Sub-Antarctic Islands & Antarctic Peninsula

We’ll attempt to keep it brief but a little suggestion… get yourself a cuppa – you’re gonna need it!

On the morning of Friday 10 December we sailed back into Ushuaia after 18 days & nights aboard M/V Ocean Nova. 

The journey we have taken to the Falkland Islands, South Georgia and Antarctic Peninsula had us saying "WOW" on many an occasion.  With superb scenery and amazing close encounters with wildlife, especially penguins & seals.  We do not have enough superlatives to describe how marvellous this experience has been.

We now need to search through the thousands of photographs we have taken and decide which are the best to share... we have done some which we include with this post but have many more to go.

Here's the condensed version of the 18 days of our voyage...

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Antarctic Expedition on M/V Ocean Nova

Monday 22^nd November to Friday 10^th December 2010

Embarkation of the Ocean Nova was at 1600hrs on 22^nd November; we and 75 others (thereabouts) mainly from Australia, New Zealand, Canada, USA, Sweden, Netherlands, Japan, Malaysia & UK gathered in the Ushuaia port car park for transfer to the ship.  Upon boarding we went through the process of checking-in, just like in a hotel, and taken to our cabin (we already knew that we had mid-ship cabin number 313).  

Two other ships (Polar Star & Plancius) were due to depart around the same time but the Ocean Nova got a head start and was cleared to sail at 1720hrs; we were well on our way to the Falkland Islands a little earlier than scheduled. 

Armed with a variety of sea-sickness remedies, both herbal & mainstream, we were well prepared, or so we thought, but this seemed not the case by the time our first morning and full day at sea came round.  At the beginning of our voyage we spent a whole day in our cabin not able to move, eat or drink anything until later that evening – after additional medicine had been given to us by the on-board doctor. Anyone thinking of this journey, get yourself a prescription for Phenergen (spelling?) - it's possibly the only medication that works for conditions in the Southern Oceans - although it does make you drowsy, so no taking over from the Captain to sail the big ship, or handling any other machinery (cameras excepted).  

The Ocean Nova is not fitted with motion stabilisers, this we did know, but the ship has so many other great features, such as enclosed viewing lounges, and after we achieved seaworthiness and got our sea-legs, the motion wasn’t as much a bother.  In saying this, there were a few times we needed the medication again to avoid the uncomfortable feeling of queasiness while the boat rocked & rolled over the waves.  There was a time that we had to hold onto the dinner tables to avoid us falling out of our chairs at dinner time as the southern oceans revealed some of its power.

On the ship we were served breakfast, lunch & dinner every day – massive amounts of food so no chance to get hungry at any stage – the catering team do an amazing job, especially that they are managing to prepare meals for so many people during motion that would have any saucepan taking a ride along a stove top.  We are sure that this is a tough environment to work and we’re told by other crew members that the chefs are definitely the hardest working.

During the sea voyage days we could participate in a variety of interesting and informative sessions that provided details about each of our destinations or the areas we travelled to or through, what to expect to see, the wildlife, geology, photography workshops, history of human expeditions (such as Shackleton’s) and so much more.  On board the expedition crew cover so many areas of expertise – a biologist, glaciologist, historian and an ornithologist among others who have so much knowledge.  

 

We had to search for the first iceberg to be seen on the expedition… there was only one rule that the iceberg must be bigger than our ship – we were on watch and trying to think of a way to cheat (such as going to the bridge and inspecting the radar).  Neither of us was the successful sighter but we did see many icebergs that were very much larger than our ship.  How many photos of icebergs would you like to see? 

And the wildlife... so many species of penguins and seals in communities that at times seemed to number in the millions along with all the different sea-birds.  Having had such close encounters, we have many photographs that reflect the species, characters, facial expressions and body language of so many individual animals.  How many photos of penguins would you like to see?  How many photos of juvenile elephant seals (weaners) would you like to see?  And how many photos of the many sea-birds that frequently flew alongside our ship would you like to see?  

Unfortunately, we were not successful at a sighting of "our" Emperor Penguin (or any other Emperor Penguin for that matter - with the exception of a photo of one on another return traveller's computer) - there was really only one area for this opportunity but there were none on the ice sheets that we passed by and searched with very keen eyes.  Maybe another trip is necessary to the areas further south on the Antarctic continent and earlier in the season, i.e. in winter,  when they breed, where and when there'd be more opportunities for a successful sighting.

When we had some “At Sea” days (it takes some time across the Southern Ocean to get to all our destinations) we also had many days with shore landings to very interesting locations.  To do this our Ship Captain did his very best to get as close as possible to the shore (no piers or jetties) so we could be easily taxied by “Zodiacs” for 2-3 hour landings each time.  Landings are never guaranteed – it all depends on the weather, sea and wind conditions which are changeable by the minute.  On this journey we experienced the maximum number of shore visits possible, only missing out on two that were planned.  On a couple of occasions, we had 3 landings in one day.

During the journey, while we were in Antarctic waters, we had the opportunity take a "Polar Plunge".  So... Coreena,"did, in sound mind and body, willingly leave a warm and floating ship to plunge into the frigid waters of the Weddell Sea, Devil Island, located at a chilling 63˚48' South.  This brave leap was performed in the presence of sublime glaciers and icebergs, while a flotilla of Adelie Penguins looked on with astonishment.  The water termperature registed a brisk 1.8˚ Celcius."  Coreena IS a member of the "Antarctic Polar Plunge Club".  Roy was one of the many "chickens" who watched on from deck 4 with disbelief at the idiotic things that people do - well, someone had to get the photos of proof!

The southernmost point we got to was Snow Hill Island - it's not often that people get to actually set foot here, but we did - it was incredible - thanks to all the conditions being so good to allowing a shore landing.  And we also got to set foot on the Antartic continent (at Brown Bluff) - again, it's not always possible for people get this one - but us, on the Ocean Nova, were successful.

To give a depiction of how our journey progressed over the 18 days here's some photographs with a note or two about our experiences at the time the picture was taken.  

Enjoy these pics for now... we will try to add more from this trip in another post later on.

Falkland Islands

South Georgia

tracing the steps of Sir Ernest Shackleton - a 6km hike from Fortuna Bay to Stromness

Maiviken, South Georgia
"Bergy Bits" - little bits of ice that have broken off glaciars or icebergs
also known as or "Growlers" because of the noise they make on the hull of a wooden ship.

Drygalski Fjord glacier, South Georgia
see the bit to the left of the centre...

now you don't - we were fortunate to see the calving of the glacier right before our eyes - in fact about 3 sections broke off during the time we were in the fjord and observing the characteristics of such a large and old glacier.

Grytviken Cemetary - where Shackleton is laid to rest

And on the back of Shackleton's headstone

  

Antarctica

The little black dots climbing the iceberg are Adelie Penguins - that's how big this iceberg was

1904 expedition utensils

The Polar Plunge

Other pics

Intrepid Explorer ready for the ice! (Yes, it's Roy)

Gentoo Penguin

In the zodiacs is how we transferred from ship to shore or on a couple of occasions for zodiac cruising that would allow us to see more of the coast of where we visited.

King Penguin chick