March 9-13, 2015 (Day 28 – 32): Petermann Island, Lemaire Channel & Port Lockroy
Ortelius in Lemarie Channel, March 9, 2015
Day 28 (March 9, Monday): Petermann Island, Lemaire Channel & Port Lockroy- Noon position: 65º 03’S 63º 55’W; Wind SSW Force 3; Sea state 1; Air +3ºC; 7th and 8th Landing
Today is my Gentoo Penguin Day when I spend six hours on two landings with thousands of penguins.
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By 7:30am, I am already roaming on our own- a free person till 10:30am when I have to return to the ship. I find Petermann Island enchanting: it is covered with snow with numerous beautiful rocky bays, some low but impressive glaciers and many trapped icebergs. Above all, it has thousands of cute Gentoo Penguins- a mix of large chicks and adults.
Most of the chicks have just a few wisps of their baby down remaining and they are preparing to go to sea for the first time. The shallow pool near the refuge hut is a good place to practice swimming and porpoising, safe from Leopard Seals. The adults are mostly in various stages of moult – some just arrived looking fat and sleek, ready for a 3-week fast during the moult, others are standing quietly with drifts of shed feathers all around them, and a few have their moult complete and are set for the winter to come. There are also some Blue-eyed Shags, a couple of fur seals and an occasional Adelie Penguin.
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This is my best experience with penguins on this voyage. They all look clean and the place is not smelly. Ingo, a flight-mate in Group D and my ‘lightroom’ tutor is a keen photographer. I take a few photos of him with the penguins.
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Petermann Island
Around 11am, we enter the world famous Lemaire Channel, a 9km-long and 200m-deep ice-choked fjord squeezed between towering mountains. It is indisputably the most scenic cruise on this voyage! I cannot stop taking pictures of the high and steep mountains disappearing into the misty clouds on the portside and the expansive glaciers and icebergs on the starboard side.
Leaving Pertermann Island
Ortelius entering Lemaire Channel
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Around 2pm, we arrive at Port Lockroy which perches precariously on Goudier Island, almost surrounded by the massive glacier wall and tall mountains of Wiencke Island. Port Lockroy, a historic British base built in the 1940s as a WWII post for listening to German radio-traffic, is now served as a research base for the British Antarctic Survey.
The hut which was abandoned in the 1960s, has been carefully restored and the museum expanded by the U.K. Antarctic Heritage Trust since my last visit in 1999. I find some amusing painting of pin-up girls including Elisabeth Taylor and Sophie Loren in the room which was the staff living quarter in 1999.
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After the museum visit, Dmitri ferries me to the beach on the mainland where I spend another hour with the Gentoo Penguins which are lively, expressive, curious and energetic. I watch with amazement their behaviours: the hungry chick finds its parents by voice recognition and presses to be fed. It never seems to get enough! get feeding.
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I take loads of photos and a few capture the magical moments when the chick gets krill from its parent’s mouth. Some penguins are curious about us: two come up and attack me!
At 5:30pm, I take the last zodiac to return to the ship. Alan asks Dmitri to take him to see a rock with an inscription while Chris (Louis Pugh’s video cameraman) requests a short side-trip to see the glacier. Hence I have a mini cruise! Don gets worried that Dmitri is off-track again. He calls over the radio to urge us to return to the ship.
As our ship is the last one in the season, two staff from Port Lockroy and four Malaysian scientists come on board to get a lift to Ushuaia. (L-beef & rice; D-lamb)
Day 29 (March 10, Tuesday): Melchior Islands & Drake Passage – Noon position: 64º 20’S 63º 01’W; Wind SW Force 4; Sea state 2; Air +2C; Seventh & Last Cruise
Don’s original plan is to arrange an early landing at Neko Harbour before heading to the Drake Passage. Unfortunately the winds are blowing over 40 knot and ice is choking the entrance to the harbour. Don and the captain decide to move on and head northwest across the Gerlache Strait. After breakfast, I stay on deck watching the high peaks of the Peninsula occasionally visible through gaps in the surrounding low cloud.
Luckily the weather improves. By the time we reach the snow-capped Melchior Islands, the wind drops and the sea is calm. We therefore have the last zodiac cruise.
This area is a flavourite feeding ground for Humpback whales and penguins. Our cruise turns out to be my best whale viewing. Scattered around the bay we can see six or more, singly or in pairs, blowing and diving. Our zodiac stays with one humpback whale for over an hour. I watch it surface and dive for a dozen times and take many photos with water squirting through the baleen plates and out the sides or the massive mouth. I also see how it hunches its massive body before its tail rises into the air as another dive begins. Miraculously I have a picture with a Gentoo penguin jumping in the background. Flocks of birds (Antarctic Fulmars, Kelp Gulls and the occasional Antarctic Tern) follow the whales, dipping down to snatch up the krill that the whales drive to the surface. What a wonderful way to end our Antarctic journey!
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As we leave the shelter of the islands we begin to feel the movement of the open sea – but it is tolerable and there are things to see. With the snowy dome of Smith Island to our starboard, providing our last glimpse of Antarctic land, there are more Humpbacks and also groups of Fin Whales. More seabirds too, including those masters of the open ocean – Grey-headed and Black-browed albatrosses.
The sea remains relatively calm. But my fatigue suddenly catches up on me: I cannot keep my eyes open half way through dinner. I leave the restaurant without dessert and sleep like a log from 8:30pm to 5:30am the following day. (I forget what I eat today!)
Day 30 (March 11 Wednesday): Drake Passage – Noon position: 60º 14’S 64º 49’W; Wind S Force 5; Sea state 5; Air +4C; 2 lectures.
The sea remains relatively calm in the morning. I feel like summer and walk around the deck only with my light down jacket! I spend most of my time on the penguin photos. In between my work, I attend a talk by Jim on the leadership style of Scott, Shackleton and Amundsen and by James on climatic change and the Antarctica in the afternoon.
The weather continues to be moderate, though the wind has risen to 40 knots and more. The sea is beginning to follow suit as it builds up a bit too. I make a mistake to work on my photos in my cabin after James’s talk. The potholes are closed and the cabin is very hot. I feel bad without fresh air. I skip dinner to take a rest. Then I feel good enough to join the crowd to watch ‘Qantum of Solace‘ in the evening. The endless car chasing, brutal fighting and bloody scenes upset me: I have no more appetite for such movies. I have a good sleep despite the rolling sea. (L-lasagne; No dinner)
Day 31 (March 12 Thursday): Drake Passage, Cape Horn & Beagle Channel – Noon position: 56º 28’S 66º 18’W; Wind WSS Force 6; Sea state 6; Air +11C; 2 talks
I get up at 5:30am. The Drake is treating us kindly. We have 30+ knot headwinds and some lumpy swells but Ortelius is handling these well. We are making good headway northwards. It is 11ºC outside – we haven’t had air temperatures like this since NZ.
For most of us, today is a day of organization: handing back gumboots and life-jackets, getting information about disembarkation, swapping photos and, of course, settling the bar bills.
I stay on deck most of the time to stare at the sea and birds as they come around. Jim shares his experiences in skiing in Svalbard when his group had a close encounter with polar bears.
In the afternoon, after settling my modest bar bill, I attend a talk by Liesl, our Port Lockroy hitchhiker. She is one of the lucky persons on earth who can spend 13 seasons in the Antarctic including a season in the South Pole as a winter base commander. I enjoy listening to an insider’s look at this unique Antarctic post. She ends her talk with a video on southern lights. While many can see northern lights, only few persons are able to watch southern lights!
Around 2pm, we approach Cape Horn and enter the Tierra del Fuego islands thereafter. All join the last recap at 6pm. Don and others get emotional: they thank everybody for making the expedition a success. We also appreciate the work of the captain and his crew, the expedition team and the pilot team. At 6:30pm, we go to the deck to bid farewell to our helicopter crew who fly back to Port William on the Chilean side. Without them, we could not have reached most of the attractions on this journey.
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 Tao & I |
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Everyone is busy saying good-bye to each other. I take email addresses of a few friends I have made. I am also busy downloading photos from the ‘photo-exchange folder’ and the travel log prepared by Alan with the assistance of a few passenger and expedition team members. I particularly like Ingo’s photos and seek his permission to use some of them in my website. Alan’s travel log is most useful and I use some sections here too.
Day 32 (March 13 Friday): End of Voyage & Disembark at Ushuaia 54º 48’S 68º 20’W
I do not sleep and get up before 5am and watch sunrise for the last time on this voyage. The mountain-rimmed Beagle Channel at dawn is beautiful. I notice Ushuaia brightly lit up by orange street lights has expanded a lot since my last visit in 1999. After a quick breakfast, we all get ready for disembarkation. Rob, the hotel manager has kindly agreed to keep my luggage on the ship for my second voyage. I therefore leave the ship only with a light backpack. After hugging my friends whose company I enjoy, I walk down the gangway beading to the town I visited 15 years ago.
Remarks (uploaded in Cape Verde on May 11, 2015)
Every journey has to come to an end. I am glad that I have completed my 6,000-nautical miles journey from Bluff to Ushuaia without seasickness or health problem. My travelogue has helped me recall how I have spent my time at sea.
I uploaded the journal and some pictures before rejoining MV Ortelius on March 24. I hope my family and friends who are interested in my travel can find out what I have been doing. The ‘Remarks’ section is written during my 36-day voyage from Ushuaia to Cape Verde.
The Ross Sea Antarctic Odyssey is an expedition in comfort especially bearing in mind the arduous and perils of early explorers. The voyage though not really an adventure, is a ‘once-in-a-life-time’ journey which is simply ‘UNFORGETTABLE‘.
First and foremost, I have circumnavigated the White Continent from Cape Adare to the Antarctic Peninsula. I have set foot for the second time on Antarctica – the last unspoilt continent on Earth. Its grandeur, whiteness, solitude, emptiness, purity and unearth beauty are indescribable. The surreal ice landscape with ice piedmont, glaciers, ice-tongue, ice shelf, pack ice, icebergs, floes and sastrugi, the Trans-Antarctic Mountains and the immeasurably vast Southern Ocean teeming with wildlife (seabirds, whales, penguins and seals) is breathtaking. The sound of nature including the ferocious gales, waves and swells in the roaring Forties and the furious Fifties, calls of whales, penguins and seals, and the polar landscape create a unique ambiance that would stay with me forever.
Second, I am one of the few fortunate persons who can follow the footsteps of early explorers and set foot on some of the most remote places on earth including Cape Adare and the Dry Valleys on the mainland, Shackleton’s hut on Ross Island and Peter I Island. If the weather had cooperated, I would have also visited Scott’s hut at Cape Evans and taken a helicopter flight to see the expansive Ross Ice Shelf. I am disappointed but nothing is perfect. I have seen my first Emperor penguin and indeed appreciate whatever I have a chance to see!
Third, I hate wasting time and have kept myself surprisingly occupied:-
- 11 activity days with eight landings, seven zodiac cruises and four helicopter flights.
- A couple of hours everyday during the 18 sea days in the bridge or on deck enjoying fresh air, appreciating the awesome unearthly landscape as well as the seascape.
- Attending 34 lectures conducted by the expedition team and six talks by guest speakers (four by Michael Martin on his 35 adventurous journeys in connection with his new book project, one by Louis Pugh on his swim in extreme cold waters and seven oceans and the last one by Lisel on her stay at South Pole).
- I watched watching 19 film/documentary/slide shows.
Life is too short. I am glad to learn and see new things everyday.
Fourth, I have a lovely time thanks to the expedition team and my friends. My cabin mates, Laurie and Katherine are great and considerate. The French are friendly and have given me a chance to practise my rustic French. Babiz from Greece who has been to everywhere and Pepsi, his wife are cheerful and wonderful. My German friends, Frank and Tao, Elly and Martin, Ingo, Marcus and Volker always greet me with a smile. Martin’s adventure and superb photos on deserts are inspiring and I shall always remember his parting advice – ‘take RAW (pictures)’. Ingo, a good tutor on the use of ‘lightroom’ and Volker have tendered the same advice. But I am a lazy accidental photographer and find ‘lightroom’ too complicated!
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 Diane (photo by Ingo)
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 Ann & Elizebath (by Ingo) |
Finally, I have taken the longest voyage in my life. But this record will soon be broken by the 36-day journey to Cape Verde. I love the sea and enjoy the magic spell and freedom of the sea. But the Southern Ocean which is far away from anywhere can pose danger at times. A passenger had heart-attack on the way to Cape Adare and the ship might have to return to Bluff. Fortunately, she recovered and I did not learn about this till the end of the voyage. We are indeed lucky to complete the voyage without mishap thanks to the Captain and crew, the doctor on the ship and the expedition team.
Travel is a great way to learn about people as well as oneself. During this trip, I see how an expedition leader can define a wonderful experience or ruin one’s dream journey. I like members of the expedition team who are knowledgeable and nice. But some passengers including myself are not impressed by the people and communication skills of our expedition leader.
The basic problem is that he is not a good listener and effective communicator. I had a typical itinerary for ‘guidance only‘ from Oceanside Expeditions before departure. But our leader did not brief us on the route and tentative landings at the beginning of the voyage. When a few passengers began to ask about landing sites after the first landing at Campbell Island, he became irritated saying certain places were not in his plan. He referred us to the trip note which says “The final itinerary will be determined by the Expedition Leader on board. Flexibility is paramount for expedition cruises”. What is his plan for this voyage?
When asking politely whether we would land on Shephard Island in Marie Byrd Land after spending five days in the Amundsen Sea, I got the same rude reply. In his view, the problem lies with wrong information provided by Oceanwide Expeditions and travel agents. He tells us to raise the issue with the company.
We all appreciate landing depends on the weather and other factors and an expedition leader has to take tough and unpopular decisions at times. Some passengers think that we had not landed on a couple of sites for reasons other than poor weather conditions. They feel some information had been kept away from us. All in all, a competent and good expedition leader must gain the trust of the participants and maintain effective two-way communication to avoid unnecessary misunderstanding and frustration on both sides.
Antarctica is captivating and irresistible. I have now the ‘polar bug’ with me: I shall return to look for the Emperor penguins and chicks and to revisit South Georgia and Falkland Islands – places on my bucket list!