We have better weather today. The waves are smaller and more passengers
are up and about. My family makes a successful attempt at Breakfast
and we even take a few pictures. More lectures, one on Zodiac safety
because tomorrow we will land.
A storm has forced us to change course so we will not be taking on the
circle first thing. We will land at Cuverville Island and then at
Neko Harbor in the afternoon. Wade saw his first iceberg today.
Yesterday, Chelsea and I saw a small one pretty far away. The ones
today were spectacular. We could see several at once and their shapes
were so irregular. I am so excited!
Wow, I was not prepared for how beautiful this place would be. The
constant flow of ice sculptures in the form of icebergs from the size of
a baseball to the size of a castle.
It was beautiful like the sea meeting the snow covered peaks of the
Rocky Mountains and there, on the beach, were several hundred Gentoo penguins.
Many of them still had their downy coat. We had been told that they
are curious little guys so if you sit still they may come over to you.
This idea excited Chelsea very much.
As we were still near the shore one young penguin got one of the life vest straps around its neck. He took off running. At first it was funny. Then, as time progressed, we realized that he was trying to go faster and faster, repeatedly tripping and falling onto his belly. I started up the beach but one of the other passengers got to him first and freed the little guy. I think the only thing he lost was his pride and composure.
We ventured farther in. Wade sat down trying to attract the attention
of some penguins. Several penguins came up pretty close. Well,
Chelsea had to try next. I think that may be the longest she has
ever sat still. Nothing happened. The wind had picked up and
she was starting to get pretty cold. She was coaxed to get up but
she was crushed. Daddy had done it, why not her?
I convinced her to add her down jacket and try again. She did
and Wade and I backed way off. We were saying "come on guys just
one please go see Chelsea." She had not been there long when
one of them came in from the side. At first she did not know he was
there but soon she felt eyes watching her. She turned slightly and
there, only a few inches away, stood a young (adolescent) penguin checking
her out. She could have gone home happy, even if we had left that
instant.
We also heard a rumble and saw an avalanche on the continent across the Gerlache Straight.
We enjoyed watching the penguins hop down the rocks. One even
tripped over a rock and landed flat.
Finally, we were back on the boat for a quick lunch before we go out again.
This time to Neko Harbor on the continent itself. Time really sped
by today and we had to hustle to make the right boat. We did it and
we were off again.
This time, we went right past icebergs and pack ice to a little
beach. There too the Gentoo penguins were waiting. these were
a little more grown up and less curious but still cute. We watched
as they jumped in and out of the water na walked between the bergie bits
stranded on the beach. We patiently watched the nearby glacier to
see if it would calve. We even saw a seal resting on a small iceberg.
On the way back in the Zodiac they literally had to push the pack ice out
of the way with a paddle.
Trying to clean up, Chelsea squirted her camera and it is impossible
to tell how much damage was done. I know there is some.
Dinner consisted of a barbecue on the aft deck with burgers and chicken
and such. While we were waiting for dinner we saw an iceberg float
by with half a dozen penguins on top. I just love these guys.
The weather has been great! I got a slight sunburn on my face
and the water has been like glass. Chelsea and I gave up seasickness
remedies and Wade is fully recovered although perhaps not without medication.
Chelsea saw her first snow fall from the sky.
Many of the passengers have traveled extensively. The Galapagos
islands seem to get high marks as does Alaska, Nongoro Crater in Tanzania.
Petra in Jordan was also listed. An interesting bunch of people,
to be sure.
We had two landings planned again today so we really had to get with it
after breakfast.
The first was on Vernadsky, the Ukrainian research station. We were
excited about the chance to buy something in Antarctica and the chance
to mail letters. The gift shop had pins, Ukrainian chocolate, postcards,
stamps, and envelopes with and without stamps.
As soon as they saw Chelsea they went crazy. They gave her a chocolate bar, a postcard, and a pin that was to show their research. They also gave her a little picture to color. They tried to give her an orange and another chocolate bar. They were so sweet. I did not think to get their pictures or names. I guess I just don't do that well in impromptu situations.
I also thought that they got visitors all the time but it turns
out that they only get a few ships per year. I had nothing to give
them. One of the women had an eight year old daughter that she had
not seen in 14 months. It will be almost 3 more months until she
can see her again. My heart went out to her because that would be
so hard.
After lunch we stopped on Petermann Island which gave us our first exposure
to Adelie penguins. There was a Gentoo population there as well.
I was surprised at how different their personalities are. Gentoos
are easy going and you have to get pretty close (sometimes you look at
where you you are putting your feet and you forget to keep checking for
penguin movement.) to make them start to move away from you.
Adelies on the other hand start to get upset at about 20 feet so you have
to keep a much greater distance. One young Adelie had fallen into a crack. Since they have no climbing capability it was just stuck there until the man on our tour lifted it out. Poor muddy dazed bird. I don't know if he will make it but his chances are better than they were this morning.
While I am writing this I looked out the window and snow was falling.
Really big snow. I mean some of the pieces were the size corn flakes.
The ship has quite a bit of show on it. I should probably try to
take a picture of it on the bridge but I opted for out of my window.
Now it has stopped. Unpredictable -- that is the only word for Antarctica's
weather. I hope we still get to make a landing below the circle tomorrow.
2:30 AM. While we sleep in our beds we silently slip across the Antarctic
circle bound for Detaille Island. We will attempt to land south of
the Antarctic circle today. At breakfast we are informed that the
10 AM landing had been moved up to 9. Unprepared for a departure
so soon and being in the first Zodiac group to go ashore we zipped through
breakfast and dressed hurriedly. There were larger than usual seas
this morning and so we had to be careful about getting into the boats.
When we got there, a blanket of fresh snow covered the entire place.
A couple of unoccupied research sheds were there as well as fur seals and
Adelie penguins. This was very different. The temperature was
below freezing and the wind was at more than 15 knots.
As soon as she was ashore, Chelsea stepped in a hole and a sharp rock
cut into her waders. She did not seem to be bleeding so we went on.
We went over the snowy hills to the place where some penguins were standing.
As we stood on the ridge admiring the view and trying to get a few pictures,
my lens would not focus. I was out of battery power. We changed
batteries with great difficulty because you needed gloves but they were
incompatible with fine motor movements needed for performing these tasks.
Finally, Chelsea began to complain about her feet being cold and I got
tired of the struggle. We headed back to the Zodiacs. As we
were doing this, the wind picked and started blowing already fallen snow
about. Visibility dropped. It felt dangerous.
As we were waiting to get down the rocks to the Zodiacs, Sue was trying to board. She did not want their help. She slipped -- they grabbed. They caught her by the feet and her head narrowly missed the rocks. Her camera, which was hung about her neck, still dangled from her neck but now over her head in the water. She was soon righted and came up smiling. A tough lady. It made me all the more glad that we had not waited until we were too fragile to do this safely.
When we were all on ship again I was relieved. We rested most of the rest of the day with a short break for a history lesson on Amundsen and Scott.
Tonight at dinner Chelsea complained of an earache. We put her
to bed early with a cotton ball in her ear. I will again visit the
doctor if she is still bad tomorrow. I am glad to have him along.
This was put together by Wade Guthrie