looking a bit more antarctic

23/12/2014

OK, so that is what Drake’s Passage is like.

a little rougher

Last entry I was remarking how it had all been quite calm with only the odd bumpy part. Well, last night was a bit more what I expected. Not crazy, but enough to make a few more people on the boat (including Kate) feel a little queesy.

The best part was during breakfast when the captain let us know we were in for a more sever bumpy patch. He wasn’t wrong. For about 30 seconds, things were quite hilarious/chaotic in the dining room, with food going every which way. Not quite everything everywhere… most things stayed on plates, but indeed there was quite a bit of food and drink spillage, including things off counters and tables. Good times! My stomach held fast though and still without the aid of medication. high five me! I am sure the passage will have something to say on the way home.

out at sea

Today was another predominant sea day, with expected arrival to Antarctica formally scheduled top happen late afternoon. So the plan for the day was more formalities, more lectures, and more kayak preparation. We started with the formalities… protecting Antarctica from any possible nasties we had with us. So everything that was going on to the ice and outer layers of clothes had to be checked out. Checked out meant disinfectant for shoes, walking poles, etc, vacuuming of the insides of backpacks, and inspection of garments.

Kate and I didn’t have too much, as new things didn’t need to go through the rigamarole, so our new parkas and fairly new waterproof pants were a-ok. Only backpacks and camera gear really needed the eye. And all was good! We then proceeded to sign that we were going to respect everything and not jeopardise the Antarctic continent.

Kate was a bit under the weather, so I went along solo to the lecture on seals. Actually, many of them are pretty ugly when you get down to it. Awesome, but when you see the pics of the Elephant Seals, they are not the most attractive thing you have ever seen. But the smaller Weddell Seals, along with the vicious Leopards, both of which we should hopefully see, looked cool, ramping up the excitement of the group. We even saw some graphic pics of leopard seals eating penguins. Hhhmmm… maybe I won’t film that if I see it.

visiting the bridge

guiding the ship

I also decided to explore the ship a little more. One thing we were able to do that many other ships don’t allow is to visit the bridge. The crew were very casual and nonchalant with visitors and let us wander around. We were even encouraged to get some photos taken… not that I needed much encouragement.

our steed

Lunch was upon us, but after than Kate and I were straight back to the mud room for more kayak briefings. This time we were assigned our own kayak (named Minke), and had it all fitted out for us. There was also a bit of a run through of best practice, but it seemed more geared toward the real novices, which scarily there seemed to be a few. Kate and I got increasingly confident as we went on.

When we were done there, Kate and I raced to catch the lecture on the penguins we were likely to see. It was super exciting to find out we were likely to see maybe half a dozen different types. Nope, no Emperor Penguins (they are further south), but lots of others. We were expecting to visit a few penguin colonies which had Kate all giddy with excitement.

We were originally scheduled to arrive to Antarctica by about 3:30pm, but it seemed the bad weather we had encountered must have slowed us down, as it was not until about dinner time that we saw land. In fact it was during dinner that the official announcement was made that we were in Antarctica! Woooooo! But back to this in a little bit.

the big man

Before dinner we had the official Captain’s Greeting and celebration, where our Russian skipper introduced himself and main crew. He does not mix at all with the passengers which I guess is fair, as it is the G Adventures crews job to do that. But we all had a champagne toast to the trip and then off to our celebration dinner. It was just a little into dinner that the cries of “land!” were heard as we could start to see some land through the dense mist we found ourselves in.

I couldn’t wait to get out there, but after dinner was yet another briefing (there is A LOT to cover!), but they are all exciting, as this was for our camping expedition. Yep, Kate and I (and about 60 others) would be camping on the ice one night, at an as yet undetermined time. But as they aim to do it as soon as they can, there is a chance it will be tomorrow night (Christmas Eve!!!) so they filled us in on everything. Basically we tent and sleeping bag it out there, with nothing but our warm clothes and each others company and the potential of wandering penguins and seals. How can you not opt in for that?! It all sounded straight forward, so from now it was just the waiting game.

definitely getting to be antarctic weather

NOW it was time to get out on deck and soak up our formal introduction to Antarctica. It was awesome, as just as we went out the mist was lifting and the views of the nearby snow and ice covered mountains was becoming crystal clear. It is a bit cloudy, but views were getting better.

the views are getting better

We thought they were spectacular now, but we knew we hadn’t seen anything yet.

humpback!

But that wasn’t the most exciting part. For the (sadly) only about 15 of us out on the back deck of the boat we were treated to the first official whale sighting of the trip. Not one, but three whales made their way past our boat. A bit of a distance, but close enough to easily see the spouts and their backs and tails come above water. We all got chills with the constant screams of “there they are!”. The excitement was so infectious.

An announcement came over the PA letting people know but it was strange that in the end only about 30 of the 120 on board came out. They were obviously comfy inside and not too worried. Me I was buzzing.

whale tail

Over the next hour I saw about 9 different whales, apparently humpbacks and minkes. It was hard to get photos with my small camera, so instead I snapped a few but really just soaked it all up.

I was in Antarctica alright.

our guiding spirit

22/12/2014

We were told the previous night that our journey on Drake’s Passage was looking relatively calm. Woo hoo! I say relatively, as for an unseasoned sea traveller like me, there was still a lot of up and down. But it must have been soothing, as I had my best night sleep yet since leaving home. It was about 8 hours of almost unbroken sleep. Ahh! I needed that.

a calm drake

We got up and mobile for our brekky, which again was quite extravagant. I could see myself settling in for muesli and toast within a couple of days of all this eating!

Given today was a “sea day”, meaning we just had a whole day of open water ahead of us, the day was scheduled with lectures, zodiac briefings, and kayak setup. First up was a lecture on the sea birds we would be seeing in the next day or two. While this side of the wildlife doesn’t interest me nearly as much as what’s coming, it was good to be a bit more informed. And lo and behold just after the lecture, we were greeted with some wandering albatrosses flying along side the boat. The largest of the sea birds they have a 12 foot wing span. So graceful too. Hopefully I could get a good photo later on.

At 11:30 was another lecture, this time by the ships resident photographer. She gave a great seminar, using her own spectacular photos to demonstrate both some key photographic principles, and also some tips for shooting in the Antarctic. Being photographer in resident on trips to Antarctica… not a bad job if you can get it hey?

After lunch (looks like I am going to be eating a LOT on this trip), it was time to get suited up for our kayaks. no, not heading out yet, but getting all our gear together so when it arrives we would be good to go. A bit of Kate’s fear became alleviated as we got comfortable, and also as some of our kayak group asked some pretty fundamental questions that even we knew. Looks like we won’t be the least experienced!

bring it on!

It was fun getting all suited up and got us super excited. Although getting in the gear is a bit of a chore, we totally knew why we had it all. The hot mud room where we would gear up made us sweat though… so much we would be looking forward to getting out into the Antarctic cold 🙂

With no time to rest our brains, it was straight into another briefing, this time to understand our responsibilities in heading on to the Antarctic continent. Given it is such a pristine environment, everyone takes it very seriously in keeping it that way. While a lot of it was common sense, I guess in today’s day and age it needs to sadly be said.

During this we also learned all about the zodiacs that would be taking most people out and about (and us just sometimes when we are not kayaking). Given we would be VERY close to almost freezing water, again it was all taken very seriously by the crew.

There was only one more thing to sort out during the afternoon, and that was to get our boots to be wearing out and about on the ice. A quick second visit to the mud room had us all sorted. Phew! What a day of getting ready for our arrival, looking likely tomorrow given our smooth trip on the passage so far.

Speaking of Drake, by all accounts our sailing has been very smooth thus far, and to me as a novice it certainly seemed so. Yeah, we had been bouncing round a bit, but no one really seemed to be getting too upset by it all. It was only around dinner time that we hit a rougher patch. Even then it seemed to only last an hour and we were back to normal. The staff were even calling it the “Drake Lake”.

There was a bit of a collective on the back deck doing some bird spotting so Kate and I joined them to check it all out. We were getting a little wet, but the collection of sea birds following us made getting a little damp worth it. We got to see a few different types of albatross which was most exciting, including one that is a bit more rarely seen. While not much of a bird guy, to see the albatross circling gracefully was a kick.

After some pre-dinner G&T’s, and a bit of dinner, I headed out to the back of the ship to do some more bird watching. The rain had disappeared and it was all blue sky, so it was much more pleasant, and we still had the great bird life hanging about. I could have stayed out there for ages, but it was a bit on the chilly side, and it was time to settle into the bar and soak up some tunes by the ship musician (yep, the ship musician). How could I not when my red beanie prompted a Steve Zissou / David Bowie song in my honour?

With the sun still up, but 10pm hitting, it was time for some rest. I could have stayed up a bit longer, but given things are only going to get more hectic from here on in, it was best to grab some rest while I could.

the fail penguin

Hello again everyone!

I was hoping to have a bunch of posts going up, but alas, who would have thought that Internet in the jungles at Iguazu Falls is not awesome?

As you have worked out, we are back from Antarctica, and now at Iguazu Falls for a few days of relaxing and getting soaked before heading home. I had some great internet in Buenos Aires last night and I got a bunch of blog things done, but thought I would easily be able to finish it off here (as I stare out at Iguazu Falls themselves, yep), but alas it is not happening.

So I will try! But maybe the posts will just have to be finished off when I get back home.

Cross your fingers and stay tuned!

you meet the coolest dudes here

Happy New Year everyone!!!

Hope you are all doing well my dear readers. Well, Kate and I are back in Ushuaia after our EPIC/AMAZING/PERFECT trip to Antarctica. Our minds are truly blown.

I am currently battling poor wi-fi, but I have been preparing all my daily posts to get up as soon as I can. Depending on how I go this arvo, I will try and get some up, but I promise I will get them up as soon as I can.

Apologies in advance for a LOT of pictures 🙂