Nov 21, 2009 - They think it's Orlova, it is now

Pardon the pun but I had to use it really! We left the ship after breakfast and although I probably wouldnt have wanted to head straight back out into the Drake like all the staff had to do, I really would have loved to spend more time in Antarctica. I was also very used to the organising/eating/sleeping that was involved, and it's going to be odd to have to plan everything myself again. I said my goodbyes to friends I'd made on the ship and then was taken straight to Ushuaia airport where I flew direct to Buenos AIres. The take off was...

Nov 20, 2009 - sleeping beauty

A very lazy day. I had quite a bad night's sleep probably because I'd slept so much during the previous day but it was still quite rocky. And yet still we are being told how amazingly lucky we are. Our trip leader has been to the Antarctic 85 times and says this is the best ever. Ok, so maybe they say that on every trip but certainly by all accounts we've got away with it in terms of the well known horrors of the Drake Passage. Breakfast and lunch servings were a bit busier but there are still people who have spent the last two days in...

Nov 19, 2009 - Rock and roll

Back in the Drake and last night certainly felt worse than on the way out but apparently it's still pretty good for the Drake (really hate to think what normal is then!!) Breakfast was very quiet and I keep thinking how lucky I am that I'm not feeling worse as even people who've taken the stronger drugs have been suffering. The lecture programme started up again so I attended most of them today - one on the Endurance story by the historian, a bird talk all interspersed with the usual meals, games and reading. It's all very civilised and...

Nov 18, 2009 - Breakfast in bedclothes

For reasons not really explained other than," why not", breakfast this morning was spent wearing bathrobes for many of the passengers. Quite strange but the whole trip is quite surreal so I agree, why not! We arrived at Paradise Bay which accommodates the impressive Petzval glacier and Almirante Brown base (Argentinian) where we landed. Here there were, surprise surprise, more penguins and more snow! But I am still not bored of the penguins, they really are quite fascinating to watch! We also had time for more snow sliding and I also spent...

Nov 17, 2009 - the most southernly souvenir shop in the world...

I will spare you the details of what seemed to be at the time one of the longest night's of my life as three words sum it up - cold, uncomfortable and noisy! But amazingly i did actually feel like I'd slept at some point and felt quite awake when we got up at 5am. And I can now say I've camped in -3 degrees on Antarctica. I have to say it felt like being rescued when the zodiacs came round the corner to get us, really quite a relief to know that a hot shower was only about 15 minutes away! We had to get back to the ship and start sailing...

Nov 16, 2009 - the 7th continent

While I have been labelling this all as Antarctica, officially today was our first continent landing. The reason we dont do more landings on ANtarctica itself is essentially because most of it is covered in so much ice that it's just not possible to get onto unless you have serious ice climbing gear and even then it's pretty dangerous. But the landing made a lot of people happy as we had onboard about 20 folk who for them, Antarctica was the jewel in their continent crown (i.e. they'd now done all 7) I am only at number 5 but hope to...

Nov 15, 2009 - Holy talulah

Today our first landing was to Mikkelsen Harbour in Cierva Cove and once again we'd had a beautiful blue and sunny sky as an amazing backdrop. The cove was home to a large Gentoo penguin colony. Some very deep snow and I was glad I'm tall when I ended up thigh deep in it on several occasions. We are given areas not to walk on the landings but otherwise it's a free for all so you can spread out and spend the time how you want to which is great. They also do staggered landings so that you're not stuck on a small island with 100 other people...

Nov 14, 2009 - Polar plunge

I dont think anyone minded the earlier start today as we all were so excited to get onto solid (if snow covered) ground after several days at sea, even if it was supposedly a very calm crossing. We were once again blessed with incredibly good weather - beautiful blue skys, very little wind, which are both apparently very uncommon in Antarctica so we had to make the most of it. Our first landing was at Half Moon Island and we were greeted by hoards of penguins and unfortunately that also meant their smell. None of the guide books mentioned...

Nov 13, 2009 - Superstition

The night had been a bit rougher but I felt we were still not feeling the full force of the seas and until the early morning tannoy call I hadnt really thought about the fact I'd be in the belly of the Drake Passage on Friday 13th! But perhaps it was lucky for us, as mentioned by the leader, who remarked that so far we'd been going through an incredibly good crossing. Great news but at breakfast it was apparent that not everyone was finding it plain sailing as there were a lot of empty seats. I still felt very tired but eating was...

Nov 12, 2009 - The dreaded Drake...

I am not sure whether it was excitement or the new environment, possibly both but I could hardly sleep last night and it was nothing to do with the Drake. Infact although the ship was certainly rocking and rolling, it definitely wasnt anywhere near as bad as I thought it was going to be, though itw as still early days. We were awoken by tannoy announcement from the Expedition leader at 7am telling us about eh weather conditions, our whereabouts and that breakfast was about to be served. Unfortunately i think the doctor's pills were at work...

Nov 11, 2009 - We are sailing

Hurray, it's finally arrived! Certainly the most anticipated part of my whole trip, I really couldnt wait to get onboard the ship but unfortunately we still had to kill a day in Ushuaia before we set sail. I spent a large part of this reading a book in my new home, the posh cafe on the main street, savouring my final caramel covered brownie! Finally, at 4pm we made it aboard. But not before a very ridiculous boarding process - getting on a bus to travel about 200 metres up the pier, pausing briefly to get off the bus and walk through a hut...