a  snow vehicle bringing a passenger from another boat for an emergency evacuation, poor bugger had acute appendicitis and was being flown back on our plane with a doctor and nurse.

On the beach we donned our life jackets and saw our first penguins – some Gentoo and some Chinstraps frolicking in the water and on the beach. We then received our Zodiac briefing (Zodiacs are the rubber boats that are used to ferry us to and from the ship and around on our shore cruises) Finally onto the Zodiac and off to the Polar Pioneer, our home for the next 10 days.

Our cabin 306 is great with plenty of room, we have two single beds (not bunks) a basin and plenty of storage space. The shared toilets are close by, we are very impressed with all of that. We unpacked our carry on gear and explored a little of the ship, then we were all called to the bar for a briefing to meet the crew, followed by a lifeboat drill. The lifeboats are fully enclosed and very very cosy, even without the additional 11 Russian crew we would need to fit in, if it really was necessary.

Then it was 4.00 and time for a lunch of soup and salad followed by a talk on conservation issues in the deck 2 to the lecture room.

It seems not real at the moment, we are actually in Antarctica, we check out the views from the outside decks, there is plenty of ice and snow and black land sticking out. We actually had snow after the lifeboat drill.

As we were cruising out of the bay there were whales spotted, quite a number of humpbacks, tea time was delayed a bit, as they were putting on quite a show for us.

Dinner was late tonight at 9.15, and while we were in the Bransfield Strait the weather had roughed up significantly, many people succumbed to seasickness, Dr John was a busy man that night, with calls to various cabins.

Mary and I were OK, I was keen to get to the bridge though to get some horizon to look at. I sat for quite a few hours up there, watching whales, seabirds and icebergs. I did venture down to the bar about 11.30 to join the other 7 folk who were hanging in for New Years Eve, felt a bit worse down there, but made it to midnight to bring in 2013. Off to a rolling and pitching bed…and slept surprisingly well considering all of that.

So today has already ticked off lots of things

·         Elephant Seal

·         Gentoo Penguins

·         Chinstrap Penguins

·         Humpack whales

·         Icebergs

 

OK, my apologies, these photos are out of order for the day. They are a combination of shots from two of my cameras and one of Mary's and I just have time to rearrange.

 Yay....here we are in Antarctica. L-R - Linda, Mary, Me and Kate. This is just so exciting, you can't wipe the smiles off our dials.

 Here's Mary and I in the hut at the Chilean base, having stripped of some layers, cos its cooking inside and cooling outside. We are awaiting gum boot fitting.

 A baby elephant seal in our path, this little fella is only 2 months old, already mum has left him to fend for himself, he was gallumping his way across the ice, without a care for all of us tromping past him/her...

 A closer shot of our first real Antarctic wildlife.

 Here's me trudging down the icy track to the beach where we board the ship, via Zodiac.

 Our very first penguin encounter. These little guys are Chinstraps...called such for obvious reasons. They were oblivous us to all of us.

 Still grinning like a chesire cat, we now have our life jacket...and are on board the boat. I can't recognise the person next to me...We have to be ferried from the stony beach out to the Polar Pioneer.

 There be our first close encounter with our home for the next 11 days. The Polar Pioneer.

 Here's our extremely comfy and roomy cabin, me by the porthole, my bed on the right, Mary's is on the left behind me in this shot. We have a desk, little couch, a wardrobe each and drawers under our beds, as well as a basin. All good in cabin 306.

 Mary happily pointing out our porthole.

 Doing a bit of a wander around the ship... check out the grin, it is just so very exciting to finally be here!

 Lunch, soup and salad at 4.00. L-R - Margaretha, Barb, Lyn, Jenny, Me, Mary, Nicole and Karen - all part of the Teacher group. In the very comfy dining room.

 Views as we leave the calm waters of the bay at the Chilean base.

 Our first Iceberg, the waves crashing against it, give a bit of insight into the rougher waters that await us on our first night across the Gerlache Strait.

 Our first whale encounter, taken from the ship, everybody was above, its only been a couple of hours and already, seals, penguins, icebergs and now humpback whales.

 Now this is really out of order, this was our final shot in the room as we scurried to pack following our phone call that things were 'all go' from Sappho. L-R, Mary, Linda and flashed out me.

 

 Here's our beautifully painted bus to take us to the airport.

 I really liked the penguins.

 Here we are waiting to pass through immigration (we are leaving Chile) at Punta Arenas airport. L-R - Mary, Linda ,Nicole, Karen and half of me. We had just celebrated Aussie new year, about here in the line.

 Our plane, how cool? Antarctic Airways.

 Toasting New Year in Australia...with a Bailey's on the plane.

 Our plane as we walk across the tarmac.

 Karen and Mary all geared up, after getting off the plane, no easy feat. We started donning our cold gear on the plane which was tricky with no space to do so, so needed some rearranging on the airstrip.

 Looking towards the bay where our ship is anchored.

 The ice pushed off the sides of the airstrip.

 Part of the Chilean base, as we walk along the runway to the boot shed.

 Yep...this is exactly where we are.

 A bit of gear stored in their hangar.

 Linda in Antarctica.

 Looking out, the ship on the left, belonged to the appendicitis guy. Ours is the smaller white and blue one to the right.

 Lifeboat drill, people and orange life jackets squeezing like sardines into the lifeboats.

Time to get out...here's Mary. Each black shape is a place for a bum in the lifeboat.