8 posts tagged “antarctica”

The early morning started out as the previous day had ended but the weather soon picked up and by the time we had reached Brown Bluff on the East coast of the Antarctic Peninsula, the sun was shining brightly and the sky was blue. From afar, the site doesn’t look like much (the name is very descriptive, it’s a high cliff and rocks of brown volcanic material) but it’s in a bay with small icebergs and floating floes of sea ice that shone brilliantly in the morning sun. Fortunately, the landing site was clear so we could go out in the Polarcirkel boats. There were quite a few waves so we were splashed liberally with sea water (tasting salty but clean) which tested the splashproofness of my little Fuji Finepix (and apparently, it is splashproof despite not being advertised as such) but it was a warm day so we didn’t mind much.
The site hosts one of the biggest (if not the biggest) rookery of Adelie penguins and they were out in force indeed. There were some gentoo, too and very few Chinstraps but the “clowns of the Antarctic” had the biggest population. All along the beach, bits of sea ice formed quite an obstacle for the short-legged waddlers to get into and out from the water. This obviously was a lot of fun to watch and many of us couldn’t stop giggling at their antics. There were even some watershy ones. I watched a group of them going in and the last three went as far as getting their feet wet, went “Aak! Aak!” and turned around again…
Their chicks were quite big already, almost as tall as their parents but hardly recognisable as penguins for all the dark grey fluff.
We were also treated to a sight I had been waiting for: penguins sliding on the snow on their bellies, pushing themselves along with their feet. This mode of transport seemed to be a lot more efficient and also faster. They only get into trouble when they don’t realise there’s a stone in the way and they come to a sudden stop…
In the cliffs, various seagulls and cape petrels circled but unfortunately they didn’t come close enough (and we weren’t permitted to go closer to the rocks) to get a good picture. Still, the sight and the memories prevail.
When we were back at the ship we spotted a few leopard seals on the shore to the left of the landing site but they were really far away.

We then waved good-bye to Brown Bluff around midday and set course for the Antarctic Sound again.
During the afternoon we passed various groups of shelf icebergs and then hit thick fog, so I used the downtime to take a nap.

The further North our course let us, the rougher the sea got and by dinner time, it was quite tricky to walk in a straight line but despite the rough sea, the weather still held and we had a wonderful sunset over the Drake Passage again.
Just to be on the safe side, I took a seasickness pill but I don’t think it would have been necessary.

Early in the morning, we arrived at Snow Hill Island off the West coast of the Antarctic Peninsula. Here, a famous Swedish expedition led by Nordenskjöld in 1904 spent the winter and found many fossils, among other things.
Unfortunately, there was so much sea ice around the shore that we couldn’t land the boats so we had a boat cruise around the ice instead. It was very cold and quite wet and there wasn’t much to see so it wasn’t terribly exciting but we learned some interesting bits of information about sea ice.
After everyone had come back, the sea got a bit rougher and they had trouble getting the last boat inside but managed eventually.
Our journey then led us back along the coast to our next destination, Crystal Hill
This part felt like a proper exploration as the ship had to navigate through and around patches of sea ice, occasionally causing the whole ship to judder (and the cutlery and crockery in the restaurant to jingle) as the reverse and steering thrusters were applied. Later on, shelf icebergs appeared again, huge flat chunks of ice, flat on top with sides that occasionally looked like they were cut with a knife.
We arrived at Crystal Hill at around 16:15 but there were 1.5 miles of sea ice between us and the planned landing site so this idea had to be scrapped, too. We saw, however, two lone Adelie penguins pushing themselves along on their bellies on the sea ice which formed wonderful floes as it cracked.

We then turned around and took a course back towards the Antarctic Sound for our final destination in Antarctica tomorrow, Brown Bluff.

A bit of a letdown after all those glorious days but it could have been so much worse so there really wasn’t any reason to complain. On the contrary, it gave me time to back up my photos, process the videos off my other camera and type up this diary. Moreover, this was the first time, the MS Nordnorge had come that far South on the East coast of the Antarctic Peninsula and even Franz Gingele, the expedition leader, had been here only once. We were lucky that we could go as far as we could as it’s usually clogged with ice.

We arrived at Deception Island (a huge caldera, 13km across) around 7:30 and anchored in Telefon Bay as Whaler Bay with its hot springs had already been booked by another ship. I walked along the beach and took photos of several Weddell and Crabeater Seals dozing on the volcanic ash shore and then hiked up to the crater of the ’72 eruption that wiped out a Chilean and a British base in this part of the island. It’s quite impressive but not as impressive as Viti, Hekla’s crater in Iceland. It took me a while to realise what the difference to Iceland was. Here, there were only huge amounts of ash with bits of pumice and other volcanic rocks but no streams of lava. Obviously, we’re on a different continental shelf here and the shelves are moving together and on top of each other which causes smoke/ash eruptions while in Iceland, the tectonic plates are moving apart, which causes huge eruptions of molten rock.
Some brave souls stripped down to their bathing costumes and jumped into the cold waters (around 4 degrees C) but that wasn’t for me.
Back to the ship to get changed and then it was time to leave again. We passed two research stations (Argentinia and Spain) and then passed through “Neptune’s Bellows” (the entrance into the big caldera) again for our voyage around the Northern tip of the Antarctic Peinsula and into the Antarctic Sound.

As we neared the Northern tip of the Antarctic peninsula, the first massive proper shelf icebergs appeared. The captain even passed one at a very close distance (no further than 30 metres) so we could see the massive wall of layered ice. An utterly breathtaking and beautiful sight. Cracks and fissures added to the texture.
Later on, the icebergs and mountains on both mainland and islands were turned yellow and then pink as the sun set. It really is hard to describe.

The glorious weather continued and our journey through the picturesque Lemaire Channel with its high mountains, ragged peaks and lazy glaziers was a perfect start of Christmas Eve. I don’t think I’ve ever had better weather on CE than that day. The combination of sunshine, blue skies and almost still waters in which the mountains reflected made for a picturebook scenery.
We turned around at the end and sailed back the way we came, again through the Neumayer Channel and past Port Lockroy to our next destination, Cuverville Island in .
At first, the weather was hazy and cloudy but by the time my boat group was called to go out, the sunshine and blue skies had followed us.
The island is host to one of the largest Gentoo colonies and we were able to observe various behaviours from picking up and stealing stones for the nests, to swapping care of the nest (a few still had eggs while some had quite big chicks already) and general tomfoolery (like one penguin beating another one furiously with its wings for seemingly no apparent reason other than sitting in his way to the beach) and the usualy skypointing and screeching at passing Skuas. Very enjoyable indeed.
The boat ride back to the ship took a long detour among the many icebergs in this bay which was another highlight of this already fantastic day.
After everyone was back on board, the ship “set sail” for the destination of the night, Paradise Harbour, another glorious bay littered with icebergs which made for an appropriate scenery for Christmas Dinner.

Christmas Dinner started with Gloegg (a type of mulled wine which had raisins and almond slices steeped in alcohol at the bottom) served by the bridge crew, then the Christmas Tale was read in three languages (the captain in Norwegian, the ship’s doctor in English and Elke, the trip coordinator, in German) and then the buffet was opened. The choice was even more elaborate than usual with lobster, king crab and other seafood, gravadlax and other fine fish and various meat dishes and cold cuts, too. I shared two bottles of wine with my new friends Horst (a medical doctor specialising in haemorrhoids) and Jürgen (a retired primary school teacher) so the evening was rather alcoholic, too.
I spent the last hour out on deck until about 00:30 to watch the high snow-capped peaks turn pink again as the sun set.
I should have stayed up for another hour and I would have been able to see a group of Orcas but unfortunately, I was too tired.

In the morning, the original plan had been to land at Neko Harbour but the end of Andvord Bay was so clogged with ice that the ship couldn't continue so we cruised the bay and set out the little tender boats on 20 minute trips around the icebergs and ice floes. We spotted penguins playing and hunting in the water, seagulls and a crabeater seal dozing on an ice floe. This made more than up for missing Neko Harbour which might have been in clouds, anyway.
The weather is fine but cloudy, just above freezing but there's hardly any wind so it doesn't feel that cold. Just as we left, we saw a family (mother and calf) of whales. Wonderful.

The journey then continued back into Gerlach Strait where the weather brightened up already and by the time we entered Neumayer Channel, we had glorious sunshine and blue skies, really bringing out the icebergs and glaciers which were reflected in the almost still waters.

The destination for the day was Port Lockroy, one of the oldest research stations in Antarctica. It used to be run by the British Antarctic Survey but is now run by an independent fund. The weather continued to be gorgeous and I spent most of the time on deck enjoying the scenery and of course take a few photos. My group was last to land but being as far South as we are, it was still bright daylight. The Gentoo Penguins there are completely used to humans and build their nests almost on the steps of the station. Many of them had chicks and I got a lucky shot of an egg that had just began to hatch, with a little hole and the tiny beak visible in it. The main building had been rebuilt part as a museum displaying old equipment which provided a glimpse into the early scientists' lives. I bought another badge for my jacket and took various photos of Gentoo Penguins and Sheathbills which will grab very small chicks if the parents aren't careful but otherwise live off scraps and guano.

Back on the ship, there was another big buffet, this one meditterannean style so lots of yummy food. While we were eating, we spotted Santa Claus and his elfpenguin on one of the big rocks. He was then picked up by one of our boats and brought on board.

After dinner, I spent more time on deck, walking around a bit to work off the plentiful dinner. I'll be going back after writing this and wait for the sunset which promises to come but not before midnight.

What a beautiful day, the best early Christmas present I could think of.

We visited Arctowski, a Polish research station in Admiralty Bay of King George Island. Not far from the landing site, we were welcomed by a Chinstrap Penguin and a few metres on a young Sea Elephant was dozing away and even yawned at me as I took a few pics. There were Adelie (most of them) and Gentoo Penguins, too and they were just utterly cute. On my way back to the landing site I got "trapped" between two groups of penguins and had to wait for five minutes until they had waddled on. Wonderful. Got a badge from the "souvenir shop" and I intend to do so at the other stations we visit so they will make up for the missing print on the jacket.
I'm also glad I put on all those clothes (long underwear, shirt, fleece, windbreaker jacket, lined trousers, hat and hood) as it is rather cold down here, especially with the windchill.

The journey to our next destination was quiet but foggy so not very interesting which meant I found some time to write almost all of the postcards I intend to send from Port Lockroy tomorrow.

The ship stopped at Greenwich Island, specifically Yankee Harbour at around 16:00 and the first boat group went out half an hour later. The landing was wetter than the first one as you had to wade through some water (just shy of the top of my rubber boots) but it was no problem at all.

The island was host to three colonies of Gentoo Penguins and a family of seals who were sleeping by the beach. Many of the penguins had chicks, some older, some very young and it was wonderful to watch their behaviour, feeding the chicks, fighting each other, fighting the always present and ready Skua or just wandering back and forth to the sea. There was a lonesome Chinstrap penguin, too who looked a bit lost amongst all the Gentoo. The various types of penguins share living space but they don't interbreed.

All in all, a truly awesome day. It's been building up constantly and if this was just a taster for things to come we're really in for a treat.

The weather continued to be on our side and it has been a very quiet crossing so far. The weather has been cloudy and windy but the sea has been calm so no problems there.

More excitement was provided by the many seabirds which joined our ship by sailing alongside and behind it. Two types of albatross (Black-Brow and Sooty) and the ubiquitous petrels which were now joined by their Cape cousins (smaller, dark heads and freckled). I also managed a very lucky shot at a white Giant Petrel which according to one of the lecturers are apparently quite rare.

So, despite being on the ship all day, it has been an exciting day.

Tomorrow are the first "wet landings" in Antarctica with our little boats, first at King George Island and then at Greenwich Island, Yankee Harbor to be precise. Let's hope the sea will still be calm and there won't be any trouble getting across.

I have Tuesday to do last minute luggage check and recheck and most importantly, get lots of sleep and not very much else. Planned Itinerary (all times are local):
Wednesday
My coach leaves at 6, then flight to Frankfurt at 11:40 from LHR.
Bloody schedule changes (after I had booked my Frankfurt flight) mean I won't leave Germany before 22:45 so I'll have time to get the train into town or something or just read and relax somewhere at the airport.
Thursday
Arrive in Santiago, Chile (after a stopover in Sao Paulo) at 12.
Transfer to hotel includes a short bus tour of the city so I'm guessing I'll get to my room not earlier than 15:00. Considering I will have been travelling for something close to 40 hours at that point, I don't think I'll get up to much in Santiago, tempting as the full city tour might be.
Friday
9 or 9:30 to 12:20 or 12:50 flight to Punto Arenas, Chile
Trip to a colony of Magellanic Penguins.
Ca. 18:00 check-in on board the MS Nordnorge
Ca. 20:00 ship sets off!
Cruise Itinerary
Ship's Webcam
Friday, 29/12
Arrive in Ushuaia
Trip to the Tierra del Fuego National Park
12:45 or 13:15 Flight to Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires:
20:30  Tango Show and three-course dinner
Saturday, 30/12
Fly to Frankfurt
Sunday, 31/12
Arrive in Frankfurt, fly back to LHR, get coach to Cambridge, taxi to home.
Pass out, most likely. If capable of anything, I'll upload photos, that's it.

Mentioning photos, looking at the current info, it's unlikely that I'll be able to upload photos while I'm on the cruise because I won't get access to a "real" computer, just an internet terminal. At least I'll be able to update this regularly. I should be able to get WiFi access at the hotel in Buenos Aires, though so might get a quick glimpse then. No promises.
Just in case, my photos will be on flickr.