The Frozen Continent

Flashback to 2014, when Brad and I visited a little town at the end of the world called Ushuaia in Argentina.

2014

We watched the Antarctic cruises depart two years ago, and seriously discussed jumping on a last minute cruise. We eventually made the decision not to go, as it would have left a huge hole in our backpacker budget and cut short our tour around the world.

Sad to be missing out

In October last year, we found a 50% off deal for Antarctic Cruises with Quark Expeditions and booked an 11 day cruise to Antarctica, leaving from Ushuaia in Argentina.

It was bizarre to be in this town at the end of the world for the second time, but being able to buy an overpriced beer without wincing was certainly a nice feeling!

Ushuaia, take two!

We left Ushuaia on the evening of the 13th of January aboard the Ocean Endeavour, a ship with an ice-strengthened hull, that normally cruises the Arctic. We were really surprised at how comfortable the ship was considering we were going to Antarctica on an "Adventure Cruise". We even had a window that opened!!!

Our ship took us out through the Beagle Channel, into the dreaded Drake Passage towards our final desitination, the Antarctic Peninsular.

The expedition team were a very knowledgeable group of scientists and historians; one had even won a nobel peace prize. The BBC were on board, as were a group of Penguinologists who were partaking in a study for Oxford University. This was the real deal! 

Still wearing the same vest as 2014...

We sat down to dinner still docked in Ushuaia, met our fellow cruise companions and drank the plentiful wine that flowed for us. After taking some pics on deck of the Beagle Channel, we went off to bed feeling quite jolly and excited for the days ahead. Finally, we were headed to Antarctica!

Finally!

 The Drake Passage is 1000 kms of some of the roughest seas in the world. It took us 48 hours to cross and the captain's weather report before entering was, "it's not terrible". Promising. 

At about 2 am on the first night, we hit the Drake Passage. It was unmistakable. Suddenly, we were rolling from side to side in our beds, I could hear water dripping in through the window that I had left open, the wardrobes were falling open and slamming shut and waves were crashing loudly up against the side of the ship. 

As I was mostly too scared to go outside during these two days of crossing the drake, here is a photo I found online that resembles what I was seeing from the inside of the ship:

Scaryyyyy

I actually don't know how those old ships way back in the day managed to cross this ocean! It is absolutely amazing to think about what those people put themselves through just to get to 7th continent.

Brad's kwells did not hold up. I repeat. Kwells does not do a thing for seasickness on the Drake Passage. As soon as Brad woke up on the first morning, he spewed and, in turn, I believe he woke up the entire 5th floor. Not only was he seasick, but also hungover from the night before. Not a good combination. No siree. He couldn't even get any vegemite on toast down for breakfast, so I knew it was bad. 

Keeping his eyes on the horizon - which was moving around a fair bit

I, on the other hand, whilst feeling very sorry for Brad in his state and nursing him when I could, was loving life aboard the ship. The rolling of the ship rocked me to sleep like a baby. I met a lot of new people as I went to breakfast, lunch and dinner alone (making sure to bring Brad back some bread).

The never ending stream of lectures by expedition staff were absolutely fascinating. Talks on glaciers, whales, penguins, Ernie Shackleton, the ozone layer etc etc... Our TV was forever playing David Attenborough documentaries along with the March of the Penguins and Happy Feet. What more could a gal ask for? I was in wildlife heaven and we hadn't even arrived yet!

I ended up having to call the doctor to come and see Brad on morning two. The doc had never even heard of Kwells and immediately dished out some stronger nausea tablets. With these on board, Brad was right as rain and showed the lunch buffet who was boss later that day.

Before too long, there they were, HUGE icebergs floating in the ocean as we cruised on past the South Shetland Islands heading towards the Antarctic Peninsular.

Next, we started to see Penguins swimming next to the boat, then seals, then Orca's and Humpbacks. The experience was amazing from start until finish.

A seal swims past the ship

On day three, we woke up and realised the boat was no longer swaying. The expedition leader made a wake up announcement that went something like, "Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to Antarctica. The weather outside is beautiful."

I ran to the window immediately to see Antarctica and was completely blinded - my eyes took about 5 minutes to adjust from the darkness of our room to the sun reflecting off the white continent. I shed tears of pure happiness, or tears of burning retinas - who can be sure...

Day One on the Peninsular

We walked on Antarctica, zodiac cruised around its islands, visited the Vernadsky Ukrainian Research Station, broke through sea ice in our ship, camped in bivvies on the ice, watched the midnight sun, visited old whaling and sealing stations, spent hours watching penguins go about their very busy lives, had whales pop up right next to our zodiacs, jumped into the Antarctic ocean (Brad did anyway), met some fascinating people, took way too many photos and learnt a lot.

And all in our easy to spot, extremely warm, super sexy, bright yellow Quark Expedition parkas....

Kitted up in the mudroom!

Two months on, I am still dreaming of Antarctica and want to go back! What a fascinating place, so much history, and untouched wilderness.

Here is our Antarctic experience in a video:

Enjoy!

The BBC's reports from our ship:
http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-35382325
http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-35382590