... and beyond

... which put us in one of the last 2 cabins on the penultimate boat of the season to Antarctica!

The 5th largest continent (twice the size of Australia in the summer - 4 times in the winter) and almost entirely covered in ice (99.8% - which is 70% of all the world's freshwater frozen as ice - and 90% of all the world's ice), Antarctica is the most remote, depressed (lowest point is 2,496m below sea-level), highest (mean height of over 4,000m), coldest (record of -82C), windiest (maximum recorded speed of 248.4 kmh), and driest (average annual precipitation is only about 50 mm - less than the Sahara!) place in the world - in fact it's officially classified as a desert and snow landing at the South Pole takes 100,000 years to reach the ocean via a glacier.

Kind of makes you wonder why anyone would want to go there - especially when you read the description of the trip "voyages involve at least 2 days crossing the Drake Passage where sea conditions may be very uncomfortable at best, there is no guarantee of landings, views or wildlife sightings and delays or turn-backs due to storms are not uncommon". But hey, we were feeling lucky!

And lucky we were - starting with an upgraded cabin! Our boat, the M/V Ushuaia, was really nice and even had its own pastry chef! Unfortunately 11 days of 3 x 3 course very good meals per day, plus afternoon tea with freshly baked cakes and cookies, was going to take its toll on our waistlines! The Drake Passage wasn't too bad either - with only 50% of passengers getting sick!

After 2.5 days at sea with nothing but Antarctic books, films and lectures to occupy us, we finally arrived at the South Shetland Islands on a gloriously sunny day. After a short Zodiac trip to the first of the days landing sites, delayed by Ali underestimating the time it would take to get dressed for the occasion (4 pairs of socks, thermals, 2 fleeces etc), we were greeted with our first real whiff (much stronger in the clear air) of penguin poo! It was very strange to be off the boat, and stranger still to realise you didn't know half the passengers as they'd been stuck in their cabins being sick, but the views and the wildlife close-ups were amazing. On our first site, Half Moon Island, we saw Chinstraps (grumpy and stand-offish), Gentoos (playful and inquisitive) and lots of seals. Next up was Whaler's Bay and Deception Island where we got to watch carvings fall off the glacier - amazing! And finally, a visit to an Argentine research station to get our passports stamped and send postcards home - cheesy we know but it was Antarctica!!!

Whilst it was a really good day it wasn´t quite what we expected - the islands were desolate and moon-like - where was all the ice and snow??? Still, we did get to see lots of wildlife from the boat - Whales, Seals, Dolphins, Penguins, Petrels and Albatross.

The next day started with a 5.45am wake-up call to watch the sunrise as we sailed through the Errera Channel - now this was what we signed up for! It was amazing - Icebergs, Glaciers, Penguins, Seals, whales etc - words just cannot do the place justice. Our next few days consisted of sailing through the ice, wildlife spotting (unfortunately the Orcas were still avoiding us, as were the blue whales), exploring various continental and island landing sites, cruising around icebergs, glaciers, shipwrecks and whaling stations on the Zodiacs and playing with the penguins - WOW! Definitely a trip of a lifetime and THE highlight of our travels - it's hard to explain why but you feel so privileged to be there. Completely untouched by man, the air is pure, the scenery pristine, the wildlife playful and the whole place so beautiful and peaceful.

We were, however, very lucky with the weather and conditions - sunshine and calm seas almost throughout the trip. In fact the weather was so good Steve even went for a swim (see photos!!!).
There were so many highlights: for Ali the weather, calm seas, spectacular scenery and cute penguins; for Steve the scenery and wildlife - especially the penguin eating leopard seals, frolicking dolphins and breaching humpbacks who all seemed to enjoy putting on a show for the cameras; and for both of us the Antarctic asado (bbq), good food and good company on the boat - not to mention the journey home ... this time the Drake Passage lived up to its reputation with gale force conditions pitching the boat to almost 40%! Meals were especially interesting with food, drink, chairs and Ali flying around the place!