First landing & crossing the Circle
Wednesday, 9th December - landing at Neko Harbour: The swells have reduced significantly now that we’re closer to land, and sleeping was certainly more comfortable last night. It looks like we’ll be landing at Neko this evening. We have the mandatory Zodiac briefing and learn about the “Seals of Antarctica” and “Sealing in the 1800’s.”
While we’re having dinner, the Captain finds a suitable place to anchor, and it’s great to know that our first landing will be on the continent rather than an island.
The crew takes transmission of bugs (viruses & bacteria) from the ship to the land very seriously. During the afternoon, all our backpacks & Velcro closures on our gloves & outer gear, have been vacuumed. Now, before we leave the ship, we clean our boots in a strong disinfectant. We’ll repeat this each time we leave & return.
Yay, it’s time for our group to board the Zodiac. Having donned my multi-layers (actually it’s not that cold this evening – around 0oC), and then the life jacket, and then my backpack with camera, lenses and binoculars, down the gangway I go! It’s 7:30pm, and the mountains and glaciers are revealing themselves a little more. It really is wonderful to be back in this amazing part of our world.
Having been here before makes this landing special in a different way. There is some familiarity, but we’re here earlier in the season than last time. A month in this region is a long time – the penguins are nesting and no chicks are visible just yet, whereas last time chicks were up and about throughout the colony. But some things never change – the thrill of seeing the penguins again, Gentoos here (the ones with the bright orange “lips” and orange feet), and of course the smell!
While I’m looking at the penguins making their way up and down their “highways” from the rookery to the sea, I hear the unmistakable sound of blowing coming from the sea. Two Leopard seals are patrolling the beach from the sea– no wonder some of the penguins are coming out of the water in a hurry!
I’m back on the ship just before midnight, and in bed soon after. They’ll be waking us at 5am just before we enter the beautiful, narrow Lemaire Channel.
Thursday, 10th December - Lemaire Channel & the Antarctic Circle: I’m up just before 5am, and wait for the wake-up call. It’s very foggy outside and snowing quite heavily. Shane tells us that we’re waiting to see whether the fog will lift. If not, we’ll have to go south the long way around.
So back to bed to wait for the update. 30 minutes later it’s still looking unlikely. But then the fog begins to lift, and it looks as if we’re going to be able to go through the Lemaire after all.
It’s really very beautiful outside, and a great opportunity to get some photos of the snow cover around the ship. Not too cold either & very little wind. Out on the bow the low ceiling and grey sky create a dark silvery sea. We’re sailing into a wide opening at the northern end of the Channel where dark cliffs with bright white streaks of snow rise almost vertically out of the water – it is a glorious scene of greys and white. Good sized icebergs pass by, their whites and blues and greens standing out from the dark sea as if they’re lit from inside.
But as the Channel narrows, the fog descends, and from the bow it really is hard to see ahead – I imagine the tension on the Bridge is high. From the bow we see a small, but wide iceberg smack, bang in the middle of the Channel. We can’t stop, we can’t turn around and although we’re an icebreaker, we can’t break icebergs!
The Captain manages to keep the iceberg to port, and we continue safely through the narrowest part of the Lemaire and into Pleneau Bay. We had planned to cruise in the Zodiacs in Pleneau during the afternoon, but with the delays, plans are changed and we head to Petermann Island where we’ll land to see a large Gentoo & small Adelie rookery.
It’s good to be here again, walking in very soft and sometimes quite deep snow around various parts of the Island. I’m watching the Gentoo colony and chatting with Nigel (our “bird” man), when he receives a call from Fiona to say that she has seen Adelie chicks. Nigel is excited! It’s very early in the season to be seeing chicks, even this far north. Photos almost certainly won’t show them – they’re almost hidden by their parent. But it’s been a wonderful visit.
Back on the KK, we’re heading south for Marguerite Bay and Stonington Island, our next landing. And the weather is clearing. But before we reach our next landing, and later this evening, we’ll be crossing the Antarctic Circle.
Around 10:00pm, in bright sunshine, we gather on the bow to wait for the countdown to 66o33’66” South. Drinking gluwein and watching the mountains and glaciers, we cross the Circle at 10:18pm. The sunlight on the glaciers is absolutely stunning. And the icebergs look like castles for fairies and gnomes – one even has “bollards” made of ice!
We’re now in 24 hour daylight until we re-cross the Circle on our way north to New Zealand. Clocks are set back one hour this evening.