Elephant Island

First, before anything, we want to take a quick moment to wish a Happy Birthday to a few people whose B-Day’s are roughly this week. So, Jerry, Paul, and Clint, Happy Birthday! (I’m fairly sure at least one of you will actually get this!)
True to form this trip, that which is intended, and that which happens are NOT equivalent! The intent was to arrive at Point Wild, Elephant Island this morning, around 5ish. First, Elephant Island is (almost certainly) named for the Elephant Seals, which are found here. Though the island ironically resembles the head of an elephant, it is highly unlikely that anyone landing here at the turn of the century or as late as 1920’s would have appreciated that resemblance, so the stories that it was named for that are pretty well bunk. Anyway, on this island, Shackleton landed his crew of roughly 100 men after 500 days at sea or stuck on an ice shelf, and left a Mr. Wild in charge as he and 3 others headed for help (like 600 miles to South Georgia Island, to a whaling station. The 21 men with Wild set up in the only safe place, which happened to be in the middle of a penguin rookery. The good part is the food was near and plentiful. The bad part, well, it stunk of bird dung!! So, landing on Point Wild had natural and historical significance for us; of rather, it would have, had we landed there!! The sea was rough (high winds and swells), so we rounded the island and picked a spot on the southern side, and tried to come ashore there. Well, no good spots, so we did two Zodiac Tours, which amounted to disembarking the ship into the Zodiacs and “touring” for about 90 minutes. (Pic?) The air temp was 32F (0C) and the wind, well, it was windy. So, we got splashed a lot. I thought the Gore-Tex pants and gloves were pricey, but after 90 minutes of being heavily splashed and my gloves and pants were dry (inside at least), I guess it was worth the money!
Anyway, we saw a Chinstrap Penguin colony, and a Macaroni Penguin colony. Chinstraps are, well, white in the front, and black on the back, but have a black stripe on their neck that looks like a strap. If you have seen the movie “Madagascar”, and remember the penguins in that, they were Chinstraps. They sort of look like World War I soldiers with a black helmet and a strap to hold it. (Hopefully pic attached!).
At the time of the explorations, or some bit before, there was a social group that ran around Italy, and put fancy clothes on, silly things on their heads, and were referred to as “Macaronis”. I don’t think it was a friendly term. Anyway, the early explorers saw these penguins, with yellow or orange feathers on their heads (similar to the Rock Hoppers earlier) and thought they looked like the people associated with the term Macaroni, and the penguins were named as such. (As an aside, consider Yankee Doodle Dandy, who “stuck a feather in his cap, and called it Macaroni”. Makes a little more sense now, huh? I guess it had nothing to do with Kraft Macaroni and Cheese.)
Anyway, when we got back, it was amazing how cold our butts were!!! You sit on a cold rubber tube, being splashed for a while, and well… But they had bullion being offered as we came aboard, which was amazingly good!! We went back to our room, and ordered a hot dog, hamburger, and fries for our room, and enjoyed a lazy private lunch, while warming up.
About 5 O’Clock, there was a Martini “demonstration” where they showed us how to make martinis and she gave some information on the ingredients too. Unfortunately, she was very soft spoken, and I couldn’t hear most of it. But, they came around and gave us four samples, and invited us to come up and try making one. We ordered something else, and spent the next 30 minutes talking to an English couple from Darby (where they make Rolls Royce aircraft engines). They are really funny, and we enjoy talking to them.
The couple, from Perth, Australia, (see yesterday’s blog entry) were celebrating their 41st Wedding Anniversary. They had told us the first day of the trip, when we met them, and we like them, so we gave them a make shift card. The cruise made them a nice cake to celebrate, so they brought over a couple pieces to share with us. That cake was SOOO rich, but really good. And it was fun to be a part of their celebration too!
But, for dinner, we were seated with the Historian. I should point out that I am deliberately leaving names off, as of course, none of these people consented to be written about, so for the sake of their privacy…well, you get the gist? Anyway, another couple joined us, and there was one seat left. So, the dining room staff added one of the “birders” (Ornithologist, for the purist out there). So, we had two staff members at our table of 6. Both of them were from England, and they had a little good natured friction to begin with, and I played it up. Actually, we had some intense conversations covering Zoos, Conservationalism, Man’s effect on the environment, education, and dessert (what specifically counted as dessert and what did not). We must have been the loudest group in the dining room, but I am sure we had the most fun too!! It was good to have some mental wrestling matches with people willing to both argue AND listen!!Tomorrow, the plan is to go through the “Antarctic Sound”, and land at Brown Bluff. This is actually ON the Continent (on the peninsula), so I am personally very excited!! On our Route Map (on the TV in our rooms) it actually shows the Continent on the map, so we are “there” (almost). So, it is an early day tomorrow, and I will wrap this up and get to bed. By the way, last night I went to bed at 12:30 AM, and I could still see the horizon (i.e. it was not dark) and sun rise is at 3:09, tomorrow, but on previous days, we could see as if daylight 45 minutes before dawn. As I write this, we are at Latitude 62 deg, 55’.