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Dear everyone, This morning our ship, Polar Pioneer, returned to Port Ushuaia after 12 days at cruising down to the Antarctic Peninsula. The ship is about 72 meters and had 22 crew and 45 passangers. Our cabins were very simple but comfortable which was lucky ´cause I spent the past 3 days there. The captain and navigational and technical crew were Russian, as was the ship (from St Petersberg), the chefs and expedition leaders were all Aussies. The Drake Passage is the stretch of water between Argentina and Antarctica, and has 2 nicknames depending on the weather... The Drake Lake, or The Drake Shake. Thankfully we got the former on both passes, with only 4 to 6 metre swells. (Nick and I only spewed once each, both on the way back). Please, read on, I´m just getting the boring bits out of the way, it gets more interesting.... We stopped on shore at many places, and went kayaking numerous times. The kayaking option was an excellent decision, a great way to see bergs and animals from a very different perspective than you get on shore or from the boat. For example, one time we were stalked by a leopard seal. This was a great photo opportunity, and really exciting and fun for a while, but some people were scared. I only got scared when it was about a meter a way from our kayak and the other 5 kayaks had already paddled off, and Nick was going ¨go just a little bit closer...¨ I guess our white paddles looked like penguins to the leopard seal. He only left us alone when he caught a real penguin, and we saw him thrashing it about in the water, trying to loosen the skin off the poor little bird. Also, we were kayaking in this one bay and could hear these massive ice carvings. That´s when the front of a glacial wall falls under it´s own weight, crashing into the water. Unfortunately, all the action must have been happening on the other side of the wall, ´cause we didn´t see anything, but the thunderous sounds all around made you feel really small and vulnerable in the little kayak. And paddling around gorgeous bergs of all different shapes and sizes. Of course the water is beautifully clean and clear, and the different shades of blue and white (depending on how much oxygen is trapped in the berg) ice sculptures floating around are just magnificent. Occasionally we saw a Weddell or Crabeater seal basking in the, umm, inclement weather, on an ice flow, and we saw heaps and heaps of penguin colonies. The 3 types of penguines we saw were Adelie, Chinstrap, and Gentoo. They build their nests out of little raised mounds of rocks and stones. According to one of the residents at Port Lockley, the British scientific research station, this season is the most snow they´ve had in 10 years and the penguins are finding it difficult to find bare patches of earth where they can build their nests, and this apparantly will have a devistating effect on the breeding outcomes and mortality rates of chicks this season. We were also lucky enough to see a pod of 7 Killer Whales (Orcas) spyhopping in the pack ice. This means they were jumping up and diving around the ice flows looking for penguins. They work in groups so that one whale lands on the edge of a flow, tipping it over, and the other catches the penguins that fall off. Early this morning we had 4 dolphins playing at the very front tip of our ship... Like that poster that says ¨In the wake of evolution¨with the massive ship in the wake of the dolphins. At one stage our boat got stuck in the fast ice that flows in with the wind. There are different types of ice... Glacial ice that calves off as described earlier, and then fast ice is frozen sea water that is like an extention of the land, and pack ice which is also frozen sea water, but it´s loose, and it moves with the tides and the wind. I only did one climb.... and it was more of a hike than a climb. The place was called Brown´s Bluff. It was an introductory climb, but I found it was sufficiently challenging enough for me. We didn´t need crampons, but we all had our ice axes handy, and were roped up to each other in case anyone fell through the snow cover and down a crevasse. This didn´t happen (on a serious scale), but some of the crevasses we saw and looked down were incredibly deep and dangerous looking. Most were looked too narrow for a person to fall down, but you never could tell how strong the crust or walls were. We climbed through what felt like a blizzard. At some stages I couldn´t even see where to put my foot... Obviously it´s a lot easier to use the previous person´s foot prints rather than trudge your own boots in and out of 2 or 3 feet of snow. Then coming down was even harder than going up. I seemed to have an inability to bum slide. So I just had to walk. And then there was the scree slopes, which is volcanic ash and debrie, in this case covering an icy slope. So every time you step, everything slides out from underneath your foot, and there´s nothing to grip or hold on to. All good fun though. But back to the weather, and temperatures and all that. Temps ranged from around 1 to 3 degrees. Now we´re back in Ushuaia and it´s a stinking 13 degrees. Anyway, with the kayaking I was usually fine until we stopped on land, and then either my feet or hands would freeze up... and that´s really, really painful. One time we´d been kayaking against the wind and it was snowing and rough and I was so cold, that at the landing point I decided to put on an extra layer. Now this is a very complex procedure ´cause for kayaking you have to wear a couple of layers of thermals, a fleece, and then a dry suit. The dry suit is a big plastic, one piece, contraption, with a tight rubber seal around each wrist, ankle and the neck, and a huge water tight zipper diagonally across the front. To give you an idea of how tight the rubber seals are, I have cuts all across my throat from wearing it.... but at least it keeps the water out. Anyway, this suit is a pain in the arse to put on, and a pain in the arse to take off especially when the cold freezes your fingers to the point of excruciating pain and minimal usage. So I must say a very big thanks to Nicko for all his help in that saga. Anyway, I´ve spent enough time in this internet cafe. Time to go out and practice my spanish. I must look very Argentinian ´cause someone asked me for directions this morning. Well, happy new year and Merry Christmas and happy Channukah and all that to everyone. Hope you´re all happy and healthy. Until next time, ciao, Nique |