Heather's travel tales 2023: January 21 Charcot Island

Charcot Island

Except for a few exposed rocky bits in the extreme NW, Charcot Island is entirely covered with a thick ice sheet. That huge engulfing glacial sheet ends in sheer cliffs some over 40m high making any landing impossible. Presumably the shape of those cliffs is created by calving ice at the water's edge. Very few people have landed on this largely untouched island and neither did we, but we did explore it from the ship. Charcot discovered this 'island' in 1910 on board the Pourquoi Pas? it was surrounded by ice and the closest Charcot got was 60Km and he believed that it was part of the continent. Interestingly the ice that glued Charcot (and Alexander1) Island to the continent was the Wilkins Ice Shelf. Why is that interesting to me? Hubert Wilkins, an Australian explorer (among other things) who few Australians have ever heard of, was knighted for his contribution to explorations in the North and South Polar regions and his war efforts. He was a war photographer extraordinaire. He was an adventurer, explorer, geographer, pioneer aviator, submariner, war correspondent and photographer who was involved in at least 9 Antarctic expeditions. It was very pleasing to discover that in Antarctica a number of places are named in his honour - Wilkins Island, Wilkins Sound, Wilkins Ice Shelf and Wilkins Aerodrome near Australia’s Casey station. He led an exciting life across the globe from attempting the first submarine navigation to the North Pole. Sadly few Australians have heard of him. Hopefully that will change one day - we should laud all of our brave explorers. As Howard Whelan, a well-known adventurer in his own right, has said .....

“Today’s adventurers push the boundaries, keeping alive our ability to take responsible risks, to face danger, to evolve”.

As I said early, Howard was the cameraman for the first Australian ascent of Mt Everest which reached the summit. Subsequently he was founding editor of Australian Geographic and trustee of the Australian Geographic Society; he was also our expedition leader to the Antarctic Peninsula over Christmas-New Year 2022-23. Talking of adventurers, specifically Hubert Wilkins, I would like to recommend a book to you - Hubert who? by Malcolm Andrews. It is an easy read.

But back to Charcot. The two black and white photos below are from Charcot's first Antarctic expedition aboard Le Francais 1903-05. Here they are over-wintering in Port Charcot. But maybe it is time to get back to telling some of the story of our own, 2023 expeditionary voyage aboard Le Commandant Charcot!

Images from Charcot's 1903-05 expedition on Le Francais

We cut our way through dense brash ice dotted here and there with seals lounging on small icefloes. It was a day to enjoy the scenery (unless you were working out in the gym and there were quite a few!), to relax with coffee watching giant icebergs slip past the window. And we rounded out another magical day sipping apres dinner drinks, Mandarine Napoleon and Cointreau, watching as the sea slipped under our keel. Quite glorious.