Wednesday, Jan. 6 - Vernadsky Station/Petermann Island

Camping ended early. We were awaken at 5:45am to begin packing up. We didn't get that much sleep. I thought the morning would be cold, the snow was crunchy outside but it was prett easy getting out of the bag. Sometimes when you are camping you dread those early mornings. The sun had been up for almost 4 hours, so maybe that had something to do with it. We got back to the ship and I showered before the wake-up call at 7:00am.

There are few things I should mention about the camping event. First of all it cost us $390. Now look, it is definitely a novelty to camp in Antarctica. There were many restrictions. We could not bring anything to eat or drink, except for water. There are no campfires allowed. I had read that where one company sends the bartender out to serve hot drinks. Not on this one. The duration of the event is pretty short. And then after the event you have to help dry out the tents and put everything away. If I knew all of this beforehand would I have done it? Yes, for the novelty, but it does seem like a bit of a rip-off.

The first outing of the morning was to Vernadsky Station, a Ukrainian station that they bought from the British for 1 pound. The British wanted to unload the thing instead of having to maintain or dismantle it. This is where the ozone hole was first discovered by the British. The Ukrainians are now continuing that search. We toured the facility. We saw the working quarters and some of the instruments used to measure the atmosphere. They also have a nice bar with a pool table. You can buy a shot of vodka there. Instead we bought a plaque and mailed a postcard from the station to ourselves. We had to buy a Ukrainian stamp for postage. On Monday, Feb. 22 we received the postcard. Not too bad, almost 7 weeks.

After visiting Vernadsky, there was a zodiac cruise. A few of us decided to skip the cruise and head straight back to the ship.

Weather Vane at Vernadsky Camping Takes Its Toll

It was a rather sunny day. So for lunch we had an outdoor BBQ on the deck. BBQ beef and sausages were on the menu. There was beer and an assortment of other goodies. It was a nice gathering.

BBQ on the Deck, Al Fresco

The next stop was Peterman Island. This was the warmest day on the trip. It was nice and sunny, The attire was minimal, long underwear, a shirt, and a fleece layer (until the sun went away). We walked up to a vantage point before heading down a small pennisula. At the vantage point we could see several humpbacks in the channel. As we headed down the pennisula you viewed a range of dramatic mountains on one side and then turning 180 degrees you had a view out to open water filled with icebergs.

View from Petermann Island Hiking on Petermann Island Gentoo Penguins. They don't fly, it's just how they walk.

Prior to dinner, the "Polar Plunge" event was held. Yep, people jumped into the water. I didn't do it. I could not bear the thought of being that cold. The water is around 36-38 degrees. You get a shot of vodka when you get out.

Someone is about to get cold.

During dinner the ship was repositioned around the Iceberg graveyard ( or Iceberg Alley as some call it). In the evening we took a zodiac cruise around Iceberg Alley looking for whales and other wildlife. We saw some leopard seals and we made several whale spottings. We got very close to one of the Humpbacks and I was able to get a close up photo of the tail.

Whales. Up Close. One of Antarctica's predators, the Leopard Seal An Iceberg Up Close This is what you do on a zodiac, take pictures.

Tuesday, Jan. 5, 2010 - Port Lockroy, Pleneau Bay

The first stop in the morning was Port Lockroy, a historic British station that is now basically a tourist attraction. The passenger's broke up into 2 groups. One would do a little scenic hiking while the other went to Port Lockroy as not to overwhelm the station. Our group went first to do some hiking along the rocky seashore. It was fairly windy so we kept moving to keep warm. Then we headed to the station. Some of the rooms were setup as they would have when the British were doing work here in the 1940's. They had a gift store and We bought a couple of things. We also sent a postcard to ourselves to get the Port Lockroy postal stamp.

Port Lockroy Whale Bone Arrangement

During mid-day we took a cruise through a narrow channel called the Lamiere Channel. The scenery was absolutely spectacular. There were large mountains on both sides of the ship as we proceeded. In the channel there were many icebergs and we had to cut through a thin layer of loose ice to get through it. After passing through the channel we ended up in Pleneau Bay also known as an iceberg graveyard. In this bay many icebergs that had been drifting in the sea end up trapped here and slowly melt away. The ship set anchor near all these icebergs. The weather was improving, the winds were gone and there were fewer clouds.

Along the Lamiere Channel Iceberg in the Iceberg Graveyard

On our afternoon outing we went to Booth Island and scrambled up a granite hill to a lookout spot. The landing spot for the zodiacs was at a narrow strip of the land. From there you had great views of the sea from both sides. Again dramatic scenery. This turned out to be one of my favorite hikes on the trip. This part of Antarctica is very mountainous, lots of icebergs And you can see the mountains stretch a great distance down the peninsula. I was glad we did not choose to do any kayaking. We would not have had the time to take in these tremendous viewpoints we encountered.

View from Booth Island Booth Island Viewpoint

On our way back to the ship we made a detour and cruised through a portion of the iceberg graveyard. This allowed us an up close view of the icebergs. You had to be careful through here because the icebergs do roll over periodically. You don't want to be near them when that occurs. We took a lot of pictures of these oddly sculpted icebergs.

Zodiac Cruising

In the evening we went camping. We were about as far south as we were going to get on this trip, 65° 15' S. We camped out on a small snow coveredisland. As we were pitching our tents we saw ice break off of an iceberg and then it took a roll. It was an interesting sight. I brought my sleeping mask so that the 24 hour light would not be a problem. The camping setup was not to my comfort level. The tent was not well ventilated, the sleeping bag was a bit confining. I was warm enough (it was probably a 35-40 degree bag, even though the guide said it was a 12 degree celcius bag). They had the fold-up Thermarest waffle pads with a foam pad for sleeping. I have considered buying such a foam pad for backpacking, now I know not to waste my time. My old Thermarest self inflating matress is still the best. We also used a cotton liner, it wasn't that comfortable in the bag. Even though it wasn't the most comfortable setup I still slept fairly well. At least once I got to sleep.

Our Tent The Campsite View from the Campsite

Monday, Jan. 4, 2010 - More Pictures

More Pictures

Becky, Neko Harbor in the Background Summer in Neko Harbor Ancient Explorer Me at Neko Harbor, Glacier in the Background Danko Island Penguin with Chick

Monday, Jan. 4, 2010 Islands, Harbors, and Bays

We had sailed away from the South Shetland Islands and were now along the continent, the Antarctica Pennisula. The plan for today was to take a zodiac cruise in and around Enterprise Island, assuming the weather was good. We had been fortunate to have missed a major storm that had just come through Drake passage. We were now experiencing the remnants of it. We were to awake at 5:30am so we could be out on the water by 6:15am. We awoke during the wee hours, Becky took a look outside and it was snowing. We thought we would be sleeping in instead of going out on the zodiacs. No such luck. At 5:30am we had our wake-up call over the loud speaker. The zodiac cruise was still on, snow or no snow. As I mentioned before, every morning we have wake-up calls over the loud speaker. The expedition leader tells us Good Morning and reminds us of the first activity for which we need to prepare. It's loud and annoying.

Becky was not feeling up to the event, but I went ahead. It was snowing. We cruised around looking at the ice bergs and the surronding landscape of Enterprise Island. All I have to say is there is a lot of ice, everywhere. We did explore an old shipwreck from 1914. It was an iron ship that got stuck and hasn't moved since. There were two sailboats that had moored against it. We were told that private vessels often come to Antarctica. They are usually interested in snow boarding, skiing, or in many cases mountaineering.

After getting back to the ship, we set sail for a scenic cruise along the Wilhelmina Bay. We were on our way to our next point of interest, Neko Harbor. It wasn't the best day for a scenic cruise. Although it had stopped snowing, it was still gray. Again we saw a lot of ice. We also saw a number of seals, resting on ice! Ice, ice, ice!

We arrived at Neko Harbor in the afternoon. We enjoyed a scenic hike and we had to make quite a climb to a lookout point. The view was spectacular. It turned out to be my favorite viewpoint on the trip. There was the gray sky above. Down below there were bits of white ice floating on the cold blue water. Surrounding the bay were mountains covered in snow and ice, accented by the bare gray rock poking out. You really felt that you were in Antarctica.

At the top of the viewpoint you could look down into a calfing glacier. The glacier made a groaning sound and sometimes a chunk of ice would fall into the water. This was our only stop on the actual continent, and for some people this was their seventh continent. They had finally made it to every continent.

Fortunately we did not have to walk all the way back down. We could slide down the hill on our jackets. One section of the hill was quite steep. The ship's doctor was telling us how we should position our bodies. He said it was easier to deal with broken bones then a head injury.

In the evening we went to Danco Island, Becky stayed back on the ship. It was a steep climb up to the top where we had a 360 degree view. It was fine but I thought Neko Harbor had a more spectacular view. Many of the passengers wanted everyone to be silent so they could lie down and take in the atmosphere. I didn't know what was going on at first, so I kept walking around crunching through the snow, probably irritating them. Finally I figured it out and laid down in the snow with the rest of them. Just me, Antarctica and 20-30 of my closest friends. Danco Island had several large penguin rookeries, 50-75 penguins each. We were there during the hatching season. We could see the recently hatched penguin chicks poking their heads out from underneath their mothers/fathers.

And that's all that happened on Jan. 4, 2010

Zodiac cruising near Enterprise Island Old Shipwreck at Enterprise Island Glacier Ice Ice Pattern Seals on Ice (Wilhelmina Bay) Iceberg (Wilhelmina Bay)

Sunday, Jan. 3 - Barrientos Island/Deception Island

In the morning we went to Barrientos Island. This is in the South Shetland Islands, a group of islands just North of the Antarctic Peninsula. Similar to Desolation Island, Barrientos Island was in the middle of the seasonal snow melt. So there were areas covered in snow and areas of rocky outcroppings. It was particularly enjoying to watch the variety of wildlife activity on Barrientos Island. The penguins were nesting, we saw a small chick beneath the mother's under-section. Skua, common seabird, were looking for opportunities to steal the eggs, often the penguins would chase them away. We saw Elephant seals, Fur seals, and a Leopard seal. There were also whale bones scattered across many parts of the island.

In route to Deception Island we had several whale sightings. You could see them blow their spouts. Then they would take a deep dive where their tails would come out of the water.

Deception Island is a caldera, an old volcano crater filled with sea water. The surrounding crater almost forms a complete circle except for a small channel where ships can get in. During the Whaling era there were many whaling camps within the crater as it provides good protection from the sea. There is not much wildlife, just a few entertaining penguins. But we were able to take a nice hike upon the volcanic soil, not a lot of snow here. We climbed up a ridge and were able to get a great view.

After getting back to the ship, we would get out of our gear and put comfortable clothes back on. Then it was upstairs to the lounge to mingle with the other passengers and have a glass of wine before dinner.

One item I brought along was a sleeping mask. For me it worked very well. I sleep better when it is dark and it was always light outside. I had no problems sleeping on the ship.

Typical scene Whale bones Entering the caldera An old whaling station Overlooking the caldera

Saturday, Jan. 2 - Drake Passage and Desolation Island

It was expected that this would be another full day at sea. There were more presentations scheduled and we began seeing whales and our first iceberg. We were also seeing penguins swimming in the water. Again the sea was calm and we were making very good time across the Passage. Before we knew it we saw land, the South Shetland Islands.

Since we were about 5-6 hours ahead of schedule, the Expedition team decided we should land on one of the islands, Desolation Island, after dinner. Darkness never limited our outings. There was none. We put on our gear and prepared to head out.

This business of dressing for the outings was a bit of a pain. I would wear long underwear, both top and bottom. Then it was fleece pants and a pair of thin waterproof pants. For my upper body, I would wear some kind of synthetic T-shirt, a fleece scarf and the parka that came with the expedtion. The parka was heavy duty. It had a nice fleece jacket that could be worn separately or as a liner for the shell. The shell was a heavy duty layer. It was made out of a thick waterproof/windproof material. It could handle the cold ocean spray without any problem. To round out the outfit, I wore two pairs of socks, one thin liner and a pair of thermals. Next came the rubber boots that were lent to us by the tour. A knit hat and gloves and you were set. Well not quite. You had to put a life jacket over the top and then a backpack to carry your camera and any other incidentals.

All of the outings involved getting into a zodiac boat. As part of the normal procedure, we would line of for the gangway, sign-out and hop into the zodiac. This was generally an efficient exercise.

Upon reaching the Desolation Island, We took a short walk along the beach. There were some seals around. There was a small area to explore and we went back to the ship rather quickly. It was really a warm-up outing to get us used to the routine. It became clear that most of us were over dressed. We were burning up and began to open up our jackets and take off the hats and scarfs. We would know better for next time.

There were not many pictures worth posting for this day. So here are a few pictures from the next day on the Aitcho Islands.

Penguins thinking about going to a more lively party Frolicking Seals Seals on the beach Bad Ass Canadians in Antarctica Semi-Bad Ass Americans with Canadian Posse

Friday, Jan. 1 - Drake Passage

Drake Passage. This was a full day at sea. When we awoke the sea was exceptionally calm, and as smooth as glass. I had taken seasickness medicine the night before as recommended by the doctor. It turned out to be totally unnecessary and I awoke very groggy. It took a while for the effects to wear off.

During the voyage the guides gave presentations, they showed a documentary and in the evening there was a movie. The presentations were about the natural environment and the history of Antarctica. On this day I did not attend all the presentations. We would go out on deck to enjoy the fresh air. However, this was no Caribbean cruise. It was cold out there, but we knew what we were getting into before we left.

The schedule on the ship was fairly rigid. Meals were served at particular times. If you missed a meal you were out of luck. In the morning you were awoken by the Expedition Leader. His voice would come over the loud speaker. I found it annoying, but you really needed to get going when he made the morning announcement or you would miss the first event. The first event being either breakfast or an early outing. All the passengers on the ship really did everything as a group.

Although the meal schedules were strict, there was not a problem with caloric intake. And I found the meals quite good. You could buy a bottle of wine for meals. If you didn't want to finish it, the staff would hold it for you until the next meal. They also went out of their way to satisfy Becky's request that her meals were not prepared with any peppers whatsoever. There were no assigned seats, you sat whereever you liked. This allowed you to meet all the people who had traveled such a long ways.

There was a small bar in the upstairs lounge and viewing area. It had regular hours and was where we would sit and mingle. This lounge, called the "Panorama Lounge" was where the presentations were given and movies were shown.

Announcements would come over the loud speakers informing us of wildlife sightings or other items of interest. The guides on the ship were generally friendly and quite knowledgeable.

I would say that most of the passengers on the trip were from Canada, Australia, and the USA. But there were also passengers from Israel, China, Germany, Italy, Brazil, Belgium, and the UK. I found it most interesting that there were a significant number of passengers from the Bay Area. 7 in total, 8 if you count the photographer from Carmel. I wonder if there isn't something about the Bay Area culture. On our previous trip to Peru we went to the small Jungle Lodge deep in the Amazon. There was only one group of guests already there. They were from Berkeley!

Dinner Albatross At sea in her new expedition parka

Thursday, Dec. 31 - Tierra Del Fuego/Ocean Nova

This was the day we were to board our ship for Antarctica. But we had until 4:00pm to get to our ship. So we left our luggage at the hotel and met the guide at 8:30am. A Chinese national, Yuan, living in Toronto joined us for the tour making a total of 5. We hopped in the van for our half day tour. We stopped often to take in views and to go on short nature walks. It is a nice park, a wilderness area set amongst snow capped peaks. Within the park are lakes and salt water inlets. We learned a bit about the history, geography, and natural environment of the area. It is a nice park and I think well worth preserving. However, the scenery was not as dramatic as I was expecting.

At abount 1:30pm our tour guide drove us back into town to a restaurant he recommended. We ate and then headed down to the dock. This gave us an opportunity to walk through the downtown area of Ushuaia. It is a quaint picturesque town.

At the dock the security officer wanted a boarding pass and passport. Becky and I had the passport but the boarding pass was in our suitcase and had already been taken to the ship ahead of us. I didn't know we needed it. He didn't speak any english and I just did not know enough spanish to explain our situation. Ralph, Trish, and Yuan all had the required documents and went on ahead. We asked them to send for help as it was getting late. Then guard talked to someone over the walkie talkie and decided to let us through. We were the last ones on the ship.

Our ship was the Ocean Nova, a 5 deck 226 foot ship. Rather small in my opinon for an ocean going vessel, the brochure says it holds a maximum of 68 passengers. We were told that there were 72 on board. Turns out that the ship still had 20 empty berths less than a week before the ship was to set sail. However, a tourist ship had run aground several days before and the tour company had to scramble to get passengers booked on alternative ships since they were scheduled next to go out on the now damaged ship. So that bumped our total to 72 passengers, full capacity.

The ship itself was adequate. There were 2 internal common areas for passengers to relax and mingle, an observation area with a bar on the top deck overlooking the bow. And a library area with windows looking out from the stern of the ship. There was a dining room and some deck areas outside for nature viewing. Simple but comfortable. No complaints about the berths, we never had any trouble sleeping. The shower area was small. You had to take a Navy shower, but I didn't figure that out right away. After I had water sloshing about the entire bathroom floor a couple of times, I decided it wasn't meant for a full blown "let the water run and sing" shower.

We boarded the ship, there was an initial meeting, dinner, and we set sail at around 8:30pm. We formed teams and had a scavenger hunt to help get to know the other passengers. It was like summer camp. We formed a team with a bunch of Canadians. They were rather young, mid to late 20's. This was a reunion of sorts for them, as they went to the same High School in Vancouver. We had a lot of fun with them throughout the trip.

Finally, with sparkling wine in hand, We all ushered in the New Year on the Drake Passage. Who would have thought?

Dock in Tierra Del Fuego National Park Tierra Del Fuego Woodlands Becky in Tierra Del Fuego Many people drive south from the Arctic Ocean in Alaska. This is the end of the road. Ushuaia Our ship - Ocean Nova