A month or so ago, we were having dinner with some friends,
and one made the comment about us soon being able to make pretentious
statements like “Well, the FIRST time we were on Antarctica…”. We’ve now been to this white continent twice,
so we can be obnoxious like that! 😊
(We’ll try not to be!)
Theresa woke up at like 6 or so and peeked outside. It was beautiful!! And bright.
Oh so bright. Bill was not done
closing his eyes, so rolled over. But we
got up and got going, and enjoyed the view.
We partially dressed and headed to breakfast (by that, I mean we
partially dressed for the excursion, not that we headed out with shirts and no
pants!). Full excursion gear was base
layer (long johns), heavy pants, heavy shirt, Gore-Tex pants, and the two piece
parka, neck gator, hat, gloves, life vest, then back pack, and spare gloves in
the back pack. Oh, and boots suitable
for wading through 15+ inches of water.
With all of these clothes, we can mostly just waddle like penguins.
They called our group (#1!) and we waddled down the hall to
leave. We stepped through a biocide bath
for our shoes, and then down the stairs to the Zodiac. The ride was pretty easy and not very
wet. Ashore, we swung our legs over the
side, slid off into the water, and hustled up to the dry land, where we
received our briefing. Short version,
stay on the proper side of the poles, and keep 15 feet distance from the
penguins. This was actually sort of
tough to maintain because the penguins didn’t follow any rules so they were all
over the place! It was fantastic!! Watching the penguins traverse was
hilarious!! Right up until… See, they sort of lean forward and put their
wings/flippers out like they are sort of falling and off the go. Theresa observed “That’s just how you walk!”,
referring to Bill’s efficient manner of walking with purpose and speed. It is of course NOT true. I do not flail my arms in an attempt to
balance!
As we walked along, there were Gentoos and Adeles
everywhere!! And a few other birds in
and out of the picture. But rookeries
(where the penguins nest and lay eggs) were on all sides. Some had big piles of pebbles, and some not
so big. We watched penguins by the scores
stumbling out of the sea and even more jumping in altogether. (They tend to go in groups as it makes their
odds better if a predator is nearby.) Even though it was our second time at Brown
Bluff, it was still awesome! We had a great
time! On the ride back, we were the first
two on the Zodiac, and just after we got situated, the driver said “Incoming”,
giving Theresa just enough time to look and see the wave crashing over the back
of the boat, dousing us all!! Thanks
GoreTex!
Aside: A couple was
to get married on Antarctica. Her father
had gotten licensed to perform weddings in British Antarctic Territories, and
it was just her parents, and the bride and groom, and whomever was nearby. Well, there were several people with
thousands of dollars’ worth of camera gear, so they had lots of photos
taken. But we ran into the happy bride
and groom as we trudged up the hill, and we know there will be celebrations
later. I mean…open bar for the
reception, right???
Back on the ship, we headed up to one of the outdoor decks. We sat in the sun, and the wind came to a
complete stop. It was still 31F, but hot
in the sun. It is really strange feeling
hot in the sun while also seeing your own breath! We enjoyed our drinks, but also laughed at
the misunderstandings. Bill asked for an
Irish Coffee, and a Club Soda with ice.
He got an Irish Coffee with ice.
Uhhh… They quickly brought the
right two, and we shared the Iced Irish.
Theresa REALLY wanted to eat at the pool grill, so down we
went. The breeze picked up, and it
started getting cold again. Theresa
ordered a hot dog and Bill got a Ruben sandwich. I think it was more of an “Ruben Inspired”
sandwich, but, it was closer to my order than the hamburger than showed up for
Theresa. She consoled herself in the free
beer.
At 2PM, it was time to segue into the afternoon’s
activity. They have an alternate
excursion, where instead of doing the normal outing, we can do the Sea Kayaks
instead. Theresa was NOT interested in
this, but Bill was all for it! At 1400,
he went to the briefing, got the gear, and was to be back for 2:45-3:00. Theresa’s excursion left at 2:45, so we met
back in the mudroom. For the kayak, they
had a dry suit, with rubber booties, neoprene mittens or some goofy thing that
was supposed to Velcro to the paddle.
Once suited up, I linked up with my partner (as they were two person
kayaks), and stood there sweating until it was our turn to embark into the cold. We boarded a Zodiac which tooled around a bit
then took us to where the kayaks were staged.
It seemed cheating a bit, but we only kayaked one way (downwind). Once at the site, for some reason we were
supposed to switch from one Zodiac to another (basically slide your bum across
to the other in the most unglamorous manner you can visualize. Then we climbed over the edge to slide into
the kayak, secure the “splash skirt”, and get ready. My partner took the front and I took the
back, where the steering was controlled (since there was a rudder). We paddled all over the bay and saw a
lot. But the penguins “porpoising”
(jumping out of the water while swimming fast) was happening all around
us! Of course, it was so fast you could
see it but hardly catch a good photo.
Theresa went on a zodiac cruise that checked out breeding
grounds of penguins and other birds, and the Argentinian base (unfortunately,
cannot visit because of COVID). But, we
waved and said “Hola!” to the Argentinian people out on their Zodiacs brining
in supplies. We also saw several birds
attacking each other to get a good position.
Apparently the tiny Antarctic Turns take on anything in their way!
Back on board, we showered and relaxed a bit…too long, as we
missed the daily briefing. Whoops! We went to dinner, and had a good time,
laughing about all sorts of things, including the weird flatulent noises the
swinging doors made, and the waiter asking what we wanted for breakfast
(instead of dessert).
Alas, as it is late, and the connectivity not great, we’ll
post the anecdotes now, but will follow up with pix another time. Stay tuned!
No comments:
Post a Comment