Friday, 23 December 2022

December 24 Portal Point and Hydruga Rocks

 

This morning we headed for Portal Point and another landing. The landing spot was pretty similar to yesterday’s – icy and steep, so I decided not to attempt it and I wasn’t the only one. A few other passengers joined me in a delightful cruise through icebergs looking again for whales. We followed a small pod of humpbacks before we were called back to pick up more passengers. 

Zoom in and you can see some people walking through the snow


It was beautiful out on the water, but the weather was threatening to deteriorate so our expedition leader, Howard decided to take advantage of our small island of calm weather and do the polar plunge. Of course Lindsay and I lined up for that! It was freezing and the launching pad which was basically a floating pad, was difficult to get back onto – I (and some others) had to be hauled out and in the process I sustained some injuries to my ribs.  We were handed a shot of vodka as soon as we got back on board and then we hustled back to our cabin for a hot shower. We felt chilled to the bone!
After lunch we cruised on to Hydruga Rocks. The weather was pretty awful with an increasing swell and snow but a few brave souls went out in zodiacs to experience it – not us! 
That evening being Christmas eve the kitchen put on an ‘indoor BBQ’ and some of the expedition team got us singing Christmas Carols. Tomorrow we head for the Weddell Sea on the east side of the Peninsula. This wasn’t on our itinerary but the weather system was too nasty to attempt more landings on the west side. 

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