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Ushuaia, Antarctica, Ushuaia 3
  • Lorna Spaas
  • Paul Spaas
  • Lorna Spaas
  • Paul Spaas

Ushuaia, Antarctica, Ushuaia 3

Finding more penguins and whales. More adventures await! Read more
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  • Trip start
    November 26, 2024
    Ushuaia, Antarctica, Ushuaia 3

    Ushuaia and Departure

    November 26, 2024 in Argentina ⋅ ☀️ 9 °C

    Paul and I took a quick walk into town this morning. Most of the shops were closed by then, and will open again around 4pm. It doesn't matter. We just wanted to get some crisps from the supermarket! :-)

    Some of the photographs of from the loading of one of the expedition ships run by a company called 'Ponant'. The interior photographs are of one of the luxury cabins that have a separate bedroom, a lovely living room, walk-in-wardrobe, large bathroom and a pantry area.

    Outside, guests luggage is being loaded into the ship and there are fuel tankers to fill the ship's fuel tanks.    Read more

  • Ushuaia, Antarctica, Ushuaia 3

    Sea Day & Edinburgh Hill

    November 28, 2024 in Antarctica ⋅ 🌬 0 °C

    Yesterday was a sea day and we hosted a table of 3 guests. 5 guests were invited but only 3 could attend. It was a pleasant evening. One couple were from Australia, the other person was from the US but originally from Taiwan.

    We arrived at Half Moon Island around midday. Unfortunately the surrounding seas were too rough so the landing was cancelled.

    Before we sailed away entirely from the area, we crossed the bay to sail past Edinburgh Hill, a volcanic basalt plug.    Read more

  • Ushuaia, Antarctica, Ushuaia 3

    Cuverville Island & Neko Harbour

    November 29, 2024 in Antarctica ⋅ ☁️ -3 °C

    I didn’t go ashore in Cuverville. Emotionally I wasn’t in a good place for a few hours and needed time to sort myself out and pull myself together.

    This afternoon we were in Neko Harbour and I went ashore. There was a nice walk up to the ridge with good views of the glacier and the ship below. Near a ridge towards the bottom I went on to do a bit of a circular walk back to the landing site.

    While walking up to the ridge, there was a thundery sound and we were able to view 3 avalanches within a short space of time of each other, snow hurtling down the mountain cliffs, towards the sea, leaving a snow plume out into the bay. It was spectacular. I wasn't very quick to take a video of the start of them but I still got footage of a bit of the avalanche and the snow plume.

    There are lots of nesting penguins but I didn’t see any eggs! Others did - as always. I'm not so lucky to see things!    Read more

  • Ushuaia, Antarctica, Ushuaia 3

    Petermann Island & Argentine Archipelago

    November 30, 2024 in Antarctica ⋅ ☁️ -1 °C

    It was a beautiful clear beautiful day when we arrived at Petermann Island. Two cruises ago we couldn’t make it because of ice blocking the Lemaire Channel and larger Grandidier Channel. I had a nice walk and saw lots of penguins.

    In the afternoon we arrived near White Island in the Argentine Archipelago and did a zodiac cruise to see the Ukrainian research station but didn't visit it. We had hoped to go around some tiny islands but the channels between the islands were blocked with ice. We went amongst the ice bergs and bergy bits instead.

    In the evening we went through the Lemaire Channel, in a northeasterly direction towards Port Charcot where we will be tomorrow morning. It was still light so I went with Paul to the bridge. One of the zodiacs was put down in the water and went to scout out the channel to see if the ship could pass through safely. Yes, it was fine. The zodiac came back and then zigzagged its way through the ice, guiding the ship. Whales were spotted in the channel!    Read more

  • Ushuaia, Antarctica, Ushuaia 3

    Port Charcot

    December 1, 2024 in Antarctica ⋅ ☁️ -3 °C

    Unfortunately a landing site couldn't be found for Port Charcot this morning. I can't hear expedition announcements in our staff cabin so I sat in the Expedition Lounge, listening to the announcements for any progress or what might happen instead.

    A kayak group were going out and one of the kayak leaders approached me and advised that someone had cancelled at the last minute, and asked if I'd like to go.

    Yes! Of course I'd like to go! I dashed up to the room to get rid of my life vest, heavy overcoat and ski trousers, and put on an extra thermal layer on, then headed down to the boot room where the guests were getting ready to go kayaking. My kayaking suit was a medium as there were no small ones left, so I had plenty of padding! Then I had to put on a life vest over the top of that. Booties went over the foot part of our kayaking suits.

    After heading out in a zodiac to our kayaks, 2 ladies decided that they didn't want to go kayaking after all, so call was made on the radio to request a zodiac to come out to fetch them, and they were transferred back to the ship.

    I had a lady in my kayak and she did quite well. The current and a bit of wind made kayaking a bit hard but it was fine. Towards the end of the session, humpback whales were spotted so we kayaked towards them, and kept adjusting our whereabouts on the water to wherever a spout was spotted. Unfortunately I wasn't so lucky to see them! I didn't take many photographs from the kayak - I didn't want my hands getting cold from having to take my gloves off to activate the camera app on my phone.

    Once back at the ship, I had a nice hot chocolate. A suitable landing site still hadn't been found so zodiacs were taking guests out for a cruise in the bay.

    In the afternoon the zodiac did cruises into Ice Berg Alley/Pleneau Bay, just around the corner from Port Charcot, but I was very tired and didn't go. I slept the afternoon away instead!    Read more

  • Ushuaia, Antarctica, Ushuaia 3

    Port Lochroy Submarine Dive

    December 2, 2024 in Antarctica ⋅ ☁️ -4 °C

    We arrived in Port Lochroy and some people from Antarctica's only post office & museum came on board to give a talk about their work on preserving former research station buildings, a bit of research and of course their lives at the base.

    There was a question and answer session afterwards and during that time Paul quietly came and tapped me on the shoulder. He wanted to speak to me. When out of guests' earshot, he advised me that a guest had cancelled their submarine dive and asked if I'd like to go as none of the staff could go. Oh yes! Of course I'll go.

    I quickly dashed to the cabin to fetch my life jacket, put on some dark clothes and shoes, and headed back downstairs for a quick weigh-in, and then headed to the mud room (boot room).

    A group of us were ferried across to one of the two submarines and participated in the submarine dive. It was great fun and I enjoyed it tremendously.

    While I was in the submarine, guests on the ship were having zodiac cruises around Port Lochroy - it was a beautiful day for it.

    This afternoon we are sailing around the corner to Damoy Point and will do a landing there.    Read more

  • Ushuaia, Antarctica, Ushuaia 3

    Damoy Point Walk - Hut

    December 2, 2024 in Antarctica ⋅ ☁️ -3 °C

    During lunch, the Pursuit headed out of Port Lochroy and around to the corner to Damoy Point, a headland off the western side Wiencke Island.

    We were allowed to go ashore and visit the surrounding area, including a hut built by the British in 1973 and used as a summer air facility and transit station for scientific personnel at that time. Since 2009, the hut has been managed by the UK Antarctic Heritage Trust, a British charity responsible for managing six historic huts on the Antarctic Peninsula. (Remember the guys at Port Lochroy? Some of them have been working on this one, and repainting it.)

    I had a lovely walk to visit the hut which is now a museum.    Read more

  • Ushuaia, Antarctica, Ushuaia 3

    Damoy Point - walking around the ship

    December 2, 2024 in Antarctica ⋅ ☁️ -2 °C

    Once back on board the ship, Paul and I had a walk around and I got to see areas that I've not been to yet: the lifeboat stations, galley, and the staff relaxation area on the top deck of the ship. It was a lovely patio/relaxation and bar area, and there was a hot tub too. There were 2 curious snowy sheathbills eyeing up the hot tub!Read more

  • Ushuaia, Antarctica, Ushuaia 3

    Meeting of the Venture & Pursuit

    December 3, 2024, South Atlantic Ocean ⋅ ☀️ -3 °C

    As we sailed away from Danco Island towards Chiriguano Bay, we met with the sister ship the 'Venture'.

    The ships met bow to bow with a good distance between for safety. Staff and guests cheered from across both ships. The expedition team had a photograph of themselves on the bow with the Venture in the background, and the ship's photographer took drone footage of meeting of the two ships.

    After a while both ships parted. We are continuing into Chiriguano Bay for a zodiac cruise and the polar plunge.    Read more

  • Ushuaia, Antarctica, Ushuaia 3

    Chiriguano Bay Zodiac & Polar Plunge

    December 3, 2024 in Antarctica ⋅ ☀️ -2 °C

    I had a nice zodiac cruise with some guests. The zodiac trip was shorter than usual because of time lost with meeting nose to nose with the Venture. In the end, the polar plunge started around 17:15. It had good attendance from guests and staff. The water was just below 0°C.

    The ship is now heading to Ushuaia.    Read more

  • Trip end
    December 5, 2024
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