We were kayaking rather than do the landing at Mikkelson Bay. (You can't do both.) I love being chosen to kayak! Here is Bill and I ready to go. Also I love this interesting fact about Mikkelson Bay - Caroline Mikkelsen, Norway, was the first woman to set foot on Antarctica when she accompanied her husband, a whaling captain. Yes, for woman enjoying Antarctica too.
This is the procedure for going off the boat . First we swipe our cards to be counted as leaving, with the person at this post.
Then we leave the ship out either of two side doors, depending on the wind.
Then into the zodiac. This is Nat taking the kayaks out first.
We have two kayak guides - Brooke who is wanting to be a captain, and Jake. We had invited Jake for dinner too, so here is a picture of him and then his profile.
A later picture of Jake.
We zodiac around the bay. Nat had taken the kayaks from the ship to where we were going to start. It was windy, wet and cold. It was a great feeling to be in a very remote part of the world, where we were part of a few who had visited before. And it was scary as well, I did not want to fall out! When we got to the kayaks, Bill and I shuffled our way on to our double kayak.
There were twelve of us - six double kayaks, and Jake and Brooke. We were given instruction to keep within 5 meters of one another, to listen to instructions and to take photos of others and then forward photos on to one another. In other words, not to pass cameras across kayaks! Here is Brooke.
And her impressive bio. I like that she had played lots of sports. I did not know this career path was a possibility, and maybe it wasn't for 20 year olds in the 1980's!
We all made it in to the kayaks.
We got told tall people should be in the front because the pedals were shorter in the back, so I went in the back. The back was the steerer. But I was not the steerer for too long. Bill started telling me what to do and started steering from the front! I thought I would be cool about this until the next time we kayaked (if we did.) He could take the steering in the back then, I thought, and I will zip my mouth. Quietly I wondered whether he was more scared than me of falling out? Neither of us wanted to end up in the icy cold water. Camelot took a photo of us. She also gave me a few photos that I didn't get of penguins, scenery, a whale tail and leopard seal. Thanks Camelot. No steering issues at this point, so we are smiling (although you probably can't see that).
Ice in the sea.
And then we came across a gentoo penguin colony. Bill can steer all he likes. I have to get my big camera out. The weather was doing strange things. One minute there was no wind and then it was icy cold, and my fingers were feeling freezing when I pushed the button to take photos (of course I did not want to miss anything.) Jake tells us there is a creche of penguin chicks at the top of the hill. It is very cold (+1 degree but a chilling wind right now), I aim towards the creche, and I got them in a shot. That is amazing with the kayak going up and down and Bill steering.
And then I got the creche on video - just. I certainly bossed Bill to get his "thing" down - that was his paddle by the way. The kayak was going up and down. He probably didn't hear me anyway. He did not have his hearing aids in. At least I got the video footage. Mind my instructions, I can be bossy when I want something.
We were in the kayaks for an hour and a half. Every time I took my camera out my right hand fingers went numb with the cold. Today showed us how changeable the weather is here. At 0-2 degrees, we both agreed we had the four seasons in a short time - sun, wind, sleet, and in between all of the above. We loved being remote and at water level. The water changed, birds appeared and reappeared. Some of them I felt were flying low to check us out. It was challenging with the weather and also exhilarating. I had thoughts for early explorers, especially Shackleton and his men. This is not weather you would want to endure day after day, and we have the latest gear to survive this climate. This is a video of the landscape to give you a sense of the place.
And another shot of the landscape.
And all of us rafting up.
It was back to the ship for lunch. An hour and a half is enough time to be out I thought. Jake gave me an extra pair of gloves as I was still complaining about my numb fingers. We could not take food on the kayaks, I was looking forward to lunch. Eating up large for meals in between will work for me I thought. And the meals are simply delicious. The ship heads to Cierva Cove during lunch. On the way, and after lunch, this is what we see.
We spot a chinstrap on an iceberg.
And sperm whales.
A sperm whale and a fur seal.
We arrive at 2pm for zodiac cruises of the bay. Our group were first off. It is run military style, with a human touch, to get 220 people out on zodiacs for 90mins each over 4 1/2 hours. There are 20 zodiacs on board. Two groups of 30-40 people go at a time. There is precision, reminders and if you bonzoe (make a mistake), it is part of the journey.
Back on the ship we bump into Virginia and Rick (some more good sort Aussies) and invite them to join us for dinner with Jake - at La Terrazza again. The front of house of the restaurant arranges it so we have a table of six, his service is first class plus. Here we are at dinner.
Jake tells us his story. He is Canadian. He was a kayak and other guide on Canadian lakes, and never knew you could be a guide on kayaks in the Antarctic until a friend told him about it. And he especially did not think he had the qualifications to become one. He loved biology and the outdoors and kept doing what he loved, then one thing led to another and here he is. I loved his authenticity, his passion and his sense of fun.
