This is our voyage below. (We got this at the end of the trip.) It gives you where we went and where we will go. We land at President Head, Snow Island first. We are on an expedition, which means things change. This first landing was not on the plan, but a good Drake Passage crossing made it doable.
This is a picture of Antarctica from space. I like it because it is ice, snow, inhospitable and like no other place, and it is our earth's engine and it does have special wildlife. The piece jutting out on the left is the Antarctic Peninsula where we are. Coming from Ushuaia is the shortest journey from any continent we can take.
We invite Martin, one of the expedition guides, to join us for dinner tonight. We see he has had five years in Dunedin studying. That is where our daughter Anna is studying, and Daniel, our eldest son, did also. We have got to know it well over the years. I read Martin's bio on the notice board. Having read the staff's bio's they all are real stars, I think.
We both go to the gym. There are two bikes which look out to the sea. I finish a book I have been reading called "Fifteen Million years in Antarctica" by Rebecca Priestley. (I had given it to Bill for Christmas.) She is a New Zealand writer and scientist. She recounts how she got to go to Antarctica, what she did there as a scientist and photographer, how you can measure ice depths to learn what has happened in the past like no other place on earth, and she gives her visitor's take on the land she now calls a second home.
Here is a short history which I found really interesting. She starts 500 million years ago. If you drill into the ice, the ice layers give away what happened in the past - approximately.
1880-1950 Lots of explorers visited the Antarctic to claim territory or get recognised in some way. Shackleton is probably the best known - more about him and other explorers later.
1957-1961 Countries set up bases and The Antarctic Treaty is signed.
Below are countries and their bases on the Antarctic. We learn Argentina has the most. Scott Base is where Rebecca went and is the New Zealand base. We won't be going to Scott Base. My mother keeps asking if we are going to Scott Base and the South Pole. We won't be going to either. We are cruising around the sticky out bit (the peninsula).
Here is a glimpse into the future.
Antarctica without ice.
Bill stays working on the ship. I head off to my first landing without him. It is called Snow Island. It is part of a group of islands which form the Shetland Islands. From Wikipedia:
"540km long, this large chain of islands is located off the northern end of the Antarctic Peninsula. Small groups of scientists and researchers, as well as a variety of penguins, seabirds, and seals populate its coasts. After emerging from the Drake Passage, the South Shetlands are a frequent stop for those traveling to the peninsula. Popular destinations include Elephant, King George, Livingston, and Deception Island. Each offers a variety of activities that cater to all levels of interest, and have a significant place in Antarctica's past."
Bill says he will wait until we land on Antarctica. He also is committed to finishing the NEXT accounts, he says.
My first impressions was inhospitable, untouched, pristine, like visiting the moon with ice, snow seals, birds, and penguins. I have tears in my eyes as I have dreamed about coming to Antarctica for thirty years and here I am. It is surreal.
This is like Onetangi Beach for Crabeater and Weddell seals.
Someone takes a photo of me. I am a bit disappointed about the first photo having all the red jackets in the background - this will be the first and last photo with others like that in the photo. They look like aliens on the Snow Island moon.
Here are some other photos from Snow Island. This is a nesting giant petrel.
Rocks I found interesting.
Yes there is green algae in Antarctica.
Fur seals.
Crabeater seal.
Adelie penguins.
Then we had dinner with Martin at La Terrazza. He was very interesting, and we both really enjoyed talking with him. He is German, studied marine science, arranged a semester on exchange at Otago University because they are strong in that, and ended up staying in Dunedin for 5yrs! And it would have been longer if he could have got funding for the Ph.D project he wanted to do there - he loved it. He had spent a month on Big Mangere Island in the Chathams finding and recording black robins, and also had a project on (I think) Snares Island, so we had lots to talk about. He now lives in Alaska with his Alaskan wife and daughter, and was going back to a permanent job with their equivalent of NIWA.
We decided we would invite other expedition guides to dinner.
I look on the kayaking board. We have been chosen for kayaking tomorrow morning at Mikkelson Harbor. Yippee!