Leaving the Antarctic
Sunday, 27th December - at sea, heading due north: It’s a quiet Sunday at sea with sea-ice as far as the eye can see. Our heading is now due north to New Zealand, although we meander a little amongst the ice, avoiding the larger chunks. We can see the swell of the sea moving the sea ice, and it’s now warmer than it’s been over the last 2½ weeks.
The sun tries to peak out from the clouds and with an occasional iceberg moving south with the Ross Sea gyre, we enjoy a relaxing time on the bow. In less than a week, we’ll be in Christchurch and this amazing voyage will be memories. But we have two more landings before then, weather permitting!
The sea-ice keeps the swell to a minimum, but Shane advises that once we leave the ice, the swell will increase substantially. So I decide it’s time to take a Phenergan. By evening this is taking effect and I’m feeling incredibly drowsy. I’m in bed by 10pm, just as Shane lets us know that we’ll be crossing the Antarctic Circle at around 11:30pm. I’m asleep soon after his announcement finishes, and dreaming of ice and penguins.
Monday, 28th December - at sea in the Southern Ocean, last of the sea-ice: The ship is rocking gently and we still have sea-ice with us this morning. However by noon we’re in open water with an occasional iceberg passing by. The ship is slowly pitching as the KK moves through the swell – it would be wonderful if this was to last, but I suspect it’s unlikely.
We are due to be at Campbell Island on Wednesday afternoon at around 5pm – hopefully we’ll be able to land there. But in the meantime, we’re tasked with ensuring that any photos we want to have included in the trip DVD are on the ship’s laptop by 5pm tomorrow. In addition, they’ve also provided us with an open book “exam” – all very interesting, but a little hard to focus on – after all, I’m still on holidays today! But I do my best to get photos organized and put some onto the ship’s laptop.
Tuesday, 29th December - Southern Ocean roll: The swells have been increasing through the day but are mostly very manageable; we’re warned that these will increase tonight. And they do! By 3am, Virginia and I are both awake – most of the things in our cabin have been put away, but a few items that were moving around are now tucked away.
Over breakfast we learn that most people have slept very little, spending their time sliding up and down their bunks, some sliding across their cabin floor, and all of us putting things away that are moving around our cabins.
Although this has been our first night with any darkness, there is little I can do to stop sliding up and down the bunk – just one of the joys of sleeping “across” on an icebreaker.