Sunday, 20 January 2008

The plan for today is to sail the Lemaire Channel to Booth Island and Petermann Island.

Wake-up call at 7:00 AM with the announcement that we were entering Lemaire Channel and that the scenery was very beautiful. I wanted to join the exercise class, but instead I went forward to watch the scenery which is very impressive. Rocky mountains surrounded by snow. We were told if you hear thunder, an iceberg was just created. Off the port bow, we saw some whales cavorting. Unfortunately I didn’t get very good pictures of them. It was not for lack of trying. The beautiful weather we have been having turned very cloudy.

We were able to land on Booth Island, where we saw all three types of penguins that are around land. The Emperor Penguin is out to sea fishing. It was a serious (for me) climb, but we did get to see the Chin strap penguins. The walking was difficult. It was either snow or slippery rock. With my poor balance, it was rough going. We also saw the remains of the Charcot 1902 camp. Apparently until recently, the boat was in good condition, because it was preserved by the snow. There were lots of Gentoo Penguins and some Adelie Penguins.

I returned to the ship early because the snow was really coming down and impacting visibility. After being hosed off, I hung up my gortex pants to dry. It’s good thing that I brought extra gloves, because the pair that I had gotten as part of the package were sopping wet.

It was announced we are cruising slowly down Penola Straight heading to Petermann Island. There is very poor visibility and lots of icebergs, flows, etc.

We went ashore at Petermann Island. The snow was really coming down. The landing was quite difficult for me as we had to walk on rocks. The guides had already washed the rocks to eliminate the algae as much as possible. As I went up, I was effectively passed from one guide to another. We hiked over to see the Blue Eyed Shag which was nesting in a high point above a colony of Adelie Penguins. From there we walked over to the yellow tents of the research team from Oceanites. They spend 9 weeks a year on Petermann Island effectively counting Penguins. I would have liked to wander around a bit, but with the heavy snow and the relatively uneven footing, I elected to return to the ship.

After resting a while, I went up to the lounge where I sat around with some people. Then the researchers from Petermann Island were introduced and spoke for a while. One the naturalist on the ship dives to study the state of the ground. She showed some of the films that she took, which proved interesting. Dinner was followed by me hanging out in the lounge until I decided to go to sleep.

Saturday, 19 January 2008

I got up early because the plan was to land at Bailey Head, but the surf was too rough to land. Instead we went into the caldera of Deception Island. I was one of the people who went swimming in the hot spots. It was relatively easy walking because the land is covered with volcanic sand. After my “swim”, I wandered around with one of guides and saw the remnants of the whaling industry as well as the British research station. There was a cemetery for whalers who died down here, but the last volcanic explosion produced a river of mud which covered almost everything.

After we came back on board, the captain looked at Bailey Head and decided It was too rough to try. Instead we are heading south to something called Trinity Island. We may go into Mickelson harbor if the weather conditions permit.

After lunch I lounged in the lounge. At 3:00 pm, there was a lecture on seals, both Artic and Antartic.

We went into Mickelson Harbor, which is in Trinity Island. We were given the option of going to the island or cruising around the island in one of the zodiacs. Since I’d had some trouble the day before getting back on the zodiac, I was a little concerned. I got into the cruising zodiac and was taken to the island so that I could decide what I wanted to do, based upon personal observation. The landing was quite easy so I stayed on the island and wandered around. I saw a few Antartic Skua and loads of Gentoo penguins. There is a survival hut on the island, which we asked not to enter. It is for emergency use.

Dinner was served at about 8:30pm. I was invited to join one of the researchers and it resulted in a very pleasant evening. Dinner ended just in time for me to get back to my cabin, shower and go to sleep.