Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
Horseshoe Island (-67.8500000, -67.2000001)
The only thing guaranteed on any Antarctica expedition is that things will change. Every evening at 8.15 pm there is a briefing on the plans for the forthcoming day. Latitude, Longitude, maps, where we are, where we're going, photos of the landing site and the animals and historic monuments we will see. Or not. When man plans, god laughs as they say - never has a truer word been spoken. This morning's landing was going to be Bongrain Point. The weather and swell conspired and it eventuated that it simply wasn't safe to open the tender pit. That is code for the big doors, near sea level, that open up to where we load and unload the people, kayaks and zodiac/rib tenders (the little boats that support the big ship). C'est la vie… C'est la Antarctica as our French brethren on board would say.
But wait, there's more. Whilst we sometimes feel a bit like whale repellant, today was most definitely our day. We were near the window in the cabin when a couple of humpbaks starting frolicking within about 20 metres of us. Just Wow. We were watching and photographing for a few minutes when the bridge made the announcement and suggested people get to a window on the port side. We felt like we'd had a private show. We sometimes hear people talking about how many whales they've seen on a particular day. We are however fussy. A bit like being in Ranthambore, India and spotting tigers, a glimpse of a tail (or in the case of a whale, a blow or a fin), does not make for a sighting. No indeed, just a tail is not 'quality tiger'. Of course with a whale, getting the tail is just one step removed from seeing them breaching. It was a whale intensive morning and we spotted through the window a distant fin from a pod of Orcas/killer whales. They'd moved on before we made it up to the bow for a good look, but a new friend kindly shared her close up photos which was wonderful.
Today's lunch was a standout for us. Mushroom soup, potato cakes with grated potato and onion and a beer. The ship continued on and we waited with bated breath to see where we were heading. As it turns out, Horseshoe Island. We were very fortunate to be able to visit the musuem/historic monument of British Base Y. No electricity of course so it's lucky everyone carries a torch in the form of an iPhone these days. We were allowed in 12 at a time and it was truly a time capsule. Outside was even more atmospheric with old canoes and penguin bones scattered about. Whilst humans apparently wouldn't eat penguin if their lives depended on it - the seals are not so fussy. This was Weddell Seal day from a wildlife perspective (cheques in the mail folks). There were four active Weddell seals in one area. The 'active' thing is important. If they are inactive (like 2 other Weddells on a beach in a different part of the landing site), you'll see more activity from a rock. When we finished our landing and hoisted ourselves into the zodiac for the trip to the ship we also saw a little penguin by himself on the beach. They can mislay themselves these little guys - the worst case we've heard of penguin mislaying was an Adelie penguin that managed to get caught up, discombobulated and washed up on the South Island of New Zealand a few years ago. Fish smoothies for a few days and he was sent back in the water to make his way home to Antarctica… 1800 km south. Thought maybe they could have given him a lift part of the way but nature, got to leave it to it.
It was a wonderful landing (they all were) and once more we turned into hood ornaments on the bouncing, icy cold and wet ride back. Seems to be a pattern developing here - lucky we brought all the gear we did - nice to have multiple merino thermals and jumpers to slip into. Once more we laid our gear out to dry on the miraculous bathroom floor, jumped into our swimsuits, raced up the stairs to Deck 10 and leaped into the jacuzzi to warm up. There is very little to be gained by standing in a bikini and gracefully making way towards a jacuzzi when the air temperature is around 3 degrees. That officially sucked the very last ounce of energy out of us. We hit Fredheim Restaurant at 6 pm on the dot for an easy dinner and a couple of drinks then it was back to base (our cabin), a movie and watched the briefing for tomorrow. Camping cancelled and kayaking cancelled. We were so, so very lucky to get out on Monday with perfect conditions.
- comments