Feb 9-12 From ice covered Antarctica to a sheep farm!

 It’s a long way from Antarctica to New Zealand so once we left Antarctic waters we spent several days at sea navigating north through the mighty Southern Ocean. Those days were filled with lectures and a few cooking classes, cocktail making workshops and charcuterie specials – and entertainment. The ship had a group of professional dancers on board as well as musicians and they were marvelous. Two days before landing the crew and expedition staff put on a fantastic show – so much talent.

What a wonderful distraction - Creme Brulee

At one point the captain came to us to say that someone had booked a very early flights from NZ so he was going to end the expedition or at least get in to port a day early! Most of us were outraged.  (Passengers are always instructed not to book flights before at least midday as the weather and seas can be unpredictable.)  As ‘compensation’ they arranged tours for us in Christchurch and surrounds. We went to a sheep farm! I ask you!? That’s a far cry from the Antarctic which was the entire focus of this lavish journey.  It was shameful.

We reach New Zealand along with a cyclone and flights out of Auckland were cancelled. Fortunately our wonderful travel agent, Bev Edwards Travel Managers, was on top of it all and booked us on a flight from Christchurch to Melbourne the following day and also booked us into an airport hotel overnight.  We were pleased to get home – but we hit the floor running as we would be heading back to the airport less than 3 weeks later to once again fly across the Pacific to our neighbouring continent. I will tell you about what comes next soon ….. but needless to say our voyages around the Antarctic Peninsula, Subantarctic Islands and the Antarctic continent had been wonder-filled,  thrilling, a time of adventure, challenge and learning. We will return to visit another small part of this vast icebound continent, the world’s true ‘Land Down Under’ to learning about other explorations and explorers, about magnetism, geology and meteorolgy. To once again tackle the vast, wild and unforgiving Southern Ocean.

February 7-8 Balleny Islands and the Southern Convergence

 

Snow dusted our balconies and outside decks - very pretty

The Balleny Islands are an extremely remote, wild, inhospitable group of islands almost 300 km north of the Antarctic mainland. They are located around the Antarctic Convergence where the cold waters of the Antarctic meet the warmer Subantarctic waters. That makes the water in the region rich in nutrients which come to the surface of the water as the waters mix. That in turn attracts lots of whales and sea birds.  We were supposed to zodiac cruise around the islands, but it didn’t happen. 

The skies looked stormy

The weather was a little (a lot)  challenging (which is normal for this area) so the captain aborted that plan and sailed as close as he dared (at least 3-4km - we were sailing in a tough icebreaker and yet the captain was extremely conservative). Of course that didn’t give us much of a look but we did see some shadowy forms in the distance as well as some gigantic icebergs. The weather as wild and the seas high  waves crashed over the bow sending spray as high as the Bridge. It was quite rough but so thrilling holding tight to the railing on the Bridge as the ship bucked and dived into the waves.

We watch the waves crashing over this iceberg - it was mesmerising.

It was thrilling being on the bridge crashing through these mighty waves. 

February 6 Cape Adare and Borchgrevink’s huts

 

This morning was a little sad as we had left the Ross Sea and would soon be on our northward journey ‘home’. We had arrived at Cape Adare which separates the Ross Sea from the Southern Ocean and is home to one of the world’s largest Adélie Penguin colonies. It is also the site of the first human structures built in Antarctica. We had high hopes of making a landing.  

This Adélie Penguin was happy to share the icefloe with this seal.

Some of us went zodiac cruising before landing. The sea was breathtakingly beautiful 

In January 1895, Norwegian explorers Henrik Bull and Carsten Borchgrevink from the ship Antarctic landed at Cape Adare. It was the first documented landing on Antarctica. Borchgrevink returned to the Cape leading his own expedition in 1899 and erected two huts, the first human structures built in Antarctica. The expedition members overwintered there. It was the first expedition party ever to spend winter on the Antarctic continent.  These huts are still standing and the site is recognized internationally as a significant historic site. Members of the Northern Party of Scott's Terra Nova Expedition overwintered at Cape Adare in 1911 and 1912. They erected one hut, which sadly is in ruins today.

When we visited Cape Adare back in 2020, we tried twice to land with little luck - on the first attempt the advance party was turned back by rough seas and ice along the shore, and the second attempt had to be aborted after only a few people landed as the sea was simply too wild.  But this time, three years later we made it!

The shoreline was crowded with large chunks of ice making landing a challenge

There are a few large birds in this shot, it is a small colony of Giant Petrels 

Walking carefully through the debris of the colony

It was quite exciting wandering through the massive penguin colony. We also saw a Giant Petrel colony which is rare. The Giant Petrels are a much-maligned bird as people see them as penguins killers. In fact they eat mostly krill, squid and other invertebrates or scavenge dead of decaying matter. They serve a valuable service in huge colonies like this one as they help clean up dead birds. If not for those birds, we would be walking knee-deep in dead penguins.  Even so we saw many desiccated birds lying around.

We were able to enter the one hut which is still in good repair - one of Borchgrevink’s hut from his 1899 expedition, the other is being restored. Sadly the hut from Scott’s northern party is no longer.

These are nests perhaps 100s of years old

One of Borchgrevink's hut being restored

The structures provide shelter for the penguins 

There is a lot of restoration work still to be done

It was a busy, noisy, smelly but fascinating place to visit

The Adelie Penguins are the cutest. This little guy seems to be waving us farewell.

Then it was back to the ship to have our boots hosed down after walking through layers of penguin guano. There was a little party on the back deck to farewell Antarctica as we were heading north first to the Balleny Islands then New Zealand 6 days away.

Our boots were pretty dirty after walking through the Adelie colony

Our farewell party to Antarctica 

Leaving Antarctica behind!

February 5 Cape Hallet, Ross Sea

 

This morning we were heading north to Cape Hallett which nestles seaward of the towering Admiralty Range on the western edge of the Ross Sea (Cape Adare at the entrance to the sea lies 100km to the north). The captain is trying for a landing on the sea-ice but much of the ice in the area is too fragile so they went in search of another safer spot.  Incidentally it is -4.5C and feels like -18C. Eventually they found a stretch of ice which is super slippery but unlikely to crack under our feet. A bit scary for me going out on slippery ice but we are fitting our boots with crampons - whoa! In the meantime, we prepared ourselves for the adventure, and boosted our spirits with a delicious Sunday brunch overlooking the ice - mimosa, crab, caviar, crab tacos - and a slow cooked piglet. Boy do we feel spoilt.

Sunday brunch

The landing party preparing for us

None of the crew had been here before so everyone was excited. We actually wore snowshoes and I have to say I felt safer in those than just walking in gum boots. Only a little snow here and there so it’s icy. Ice, ice all around with cracks running here and there and everywhere. We had to stay between the cracks clustered together in groups with our guide. Seeing so many cracks was a bit disconcerting especially as you could feel the movement between the sheets - but it was thrilling at the same time.

Straddling a long crack

Of course everyone wanted to stand on either side of a crack!

People set off in small groups to explore this piece of fragile ice. A number of people fell in their snowshoes but there were no injuries. All too soon it was time to get back on board. When we got back to the ship, we found that many of the pieces of ice at the edge, even quite large ones, had broken off and drifted away while we were well away from the ship. So we were fortunate that we were on more stable ice away from the edge. All part of the thrill of the adventure!

An exciting place far away from everything 

Before leaving the area we cruised around a large Adelie colony. Some people landed to wander through the colony but we stayed in the zodiac to just cruise. It was quite glorious winding through icebergs of phantasmagorical shapes and colours some dotted with curious penguins. Cameras didn’t stop clicking!

The penguins spilled up the hill

Some people landed to wander through the colony; we stayed in the zodiac to cruise.

The mud room

February 2-4 Cape Evans, Cape Royds and the Ross Sea

Scott’s Hut 

[I’m beginning to think that I am all out of sync with the dates – blame the International Dateline plus the dates on the program and confusion with dates on my phone … and other things. The sequence of events is OK.]

This morning, whichever date, most of the ice around Cape Evans had blown away and we were set to make a landing. The site was as I remember it – it is cared for meticulously by the New Zealand Antarctic Heritage Trust. We split into groups – some went to the hut and others went walking and then we switched.

Before entering the hut (built in 1911 as part of the British Antarctic Expedition of 1910–1913) we had to remove our boots and only a couple of people were allowed in at a time. It was quite eerie standing in the space where 112 years ago men had toiled at all manner of things to keep going and to made life bearable. (I have included a collage of photos of the hut dating back to that expedition, the expedition from which Scott tragically never returned). 

"It is a time warp without parallel. You walk into Scott's hut and you are transported to the year 1912 in a way that is quite impossible anywhere else in the world." Sir David Attenborough.

These photos date back to the Cape Evans hut (Terra Nova expedition 1910–1913) 

These photos taken by 'yours truly'

Outside the ground was littered with bits and pieces of material, timber, nails, wire, crates. Everything had to be left in its place. It as quite an experience to be there but Lindsay and I felt disappointed that we had not been able to visit the Discovery Hut from Scott's first expedition, the Discovery Expedition of 1901–1904.

That afternoon we retraced our steps to visit Cape Royds where Shackleton’s hut from his 1907-09 expedition still stands. I was excited about the prospects of a visit as I hadn’t been ashore on our the last voyage to Antarctica in 2020. Our Captain looked for a place to let down the anchor but didn’t find any that he was happy with. Strangely two other ships in the area managed to visit! He decided to drop anchor nearby and try again in the morning.  Come morning, again he was not happy with the location – too much ice (a very conservative captain).

The wind picked up a little funnelling down from the ice plateau

The decks had heaters built in to melt the ice and snow

We had been promised Terra Nova Bay and a sighting the stunning Drygalski Ice Tongue which stretches 70 Km out to sea. It is at least 4,000 years old. Not far from there is Inexpressible Island where Scott’s north party were marooned for 200-odd days living in an ice cave.  The men suffered frostbite, hunger, and dysentery. The ship doctor George Murray Levick said:

"The road to hell might be paved with good intentions, but it seemed probable that hell itself would be paved something after the style of Inexpressible Island." 

Such places are special but we simply didn’t get there and there was no explanation why we didn't. Instead we headed for Coulman Island, an ice-covered island made up of volcanoes. The weather wasn’t brilliant (this is Antarctica) and there was no place to land or even launch the zodiacs so we moved on. I realise that weather plays a huge part in determining destinations but in spite of their very special navigation aid – a helicopter and depth finder vessel! we seemed to wander aimlessly. A dreadful waste of time given the extraordinary coastline and islands in the Ross Sea. 

Coulman Island with the Transantarctic Range behind

In the meantime the Executive Chef, Florent Delfortrie, put on a cooking class on preparing Arctic Char (trout-like fish) – delicious.