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  • TravelerEnd Of The World
    Day 12

    Shake It Up

    January 21, South Atlantic Ocean ⋅ 🌧 9 °C

    "Dance all night, go to work
    Do the move with a quirky jerk. Just shake it up, oo oo". Cars

    As a kid I used to love going on all the rides at K-Days or the Western Fair. Nothing was too scary. I would get off the ride and if the line wasn't too long I would get right back on again.

    Well this 20 hour bonanza should be my dream come true. If you combined the ship ride that swung 90° degrees back and forth with a scramble ride ready to throw you to the ground or down the stairs with one wrong move, you would have the Polar Pioneer on the angry Drake.

    Step right up ladies and gentlemen!

    Seriously, it is a bit of pandemonium here, breakfast and lunch were cancelled. Washroom trips are an expedition on to themselves. Brave crew members came by with hard boiled eggs for breakfast. Lunch became a build your own sandwich for those who could make it up the stairs to the expedition lounge.

    Most people hunkered in their cabins. Sliding to the end of their bed and back again. We knew there was a risk of a proper "Drake Shake". Going down was an appetizer, today was the main course. I write this from the expedition lounge, those here counting the hours until we make it to the Beagle.

    Then around 6PM it slows down and by 7PM we are in the Beagle Channel.

    We have a goodbye briefing and watch the send off video that was put together by David. 9PM dinner and then bed for an early departure.

    Despite today, it has been an absolutely amazing trip. I recommend this to everyone. Just don't go artificial. Avoid the behemoths. Get a 100ish passenger ship. If you get a Drake Shake it's part of the experience.

    Top Five Excursions
    1. Spert Island Zodiac
    2. Petermann Penguin Colonies
    3. Humpback Whale Zodiac
    4. Winter Island/Verdansky
    5. Paradise Bay

    While it will take me five different flights and 31 hours to make it home I don't think it will make for exciting reading. Take care and thanks for following along.    Read more

  • TravelerEnd Of The World
    Day 11

    Boat Kept a Rollin'

    January 20, South Atlantic Ocean ⋅ 🌬 4 °C

    "Boat kept a rolling all night long". Aerosmith (mostly)

    "We are heading into a storm" are the words we heard this afternoon from our expedition leader.

    The crescendo has been building as the day has progressed. Last night our sleep was pretty good. By this afternoon the waves were crashing all the way over the bridge deck. Small ice berg bits crash into the hull every so often with resounding bangs.

    Staff have had various lectures and quizzes to distract us. Movies and books have been read. Activity levels are low.

    This boat is built to cross the Drake, just perhaps not in comfort.    Read more

  • TravelerEnd Of The World
    Day 10

    Roll With The Changes

    January 19 in Antarctica ⋅ ❄️ 1 °C

    "Oh you've got to learn to roll with the changes". REO Speedwagon

    To sail into the cauldara of this active Antarctic volcano you have to be careful to avoid the Devil's Jaw. This means setting course straight for Neptune's Bellows on the opposite side of the narrow entrance and watching that cliff pass ever so closely by while simultaneously escaping the shallow rocks of the cursed jaw.

    Once through the tightrope, we enter into Deception Bay, a miles wide body of water almost entirely surrounded by the volcano walls which last erupted in 1969.

    Inside the cauldara, the water is calm even as the winds gust and the snow falls.

    Deception Island, as this barren mountainous outcrop is known, was an active whaling station. Hundreds of thousands of whales were processed in the nearly hundred years that the whaling station operated, before closing in the early 1960's.

    Whale carcasses line the ocean floor and litter the beaches. A haunting reminder of a less humane time.

    Little snow accumulates on these black sand and ash beaches as the geothermal activity provides just enough warmth. The patches of snow that do accumulate on the rolling black, volcanic, hills provide a striking resemblance to the whales that where once slaughtered here.

    We make landing at Pendulum Cove. If situated in the South Pacific these lush black sand beaches would be ringed with hotels. Here the remains of one of the destroyed stations, some whale bones and a single chinstrap penguin are our only companions.

    Around 20 of us have decided to climb one of the more accessible hills. Devoid of snow, the soft volcanic sand provides better traction than the icy snow of yesterday's walk. At altitude the wind is a constant 50km with gusts that can knock you over. Snow swirling everywhere. As we near the summit, the soft sand turns to a larger more scambly volcanic scree. I make it to the sub apex, enjoy the view then say goodbye to Neil and the rest of the group as they make the last scramble up.

    As I begin my decent I am thankful for the pole Neil was kind of enough to bring for each of us. The wind and snow batter my sunglasses-turned-goggles and I think about the conditions the people at these whaling stations endured. We don't get to the graveyard but there are 35 graves for people who lost their lives working in these bleak conditions here on Deception Island. If this is summer I am not sure I can fully imagine what winter feels like.

    As is the reality with any trip to Antarctica, the inclement weather forces changes in plans. A second landing is deemed unsafe, so we are to depart the cauldara after lunch.

    The view of Neptune's Bellows, those steep cliffs opposite the Devil's Jaw, are much better this afternoon, the red, waffled cliffs almost glow.

    Then we are in the Drake. The boat begins to roll almost immediately, nothing intense but certainly the most motion since we arrived at the South Shetland's five days ago. We are told the first day of crossing will be considerably better then the second. Stay tuned.    Read more

  • TravelerEnd Of The World
    Day 9

    Paradise City

    January 18, South Atlantic Ocean ⋅ ☁️ 1 °C

    "Take me down to the Paradise City where the moss is green and penguins are pretty...". Guns and Roses (mostly)

    I think Antarctica holds different charms for different people. You can't fault those who feel the rugged mountainous landscapes are the best with their snow capped glaciers. Some say it's the icebergs floating everywhere - each one it's own special structure. It would be hard to argue with those who love the whales the most, as they magisticly weave in and out of the water, their flukes calmly dropping below the surface to power them ever forward. For birders all the beautiful petrels, gulls and albatross top the charts. For me though, it's the penguins - they are as industrious as they are humourous. I have not yet tired of watching them, being bemused by them, admiring them.

    This morning we are going to Danco Island, the weather is cloudy, cool but mostly calm. Neil is a bit under the weather with a cold, so is going to rest. We make landing just down from a penguin colony. The beachfront nests offering the Gentoo settlers great views and easy access to food, at the expense though of limited protection from storms and leopard seals.

    The guides have set up a three stage hike; after walking to the first stage up the steep, icy trails I had a decision to make, keep going or get some extra penguin time down by the landing spot. I am amazed I am the only one who thought that this was the smarter choice so I head back to the boats, sit beside Liz and we silently watch the penguins enter and exit the water, parade around the boats, feed the young, find and steal nest stones, play and socialize. They are mindful but not bothered by these two quiet humans sitting on a zodiac. The only other sounds being the intermittent thunderous crash of avalanches reverberating through this narrow passage of water between the island and the peninsula.

    Sadly our solitude is broken as others return from their hikes. A small group of us head out to look at bergs and seals. The ever eagle-eyed Liz spots a big leopard seal stretched out on a bergy bit. Then it's time to go back for lunch.

    This afternoon the zodiac pushes through and also over both brush ice and small growlers as it leaves the Polar Pioneer on its way to Paradise Bay. Lots of scraping and bumping.

    We are with skilled but fearless Mark for this trip. Typically Paradise Bay is one of the highlights of an Antarctic trip, but the snowfall and low cloud cover take away the dramatic high glacier vistas.

    But what we lose in mountain scenery we add with dramatic Antarctic ambience. Glaciers at every turn waiting to drop the next big iceberg into the Gerlache Straight. Seals hitchhiking a passing bergy bit, Artic and Antarctic terns collectively deterring skua and gulls from plundering the babies from their steep cliff side nests.

    We quickly stop at Brown's Station, an Argentinian summer research centre and because we are with Mark and Liz we have another close encounter with a couple of humpback whales.

    We get back in time for a ritual on the Polar Pioneer - the Polar Plunge. For days people have talked about the plunge in hushed tones - "are you doing the plunge Chris?", "Neil, how cold do you think the plunge will be?".

    Last night the guide leader said those doing the plunge this afternoon will get a healthy shot of vodka.

    For some reason I was the first person to make the plunge, it's not that I wanted some cheap vodka that badly but I figured I would probably regret if I didn't go. Nobody wanted to go first and that's how I was the first to walk the plank.

    It's really not that cold if you just jump and don't think about it. It was also very safe and thankfully they moved the ship away from the brash ice. In the end half the passengers made the plunge. With eighties dance music playing, it was very fun.

    Neil, who absent the cold was planning to make the plunge, had a scotch waiting for me replete with the oldest of glacier ice that the crew found floating in the water. While there is no way to prove it, the ice in our drinks likely predates the arrival of humans.

    Tomorrow we will visit some islands in the South Shetlands and by tomorrow night we will venture into the Drake. Wish us one last good sleep!!    Read more

  • TravelerEnd Of The World
    Day 8

    Living In the Past

    January 17, South Atlantic Ocean ⋅ 🌬 2 °C

    "Oh we won't give in, let's go living in the past". Jethro Tull

    Today felt like Antarctica. Today felt like we were explorers from a different era. Today it snowed.

    Once again, a lot happened today and it started with our 4:45AM wake up call to witness our sailing through the Lemaire passage. It is a narrow passage replete with steep, dark rock cliffs. Snow benches are perched perilously close to the water, just waiting to ambush unsuspecting passersby.

    Small bits of brash ice floating everywhere quietly being pushed about by the Polar Pioneer. Penguin tracks mark a rockery for only the surest footed penguins. We are alone. Much of the year this passage is frozen over in thick ice. We emerge an hour later into a magical land of icebergs. These bergs melt so slowly that every calving will add to the extraordinary inventory.

    The weather is calm but cold this morning as we head for Vernadsky Station. Vernadsky Station is technically in the Ukraine and their flag flys over the encampment. The British sold this particular station to the Ukrainian government for £1 rather than dismantle it. Back in the day you could go into the station but now it's mostly verboten. Nicely though our two Ukrainian passengers are permitted to enter, we have gotten to know them and they have kindly agreed to buy Neil (while really Rowan and Declan) a postcard.

    The rest of us carry on to Wordie House, named for the scientist attached to the Shackleton expedition. Built in 1947, and used for seven years, it has been left, museum style, for expeditionists (had to be careful with autocorrect there) to explore.

    At the old station are some Weddell seals that saranade us with their quiet songs. Apparently this is extremely rare and nobody other then Mark and Liz have ever heard this before. Liz says this quiet singing can get very loud, very quickly, during mating season.

    After the history tour, we set out exploring on zodiacs again. Around the fairly large Vernadsky Station. Replete with Ukrainian flags and endless Gentoo penguin colonies. We have come during the early days of birth and baby chicks nestle protectively under their hyper vigilant parents' legs. Waiting for their spouse to bring home the regurgitated krill or perhaps a new nest rock . Because, you know, Peter and Polly's nest looks a little nicer, what with that new speckled rock Polly brought home. Oh penguins.

    After this look about, it's bergie hunting in our winter wonderland, all while the snow begins to fall - snow-globe style. Like all good explorers we have dressed warmly so we return to the boat, cameras full and still relatively warm and dry.

    Our afternoon mission is to "Find Penguins" and I am happy to report dear reader, mission accomplished.

    This afternoon is truly all about seeing the little waddlers up close and everywhere. Petermann Island is our destination. Being so far south on our expedition, this is our first chance to see the Adelli penguin. They are the third of three species we will see in this part of the world as they do not venture much further north.

    While we need to, and do, keep our distance; we can, and do, get close enough that we can see the chicks with their mom's. We can see them regurgitating and feeding the kids. We can see them stealing rocks from each other's nest for their own.

    Gentoo and Adelli each have their own rookeries; and the Gentoo do their donkey-like bray constantly. Both penguin types walk up their little highways and we are instructed to stay off their road and if we do cross their highway they have the right of away. It is all very orderly and we all get along happily.

    It is an amazing afternoon, pictures galore are taken as we walk about the little hills around the bay, exploring the various little areas where bunches of penguins commune together.

    Some libations follow on board with Liz and her roommate and her roommate's friends. This turns to dinner which turns to our end of day briefing and the next thing I know blogs are being written before tucking into an "early" night.    Read more

  • TravelerEnd Of The World
    Day 7

    End of the World

    January 16, South Atlantic Ocean ⋅ ⛅ 0 °C

    "It's the end of the world as we know it and I feel fine". REM

    The zodiac is a rugged craft capable of navigating narrow, shallow and icy passages. It is the safari jeep.

    Mark, our Welsh born, recently Campbell River based, guide is a skilled zodiac operator. For our morning expedition Mark hopes to circumnavigate Spert Island, part of the Antarctic Peninsula islands. The geology of the area is volcanic, abrupt cliff edges are everywhere, square edged, hard rock.

    A glacier sits atop the island, a long white thick tongue covering much of the island's rocky surface. Scarred along the edges where large sheets of ice have calved off.

    There are a lot of scars and so many icebergs floating around the water slowly melting during the short summer. Guiding here is never the same, as the narrow water passageways get blocked with new ice.

    The first stop is a rock arch, every bit as beautiful as it's Mediterranean counterparts. We slowly circle in and out to give each of the nine of us a good view.

    Then it's off to the first narrow passage that appears to have received a new delivery from the glacial tongue. We are the first of five boats sent off, so Mark carefully pushes through, finding a channel where the ice is loose enough to navigate, and just like that, we are into an amazing bay of icebergs. Every shape of iceberg imaginable. Like clouds we all see what our imaginations allow. Having just been in Turkey I can't help but see the iceberg equivalence of Cappadocia. Toppled columns of ice as the melting upper part of the iceberg causes the structure to capsize in a circular fashion.

    Mark has spotted penguins hanging out on an iceberg so we scoot over to send our greetings; some are in the water trying to catch just-the-right wave to propel them back onto the berg with their mates.

    We say good bye when Mark and Liz spot a seal sunning himself on a small sheet of ice. We race over and determine that it is a regionally-rare leopard seal. Leopard seals favourite food is penguin and given the number of penguins about I don't think this guy misses many meals.

    We carry on soaking in all the natural beauty. Mark is determinedly looking to find a way around the ice filled waters, suddenly we spot some cat faced Weddell seals with teeth designed to cut through the ice so as to keep airholes open during the winters.

    Eventually, Mark finds a way through and we spot the Polar Pioneer. But first, one last stop to another penguin hangout before hitting the cool open water. A lovely two hour journey. A shower and its time for lunch before the afternoon excursion.

    It's a warm afternoon, +10°C in the sun. This excursion is to Palaver Point a lovely bay with a dozen or so humpback whales swimming about.

    We disembark for a walk about amongst the chinstrap penguins, being careful to mind our distance. A few Weddell seals are lying about oblivious to any and all of the commotion. We climb up a small snow covered hill for a look over the pretty bay but Neil, Liz and I are anxious to get into the zodiac and go whale watching. The three of us along with Anna, a keen photographer, jump in a zodiac with Mark and start exploring. Two Vancouver Island whale watching captains and three passengers. Needless to say we have the experience of a life time. We get so close that as we kneel over the gunnel, Liz says "he is going underneath us" and we can see his colouring in the water below. Then just like that he surfaces within a few feet of the starboard bow.

    Several other close encounters occur with mothers and babies, so many synchronizing their moves, tail fluke after tail fluke. It is breathtaking. Hopefully my pictures/videos will ultimately capture it. We are out for a half an hour and then we have to pick up seven others who have been climbing around the penguins.

    We stay out for another 30-40 minutes with this larger group and see more whales but nothing beats that first fourty minute experience.

    After dinner we spend some time on the bridge watching the whales work to collectively hunt for krill, bubble netting. Then it's bed time as we have a 5:45AM start.    Read more

  • TravelerEnd Of The World
    Day 6

    Changes n Latitudes, Changes n Attitudes

    January 15, South Atlantic Ocean ⋅ 🌙 0 °C

    "It's these changes in latitudes, changes in attitudes nothing remains quite the same". Jimmy Buffett

    We made landfall this evening on Robert Island. Part of the South Shetland Islands. The islands forms a protective northwest cover around the Antarctic Peninsula. It was magical.

    Around 3PM, humpback whales and penguins, porpoising through the water, became our escorts as we headed into the passage. Icebergs everywhere small and large. The sun shining brightly, mountains rising in the distance behind. Fourty-eight hours ago we thought we were finished, now we are in an icy wonderland.

    We learn disembarkment will be at 7:30PM so we have dinner before we load up on the zodiacs and head for the landing spot.

    In no time we are there. We step ashore - bundled up for cold weather that isn't there. Dozens of penguins are on the beach to greet us. They have swum for miles catching fish for their family and are stopping at the beach side resort for some R&R.

    Eight foot long elephant seals are nearly passed out on the shore exhausted from hunting giant squid deep into the ocean and getting ready to molt.

    As we make our way inland, we see hundreds of Gentoo penguins some with their young chicks, others still sitting on their eggs. We give them their distance - it is their home.

    Little Chinstraps intermingle with their bigger Gentoo cousins. As well as being amazing swimmers the "Chinnies" climb high up the hills, their wings making them great swimmers and providing balance as they climb.

    A constant braying sound can be heard as Gentoo's call out to their mates so they can find each other and share the catch. Nothing says I love more than regurgitating fish into your loved one's mouth.

    Our two hours on shore are seemingly over before they start; as shortly after 9:30 PM we are back on the boat and celebrating a spectacular first landing.

    It's nearly midnight as I write this from the deck of the bridge. The sun has set but the SW horizon is still a glow, whales are still frolicking in the water and icebergs remain everywhere.    Read more

  • TravelerEnd Of The World
    Day 5

    I Feel The "Earth" Move

    January 14, South Atlantic Ocean ⋅ ☁️ 1 °C

    "I feel the earth move under my feet..." Carole King

    It was a'rockin last night as we left the Beagle and headed out into the Drake for day one of our two day crossing. I managed to get some sleep in between the vertical up and down sliding and the constant rolling. Neil was not as fortunate.

    As measured, the maximum tilt experienced was 29° around 2AM. We "wake" up to very messy toilets and broken crockery, the crew working diligently to clean things up while the waves continue to batter the Polar Pioneer.

    A quiet day, we see a fin whale from the bridge deck as it quickly comes up for air. Some sea birds but not much else.

    We get a lecture on the first discoverers, from Magellan onwards. Ultimately learning that it was a Russian, Bellinghausen, that first discovered Antarctica in 1821. A disappointing fact that was not well received by our Ukrainian passengers.

    A nice lecture on the 18 species of penguins with specific focus on the three species (and one sub species) we will see on our journeys.

    The waves calm down later in the day promising a better sleep tonight as we head into Antarctic waters tonight and then cross the 60° parallel.    Read more

  • TravelerEnd Of The World
    Day 4

    Roundabout

    January 13, South Atlantic Ocean ⋅ 🌧 5 °C

    "Call it morning driving in the sound and in and out the valley..." Yes.

    "We have blown a rod in the port side engine, we have to turn around, I am sorry to say the trip is over before it can begin."

    These are the first words I hear at 6:30AM, after a calm quiet sleep, from a very distraught David. His dreams of starting a guiding business seemingly as shattered as the ruinous engine itself.

    David has just recently come from the engine room where the crew has been working to somehow get the ship righted.

    I can't help but think of our little group, Neil and Liz excited to be travelling together, Liz and I and all the torturous travels we have endured. The logistics of trying to get home or pivot to Plan B.

    I tell Neil the news. Both of us had been wondering why our nights sleep has been so calm when we were expecting a turbulent first night through the Drake passage.

    The Captain, who is naturally more familiar with engines, gives us a briefing - it is not as bad as we first were told, the engine is fine but it is the "starter" (which is a lot more intricate than on a car) that is shot, but the fact remains they don't have the part. So we must wait for a pilot to lead us back through the Beagle which could be hours or days. Then we each must figure out hotels, flights etc. All with no cellular reception.

    Once we hear that the pilot should be coming soon we purchase some Starlink data (hence the blog postings) to start working on logistics. We WhatsApp call our amazingly supportive wives, tell them the news and enlist their help to book hotels etc. They have been following us on CruiseMapper and have been wondering why we have not been moving for some time.

    We are just about to open a bottle of wine to console ourselves when David quietly comes in and advises us the engineering team has machine lathed a tool to remove the broken part and then machine lathed the part. Unfreakin' believable. The engine has thus restarted and we will be able to cross the Drake with both engines working once again.

    The Captain briefs everyone, assures us we will be safe and introduced us to the hero of the day - the Chief Engineer who has not slept since before we left Ushuaia. We will have one less day on the continent but all in all an amazing turnaround.

    It is hard to describe the roller coaster of emotions everyone has gone through, but it was truly inspiring to see how everyone remained extraordinarily positive.

    Under power once again, we make good speed and after supper head into the angry Drake waters for what promises to be a "proper Drake Shake". Sleep well everyone.    Read more

  • TravelerEnd Of The World
    Day 3

    Hang on Snoopy

    January 12, South Atlantic Ocean ⋅ 🌬 6 °C

    "Hang on Snoopy, Snoopy hang on". The McCoys (mostly)

    I saw my first Albatross today. It was extraordinarily exciting. It was a small one apparently, with only a 7' wing span. A foot wide bird with two yardsticks sticking out, awkwardly bent.

    He or a few of his friends followed our ship through the Beagle Channel as we made our way through this narrow waterway that divides Tierra del Fuego. The channel named after Darwin's boat that discovered this safer short cut on their way to the Gallpogos.

    The first part of the day was not the most exciting to write about. We dropped our bag off around 10:30AM with the Polar Pioneer crew and then killed time until 3:30 PM. Liz met up with our leader, David, whom she guided with in Antarctica for several years. We find out that David, an experienced polar guide and commercial lawyer, has started this business, Islands and Ice Travel, and this is his maiden voyage as owner. His enthusiasm is off the charts.

    While waiting to board the ship we go to Liz's favourite watering hole - Bar Ideal. Fours hours and four pints later it's time to board the ship.

    Born in 1982 the Polar Pioneer is not a new ship but it has been retrofitted, ownership has changed from Russian to Scandinavian, thankfully, and there is nothing wrong with it, we think. But when you see the picture of our ship on the dock compared to some of the 200 and 400 passenger behemoths you might think "what is the tugboat doing on the dock there?"

    Backstory, Neil and I did not want to go on a glitz and glamour ship. We are a 50 passenger ship, regulations allow only 100 people to go onshore at any specific time. We did not want all the side excursions (like photo op kayaking moments) designed to distract you from the fact that you can't go onshore for very long because your time on shore is cut in two or four. We came here to see Antarctica, to explore Antarctica not to do distracting side hustles. Having an experienced guide who has seen the differences first hand helped with our decision.

    So with that, we board the ship with the excitement of kids going to Klondike Days for the first time.

    The guests are 75% Australian with some Kiwi's, Canadians, Ukrainians and Yanks thrown in. Median age is slightly older than me, most are fit, some super fit, some less so.

    Dinner is nice, simple but good. A small steak with mashed potatoes and some fresh cooked vegetables.

    The sun sets late so we spend some time on the bridge while the
    pilot directs the ship through the channel. This is a requirement and he will leave at the pilots station to get transport back to Ushuaia and help the next ship. The waves in the channel are high, a wind storm has just passed through, it could be a bumpy two day crossing over the Drake Straight.    Read more

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