DAY10 ANTARCTICA TRIP - ANTARTIC CONTINENT - RECLEUS PENINSULA, GERLACHE STRAIT, FOYN HARBOUR

10 March 2011

It was an earlier start today as our first excursion started after 8.00am to a peninsula on the Antarctic continent. Music is played throughout the ship as a wake up call with a morning greeting to the 'Articans' from the top guide. It was raining in the morning, then it changed to snow. We thought the weather was bad. The crew said as it was not windy it was a very good weather day.

I really feel we are in the last real wilderness in the world. Everything is white - snow, ice. Blue reflections on some ice provides a sense of lots of colour. Fur seals are in several small colonies on the island.

The boat has stopped in Gerlache Strait. Icebergs are floating all around us.

The weather is overcast and it is 0C. It began to drizzle so on top of our parkas we put on our rain gear. We looked a sight. As we started to assemble it started to snow. We’ve got the drill of getting ready down pat. It was very slippery getting out of the zodaics onto wet rocks. A few steps over the rocks and we were in snow. Male fur seals romped around the rocks. I saw several swimming but I couldn’t take a photo whilst in the zodiac.

Today we are actually on the Antarctic Continent itself – the cold,white, pristine continent. It feels so sureal that we are actually here. It is very quiet. A few petrels flew overhead.

We strolled around drinking in the sights.

After lunch we had a long break before we went on a cruise along Foyn Harbour. We have been divided into two groups; the Penguins and the Seals. All our party is part of the seals group.

It was still snowing when we went cruising along the shoreline. Arctic and Antarctic terns flew around us. We saw a bit of history as we passed the wooden whaling boats abondened here by the Norwegians.

There was the wreck of a Norwegian whale factory ship Governoren.

The Captain grounded the ship into the island whilst it was on fire to save the crew in 1915. A pity it was so wet and cold. My fingers were very painful by the end of the 90 minute cruise in zodiacs. But it was worth it!

Ice flows were abundant and you could see the start of the formation of the sea ice.

After a debrief we relaxed in the lounge for a while reflecting on the day.

DAY 9 ANTARCTICA TRIP - BARRIENTOS

9 March 2011

ANTARCTIC CRUISE – ANTARCTIC CONVERGENCE – SHETLAND ISLANDS - AITCHO ISLANDS - BARRIENTOS

More people surfaced today as the seas were somewhat calmer overall.

The day was overcast but not that cold – 3C. A heavy mist hung over the water and visibility was poor as we crossed the Antarctic Convergence area. Here the warm saline water currents coming south from the tropics meet cold denser less saline currents moving north from Antarctica. This caused the heavy mist/fog over the waters.

As we traveled south mountains emerged trough the mists.

As we had made good time we had our first and unexpected landing in Zodiacs today at Barrientos on the Aitcho Islands.

Before going out we had a briefing about how to get in and out of the zodiacs and were issued with our wellington boots. We were also advised about what to wear for landings. When we gathered for our adventure we all felt like penguins as we had so many layers on and felt cumbersome.  Most of the party had uniform parkas and we often referred to them as the green penguins.

Before getting on the zodiacs we had to walk through trays of water with disinfectant. We were also asked to make sure our parkas had no seeds or other material stuck to the Velcro and to shake out pockets out. This was to ensure that we do not contaminate the continent with seeds or bacteria from other places.

We are in the South Sheltand area. We stopped at a tiny island. It was a wet landing at Barrientos. That meant we had to step out into the water on landing. Barrienots was not covered in snow or ice. It was muddy and rocky terrain with some ice patches. I felt like an intruder as there were thousands of penguins on the island.  What a barren wilderness.

There were two species here – the gentoo penguins

and chinstrap penguins.

They were everywhere!

A big brown bird – the Arctic Skua arrived noisily amongst the penguins.

The adult penguins very quickly moved into position to protect the young.

Many of the penguins were molting - loosing their feathers. They looked a sight.

It was like visiting a playground of children. Some were chasing each other, others were feeding their chicks, some were creating cacophony of sounds. Reminded me of the film ‘Happy Feet’.

It was extremely slippery walking up the slope due to penguin poo. The island also had a very strong and distinct penguin odour.


It is a very barren land with interesting rocks formations due to the harsh winds.

We spent two hours here before returning to the ship.

Getting in and out of the zodiacs is quite an art. Hopefully it will get easier not harder as time goes by. On return we again went through the process of disinfecting the boots and washing all the mud of our clothes.

A lovely day!

DAYS 7-8 ANTARCTICA TRIP - Drake Passage

7-8 March 2011

USHUAIA – ANTARCTIC CRUISE ON BOARD USHUAIA

On our way to the ship we picked up the skis. The sign outside should have said ‘Skiing Trip’. Then back on the bus and we were delivered to the port. It didn’t take long to settle in.

We sailed away from Ushuaia along the Beagle Channel at 6.00pm with eighty four passengers on board. Excitement, trepidation, the unknown before us. We were warned that the crossing of Drake's Passage could be rough and to take medication if we thought we may need it.

Our room is tiny. There is no room to move. Quite a few got upgraded but we missed out. The bunks are very narrow and there is no room to put things. Both of us cannot get dressed at the same time.

As we sailed out we had a practice getting into the life boats. Not a pleasant experience. Getting into the life boats was not easy and being inside the lifeboats was not pleasant. The life jackets felt as if they were choking you.

It was calm going till about 1.00am when we entered Drake’s Passage. The boat started to roll from side to side. Next morning not many people surfaced for breakfast or the rest of the day. Hubby was fine whilst I spent most of the day in bed surfacing for short periods of time. As soon as I would sit or stand up I would feel off. They were expecting 5-6m waves but instead they were much smaller but it was still enough to upset quite a few. We were told by the crew that it was an easy passage through Drake today.


As it was International Women’s Day one of the men in the party presented each female with a flower. Apparently that is the tradition in Lithuania.

Those that were up today gathered in the lounge bar area.

It was an early night tonight for everyone.