Adventures in 2017

I flew home to Melbourne using LATAM. the flight from Santiago, Chile was a direct one. Halfway along it skirts alongside Antarctica.  I was gobsmacked and fairly overwhelmed. What a pleasant surprise.

I took a day off yesterday being rather fatigued from walking, bus travel and cruising.  It was great to simply chill and do not much at all. But. One day is enough, I cannot do this for long. Champing at the bit to do something, and something special I leafed through the brochures at the hostel and espied one that offered kayaking on the rio la Leona for a full day, stopping off at los Hornos where there are dinosaur bones and remnants of a petrified forest. the guides gave a thorough rundown of the geological and early dinosaur history, the birds, animals and plants in the area on the way making the run to the start seem like nothing.

Ever since my visit to Torres del Paine in Chile in 2010 I have wanted to visit Fitz Roy in Argentina. The voyage to Antarctica provided an opportune moment for me to add it at the end before my return to Australia. Because of the wildly fluctuating weather in this region, I allowed five days to see it and managed to see the object of my quest on the 3rd. I was not disappointed, being rewarded with stunning views.

Our voyage from the Falklands to Ushuaia, Argentina seemingly flitted by and the ocean journey was fairly smooth going. There were a few things to do with regards to disembarkation procedure instruction, return of goods and social engagements. A few movies were shown and blog notes or photo edits to complete.

Land !  We arrive at the Falklands at 2pm and cannot wait to get off the boat for a bit of land based activity, one customs give us the OK we can set foot on land. Unfortunately it is blowing at around 40 knots and predicted to go over 50 so we were informed our stop will be short at 6pm return.

It was our last day on South Georgia. We were promised a big finale with the second largest population of penguins and other wildlife in South Georgia at Salisbury plain. The photography group got up for another 3:30am morning outing to capture some albatross chicks on an island. The weather determined that landings and further Zodiac trips in this area will not be happening. The wind picked up to over 45 knots, making it quite dangerous. The view from the ship was good, giving us an extensive sight of a seemingly endless population of seals and penguins on the long beach front and inland. It was quite a sight to behold.

This day was a hard one emotionally for me. One there is elation to see Shackleton’s grave and walk the last 6km of his journey to safety and rescue. It was counterbalanced by seeing the remnants of a site devoted to the wholesale slaughter and processing of whales.

Gold harbour: we have just entered a David Attenborough film set. Words escape me and I try to keep my eyes dry. Is this a dream ?

Our trip from Elephant island was surprisingly smooth. We could eat our meals without spilling drinks, losing cutlery and tripping over. It was a little wavy but nowhere near what I expected.

Samuel Taylor Coleridge and his poem The Rime of the Ancient Mariner , I remember learning it at high school, absolutely loving its tale of mishap on the high seas. Those lines “Water, water, everywhere Nor any drop to drink” sprung easily to mind on our journey to South Georgia.  In hindsight it would have been fun to recite it on one of our social gatherings in the bar.

I’ve read the stories of Shackleton (the book Shackleton by Roland Huntford is a must read). Now I am seeing and almost touched Elephant island.  It is as the survivors coined its nick name “hell-of-an-island” , how anyone could survive a week let alone 4 1/2 months as the crew of the ill fated Endurance that got crushed in the Weddell sea is astonishing.

After lunch we cruised to Elephant point which promised – you guessed it – elephant seals, and lots of them. As well there were abundant penguins and other bird life. What a pleasant contrast to Deception Island.

Deception Island is a semi active volcano, its last eruption was in 1968/9. There is a a sea entrance where we enter into the crater of a volcano, which is  still simmering away with some steam rising like the smoke of the last embers in a doused fire. We dug our toes into the sand on the beach and felt the warmth.

Our journey takes us to a place known aptly as Paradise bay. Surrounded by steep snow clad mountains descending into the sea and tranquil waters filled with broken ice it was a picturesque, somewhat dreamy place to be in.

The wind picked up in the morning so we had to leave our camp at around 5:00 am. At around 3 am unbeknownst to me Steve and Gary our leaders had to rescue the Zodiacs as the were being washed sideways onto the rocky shore with one half full of water. They moved them to a more sheltered position. 

When asked if any of us would like  to sleep-out on the mainland, 13 of us put our hand up. Being a veteran snow camper, who am I to refuse ? What – no tent ?  This was a first for me. (well not quite I have slept in a snow cave around 1990ish)  We are going to dig a ‘snow coffin’ without the lid and sleep in it. Generally I sleep in a tent in Australia because our snow being near zero is a bit wet during the day so a tent enables us to stay dry.

Our introduction to Antarctic paddling started with a challenging 6 km paddle to get to the shore line from the boat due to the wind and near open ocean exposure. relief was found near the shore. Close to shore it got calm due to the shelter of the mountains and ice floes tempering any chop. We visited a place called Hydrurga rocks , which was named after the leopard seal:  Hydrurga leptonyx. These rocks are located near Two Hummock Island.