Antarctica

We have just returned from our 10 day trip to Antarctica aboard the ice-hardened Russian icebreaker, M/V Polaris, and we both have had an experience of a lifetime. Antarctica is like another planet, an unspoilt wilderness that is quite simply magical and we have both felt genuinely privileged to have been able to experience a taste of it's beauty, and also of it's isolation, harshness and brutality of the environment.


Our crossings of the Drake Passage, famous for being the roughest seas in the world (where the Pacific and Atlantic meet) were very good to us although still like a neverending funfair ride, so we were rather seasick on both crossings especially little Bi who didn't surface for 48 hours each direction! Ash spent time listening to the lectures about Antarctica that took place during the crossing.


Our first experience of Antartica was 90mph winds, turbulent seas, and blizzards. We have never felt winds like it. Bianca is still lucky to be here, and not several miles out to sea! It meant for the first day that we couldn't land, so we cruised up and down the Antarctic Sound waiting to see what the weather would do and while doing so, just took in the grandeur of enormous tabular icebergs floating all around us. They ranged from small slabs of ice to some that dwarfed the ship completely.... similar to a good sized island. Amazing to think that 7/8ths of each iceberg was invisible and underwater. It was a proper Antarctic introduction.

A little about the boat that we were on. She was a Russian vessel, chartered by GAP Adventures after their own boat, the 'Explorer' sank after hitting an iceberg earlier in the season (gulp!! but to our advantage as people cancelled which enabled us to get our last minute place). She came with a Russian crew who were really friendly and there were a total of 64 passengers on board. The expedition team genuinely were second to none. They consisted of an expedition leader, and assistant leader, an ornithologist, marine mammal biologist, glaciologist and a historian who kept us enthralled with stories of Scott, Shackleton and the rest of the so-called 'Heroic' period of Antarctic explorers. Their enthusiasm was infectious and they really helped make the trip as special what it was. We had a really great group of people on board as well.

On our second day we had dark brooding skies and a drizzly start to the day as we boarded zodiacs down a rickety and wobbly launch off the side of the ship and made our first landing on the great white continent. We visited Gourdin Island, and it was just unbelievable to enter a shoreline littered with blocks of ice and our landing spot just covered with penguins, fur seals and sheathbills. We saw all three species of brushtail penguins as we walked through an enormous rookery, and fur seals scattered in between them. The whole experience was magical, and it was fantastic to see each other's faces completely light up as penguins would waddle up to us so inquisitvely. They are so cute and cuddly (Bianca's words!) and really are quite hilarious to watch at times! Bianca said I looked like I was in Disneyland, sporting a huge grin from ear to ear the whole morning.


After lots of hot chocolate and lunch we again donned the waterproofs and welly boots and boarded the zodiacs (all with an extra two or three pairs of socks on our feet this time) and made our second landing for the day at an Island called Browns Bluff. The weather had completely changed, it was calm, clear, crisp and the sea was as flat as a lake and absolutely littered with ice bergs and chunks of ice as if you were gliding through a big drink filled with ice. It was absolutely breathtaking, especially the deep blue and turqoise colours in the icebergs. The whole scene before us just indescribable.. and every bit what you expected Anarctica to look like. When on land we walked through a big seal and pengiun colony, and climbed up to a look out point which gave us views over the whole landscape. Our boat again looked like a little tiny figurine anchored in a vast and icy sea littered with the most enormous icebergs. After a good few hours on the Island we went back to our boat for a quick warm up drink before being treated to a zodiac tour around all the ice and ice bergs for about an hour... the occasional fur seal perched on top!! Ash and others topped off a fantastic day with a whisky on the rocks - 30,000 year old glacier ice plucked from the sea!


On our third day we visited some of the South Shetland Islands, located just off the north of the Peninsula. We landed on Penguin Island, an extinct volcano, and walked up the edge of the volcano and around the rim of the caldera which gave us magnificent 360 degree views over the other islands and the Bransfield Strait. Wildlife was abundant as always and we made our way through more selas, penguins and giant petrel birds. Interestingly, the beach was littered with whale bones, which was an eerie reminder of the whaling that took place here some years ago.


We made another landing that morning at Turret Point, where we spotted a rare Sub-antarctic Seal (only 300,000 exist), and lots of huge elephant seals... these can weigh up to 4 tons each! We also had the opportunity that afternoon to steam to Admiralty Bay and visit a Brazilian Scientific Research Station, and it was really interesting to see a more human side to Antarctica (and we got our passports stamped too!).


Our final day of landing proved to be a real treat. We made our way to Deception Island at the most southern point of the South Shetland Islands, a giant dormant volcano some 12 miles across. We were told it is about due to erupt again as we sailed into the enormous caldera! We landed at Whalers Bay, so called for the large now-deserted Norwegian whaling station that lies there. It was fascinating albeit sad to walk around the old wooden buildings and to see the massive tanks that held all the blubber oil extracted from the Whales. We made our way up to Neptune's Window for views out over the bay and Bransfield Strait and had one of the highlights of our trip. We were completely spoilt to see Humpback Whales fully breaching out of the waters below. An absolute treat, and was poignant considering the early human purposes of the island.


We finished our final landing with the piece de la resistance... by stripping down to our bathers and charging into zero degree waters where we had to go completely underwater to qualify for the 'Antarctica swim team'. We both made it and were so numb afterwards we had no idea how cold we were. Not something we will ever forget!


We spent the final two days of the trip making our way back across the Drake Passage, and due to good weather we were lucky enough to take a detour to make close approach around Cape Horn, which was very dramatic. Our fabulous trip was over, and as we steamed back into the Beagle Channel towards Port Ushuaia, a school of Peales Dolphins put on a real show for about 15 minutes swimming and jumping up alongside the ship. This has truly been a trip of a lifetime and something we will never forget.