(This missive will guide you through some of the highlights of the ‘solid ground’ aspect of my trip).
To anyone who goes to the Antarctic, there is a tremendous appeal, an unparalleled combination of grandeur, beauty, vastness, loneliness, and malevolence – all of which sound terribly melodramatic – but which truthfully convey the actual feeling of Antactica. Where else in the world are all of these descriptors really true?
- Captain T.L.M. Sunter
Peninsula Whole
(Note: please don’t think I’m terribly clever – quotes such as the one above were posted on our daily schedules (so I wasn’t even smart enough to source them myself!) – some of them are fantastic as they were written decades ago when they still used heavy wooden equipment and wore woolly jumpers!! Tally ho!!)
“Land ahoy me hearties! Har har..!” – Actually, it felt quite weird to be standing on solid rock as apposed to something that was rocking solidly, despite the gentle crossing. Not only was this the first time my feet had touched a non moving surface in 36+ hours, but I was now in the Antarctic region, Desolation Island to be precise, at about 9pm in what looked light broad daylight. It was also our first ‘drill’ of getting all our gear on to be allowed to get onto the zodiacs to make the landing – what a rigmarole! But within about 2 or 3 days, we all felt a bit like firemen – could get kitted up within a few minutes of being called, and off we’d go!! We were met by a bunch of female Elephant seals, shortly followed by a couple of Seal lions, then Weddell seals and a couple of Leopard seals. And of course, penguins. I love the first photo attached as it has all elements of Antarctica in it – a Weddell seal in the foreground, some icebergs (if you look closely, the small black patch on the left hand iceberg is a Leopard seal), penguins, snow, and the sun kissing the tops of the craggy peaks. And of course that feeling of isolation and a place that is truly not for human beings. Nature rules alright.
Desolation Island 2/1/10, 22:16 hrs.
Desolation Island - discovered on 15 October 1819 by Captain William Smith in the English merchant brig Williams during his second visit to the islands. The anchorage Blythe Bay at the southeast side of Desolation Island was frequented by the early Nineteenth centuryEnglish and American sealers. Desolation Island is located in the Antarctic region (49 degrees 20 minutes S, 70 degrees 20 minutes E). James Cook ran across the Island in the late 1700s. He noted in his journal that he would have called the island "Desolation Island" if another explorer had not reached it first. Yet, in English minds, the name stuck.The island seemed desolate at the time, even though it teems with Antarctic animallife, mosses and even an unusual variety of cabbage that is exceptionally high invitamin C. (It was used by sailors and whalers throughout the 1800s to avoid scurvy.)While the English called it Desolation Island the French named it after its discoverer and call it Kerguelen Island. It is currently a French colony and has a base for geologic research and also for the French Space program (mostly tracking satellites). (ref: Google search and Wikipedia)
Departing Desolation Island – 22:50 hrs approx.
A big day the next day, dropping anchor at both Aitcho Island and Deception Island and sailing through Neptune’s Bellows to reach one from the other. A zodiac took us from ship to shore, and those who wanted to, did extended walks/hikes which had been marked out by the expedition leaders. It’s part of the protocol around minimising the tourist impact on Antarctica, to follow strict instructions from the leaders of what to do/not do around distancing self from the wildlife, penguin highways, recognising if your presence is distressing the animals which you can see by any adverse changes in their behaviour, and, of course, not straying from the path mapped out by flags that are removed before departure. It also keeps everyone safe if the weather closes in or to keep us away from a treacherous piece of snow/ice that might give way. We were always decked out in our bright yellow coats so any strays could be easily spotted! Anyhoo, Aitcho Island was also my first of seven, yes seven, kayaking locations! So lucky with the weather the whole trip, as the amount of activity, landings etc are solely determined by it. I’ll talk about the kayaking in another missive, as it was truly extraordinary, and talking about kayaking will detract me way too much from ‘The Land’!
So, the Aitcho Islands, charted in 1936, lie in the northern entrance to the English Strait,between Greenwich and Robert islands. Both chinstrap and gentoo penguinsbreed here – but more of them in, you guessed it – another missive! Telefon Bay is the bay which is enclosed by Deception Island, a dormant volcano that looks donut shaped on maps. I’ve seen steam rising from the waters of Telefon Bay in pictures, but didn’t see it the day we were there. I did see a heat haze though, coming off the black volcanic sand and pebbly beach, where some rather warm penguins were sunning themselves and looking a bit frazzled! In true volcanic style, it was a bit of a moonscape, with no vegetation to note, but amazing contrasts of blacks, greys and whites. We hiked up some of the ridges and had breathtaking views. It was like being on top of the world at the bottom of the world if you know what I mean!
Old whaling station Deception Island
Black sandy beach, Deception Island
The next day was huge with the three stops of Enterprise Island, Neko Harbour and Danco Island. Verging on over ambitious (but boy was it worth it!), we were on the go from 5.30am for a zodiac cruise at Enterprise before breakfast, and fell into bed around midnight after leaving Danco Island around 11.30pm. On top of doing two hikes, I also kayaked that day, and was exhausted by the end! I actually sent myself a postcard from Antarctica as a souvenir, and wrote about this day. I think it reflects well a typical day on this extraordinary expedition, where the fair weather allowed us to do so much. I wrote…
“Dear me. An unreal day – we’re really packing so much in. Up at 5.30am for a zodiac tour around Enterprise island – saw incredible icebergs, Gentoo and Adelie penguins, a ship-wreck, old whaling boats, and seals. It was snowing when we got up – so beautiful; and with it being overcast, the blues in the icebergs were like the blue stripe in toothpaste! Phenomenal shapes, patterns, colours and textures in those huge ice- blocks. Landed on the Antarctic continent today – our only landing on this trip. Went kayaking in Neko harbour – so still, and a big Minke whale popped up about 5 metres in front of us! Lots of penguins, a snow-ball fight at the top of Danco island, sledding down on my backside back to the ship. 11.45pm – still light. Brilliant brilliant place!”
Whaling boats for carrying water – about 100 years old. Don’t decay due to little/no bacteria existing in the freezing conditions.
Same for these 100 year old whale bones
Me on my way to kayaking – huge glacier in background. Neko harbour is renowned for its ‘calving glaciers’.
A beautiful Antarctic snow angel!! I made this one on the Antarctic continent itself, as well as start the snowball fight (gee I like to cause mischief!!).
5th Jan, the next day, was another corker! Just when I thought things couldn’t get much better, this day delivered blissful weather, and plenty of action to boot! Port Lockroy (now a British base), Joulga Point, the stunning Lemaire Channel and the heartstoppingly breathtaking Pléneau Bay to its south (my favourite locale of the trip), Port Charcot and the Argentine Islands were the locations. Two kayaking excursions, a hike and an overnight camp on the ice left me absolutely shattered by the following day. We were now almost as far south as we’d get on this trip, at about 65 °15’S by the end of the day where we camped on a large piece of snow covered rock in the Argentine Islands.
Did some retail therapy at Port Lockroy after kayaking around the surrounding islands, hence the very attractive ‘skirt’! Eat your heart out Carrie Bradshaw!
Port Lockroy lies on the western side of Wiencke Island in the Palmer Archipelago. It was discovered by Charcot during his French Antarctic Expedition of 1903-5 and named for Édouard Lockroy, a French politician and sponsor. The harbour is relatively small, 800 metres long by 800 metres wide, and comprises two sites: Goudier Island and Jougla Point. Goudier Island is home to the restored British Antarctic Survey (BAS) hut and museum. The BAS hut was Station A, referred to as Bransfield House. It was occupied between 1944 and 1962. Research carried out at this site focused on surveying the region, geology, meteorology and botany but after 1950 the emphasis switched to ionospheric research. They now run a little souvenir shop, post office and museum there. The hut was restored in 1996. I actually heard that a bunch of primary school kids from Geelong in Victoria helped with its renovation as part of a school project – unreal!!! There are lots of Gentoo penguins nesting close to and on the steps of the hut, and this colony is part of a long-term study monitoring the impact of tourist activities on penguins. The study has so far indicated that the Gentoos are doing much better with people around, as humans keep their most active predator, the Skua, away.
Onto the Lemaire Channel. 11kms long and 1 km wide, it separates Booth Island from the Antarcic continent. Luckily, our ship was fairly small with a shallow hull, so with this in mind, and ‘Mad Alexi’, our Russian Captain (who I must say commanded quite a presence) at the helm, onward we went, and made it through unscathed. I was a little worried at times, due to the Lemaire Channel being pretty narrow, and enormous chunks of iceprecariously hanging off the lips of the glaciers, that would have caused quite a big tidal wave if they’d broken off. Not to mention the fact that there’s no one nearby to come to the rescue if needed! It was also absolutely freezing going through there, I guess because it’s so narrow and the cold air gets trapped. A bit of history, it was discovered by Dallmann’s German expedition of1873 but Gerlache was the first to navigate it in 1898 and named it in honour of Charles Lemaire, a Belgian explorer of the Congo. I find it astonishing that people were down here back then, and even longer ago than that even. What were they thinking??!!!! It’s interesting to note that Captain Scott himself thought this was noteworthy – “…for countless ages the wind-swept snow has drifted over these deserts, with never a footprint to break its white surface”. (Captain Robert Falcon Scott)
Entrance to the Lemaire Channel
I love this shot because of the wispy clouds sweeping your eye from right to left to meet the chocolate coloured swirl of dirt in the snow. Also love the simplicity of the tones.
The mirror like Lemaire Channel – brrrr!
Precarious!
Pléneau Bay lies just south of the Lemaire Channel, and as we left the Lemaire Channel, Pléneau Bay was truly a sight to behold. I had a few ‘moments’ here – just quite overcome by its beauty and surrealism. I still can’t quite grasp how nature can create such shapes and colours that look fake. It was as if a big Hollywood production company had gone down there with massive blocks of polystyrene, carved weird shapes out of them, then painted them blue and lit them with an electric blue neon light, that looked just as vivid in daylight! Unreal. Pléneau Bay is home to the ‘iceberg graveyard’, where both large tabular icebergs and older, rolled icebergs have run aground and have been stuck there for many many years. Many of these icebergs have originated from as far south as the Ross Ice Shelf. This is also a good location for finding Crabeater, Weddell and Leopard seals hauled-out on ice floes and ice bergs. I don’t have any ‘vista’ shots of the iceberg graveyard’/ Pléneau Bay that do it justice. Most of the better pictures are of the bergs themselves (which will be in another missive). Suffice to say, that kayaking around the iceberg graveyard was right up there for me as the highlight of my trip.
The next day, our second last, I seem to remember as being the warmest. Two kayaking trips where I wish I’d been able to wear a t-shirt, and a BBQ on deck where I wore prettymuch what I would on a Sydney winter’s day was due to blistering sunshine. Boy was it stunning, invigorating, overwhelming and moving, all at the same time. But I digress – back to ‘The Land’… Visited the Ukraine’s Akademik Vernadsky Station which is located on Galindez island within the Argentine Islands. It was purchased from the British for a nominal price of one pound in 1996, as it was cheaper for them to sell the station than remove the buildings. As a British hut, Faraday base or Station F, was occupied continuously for 49 years between 1947 and 1996. Research conducted from this site focused on geophysics, meteorology and ionospherics. This is also where scientists first observed a depletion in the ozone layer, known as the ozone hole. The Ukrainian scientists at Vernadsky are continuing this ozone research in addition to studies focusing on geomagnetism, meteorology and glaciology. A historic British hut, Wordie House, can also be found on neighbouring Winter Island. It was named after Sir James Wordie, a member of Shackleton’s Imperial Trans-Atlantic Expedition (1914-16). Wordie House was occupied between 1947 and 1953 when a new and larger building (Coronation House, renamed Faraday in 1977) was erected at Marina Point, Galindez Island. Unfortunately I only had a whirlwind tour of the Ukraine base due to kayaking taking up heaps of time, but we did bump into two rather British ‘chaps’ at Wordie House whilst kayaking. They appeared in their wooly jumpers, moustaches and with pipes – could have stepped straight out of the 1920’s really, and our conversation was just like having a chat with your neighbours over the back fence! They didn’t offer us a cup of tea though, which was jolly bad luck really! But, we did discuss the weather! Tally ho chaps!!
‘Vernadsky’ 65° 15’S
Do you come here often? Tally ho!
Nest was Petermann Island which lies just below the Lemaire Channel, southwest of Hovgaard Island, in the Wilhelm Archipelago. It was discovered by the Dallman expedition of 1873-4 and named after August Petermann, a German geographer and supporter of polar exploration. The French explorer Jean-Baptiste Charcot and his vessel Pourquoi Poi? overwintered here in 1909. Charcot also named a cove on the southwest side of the island Port Circumcision because he discovered it on Circumcision Day. On the beach near the cove is an abandoned Argentinean refuge hut, built in 1955. There is also a memorial cross nearby for three British scientists who died near here in August 1982. Petermann Island is home to Adélie penguins (~500 breeding pairs), the most southerly colony of gentoo penguins in Antarctica (2,000 breeding pairs) and blue-eyed shags. Grass and moss can also be found on the northern section of the island once snow melts. There are stunning views from Petermann Island both looking north towards the Lemaire Channel and south, to the mountainous landscape of Graham Land.
I like this shot because it’s got plenty of wildlife in it , and the human influence seems pretty poxy in comparison. This was taken on Petermann Island, pretty close to the graves of the British scientists.
Our final day before heading home was to Useful Island and the Melchoir Islands. By this stage, I had taken over 1000 photos, and really wanted to kick back a bit and look at it! Haven’t got many photos to share from this, but a little about these places – Useful Island is situated 2 miles west of Ronge Island in the middle of the Gerlache Strait off the west coast of Graham Land. It was discovered by the Belgian Antarctic Expedition of 1897-99, under Gerlache. This island is rarely visited and even more rarely landed on, so we were most fortunate to have yet another clear day and had a perfect 360˚ panorama of some of the most scenic waterways and mountains of the Antarctic peninsula.
The Melchior Islands are low-lying and covered in thick ice, with very little exposed land. Various species can be seen here but it is primarily a hotspot for humpback whales, and boy were we overloaded with these majestic creatures. More of them in another missive. We had our last zodiac tour here, and it was mindblowing due to the sheer number of humpbacks that were in full feeding mode, and because of the lilac coloured water that was like a millpond. You kind of run out superlatives when describing Antarctica. And we only saw a tiny tiny part of it. If I had to choose one word, it would be ‘MASSIVE’ – take that any way you like, whether it be geographic, sensory overload or stupendous. Hey, just summarising ‘The Land’ has taken twelve pages!
And with that I leave you with a photo taken by one of the other passengers, hinting at the sheer scale of the place, and a quote which I could not put better myself.
Strange. There is always sadness on departure.
It is as if one cannot after all bear to leave this bleak waste of ice, glaciers, cold and toil…
- Fridtjof Nansen 1912
