29/12/2014

The next morning greeted us with a little bit of travel during breakfast before arriving at Kinnes Cove. Like a lot of what we were seeing, brash ice was all about, as were the usual icebergs and penguins. The overcast day was performing some magic on the icebergs, accentuating the magnificent blues in them which was a treat as we dropped anchor.

Kinnes Cove was home to the usual Gentoo and Adelie penguins, although there seemed to be the chance we would see some Chinstraps as well. Given I had only seen a couple of rogue ones about, it was a bit exciting.

The morning kayak briefing was business as usual… conditions were good, there would be ice to battle, and we had a good 3 hours to spend on the water. So in no time it was back in the mud room and suited up.

 

As we headed out the conditions were a little windier than we had had to that point. Not too bad, but a touch more challenging. The kayaking was mostly getting about the ice and small icebergs that were in the cove. I tried popping the GoPro underwater to try and capture the amazing iceberg bottoms (and hopefully spot the odd penguin swimming about).

 

 

 

 

 

 

As we navigated about the ice, we came across penguins on icebergs, but also a Weddell seal with a young pup. The pup was on the iceberg when we saw the mother pop up out of the water and on to the iceberg. They were a bit hidden so we couldn’t seem them too clearly, but it was nice to see a seal in action rather than just lounging on a beach.

The rest of the kayaking time was pretty leisurely as we darted as close to the coast as we could get. We got close to some penguin colonies, but alas we found only one Chinstrap surrounded by Gentoos and Adelies. Our collective of Chinstraps was still alluding us.

We hit about two and half hours of kayaking when the wind turned around and found us a long way downwind of the ship. Mark made the call that we wouldn’t be able to get back to the ship in any reasonable time, so the zodiacs were called in to help.

So excitingly we had to pull up alongside our zodiac, unpop the skirt, and clamber into the zodiac over the freezing waters. It was a pretty easy process in the end.

With that we attached four kayaks to the back and zoomed to the ship. It was a bit precarious, as the ice caused havoc trying to keep the kayaks right way up. In fact our kayak (named Minke) overturned a couple of times but we were able to right it, get most the water out, and make it back.

Lunch was ready for us (as always) and yet another big lunch led to a couple of hours of cruising to our next stop, Gourdin Island. This was apparently one of the most difficult places to land in Antarctica, due to it being right near the entrance to Drake’s Passage and being notoriously horrible weather. But as we continued to ride our good luck we had great, albeit choppy, conditions meaning we could land.

 

 

The attraction of Gourdin Island is that three types of penguin happily coexist: the Gentoos, Adelies, and also lots of Chinstraps. Woo hoo! We did have the option to kayak, however they were just going to be going on a short kayak around the island, and given the Chinstraps and the choppy waters, we decided to and on shore.

 

 

 

 

We were so glad we did. On the zodiac ride there we got to come face to face with a large Fur seal, happily showing off on a rock near the landing point. He was happy just to sit there and pose for photos. He did look majestic up there, that’s for sure.

 

 

 

We then landed on shore and our decision was vindicated again. We immediately met thousands of Chinstraps, waiting for us on shore and up the side of the hill. These little guys all have the distinctive thin black stripe at the chin and are very striking.

 

One little one was very curious of me and decided to come up close. I guess he was just saying hello.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We made the trek up the hill and were surrounded by lots of Adelies and some Gentoos as well. It seemed lots of chicks were out in the Adelies, and Kate managed to get heaps of great photos of the little ones.

 

Jonathan gave the challenge to try and get one of each penguin in a photo, and on the way back to the shore, Kate spotted all three there together, like they had been set up. While they didn’t pose for the best photo, mission accomplished!

With that we were back in the choppy waters to the boat. During the briefing we found out our southern most point, being 65 degrees 11 minutes latitude. The Antarctic Circle is at 66 degrees 33 minutes, so we were about 150 miles off. Not that far, but given the ice we had seen, it really wasn’t going to happen. But as you can tell from our revised plans of the last couple of days, not a bad substitute hey?

28/12/2014

As mentioned yesterday, the plans for the day had changed. The goal was the Antarctic Circle, however ice had put the kibosh on that. Instead the new plan was to head to an area on the continent called Brown Bluff for the morning, and then move on to Paulet Island in the afternoon.

At breakfast time we were starting to see the huge Tableau icebergs that characterise the area. They can be miles and miles long, and while we hadn’t seen any of that size, they were already starting to dwarf the ones we had seen to that point.

During breakfast the call went over the PA for people to sign up for the days Photographic Zodiacs. These are one or two boats that go out with the intent to just cruise around, looking or interesting things, to allow people to get some unique photos that everyone doing shore landings (or kayaking) wouldn’t. I bolted and managed to get Kate and I on the list, so we decided to forgo kayaking for the morning and do this for a change. While kayaking would have been my preference in a way, I thought it would be good to get on one photo zodiac for a change of experience.

So after all the zodiacs had gone out, we jumped in one with John our driver and Cherie, the resident photographer, and out we went. The great thing about this was that John would simply ask “so, where are we going?”. It seemed the area would be best for penguins on icebergs, possibly seals, and reflections in the water. So first we chased penguins.

 

 

 

 

Immediately we were able to spot some penguins just hanging about, so we got up close and personal for some amazing photos. The little Adelie’s were happy to just stand there and pose.

There was talk of a Leopard seal in the area, but then John got on his walkie talkie to base, asking “permission for an IW”. Permission was granted for whatever the IW was and pretty much straight away, John simply said “hang on… and I mean it” and he sped forward heading toward the ice. I expected it to give, but nope, up we went, getting half the zodiac up on a massive piece of sea ice.

John jumped out, holding the rope for the zodiac, and gave us the go ahead to jump out of the boat. We were standing on a piece of ice floating off the coast of mainland Antarctica.

 

 

 

 

 

Not many visitors get the chance to do that, but we were super lucky today. Not only did we get on the photo zodiac, but we were the first group on the ice. Given we had no time constraints, we got to hang out. Why did we hang out for so long? Well, a group of Adelie penguins decided they would join us on the ice. Within 10 minutes we had almost a dozen on our big chunk of ice, happy to get close and entertain us.

 

 

 

Imagine it. We are on a sheet of ice in Antarctica. Penguins are jumping up on to the ice around us. You can’t imagine you will ever experience this EVER.

They kept us entertained for so long, the Leopard seal was long out of our memories. It was sadly time to head on to shore and explore Brown Bluff a bit.

 

 

 

 

 

The bluff is home to thousands of Adelies, many more than we had seen anywhere. It was quite the sight, but most exciting was that there were many chicks there, all about a week old, so there were lots of little grey fluff balls hiding under their mothers and fathers. But given they were 7-10 days old, they were being shown a lot more and being exposed to the elements.

 

There was also the odd pair of frisky penguins doing there thing. Just like in the Attenborough documentaries!

 

Also on shore were quite a few bones, including an almost full skeleton of an Emperor penguin. It is unclear how it would have made it here, but I can now say I have seen an Emperor.

We only had a quick shore visit and then it was time to head back to the boat (via another ice landing). It had been a full 3 hours out and about.

As mentioned, the plan was to head to Paulet Island, but a little way into the journey a message came from the bridge that we were not going to make it. In our path was huge amounts of ice that we were told would be almost impossible with an ice breaker, let along our ship. It was incredible to just see the impenetrable ice in our way.

So yep, we simply had to turn around and chart a course to a new place. We were told it would be a few hours of sailing to get to our next destination, Hope Bay, so many folks went for a nap. But those of us in the lounge were about to leap to attention.

 

Word got out of a whale, so a few of us wandered out for a look. To our excitement, it was not just a whale in the distance, but a large group of Orcas (i.e Killer Whales) in front of the boat. And they were not scared of us. In fact they wanted to show off.

 

 

 

 

 

 

What happened for the next hour or so was euphoric. The whole ship was a buzz with the appearance of these gorgeous whales, coming right up to the ship, showing off, and causing us all to run in all kinds of directions up and down, left and right.

People were yelling out and screaming everywhere. A few of us were even starting to get a bit emotional at it. Seeing a dozen killer whales only meters away in the wild will do that.

 

What we saw was most likely a group of female orcas with one male. The male was clear to see as it had a huge top fin that was easy to spot.

A word here must go to the Captain of our boat and Jonathan, our G Adventures leader. Rather than keep going for our destination, the captain kept the boat circling, allowing the whales to play with us and the boat. Damn Hope Bay, it could wait.

After an hour we had to keep moving to our destination, so off we went, leaving the whales in our wake. It was sad to see them drift off in the distance, but that could simply have been the absolute joy slowly dissipating. Wow.

On the way to our next stop, given everyone was up and about, Scott gave a lecture on Shakleton and his exploits. Man he was a hard ass in every sense. Such a courageous man and hard to fathom what he did given what we were experiencing.

 

We arrived at Hope Bay relatively late, but the intention was to still land. This was especially so, as the nearby Argentinian base had invited everyone to come and visit their facility which was very cool. This base was a bit different to others in that it was scientific research but with a large number of families on the base. Seven in fact, including 15 children. Because of this there was a school with dedicated teacher, a chapel, and many accommodation huts. The families actually stay a whole year, not just the summer. That is a helluva experience for those kids.

 

 

 

 

So we went ashore and got to explore some of the buildings. The folk were lovely, and even had a stamp for our passports which was very cool. They also had a makeshift store, meaning that I got another patch to signify my trip. It was here I got my first proper sighting of a lone Chinstrap penguin. These little dudes have been hard to find, but I finally got one on camera.

It was well past dinner time when everyone got back to boat. Another great thing about everyone in the G Adventures crew was that a dinner an hour or two late was no problems. Mmmm…. delicious Japanese food tonight.

Kate and I decided on a night cap in the Polar Bear bar, with the boat musician Blaise playing some tunes. Another Bowie song dedicated to us was nice and were the Blue Whale cocktails of the day. They went down easy.

And before we knew it, it was midnight.

27/12/2014

This morning was a somewhat relaxed start, as we got our way out of bed at about 7:30am, just for the start of breakfast. But like all mornings, the bacon, toast and coffee had only just been consumed when we kayakers were called to the library for our morning meeting.

It seemed today was a different one to the past few, where no landings were taking place today, just zodiac cruises. To get the whole boatload out, it was being done in two lots and would consume about 4 hours. That meant as kayakers we had almost 4 hours to explore.

We were parked in Cierva Cove, an area that was stunning, if a little less populated with interesting things. We would be exploring icebergs, and seeing some penguins and seals and whales if we were lucky, but it was mostly a chance to explore the cove at a leisurely pace, and get some hard work making our way through the brash ice that had settled in amongst the icebergs. Phew!

To cap it all off though, rather than a dramatic snowy day, it was all about the glorious sunshine again. It was just as stunning as our first main day. And 3 hours in that amongst the ice and penguins and seals? life is not too bad.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So off we went. It is hard to describe the 3 hours without doing it a diservice. In some ways it was not nearly as exciting as getting close to the penguins or being in the iceberg graveyard, but it was just simply an amazing morning of kayaking full stop. It was leisurely and calm at times, and hard work at others trying to navigate through the ice. Every now and then an iceberg would take your breath away, or a cheeky penguin would pop up next to the boat, or a seal would be lounging on an iceberg.

 

 

 

 

 

The support zodiac also had our photographer in residence on board so it was also a good opportunity to get some in action shots snapped. We also came across the odd seal soaking up the rays.

All in all it was just a great morning of being out on the water. Speaking with people at lunch it seemed the zodiacs were a mixed bag. Some did not see too much out there, while another couple got to see a Minke whale up close and personal. But that is always going to happen… wildlife plays by its own rules.

We then spent a few hours cruising toward our next stop, Mikkelsen Harbour. The weather stayed beautiful and it was a pretty smooth passage, with bright blue skies and blindingly white mountains. The conditions were still magic when we arrived, but sadly the wind had picked up and since it was over the maximum 20 knots, we were not able to go out in the kayaks. That was OK as we had an epic morning, but also as there was an experience planned for the arvo that we could not miss.

 

 

So we hopped on board a zodiac and headed on shore at Mikkelsen. On land was an old Argentinian base, colonies of Gentoo penguins, seals, and also the odd whale skeleton.

 

 

 

On arriving on shore we were also greeted by 4 big Weddell seals, just happily hanging out. They did not seem worried by everyone and were happy just to lay there having a snooze in the sun. When there were more people ashore, we did the short hike over the hill to the other side of the island to check out more penguins.

 

 

 

It seemed there were a lot of chicks as many of the penguins were sitting there protecting something from the hovering squers. Their colonies were a bit stinky too… they sure do make a mess those Gentoos.

 

After an hour or so of pottering about the island, Jonathan called everyone in. It was now time for the opportunity to polar plunge. YES!!!

Earlier in the day he had indicated we should be ready to go if the conditions permitted, and the sky was blue and although the water was a bit choppy we would not be going out to deep, so they were happy to allow us the chance. It was great chatting to people… they were either “yes I’m in!”, “I have my swimmers on just in case I decided to”, or “no way!”. You know what camp I was in. And thankfully Kate was in the polar opposite (ha, see what I did there) so I had an official record keeper.

So when Jonathan gave the go ahead many of us stripped right down. I had a brief red speedo that Kate had bought for the occasion, and down I went to the briefest of clothes. It was cold.

Without wasting too much time, I strapped the Go Pro to the head, and off I ran.

We had a rocky beach on which to do it. No jumping in, rather we needed will power to run out about 20 meters to be able to submerge. Off I went!

 

 

 

I ran in to the water and out the 20 meters. Probably because of the adrenaline, I didn’t feel the cold that much to be honest. Don’t get me wrong… it was COLD. but not chest constricting cold like you get back home in the cold of the bay. Rather the sensation on my skin al over my body told me it was damn freezing.

I got in and dunked my head. Some elected not to go right in. Me, I don’t see the point. I went all under and popped out in a split second and ran to shore.

One of the guides was waiting with a towel and I got dry pretty quick smart, although I did stop to pause for photos.

Once out, to be honest I did not feel that cold. One of the guides asked me to get changed quickly as I was shivering, but it was really just my feet that were feeling it. Or not as it were, as feeling in my toes had long gone.

So with that I got as dry as I could and into all my gear. The zodiacs were waiting to ferry just the swimmers back to the boat, so I said goodbye to Kate and headed back to the boat. As we got off the zodiac and into the mud room, one of the dining staff was waiting with shots of rum. What a top bloke! In fact I must tip my hat here to all the G Adventures folk, as it is these little things they do REALLY well.

I downed that nice and quick, and then disrobed and got straight into the sauna. It was obviously in high demand, so I got the feeling back in my toes and went back to the room. By the time Kate got back I was well and truly back to normal. In some ways it was almost an anti-climax. But then I looked at the Go Pro footage and Kate’s pics and the awesome horror of it call came back. Polar plunge… DONE!

The rest of the evening was quiet. The usual briefing and dinner, and then Kate and I decided to rest up for the evening. There is still a week to go so we need all our energy.

26/12/2014

Boxing Day greeted us nice and early. Typical breakfast time has been 7:30-8:00, but this morning we were entering the Lemaire Channel at about 7:00am and we were advised that if we wanted to see some spectacular fjords, it would be wise to be up by then.

So at about 6:45am Kate and I headed to the front deck to soak it in. As expected we were greeted with an incredible view. Not only was it that the sheer steepness of the sides of the channel were a wonder to behold, but also that looking up ahead toward the end of the 11km long passage, it looked like a VERY narrow exit.

We were actually advised the night before in our daily briefing that while the intention was to pass through the whole Lemaire Channel, it was a strong possibility that we would get some of the way in and find ice blocking our path and have to literally turn around and go another route. Looking down at the exit all I could see was ice. Hhhmmm.

At about 8:15 we arrived at the narrowest passage, and what would you know… we could make it through. In fact it was the first time this boat had made it through this season, so we were quite fortunate. It was touch and go there for a bit. But the ice made for spectacular drama.

Just the other side of the channel we made it to Pleneau Island. The weather was a bit grey and the snow had settled in well and truly. Rather than be a dampener, it made for quite a dramatic landscape. We had the option to kayak here, which I took on, but Kate decided to give a miss. But I didn’t want to miss this one, as we would be kayaking in what is known as the Iceberg Cemetary… an area where due to waters and currents, many many icebergs end up drifting. So we would have the chance to kayak amongst these. “More icebergs?” you ask. Yep, no two icebergs are the same.

So very quickly our Kayak Master Mark had us down in the mud room getting ready. We were told this would be a bit more of an epic session, being out for about 2.5 hours. Woo hoo! I got my gear on, paired up with someone new (Wucai) and got out on the water.

Oh. My.

 

 

 

 

 

As we got out amongst the icebergs I just couldn’t believe it. It was possibly the most stunning landscape I had ever seen and been in. The grey skies and snows made for an incredible sight. It was haunting to see all the icebergs floating about, like they had come and could not escape, seemingly now trapped forever.

 

 

We then proceeded to kayak for the next couple of hours. I gasped every minute at some amazing iceberg, whether it was the colours or the shapes. The light snow falling started to collect on them, giving them an extra dimension. But it was the many different blues that took the breath away.

 

The other highlights of this kayak were the chance to kayak amongst a lot of ice and try to negotiate lots of tiny gaps, putting our skills to the test. It was nice to just plow through some ice, and also work out what bits you just didn’t want to mess with.

 

 

During our time we saw lots more penguins, but this time we got up close and personal with the king of the seals, the Leopard Seal. These dudes are BIG. We didn’t get too close as if he wanted to come and check us out who knows what would have happened, but we got close enough to see his huge jaws. So awesome.

The time disappeared in the blink of an eye and we were back at the ship all covered in snow. You may think I was disappointed the weather was lousy, but in reality it was lousy only in forecast. In actuality it was incredible and gave the graveyard an added sense of melancholy. As I said, quite possibly the most amazing place I have ever been in my life.

Lunch was lots of tales of the others riding in zodiacs, some who came across the leopard seal and others who missed out. In no time at all the boat arrived at its next destination, Petermann Island, and again the kayakers were called to another briefing. Petermann Island is quite small, so this time the plan was to circumnavigate the island and then make it back to the ship to get to spend a brief bit of tie ashore. Oh yeah, double header!

 

 

Kate was giving this one a miss as well, so I was back in with Wucai, and in the water. The sights to see here were the usual… penguins, maybe seals, lots of icebergs. But a bit like earlier, the main thing here was to get to kayak in even more ice. The weather was still snowy, so icebergs were covered in 6 inches of snow and the water was almost thick, adding a new dimension to the kayaking. Without wasting much time we were all off and heading around the island.

 

 

 

 

Highlights of this session were the constant navigation through the ice which was great fun. At first you worry about tipping your kayak but soon realise that it would take quite a big chunk of ice hit very rapidly to do it, so we all had confidence.

This was probably the most difficult session yet, as we had not only weather but currents to deal with as well. The water was calm for the most part, but we had to expend a bit more energy.

 

Along with all the penguins swimming amongst us, and the glorious icebergs, we came across a Weddell Seal hanging out on a small iceberg, which our guides let us get nice and close to. I don’t think you can get tired to seeing those dudes lying there all relaxed.

Again, over 2 hours went by without realising and we could sight the boat. So we headed straight back in, took 5 minutes to get out of our gear, and jumped on the next zodiac to the shore of Petermann Island. We wouldn’t have much time, but at least we could set foot on shore again.

Petermann is known for colonies of both Gentoo and Adelie penguins who were happy to wander all about us. The island also housed an old Argentinian ht as well as a British memorial to 3 folks lost undertaking research in the area. Sadly we couldn’t get close to that as the penguins had made it a new home base, but the solitary cross on the coast surrounded by penguins made for a fitting tribute.

 

 

 

 

With only that much time I legged it to the Adelie penguins as they were looking after a large number of chicks. Every now and then a mum or dad would stand up offering a glimpse of the fluff balls underneath. We weren’t getting to see much though… maybe the cold was setting in.

 

The rest of the time I literally spent following penguins close to their little penguin highways. Sometimes they would stop and be wary of us humans, other times they would simply wander across our paths. One thing I will NEVER get tired of is watching a little penguin fall on its face in the snow. It’s totally not cruel! They do it more often than not and just get straight back up. Awesome little fellas.

 

And with that I was done with Petermann Island. Covered in snow again, it was into some warm clothes and a brief break before going to the nightly debrief. During this time, John the main leader gave us the news that due to the ice there was no way we were going to make it to the Antarctic Circle. The tour we are on is actually called Quest for the Antarctic Circle, and it is its intention to reach the Antarctic Circle. But they make it clear in the literature that it does not always happen and that is why it is called the “quest”. So because it had been a huge ice season, it was just too dangerous to try.

All we were missing out on really was a day to get below the circle, one on shore activity, and then a day to get back. So it many respects I was not worried. A new plan had been devised that had the potential to be a bit more exciting anyway, but unfortunately we effectively turned around and started heading back north. Not to worry… I don’t know many people who have gone quite this far south.