DAY 12 morning ANTARCTICA TRIP - LEMAIRE CHANNEL – ICEBERG ALLEY - PORT CHARCOT, BOOTH ISLAND

12 March 2011

An AMAZING day!!!!!!!!

As dawn broke we were all out on deck (or nearly everyone except those that had very few hours sleep). Most of them got woken by the better halves to let them know what they were going to miss if they continued their slumbers.

Sunny, warm, no wind!!!!!!!

The sea ice was starting to form.

The perfect day!!!!!!

MAGIC!

The beautiful ice locked coastline with its everlasting ice was a dazzling on this sunny day.

The water was a beautiful blue reflecting the ice beneath.

Glistening white, shinning blue, raven black – oh what contrasts!

Everyone was out with their camera’s clicking away crazily. Wherever you looked it was just magic.

We travelled along the amazing Lemaire Channel that is seven miles long and less than a kilometre wide.

Just glorious as peak after peak, pinnacle after pinnacle went past along the coastline.

Ice flows of various shapes went by some with a seal or two lying on them.

Minky whales kept surfacing around us.

A wild continent – deep creavasses, pressure ridges.

You could see how the rugged coastline is formed by the powerful force of ice as glacial valleys spill over vasts clifts

into the sea spawining huge icebergs.

The power of snow and ice in forming valleys, hills and sculpting mountains was just amazing.

It was like being part of a fairy tale floating in zodiacs around Iceberg Alley after exiting the channel.

We had a great group in our zodiac as we cruised between the icebergs for over an hour.

Iceberg Alley was between Booth and Pleneau Islands.

What strange shapes are formed by natural elements.

When I looked back our ship looked as if it was set in a sea of ice.

Amazing formations!

Birds seem to enjoy their view from the tops of the icebergs.

Only 10% of the icebergs are above water. The rest are below. Every so often the iceberg tipsover and new formations emerge from the sea depths.

The ice flows provided a safe haven for Crabeater seals.

What a way to travel on a fast moving ice flow.

After floating past the icebergs and ice flows

we went to Port Carcot, and inlet on Booth Island.

Here colonies of Gentoo and Adelie penguins rule the island.

A very scenic island!

The penguins overall were not as active on this island.  There were several though that decided it was time for some fun in the water.

The penguins merged into the scenery here amongst the rocks.

As the weather was just so great a barbeque was lit on deck

and we were greeted with tasty hot dogs on arriving back on the ship.

Those of us that arrived in the first boats were able to see the stunning view of the others returning to the ship

whilst we mingled and enjoyed the beautiful weather.

The crew created a penguin from the snow and ice and were also out on the deck enjoying the weather.

Today the crew went all out for lunch. Just after eating the hot dogs we were called in for a three course lunch.  Huge pieces of barbequed beef, lamb and chicken greeted us as well as an ‘iceberg’ for desert.

Much to the crews surprise the perfect weather continued through the afternoon.

DAY 11 ANTARCTICA TRIP - GERLACHE STRAIT – DUNCO ISLAND – PORT LOCKEROY, DOWNHILL SKIING

11 March 2011

ANTARTIC CRUISE – GERLACHE STRAIT – DUNCO ISLAND – PORT LOCKEROY, DOWNHILL SKIING

The views as we sailed along the Gerlacht Strait was just stunning!!!

As it was Lithuania’s regaining of Independence Day the Lithuanian flag was raised on the ship.

It was very cold but we all ventured out on the deck to take in the views.

Icebergs floated past as we sailed towards Dunco Island along the Errera Chanel whilst snow flakes fell. Luckily there was no wind.

Dunco Island was named after an officer who died of a heart attack whilst wintering in Antartica.

We saw a leopard seal

and what I thought we were told was a Weadell seal.  Because many of them are molting it is difficult to identify them.

We were all just soaking up the experience.

It was overcast in the morning and then started to snow.

Luckily for us there was still no wind.  This is very unusual in Antarctica.  So the water is nice and calm.

In the afternoon whilst the rest of the party visited Port Lockeroy historical site our group headed off around to the other side of the island in zodiacs to make 'history'.

We held a slalom race on the side of the hill. The organisers believe it is the first slalom race held in the Antarctic.  It was definitely the first lithuanian race in Antarctica.  There have been other lithuanians here before raising the lithuanian flag but this was the biggest contingent of lithuanians at any one time in Antarctica.

We arrived carrying skis and boots and were greeted by the local penguins.

The disembarkation process from the zodiacs was rather complicated as we had to unload the skis and stocks as well as the boots.

One penguin was very inquisitative and after inspecting the skis

decided to watch the racing from different vantage points.

Those racing had to find a rock to sit on to change into their ski boots. Then a crew member who was a ski instructor during winter checked out the site to make sure it was safe - no crevices, no chance of entering the water.

The site was close to an Argentinian base that was already closed for the winter.

It was snowing quite heavily.

The race poles were set up and up they walked with their skis for the race of their life.

Although there were a few falls no one injured themselves much to the relief of the ship's crew.

The snow was good, visibility poor, but fun was had by all.

After dinner we had a medal presentation. Everyone present was presented with a commeorative medal and pennant.  The mood was great.

As we couldn’t partake of our own liquor in the public areas we retired to a large cabin to continue the festivites. We started to sing and song after song followed as we remembered old songs.

A great day and a wonderful evening.