20/2/2020
It was 8.00 when we departed Ocean Grove and headed for Tullamarine Airport, for my trip of a life time. We had no delays and got there at 10.00, my traveling partner Smathi arrived at 11.00, we were nearly the last to check in, but we got to the gate with plenty of time, we’d brought some food for lunch as the plane didn’t leave until 13.25. We boarded the LATAM Airlines 787 Dreamliner and had a pleasant 12.5hr flight to Santiago. We had about 4hrs layover so we exited the terminal and walked south of the terminal for about 2km to a river. The first two birds we got were disappointing, being Feral Pigeon and House Sparrow, both being imported species. The first native species was an Austral Thrush feeding in a small park with Eared Doves. Nearby we added Austral Blackbird, as we got to the river we found some Chilean Swallows, and Southern Lapwings. The river was flowing but was a polluted drain, with rubbish strewn along the banks. There were a few trees and a lot of weeds along the banks also, and it wasn’t long before we added Rufous-collared Sparrow and Striped Woodpecker, our last find was a Chimango Caracara. It had been a hot walk, and the sun was beaming down on my balding head, as I hadn’t prepared for the walk, but what stopped us was finding some planted marijuana plants, we decided it was time to withdraw before we were discovered, so after sheltering in the shade in a park for a short while we headed back for the flight to Beunos Aires arriving at just after midnight.
21/2
We found the Tienda Leon transfer bus that took us to the domestic terminal, taking about an hour. We were able to drop our baggage off for the last flight in the series, I had a piece of cake in order to take my anti-inflammatory pill for my suspected arthritis, it was then time to head to the gate. Neither of us had much sleep up until now, so we both slept quite well on the flight to Ushuaia, arriving at 8.00. We picked up our Sixt Hire car a Chevrolet Onix, with no problems and were on the road by 9.00. We found a supermarket on the shoreline but it didn’t open until 9.30, there were birds in the bay so we contented ourselves ticking off Southern Giant Petrel, Black-browed Albatross, Kelp Gull, Dolphin Gull, Chimango Caracara, House Sparrow, and Rufous-collared Sparrow. We picked up food for lunch and headed out of town, not far down the road was a small estuary with hundreds of Kelp Gulls, we also found Kelp Goose, Turkey Vulture, Black-chested Buzzard Eagle, Southern Caracara and some Steamer Ducks, but we were too far away to ID them properly. We stopped off at a lookout and eventually made it to Garibaldi Pass at 11.00, we tried to find the way up to the scree slopes but couldn’t find the way, so instead we headed down from the saddle to the lake finding Thorn-tailed Rayadito, Southern House Wren, Patagonian Sierra-finch, and Black-chinned Siskin. On the lake was an immature Great Grebe. We ate our lunch at the abandoned resort. Back to Ushuaia where we added White-throated Caracara and Southern Lapwing. We found our host Willy at his Airbnb. We went for a walk around town to see about getting a simcard, but it proved too expensive. Willy cooked us a yummy dinner of Black Hake, and two very tired old boys crashed into bed.
22/2
Up early and after a bit of breaky we headed out of town back through the Garibaldi pass, from there we stopped often at mainly wetlands adding Neotropic Cormorant, Black-faced Ibis, Coscoroba Swan, that from a distance looks more like a huge duck, Ashy-headed Goose, Upland Goose, Crested Duck, Yellow-billed Pintail, Speckled Teal, Chloe Widgeon, Red Shoveler, Peregrine Falcon, South American Snipe, Two-banded Plover and Austral Parakeet, We stopped at Tolhuin at La Union Panaderia, the place was thronging with people, we got 4 donuts for 100 pesos. We got to our target, the estuary at Rio Grande at 14.00 for a late lunch, and got Black-crowned Night Heron, Brown-hooded Gull, White-rumped Sandpiper and Baird’s Sandpiper. On our way north we saw lots of Guanaco in the fields, on our way back we got some very tame Patagonian Fox cubs at a lookout. We made it back to Ushuaia just before dark with a few showers happening after a very warm day. As we were having dinner of chicken and ravioli, another cooked by Willy a thunderstorm came through. Not long afterwards we crashed into bed again.
23/2
Up early again and after breaky we headed into the Tierra Del Fuego NP just down the road from Ushuaia, we went to the coast trail first and properly identified both Flightless and Flying Steamer Ducks, Imperial Cormorant, Black-necked Swan, South American Tern and Dark-bellied Cinclodes on a dull cloudy day. We then worked our way back east walking some of the short trails, adding Patagonian Sierra Finch, Tufted Tit Tyrant, Chilean Swallow, Fire-eyed Diucon, White-crested Elaenia and the bird of the trip an Andean Condor, we were on a walk that ascended a mountain, we weren’t seeing much so decided to return, for most of the day we had intermittent light showers, as we returned the latest shower stopped and the sun tried to come out, Smathi suggested that we should search for a Condor as we were in a small clearing with a view across the lake, I turned to look across the lake and there was a Condor heading our way, it went right over our heads, did a wheel around us several hundred meters up, it cocked its head to look at us then continued on its way, we were both filled with wonder at seeing this iconic bird, our timing in meeting the bird was perfect to the second, any sooner or later being in the clearing and we’d have missed it. We exited the park and drove up to the Marshall Glacier with not much time in hand we walked up the steep hill to where the track crosses the cascading creek for the last time, I wanted to get a shot of the glacier with it’s stream cascading down the mountainside, but the clouds beat me to it, as I arrived at the spot the glacier became shrouded in the cloud and I missed the shot, the consolation was having a flock of Dark-faced Ground Tryants milling around our feet. Back down the hill to Willy’s for a garlic crab dinner then we dropped off the car, we did 600km for a cost of 1700 pesos.
24/2
We slept in a bit this morning and had some nice pastries from the bakery next door for breaky then went for a wander around the town lake and foreshore adding Rock Cormorant, Chilean Skua, Grey-flanked Cinclodes, Yellow-bridled Finch and Long-tailed Meadowlark, we also got stunning views of South American Snipe and saw the steamer ducks steaming across the lake. We got our first views of our ship docked at the pier. Went back to the bakery and got some empanadas and a custard croissant for lunch, then whiled the afternoon away. It wasn’t until 15.30 that we realized we’d made a mistake and not dropped our luggage off to be loaded onto the ship, it was supposed to have been done at 11.00, we rang up the port and found that we could take the luggage on with us, whew! We got a taxi the short distance down the hill to the pier and boarded the ship at 16.00. We had our mandatory safety briefing in the lounge, after which we had a drill, with both the normal life jacket and lugging the immersion suit with us, though we didn’t have to put that on. Later we had our welcome aboard with drinks (for us orange juice) and canapes, after that was dinner, then we collected our rubber boots for the landings. All this time we were tied up to the dock long after we were supposed to have left, the reason was the weather. In the morning we had awoken to find the hills dusted with snow, all morning we battled wind and light showers, in the bitter cold. The weather had persisted all day, so come the evening it was still too windy to leave port. We eventually left at about 23.00, I got up to see the fading lights of Ushuaia, then went to bed.
25/2
I awoke to the gentle rolling and creaking of the ship, there was very little noise, so it is like being in a hotel room during a slow moving earthquake. Up at about 6.40 and went out to the rear of the ship, which we would do intermittently during the day in between other duties. The first duty was breakfast, a buffet. The first lecture was a meeting of the team leaders and zodiac procedures, then we had to have our gear deseeded, including vacuuming my backpack, next was a photography session, lunch, then one on the Falklands, a brief one on birds and mammals, a wrap up of the day during which an Argentinian talked about his ideas about what to call the Falklands/Malvinas and aspirational for tomorrow’s itinerary, and finally a 4 course dinner. Birds for today were Snowy Wandering Albatross, Southern Royal Albatross, Black-browed Albatross, Southern Giant Petrel, Northern Giant Petrel, White-chinned Petrel, Cape Petrel, Sooty Shearwater, Great Shearwater, Wilsons Storm Petrel, Imperial Cormorant, Brown Skua and Slender-billed Prion.
26/2
Up at 6.30 and out onto deck to watch us go through the Wooly Gut entrance to West Point Island, on the way into our landing site we saw some Gentoo Penguins in the water, but they were feeding so only came up briefly. We anchored off shore and after breakfast we landed via zodiacs on the beach and walked over the hill to the Black-browed Albatross and Rock-hopper Penguin breeding colony, Smathi left early and missed a Blackish Cinclodes that showed itself late. On the way back over the hill I found some Correndera Pipits and Long-tailed Meadowlark, the farm house had roosting Turkey Vultures on the roof, inside was an amazing spread of cakes which we tucked into, a track around the bay had a Grass Wren and led to some Magellanic Penguins, it was then back onto the boat for lunch as we made our way over to Saunders Island, on the way there were quite a few Sei Whales. It was sunny and quite warm as we landed on the beach again in the zodiacs, there was a large Gentoo penguin Colony here with a handful of King Penguins and some Brown Skuas. Along the coastline were some more Black-browed Albatross colonies and some Rock Cormorant colonies, not long after I turned back the weather also turned, first with a light drizzle but as we got onto the zodiac a squall came through with driving rain and rough waters, we all got soaked on the way back. Other birds new for the Falklands were Black-crowned Night Heron, Kelp Goose, Upland Goose, Flying Steamer Duck, Falklands Steamer Duck, Turkey Vulture, Striated Caracara, Peregrine Falcon, Blackish Oystercatcher, Magellanic Oystercatcher, Brown Skua, Dolphin Gull, South American Tern, Dark-faced Ground Tyrant, Austral Thrush, Black-chinned Siskin. Once on board we changed clothes and went to the de-brief for the day, then another 4 course dinner. I won’t be losing weight this trip.
27/2
The ship arrived at Stanley at dawn, after breakfast we were zodiaced ashore and spent the morning wandering around town, we didn’t find anything new by the shore so headed up to the pastures just out of town, there was a field with a lot of geese in so we had a look through them and found some Ruddy-headed Geese, an unlocked gate lead to a track where we found some Rufous-chested Dotterels. Back to town to get a few souvenirs, then the zodiac back to the ship. As we were leaving the area the promised storm started to arrive with high winds, good timing. We headed out to sea towards South Georgia. I spent a bit of time up on the bridge and we saw Soft-plumaged Petrel, Grey-backed Storm Petrel some Peale’s Dolphins and a Humpback Whale. Smathi wasn’t feeling too well so got another anti-seasick patch, but was still a bit queasy over dinner, apart from feeling bloated from eating too much I’m still doing fine. During dinner we had a visit from a Wandering Albatross that continuously zoomed by the window we were sitting at.
28/2
The seas slowly calmed during the day, and for most of the day it was partly sunny, but still quite cold, we got the first lectures on South Georgia, but I spent most of the day in the bridge with some time also on the rear of the ship as we forged our way east. The birds were a bit sparse, with White-chinned Petrels, Great Shearwater, Sooty Shearwater, Antarctic Prion, Grey Petrel, Wilsons Storm Petrel and Black-bellied Storm Petrel. Another mountain of good food was consumed during the day.
29/2
Slept in a bit today and only had a brief look outside , it was decidedly colder as we had crossed the Antarctic Convergance so in some sense we were now in Antarctica. After breakfast and for much of the day I spent my time on the bridge, spotting the wildlife. The only break was for lunch and then the clothing inspection for the bio-security for South Georgia. Most of the day there wasn’t much happening on the bridge, but we slowly ticked off Wandering Albatross, Royal Albatross, Black-browed Albatross, Grey-headed Albatross, Light-mantled Sooty Albatross, Northern Giant Petrel, Southern Giant Petrel, Soft-plumaged Petrel, White-chinned Petrel, South Georgia Diving Petrel, Wilsons Storm Petrel, Black-bellied Storm Petrel, Great Shearwater, Sooty Shearwater. We passed Black/Shag Rock about 15.00 and there was an upsurge in the whale activity with Minke, Finned, Blue, Humpback and Southern Right Whales all sighted, at one stage there was a feeding group that had not taken note of the ship, thankfully the captain ordered the ship to veer to the starboard to avoid colliding with a huge Finned Whale that passed to our port side and we looked almost directly down onto it, there was a lot of cries of joy at seeing these magnificent beasts so close, amongst the whales were a lot of Antarctic Fur Seals and a few South Georgia Shags. Black Rock which is actually several jagged rocks jutting out in the middle of the sea was adorned with the shags looking like little black and white pimples on the side of the rocks as we passed by. It was an exiting half an hour or so.
1/3
At about 6.30 I opened the blind in our cabin to find us in clear blue sky with spectacular mountains and the sun still only just up, so I raced out on deck and snapped away as we sailed into Grytviken. We had a lecture from a South Georgia official then we had our bio-security inspection which we passed with 100% which is apparently not commonly done. The settlement is an old whaling station, with much of the rusting machinery of death still there, but now with inquisitive little Antarctic Fur Seals bouncing up towards you. I made my way up to the cemetery where there was a toast to Ernest Shackleton with a shot of whiskey, I had a sip of the awful stuff and poured the rest onto his grave as instructed. I then wandered around taking shots as I found something interesting including the South Georgia Pipit. The morning eventually clouded over, and as we left the rains started. It was a short sail around to Jason Harbour, where we landed again, this time in cold wet windy conditions. Nevertheless I was the first person off the boat and one of the last back on with my camera soaked from all the photos I’d taken in the rain, a thoroughly enjoyable afternoon that included seeing the South Georgia Pintail, which meant that this is the first country that I have seen all the endemics of. There were also a lot of Wilsons Storm Petrels in the bay zooming around like swallows, and the Brown Skuas behaving like gulls being very confiding, actually moving towards me when I tried to photograph them. It was when we got back to the boat and were doing the afternoon briefing that we found out that someone had fallen into a bog hole and broken his leg, and there was a possibility that we may have to sail back to Stanley to get treatment for him. We had another mountain of food for dinner, and saw another ship arrive in the harbour, later we heard that the man was being transferred to that ship that was heading back to Stanley. Trip saved. Another mountain of food for dinner and bed after a while.
2/3
We awoke to find us exiting Salisbury Plain, because the wind had picked up overnight making it impossible to land, we went to Stromness with the wind whipping up spray off the water, and creating small whirlwinds. Stromness proved also to be too windy so we ended up losing the chance of a morning landing. We sailed around to Fortuna Bay near the glacier of the same name, it was much calmer and we did a landing after lunch, a short walk to a 10,000 pair King Penguin colony with the beach littered with Antarctic Fur Seal pups. We had the recap then dinner and then bed as we have as we have an early start tomorrow.
3/3
We arose at 4.45 expecting a sunrise landing at Gold Harbour, but the katabatic winds were too strong, so we sat off shore for the sunrise. At 9.00 we got inshore and did the landing in great weather, the sun came out and the wind died down. The beach was strewn with wildlife, from some almost full sized Elephant Seals through the usual Antarctic Fur Seals to the ever present King Penguins, their brilliant plumage shining in the sun. Picking their way around were Snowy Sheathbills. It was a marvelous morning, we then were offered a zodiac cruise along the beach towards the glacier that hung menacingly above the lagoon, not long after we got into the lagoon part of the side glacier collapsed in a rush of slush, we also had a close fly by of a Light-mantled Sooty Albatross. We headed back to the ship for lunch as the ship was re-positioned to Cooper Bay where we boarded the zodiacs in icy conditions with quite a swell. I was up the front for the first time and copped quite a bit of spray, but got the best views of The Macaroni Penguins at one site and the Chin-strap Penguins at the other site. Near the Macaroni site there was a feeding frenzy of Giant Petrels and Wilson’s Storm Petrels. We got a light dusting of graupel snow, that is a snow flake covered in rime, so it is half way between a snow flake and a hail stone. I had cold hands as I can’t wear my gloves and operate the camera. It was soon time for the recap then another plate full of dinner.
Click here for a panorama video of Gold Harbour at sunrise from the ship
For a later panorama of Gold Harbour click here.
For another panorama with zoom in of the waterfall click here.
For a video of this young male Elephant Seal eventually moving for me click here.
Young male Elephant Seals briefly tussle in this video, click here.
Click here for video of the glacier in the lagoon.
Click here to see a video of the glacier calving and creating an ice waterfall
Click here to see a video of Giant Petrels and Wilson’s Storm Petrels taken from a very bouncy zodiac.
Click here for a video of the Chinstrap Penguins on the beach
Click here for a panorama video of Cooper Bay from the ship
Click here for a video panorama of the glaciers at the head of the Drygalski Fjord
4/3
This morning we found ourselves at St Andrews beach, the largest King Penguin colony in the world with about 1 million birds. First there was a walk behind the beach to a lookout over the colony, then a zodiac cruise along the beach. There were also lots of Antarctic Fur Seals and some Elephant Seals. The skies were overcast with flurries of snow, quite a morning. As we had our lunch we were informed that there would be no afternoon landing due to deteriorating conditions, instead we headed along the coast of South Georgia and into the Scotia Sea. The sea was rough with 70 knot winds and swells of 4-5 metres, with the spray from the bow crashing into the bridge windows, dramatic! Needless to say the population for dinner was quite depleted, but I? I was determined to get my plate full of food, and ate with gusto as the ship heaved its way south.
Click here for the gloomy panorama video of the entrance into St Andrews Bay
click here for a panorama video of the King Penguin colony from the lookout.
Click here for a video of an Antarctic Fur Seal pup.
Click here for a video of King Penguins lazing by the stream.
Click here for a video of King Penguins milling around on the beach.
Click here for a video of the King Penguin colony from the zodiac including some penguins bathing.
Click here for a video of the South Georgia coastline as the ship makes its way south in heavy seas. At the end a White-chinned Petrel does a fly by.
Click here for a video of the heavy seas from the bridge as the ship makes its way south. Look out for the spray hitting the bridge, and the snow flurries.
5/3
The ship was in rough waters so I went to bed with the ship banging and crashing through the waves, I also went to bed last night with a sore throat, that soon developed into sneezing and coughing and runny nose, yes you guessed it I came down with a cold, so all in all I didn’t get much sleep last night. I was a bit worried because I also felt a bit feverish so I went to the doctor who said my temperature was normal so I didn’t have the dreaded COVID 19 virus. I decided that since today was a sea day that I’d spend the day in bed as I really didn’t feel good and I didn’t want to infect anyone else. So I watched movies on their TV all day and didn’t eat much at all.
6/3
The early morning brought icebergs off the coast of South Orkney as we made our way into the Argentinian Antarctic base of Orcadas, where we had a tour of their small neat base with their striking black and orange buildings. A small glacier at the end of the pebbled beach was a spectacular backdrop to some Chinstrap Penguins on the beach and an Antarctic Cormorant in the bay. We then headed west with a lowering sky and got the usual Southern Giant petrel, Black-browed Albatross, Wilson’s and Black-bellied Storm Petrels, White-chinned Petrels, and Antarctic Prions, there was a big ice berg that had a small rookery of Chinstrap Penguins on it with Cape Petrels flying around, I also got a Grey Headed Albatross, my new seabird for the day was late in the day when I saw Southern Fulmar. It was back to oversized meals today.
Click here for a video of icebergs off the coast of South Orkney in the early morning.
Click here for a video of icebergs off the coast of South Orkney
Click here for a video of the beach and bay on the graveyard side of Orcadas Station
Click here for a video panorama of Orcadas Station and bay from the ship
Click here for a panorama video off the other end of the ship of icebergs in the bay
7/3
For most of the day today visibility was less than a few hundred metres with sea fog. Magically just as we began our approach to Elephant Island with Clarence Island just off the port side the fog cleared and we had a relatively calm sea, so we were able to go for a zodiac cruise around the Chinstrap Penguin colony at Point Wild, which had a pair of Leopard Seals in the water that chased the zodiacs around a bit. The other dramatic scene was of the Furness Glacier at the head of the small bay we stopped in calving off several times as we stood in the bay with large thunderclaps as the ice hit the ground or water, breaking up into smaller pieces of ice and causing small tsunamis, unfortunately the zodiac driver I got was too reticent, and I got no photos of the seals or any calving of the glacier, so I missed out a bit today.
As we pass Clarence Island, Elephant Island comes into view for the first time. Click here for a video
Closer to Elephant Island another panorama video can be found here.
For a video panorama of Elephant Island with Clarence Island in the background and the smaller Cornwallis Island click here.
Click here for a video of Point Wild from the zodiac.
Click here for a view of the glacier from the zodiac
Click here for a video of the icy waters next to the Hondius
8/3
The day started out with almost dead calm waters with just the faintest of movement detectable in the ship, with good visibility but not much in the way life evident, we did get a Humpback Whale though. We never got blue sky but the clouds were high and light. Just as we approached Deception island though the clouds lowered over the island, and we just got through Neptune’s Bellows into the caldera of the volcano before a bank of fog obscured the view. We crossed the caldera to Telephon Bay where we zodiaced ashore and went for a walk up over the cinders to ridges overlooking the caldera. On the shore was the animal of the day, a Weddell Seal. After the walk some of the passengers Smathi among them went for a polar dip, a very quick plunge into the only slightly warmer water of the caldera. I refrained. We then set sail for the mainland.
Click here for a video of the approach to Deception Island showing Neptune’s Bellows entrance.
Click here for a video of the approach to Neptune’s Bellows with a panorama along the coast to Livingston Island in the background.
Click here for a video of looking back from the entrance to Neptune’s bellows along the coast towards Livingstone Island.
Click here for a short video of the ship in Neptune’s Bellows from the starboard side
Click here for the video from the port side of the ship as we pass through Neptune’s Bellows and also a look into the caldera.
Click here for a panorama of the caldera from a high point. At the end is the cinder cone from the last eruption in 1970.
9/3
Another perfect day greeted us in the morning with snow/glacier covered mountains on either side as we passed between Wiencke Island and mainland Antarctica, down the Gerlache Strait, the sunrise was rather special. At 10.00 we interrupted a lecture to get everyone out on board as we traveled down the Lemaire Channel, it was a hugely photogenic area with towering mountains, covered with ice and tumbling glaciers on both sides, with small icebergs all the way down the channel, wow! Unfortunately they spoiled the atmosphere by ordering everyone to the starboard side of the ship as we passed a large iceberg down the port side. Past the channel we cruised slowly along the coastline through icebergs all day, everything from tiny left overs to block of flat sized ones, with spectacular backdrops. We saw our first Crab-eater Seals hauled out on the rocks, some of us saw a Leopard Seal tearing apart a penguin with Wilson’s Storm Petrels flitting around the surface. We saw Humpback Whales all day doing everything from logging (resting) through spy hopping to breaching and fluking. We got great views of Lesser Snow Petrel and a few Adelie Penguins. Throughout the day the sun was out, the wind was light and the waves non-existent, just about the perfect day, how much longer can our good luck hold out?
Click here for a video of the sunrise passage of Wiencke Island. Please excuse the out of focus segment.
Clicke here for a video of the passage by Wiencke Island
Click here for a video of the passage down the Lumiere Passage
Click here for another video of the passage down Lemaire Channel
Click here for another video of the passage down Lemaire Channel
Click here for another video of the Lemaire Channel
Click here for a video of looking back up Lumiere Passage
Click here for a video of icebergs large and small south of the Lemaire Channel
Click here for another video of icebergs large and small south of Lemaire Channel
Click here for a video of icebergs large and small south of the Lemaire Channel
Click here for a video of a Crabeater Seal on the ice
Click here for a video of the icebergs as the ship heads south, some with Crabeater Seals on them
10/3
This morning found us at the head of The Gullet at a cove with Orcas, Humpback Whales and Minke Whales along with lots of Crabeater Seals all still feeding in the predawn light. The almost full moon set in a cloudless sky. Wonderful. Unfortunately there was too much ice for a zodiac cruise so we ship cruised through The Gullet and after lunch we arrived at Pourquoi Pas Island. We spent a few hours cruising the bay finding a few Crabeater Seals hauled out on the ice sleeping last night’s krill off, we then landed on the beach and did a short walk with a few Adelie Penguins to the side of a glacier. The day remained calm and sunny all day, another perfect day, wow! It was so perfect we had a BBQ dinner on the back deck as the sun went down, the alcohol was free and the music loud and not my taste, so I soon retired.
Click here for a video of Humpback Whales feeding in the early morning light.
Click here for another video of Humpback Whales feeding near the ship in the early morning light at the head of The Gullet.
Click here for a video of The Gullet
Click here for a video of the Crabeater Seals surging through the water beside the ship
Click here for another video in The Gullet
Click here for another video of The Gullet
Click here for another video in The Gullet
Click here for a video of south of The Gullet
Click here for another video of south of The Gullet
Click here for another video of south of The Gullet
Click here for a video from the zodiac at Pourquoi Pas Island
Click here for a video of an Adelie Penguin making its way over the rocks.
Click here for a video of the bay with the ship at Pourquoi Pas Island, taken from beside the glacier
Click here for a video of the stream beside the glacier
Click here for a video of ice on the water at sunset
Click here for another video of ice on the water at sunset
11/3
The first choice of landing sites was too rough, but the staff found a spot nearby where we could safely get off the boat at the old British Antarctic base at Horseshoe Island. The sky was cloudy so I didn’t take a lot of photos. On the way back it had got a lot rougher so the ride back was quite bumpy and we all got a bit wet. We sailed south as far as 68.11 degrees south at Stonington Island where there was another British base from the 1960s. Again the sky was overcast so I didn’t take many photos. The glacier across the bay did a lot of rumbling but the calving must have been in the crevasses as I saw none. I did see an ice berg break in two, with the large slab wallowing in the water like a car with bad suspension for ages afterwards. We then did a zodiac cruise to the mainland where we got to set foot for the first time, not the most scenic of spots underneath a towering mountain with the sea swishing in over the pebbled beach, so I finally set foot on my 7th continent, woohoo! Because the landing was late, dinner was also late as we headed out to sea and into a potential storm and we also start the journey back north, this is as far south as we get, and it’s a lot further south than most ships get.
Click here for a video of sunrise off Horseshoe Island
Click here for a video of the lagoon and British base on Horseshoe island
Click here for an Adelie Penguin calling, unfortunately it’s mostly lost to the wind noise.
Click here for a video of Stonington Island including the Ukrainian base
Click here for a video of the beach on mainland Antarctica
12/3
I woke at 3am with the ship banging and thumping its way through heavy seas, I didn’t sleep well after that. The whole day was spent making our way north through the 50-60knot headwinds and 6-7 metre swells. There was a surprisingly good turn out for the meals, I guess people are getting their sea legs.
13/3
As I went to sleep last night the ship was bouncing and shuddering through the still heavy seas, thankfully the stabilizers we doing a good job with the roll. I went out like a light, that’s how tired I’m getting. The morning found us at the bottom of the Lemaire Channel at Peterman Island, but the proposed landing site was too icy for the passengers so we headed up to Galindez Island to see Vernadsky Base, a Ukranian base that they took over from the British, and is still active. We were given a guided tour through the main building to the bar where some were given home made vodka, I refrained. A short zodiac around the corner is Wordie House a well preserved British base where we had a wander through, then had a zodiac cruise out into the sound where someone collected a small iceberg to be taken up to the bar to have the ice used in whiskey, again I wasn’t part of that. We then cruised back up the Lemaire channel seeing some Humpback Whales near the ship.
Click here for a video of a slow ride in a zodiac through the sound at Galindez Island
14/3
This morning’s activity was in the Gerlache Strait, but the start was delayed due to high winds, eventually we got 12 zodiacs in the water and we cruised around for a while in the miserable cold wet, thankfully we found an obliging Humpback Whale that continued feeding as we sat above it, we all got sprayed by its breath. We watched as it stopped feeding and started to interact with the boats, it came up to each boat in turn including mine, it put its nose within touching distance of me twice, a wonderful experience and one I’ll treasure most from the trip, apart from maybe the condor sighting. It eventually moved off, we searched for a while for another whale but none of the others wanted to interact, by now it was snowing and quite cold so we went back to the ship and made our way north and eventually started our crossing to Ushuaia.
Click here for a video of the Humpback Whale around a nearby zodiac
15/3
Sea day today all day, the seas started out quite calm and gradually got rougher as we headed north into the dreaded Drake Passage, the poem was inspired fairly early on when the sun briefly tried to shine through the almost complete cloud cover, no new sea birds were found on a generally birdless sea, a bit disappointing.
MEDITATIONS IN C MAJOR
Consider please
The constancy of the sun
The moodiness of the clouds
The rhythm of the swell
The chaos of the chop
Add in the ferocity of the wind
And a ship upon the waves
In an atmosphere of isolation
Insulated from the world
From horizon to horizon
Here we are
A wallowing speck
Upon the heaving seas
With time to consider
Frosted curling
Sea salt spraying
White caps flaying
As we’re tossed
In the distance
The gathering storm
Sends monstrous waves
Ploughing
Forging
The waves they dance in tune
An endless romance in spume
Of froth and rhyme
They surge in time
I’m still on deck a musing
Frolicking seals
Gentle Whales
An albatross gives me a wink
The penguins are not amused
As a skua steals a meal
But the whales and seals are more secure
Since we saw the error of our ways
So now they laugh and they play as though for our enjoyment
Now the oohs and the aahs they echo across the seas
The wild animals down here you know
They really are easy to appease
16/3
The seas remained calm and rather birdless throughout the day as we headed up and into the Beagle Channel. In the channel only a few of us standing by the windows of the lounge room saw a large pod of Dusky Dolphins in the Beagle Channel, the rest were enthralled in the lecture. we docked in Ushuaia late in the evening. At about 22.00 there was an announcement that all passengers must come to the lounge, this can’t be good. We sat filled with foreboding about being quarantined for 2 weeks, 30days? It wasn’t as bad as feared, the port authorities were only letting people off the ship to go directly to the airport. For some people this was a disaster, but for us it just meant that we had to cancel the airbnb that I had prebooked, but there is still huge doubts that we can get home. For the last few days there have been reports of countries closing their borders to air travel because of the corona virus, the reality is starting to sink in.
17/3
We spent the day on board the ship that has dwindling food supplies. Some passengers got their flights out today, with several buses leaving during the day.
18/19/20th March
Welcome to the longest day. It starts at 6.30 with a call to breakfast, a few pastries a banana and a can of pineapple juice. At 7.00 the bus arrived and we bade our farewells to the few who came out in the rain to say goodbye. The gate at the start of the pier was as far as we got. We had to wait for an escort to the airport, trusting people these Argentinians! So eventually with the lights and sirens of our police escort we wound our way to the airport, where we were given a thermal gun test to the forehead, and ushered into the airport, step one.. Our flight to Buenos Aries was full and the flight went smoothly, Step 2.We collected our bags and ordered the official taxi to the international airport which with 4 of us was cheaper than the bus, at 1800 pesos, we identified Great Egret and Southern Lapwing from the freeway, step 3. It was then a long wait at the airport during which I took a walk outside and found Monk Parikeet, Bran-coloured Flycatcher, Cattle Tyrant, Chalk-browed Mockingbird, Black-chinned Siskin, Epaulet Oriole and Eared Dove all in some trees beside the airport. The flight to Santiago left on time, we managed to get an earlier flight, which was half empty, the flight also landed on time after crossing The Andes in total darkness, not a single peak was glimpsed, step 4, we noted that our flight to Australia was looking okay, and for the first time in days it looked like we might actually get home. The flight did indeed leave on time and we had a long tiring flight to Aukland, Smathi got back onto the plane and headed for Sydney, I waited a little longer for my flight to Melbourne, which went off with out a hitch, last step, home! Well not quite. Because I wanted to travel to Broome I had to get special permission and promise to keep myself isolated from the community, I talked to some health workers who asked me if I’d been sick, so I had to tell them about my cold, they got paranoid and then I had to tell that I was still a stuffed up with some left overs of the cold, and so they ordered me to go to the Royal Melbourne Hospital in the city. I finally walked out of the terminal at 13.30, 3hrs after I landed and Bev drove me into the hospital where the doctors told me that I didn’t need a test for the Covid 19 virus, I was free to go. So it was that at 14.30 we headed off for Broome.
Click here for a video of a flight board with too many red flashing lights. Thankfully one wasn’t mine.
If you would like to contribute the the well being of this world, our world, your world, an easy and effective way to do it is to join a quality environmental group. There are many spread across the world all plugging away trying to make the world a better place for wildlife. We belong to Birdlife Australia, Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) and Australian Wildlife Conservancy (AWC). You can donate your time and or money to these and many others knowing that the world will be a slightly better place because of your effort.