ANTARCTICA

We sailed into the 1st port of call of our journey into Antarctica - King George Island at Henryk Arctowski Polish Antarctic Station.The beaches are littered with whale bones relics when the station was used as a whale processing point during the whale hunting period.


We were in the first boat ashore. A beautiful day, some wind (about 15 Kph) and around 2 deg. Stepped ashore but not much wild life. A couple of penquins, birds and a fur seal. But still a good day to test out our Antarctic gear. Julie was trying to disguise herself as one of the penguins.




After about an hour ashore it was time to head back to the ship


Not what we expected for the first day. However, once again, a fine dinner and show intermixed with good doses of cocktails. Let's see what is coming up.

Day 2 in Antarctica was very different. We anchored in Half Moon Island on another fine day (getting very spoilt with the weather). Half Moon Island is in the South Shetlands and is the nesting spot for the Chinstrap penguins.

It was my day in the kayak.


Water was calm with a slight breeze and the penguins came over to take a closer look.


We were out for about 2 hrs before heading back to the ship. Julie used the time to sleep.


That afternoon we headed back out to shore and caught up with a few of the locals.

Back onboard and decided to meet new friends in the spa. Very relaxing after a hard day. Waiter service with an Irish coffee to help fight back the cold.

Later in the afternoon it was time for caviar and champagne. But my new found Dutch friend introduced me to vodka shots.

That night, another excellent dinner, a few more drinks (running out of ideas as to what to have - so left it to the waiters), a show and then to bed. Today is what I had hoped for and still another 4 days to go.

Day 3 had us stopping in Cierva Cove. No shore landing but we had a zodiak tour instead. The Cove is an inlet lying about 6 nautical miles southeast of Cape Sterneck (I know that will have you all rushing to the atlas).

It was cold and a bit foggy but the trip was spectacular.




Julie got a wee bit thirsty so decided to try the ice floating by the zodiak. The clear ice is formed after millenniums of years being compressed by the constant layering of snow and ice. When the mass of ice breaks off the shelf it causes the old clear ice to break free - and waits for Julie to pluck it from the sea to suck on.


By the time we got back, my feet were frozen so we rushed into one of the bars to thaw out. After that, a workout in the gym, sauna and ready for another fine evening.

As they said in Gone with the Wind  - tomorrow is another day!


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Our New Adventure - The Kimberleys, Indonesia and Papua New Guinea - Part 1 Day 1-5

Image
 Having been landlocked since last December Julie and I once again decided to set sail to new territories. This time staying a little closer to home.  On Aug 1 we flew across Aus to Broome where we joined Seabourn Pursuit on a 25 day expedition cruise through the Kimberleys, Darwin, onto remote areas in Indonesia and PNG and finishing in Honiara in Solomon Islands. Day 1 So it was a very early start for with the car picking us up at 5.15. A very quick trip to the airport with very little traffic on the road followed by an early check in. Being a domestic flight there were no duty free shopping 😊. The flight was just over 5 hours so I got an exit seat for the leg room whilst Julie had the normal seat. But since the flight only was two thirds full she lucked out and had a row to herself and made the most of it We arrived in Broome and headed to a local hotel to await the transfer to the ship.  We quickly settled into our cabin.  Nicely appointed with our selected bott...
Read more

The Adventure Continues - Indonesia and PNG

Image
 After Darwin we head towards a new area of expedition. Day 12 We woke to a sunny day, warm (approx 32 deg), slight swell and a few white caps as we sailed  north-west across Beagle Golf towards the Timor Sea. Our next 2 days at sea. Time to chill out and just lie around, play trivia, gym (maybe), eat (Seabourn rule - you must consume food at least every 45 mins) followed by, or with, more alcohol. Throughout the ship there are many options. The Restaurant The Club The Colonnade The Pool Deck Coffee and ice cream at the Square A snack if in dire need of top up A lot of new guests joined in Darwin and the majority has now shifted to Americans. The average age has also shifted upwards (just) so we are probably in the younger mix well at least we feel that way😊. First day at sea - we both hit the gym, although I'm not sure how long that will last. We dined with the Captain and 2 Kiwi ladies which was followed by very good entertainment from a new singer onboard from Australia. A...
Read more

Our New Adventure - Part 2

Image
  Day 6 Sailing amongst the crocs. We had an early start in Hunter's River. It is an extremely remote region mainly visited by sports fishermen, wilderness cruises and scientists, apart from the indigenous people who live in the area. There are several channels to the Hunter River, the lower reaches of most being heavily fringed with mangrove swamps hosting large populations of Saltwater crocs. Our zodiac cruise along the river encountered a number of croc sightings. Up close and personnel with a couple just chilling out on the rocks thinking how yummy we look  There were also sightings of bird life to distract us from the hungry critters Back onboard, into the jacuzzi with the mandatory cocktail to ease the back pain from the zodiac. That was followed by a fitting of the snorkelling gear for the next day's adventure. Dinner had a Thai theme which was followed by a game of 'liar, liar' (the team had to guess who was lying from the 4 on stage). Clearly we could tell a li...
Read more