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What a hectic couple of days leading up to the trip. On the 10th we rocked up to the port, full of excitement and were greeted on the boat and asked to have a seat. Did the right thing and tried to get to know a few people, and then came the call for silence. This was followed with the news that the trip was cancelled. I quickly ran through the date, just to make sure it wasn't Aprils fools days, and then I suddenly realized this was real. We were then informed that there was 16 berths on board the other boat, so we were still a chance. We were taken to a hotel and James and I decided that the best thing for us to do was to have a beer, followed by another and then another. We followed this with a bottle of wine, then another and then another with dinner. Over the next day we heard all varied news, with it all along the lines of your on, no sorry your off, ok maybe you are on. On the morning of the twelfth, after been told the night before that we weren't going, we find out yet again that we are. Up to 3pm on the day of departure, with us having to go to the wharf at 4pm, we still hadn't received actual confirmation. Eventually we were on a boat called the Professor Multanovskiy. Then the real story and excitement started. Day 1:This time we got to take our bags on.A very good sign.We unpacked and then went to the bar to meet up with everyone and find out who our guides are. It was during the introductions of those on board, when up popped the guy who had sub-chartered the ship and said "my name is Peter and I am your inspirational leader". What the "·$% was that, did I hear correctly.Then there was a diatribe into how in leadership you have to be flexible as the program for this boat is, and blah, bhah, blah, on and on it went. It is also featured the comments "your homework for tonight is to write in your diaries your positive plan for tomorrow". I couldn't believe it, the good part about been on the boat was countered by the fact everyone else who was on the boat was on a positive life changing course, and how to make money. It was then time for a few beers in the bar to celebrate the fact that we were on a trip. Day 2: Oh my god!!!!We are in the Drake passage and it was following a storm. The seas are big with the waves crashing over the boat. We were actually rather low on the boat and the swell still felt huge with the ship really rocking. Had a seasickness tablet last night and am very happy that I did. As I hoped out of bed this morning and stood up, the boat tilted with the swell and before I knew it I was at the front door of the cabin, the boat then tilted the other way and I went running back to the other end of the cabin falling on my bed as I went. After colliding into many walls I finally reached the dining room which was thankfully on our floor. The day revolved around sleeping and eating, since lying down was the best way to avoid sea sickness. As the ship rocked your body constantly moved forwards and backwards with the swell.Day 3: Still at sea on the Drake passage, however the seas are a little more calm.Still didn't do much but sleep and eat, with a few lectures on Antrarctica wildlife on offer.Day 4:The crossing of the passage was finally over by lunch time.Thank goodness for that.More and more people slowly started to reappear from their rooms. Some of the guys had been that sick that they hadn't surfaced from their rooms during the two days of bad weather. After lunch we went ashore on Deception Island at Whalers Bay. The weather was miserable.Ice (not snow) was been pushed down the mountains on the island and into our faces, stinging your cheeks as you walked. Here we had our first encounter with fur seals, which were on the beaches and a couple of lonely Gentoo penguins who came ashore to take a break. Whalers Bay has a history revolving around whaling and British occupation during WWII. Whaling was performed here with fragments of whales bones still littering the beaches. During WWII the British put a naval outpost here to control the drake passage. The remnants of these building are still found here.Don't think I would have fancied been based down here as it was bloody cold and it was the end of summer.
Day 5: This morning we went ashore at Cuverville Island.Cuverville Island has a penguin colony on one side of it. The penguins are currently molting, and once the molting is finished they will then head out into the open oceans for the winter. A number of the penguins had already left, however we still had a few hundred penguins on the island. As soon as we landed there were penguins only 10m away from you. James and I just sat down and watched the penguins walk for a little while with a group of 4 penguins walking to within 3m of us. Once near us they spent a little while eyeing us off before continuing on their journey. Amongst the fascinating behavior of the penguins was their out of season nest building. They were using pebbles from other nests to build their own nest up even though they still had to leave for the winter. We had an extraordinary time ashore amongst the penguins watching their unusual behavior with stunning backdrop of strange and magnificent shaped icebergs. Watching some of the penguins slipping on the smooth ice as they walked was also very amusing. The only slight downside to a penguin colony was the odour of Gentoo. The smell of the colony is not about to be the scent for this year. It was then lunch back on the boat, before heading out in the zodiacs in the afternoon to cruise amongst the icebergs and head towards Danco Island.As we went out after lunch we caught a glimpse of fins in the distance. As we waited for the climbers and kayak people to finally organize themselves, the fins made more appearances and kept coming closer to the boat. At one point the whales the surfaced near our guide Rupert who was by himself in a zodiac, organizing the kayaks. We finally made it out into the water and went in search of the whales, which had now been identified as a mother and calf humpback whales. Within minutes on the water we had found them, and they lived up to their side of the bargain by been rather inquisitive and coming right up to the zodiacs. It was a sensational experience to be in a zodiac with a two whales only 3m away and regularly surfacing and coming up to the zodiacs for a better look. The water was so clear and still that you could even see the whales as they swam beneath the zodiacs. The white underside of their flippers and body were also clearly visible. A light downside to the day was the persistent snow, but you didn't really notice it while looking at the mother and baby. We then cruised around the icebergs a little and encountered a leopard seal. The leopard seal kept surfacing with his head just out of the water for a split second before he dived back down again. You could clearly see his movement is the clear water, and it gave you a great appreciation of their agility under the water. From hear we then found a group of crabeater seals chilling out on an iceberg, before finding a sleeping leopard seal. Unfortunately the weather closed in, and heavy snow began to falling so it was time to return to the boat. Day 6: Early is the morning we arrived in Neko harbour for our zodiac cruising. Neko harbour has lots of glaciers which carve regularly.It is also the home to a number of icebergs which have floated in from the ice shelves. The mountains, glaciers, icebergs and crystal clear water made one of the most beautiful settings yet. Once it was our turn to go ashore we landed at another Gentoo penguin colony, which you could smell before you arrived. This Gentoo colony was on the side of a hill with a path that we could walk up to get commanding views of the harbour. The views across the harbour were spectacular.Many more photos were taken of the Gentoo penguins with the sensational backdrop of the mountains and harbour. For 45 of our seventy minutes ashore we just stood up the top of a hill watching the fascinating behaviour of the penguins, and taking in the superb views of extensive glaciers and snow covered mountains which were reflected in the calm, crystal clear waters. It was then back aboard for lunch and a short break before heading back out in the zodiacs again. As were getting ready we saw anther whale fin. This time it turned out to be a Minky whale which was also attracted to Rupert in his zodiac with the kayaks. Apparently Minky whales are normally quite shy and don't stay around for long. This one however was an exception. Once in the zodiacs we headed out into the ice slurry with the water still perfectly flat. Soon after we entered the ice slurry up popped the Minky head. It was then motors off and wait. This Minky passed around both zodiacs regularly bringing his head out of the water to look around at us strange beasts in strange boats. Our guide Lyn said that this was only the second or third time in her extensive experience of having such an encounter with a Minky. It gave us a unique sense of euphoria, given such an experience with a whale with an absolutely stunning backdrop. It was then onto cruising around the icebergs in the harbor which had a stunning array of shapes and colours both in and out of the water. The bottom of the icebergs gave the water a stunning turquoise colour.
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