Alison's Excellent Antarctic Adventure

January 2015

Shorts and a t-shirt maybe an unusual way of dressing for a trip to Antarctica but with the temperature in Melbourne at 41 degrees on the day we (Deb and Alison) flew out there was no other choice.   It also suited the temperature in Buenos Aires, our destination for the first few days.

(Check out a snapshot of Buenos Aires and some fantastic graffiti)

On to Ushuaia, the main ‘city’ of Terra Del Fuego and the self-proclaimed ‘End of the World’.   The flight path to Ushuaia, between snow-capped mountains, certainly you think that it could easily be the ‘end of your world’.   This is definitely not shorts country.

(Check out a snapshot of Ushuaia)

At Ushuaia Deb and I meet up with Bron, who’s been touring Patagonia, and join our ship, The Ocean Diamond.    We head out into the Beagle Channel and cross the famous Drake’s Passage, known as one of the roughest stretches of water in the world.   Fortunately for us it’s a calm crossing.   Our first couple of days pass with informative lectures on landing procedures, sea birds, whales, penguins, seals, geology, history etc etc.   We experience the ‘convergence’ where the cold Antarctic waters meet the slightly warmer waters of the subantarctic region, creating a large area of mist in the middle of the ocean.   We also experience crossing the Antarctic Circle, 66.33 degrees south, at nearly midnight and are rewarded with a hot chocolate and Baileys.

The days in Antarctica pass in a blur of shore landings, zodiac cruises and ship cruising.   The scenery is vast and dramatic, we are surrounded by rugged mountains covered in snow and glaciers.  Huge ice cliffs reach to the water and ice bergs fill the bays and passages.   The glaciers crack into deep brilliant blue crevasses and periodically ‘cave’ ice bergs off their faces.   Ice isn’t just ice, there are ice bergs from glaciers and sea ice formed from freezing sea water and build up over years by snow.   The melting and cracking of the ice bergs form fascinating sculptures, with pock marked faces or striped blue columns, which roll over as they find a new floating level.   Zodiacing through ‘fields’ of sea ice has an unreal feeling to it and the vastness of the scenery is difficult to convey.

There is wildlife in abundance.   We watch humpback whales, approximately 40 in Wilhelmina Bag alone and others bubble feeding near Graham Passage.   We see a large pod of killer whales and the occasional Minkie whale.   We come to recognise the difference between fur seals (‘eared seals’), Crabeater seals, Weddell seals, elephant seals and Leopard seals.   We cheer for an Adelie penguin trapped on a small iceberg where a Leopard seal is circling, hoping there will be a happy ending (for the penguin).

We take endless photos of penguins, the black headed Adelies, the Gentoos which their ear warmers and the soldier like Chinstrap penguins.   We have photos of penguins stealing stones from each other’s nests, feeding their chicks, washing in rock pools, waddling down highways and porpoising in the water.   Unfortunately or fortunately the photos don’t capture the smell of the penguin colonies or the stickiness of their guano.     

There are birds that follow the ship, soaring just above the waves (albatrosses and petrels), those that hang out around penguin colonies for protection or for a meal (shags, sheathbills, skuas and kelp gulls) and those that appear to dance on the water (Wilson’s storm petrel).   Other small birds like snow petrels and Antarctic terns require endless patience to capture a good photograph of them in flight. 

The place is also full of history.   The whalers and the sealers who came to plunder the animals and left the remains of ships, chains and water boats as well as numerous place names.   The explorers of the Heroic age, including Amundsen, Scott and Shackleton who left grand stories of adventure, hardship and courage.   There are stories of bases set up as part of a ‘misinformation’ campaign during the Second World War and those for scientific research.

We get to experience a taste of what it might have been like in the Heroic age with a camping trip to Leith Island.   We opt for the bivvy bag which is a pretty weird concept in the snow anyway let alone in Antarctica.   It is also pretty weird to camp in a place that doesn’t get dark.   It got weirder, during the night the snow fell.   By the morning we were just mounds of white.   Fortunately we could brush the snow off without everything getting too wet.   Certainly breakfast back on the ship was appreciated.

Many of the place names in Antarctica reflect the various groups who came and their experiences.   There are numerous places named after people, both those that were actually there and those that gave their money or patronage.   There are also names that give an insight into experiences, ‘Forbidden Plateau, Port Circumcision, Exasperation Inlet, Delusion Point and Deception Island.   My favourite place name was the ‘Aitcho’ group of islands, which is actually ‘H’ ‘O’ and is named after the Hydrographic Office of the British Admiralty.

On the ship we have our favourite staff.   Victor who looks after our rooms and Herman who always keeps a table for us in the restaurant and sings a mean ‘Old Man River’.   The expedition staff are an interesting group as well.   Fabrice with his outrageous French accent, Wolfgang the archetypal German and Bob, straight out of a British Heroic age expedition.   Our favourite is Annie, who is full of information and always so enthusiastic.   

As we left Antarctica we were in for one last adventure.   Bad weather was forecast for ‘the Drake’.   The plan was to cross after one storm and before the next.   The waves got up to 10 metres and the wind gusted 80 knots.   Walking around the ship was challenging and one evening meal, for those of us not horizontal in our cabins, ended in people on the floor, broken chairs and smashed glasses.   Certainly an exciting way to end the trip.

Thanks Bron and Deb for a fantastic trip, definitely a place worth seeing and a place worth protecting!

Check out some of my photos of the trip.

Ushuaia - Marguerite Bay - Crystal Sound

Port Lockroy - Paradise Harbour - Brown Base - Camping Leith Island

Neko Harbour - Cuverville Island - Wilhelmina Bay - Foyn Harbour

Lemaire Channel - Petermann Island - Yalour Island

Graham Passage - Portal Point - Barrientos Island (South Shetlands)

Here’s my list of the animals I saw:

·         Sooty albatross

·         Black browed albatross

·         Grey-headed albatross

·         Storm petrel

·         Wilson’s Storm petrel

·         Black bellied storm petrel

·         Antarctic petrel

·         Snow petrel

·         Northern Giant petrel

·         Southern Giant petrel

·         Southern Giant petrel (white morph)

·         Snowy sheathbill

·         Antarctic blue-eyed shag

·         Antarctic tern

·         Kelp gull

·         Brown skua

·         Adelie penguin

·         Chinstrap penguin

·         Gentoo penguin

·         Southern elephant seal

·         Weddell seal

·         Leopard seal

·         Crabeater seal

·         Antarctic fur seal

·         Humpback whale

·         Killer whale

Antarctic minkie whale