Antarctica - Part 4
Early wake up call! Today the alarm went off at 6:30 so we could head to the deck to watch as the boat drove into a caldera (aka active volcano!). It was pretty neat, but I was also pretty sleepy.
We got ready and ate and all dressed up to head out! The first stop of the day was Deception Island. It was an old whaling location, so there were a lot of dilapidated buildings and left over oil barrels where they processed the blubber into oil. So sad. The site was evacuated in 1967 due to volcano activity so they left in a hurry! As we pulled up to the island we got a little disclaimer from Simon who had mentioned while the remnants are sad and disappointing to think about, it was also a stamp in time. When we look at the island and think about the actions with a 2023 lens and think negatively, or we can think about it in a way that is more positive – that look how far humanity has come.
As soon as we pulled up to this spot I knew it was going to be a favorite landing! It was just a long beach walk and there were so many lumps and bumps that we thought were rocks or logs, as we looked closer though it was a huge population of seals and sleeping penguins! We opted to walk towards the crashed boats first, we saw many adorable penguins along the way as well as some washed up star fish and some krill. As we got closer we could see some fur seals though playing! Romping around, rolling, running and sliding, it was all so cute! We got a little closer and just watched them play for 20 minutes or so.
Once we realized how much time had passed and that we had a whole other half of the island to see, we got moving. So, we started our adventure back where we had some really close interactions with penguins as they walked down to the water. We also noticed a few more fur seals and a Weddell seal that we had missed on our walk over the first time. The broken down houses and old oil tanks were on the other side of the island. It was interesting to see how much was left and in what shape everything was in. There were a few seals scattered about and Sasha gave us some history of the island. We poked around the house and the graveyard before heading back to the coast to get on the zodiac.
We had Ellie for the first time to drive us around. It was a little wavier than it had been on past days but she was a safe driver. We pulled up to a beach that was completely covered with seals!! Elephant, fur and Weddell seals were all living there, playing together both on land and in the water. There were also a few penguins but they kept away mostly from the seals. We camped out there for almost a half hour because seals were going in and out of the water and coming up to the zodiac. Curious lil’ boogers. The waves started to pick up a little and we left to go check out one more area. It had these huge, towering cliffs with the most beautiful red rock, the turquoise water below – wow it was just stunning! The coast there was also spotted with seals, but here they were mostly napping. By now the waves were really picking up and I was starting to get nervous. Meanwhile, Ellie was laughing about how she’s always late getting back to the boat and that there is this other spot 2km away that is so cool. I was not having it. I pulled my head into my coat like a turtle and waited it out until we got back to the ship.
I then continued my new schedule of: short nap before lunch, lunch, nap after lunch. However, this time I ended up sleeping for over 2 hours and missed a few announcements! Gregory did a presentation on seals and they had notified us that one of the engines wasn’t working so we wouldn’t be getting to our second stop until rather late. Dinner is pushed out to 9pm.
So, we meandered around the boat. I set up shop in the lounge and read, Nancy had gone to the presentation and the shop, Erik was walking around the boat. It was a nice quiet afternoon. Finally, we got an update that we are getting to Half Moon Island, and we will start disembarking soon. We got on all our warm, waterproof gear and headed to the gangway. We were there early enough to be part of the group that went to the landing first. The swell was looking a little scary in my opinions, so I was happy to not be going on a zodiac ride just yet.
At the island we saw a lot of seals as we pulled up. As you looked higher up the cliffs though you could see hundreds and hundreds of chinstrap penguins. They’re known as the climbing penguins because they can get so so high on the cliffs. Luckily, there were some Gentoos on the beach and just walking around.
We had so much fun watching them walk and trip and walk and waddle. The seals were also really funny, they would run run run and then slide on their bellies. We climbed up higher and found a few close up chinstrap penguins and we sat and watched them be goofy. We all said ‘aww’ and ‘how cute’ and I cried a little knowing this was our last stop. What an experience though.
As our time to zodiac approached I was looking at the water thinking “there’s no fucking way” – so Nancy and I opted to take a zodiac back to the boat instead of going for a cruise. Erik still went, but reported back that he didn’t see much that we hadn't seen on land and he got pretty wet. So, we loaded up with Sylvia to get us back to the boat. Well, it was definitely not as easy as ‘getting back to the boat’. In fact it was absolutely horrifying. Not only had the waves picked up (I was seeing white caps) but also the swell was starting to really grow with each wave. She drove us smoothly and safely across from the landing to the ship but it’s not until you see the gangway vs. waves/water that you realize how rough it is out there. We pulled up to the stern and noticed that there was an empty zodiac just sitting there, so we went to the port side of the boat to get up that gangway. Sylvia missed the first time so we had to do a loop around to go back. Meanwhile, the swell was bringing our boat two or three feat above the gangway and then dropping us below it. We’d have one big swell, and then one big wave crash into us. Another big swell, oh maybe two swells, and then BAM another big crash. This time Sylvia drove straight at the gangway so the people who were helping tie up the boats could just grab the front - no need to even think or worry about trying to grab the side.
At this time, they both had the front of the zodiac and were slowly able to turn the boat so it was sideways along the gangway. Meanwhile, the swell was lifting the boat up up up, and then down down down. Up up up. Down down down. Somehow, Sylvia got the yellow foot step from the two men on the gangway and laid it down. First up was, Nancy to exit, and as the boat lifted and dropped she somehow managed to get out of the boat. Then another person went, and as she was stepping off the boat a huge wave crashed into her, glad she was safely on the gangway though. Next up was Val, and older British woman who was married to Julian and an absolute delight. Sylvia counted her down to “one swell, two swell, crash, go!”. But Val is older and wasn’t as fast on her feet as Sylvia must have expected. So, she held Val’s arm in a sailors grip prior to helping her on the yellow step, but the swell just kept getting bigger and bigger! Eventually Sylvia started yelling to “Sit Down” but it was unclear what Val was hearing because she continued to step up and out of the boat while we were rocking up and down, up and down. A huge wave finally came and it actually knocked both Sylvia and Val onto the deck of the zodiac, the person sitting next to Val I thought for sure was going to by launched off the end of the boat. By this time we were all screaming, asking if everyone was okay and trying to figure out what next. Sylvia handed the yellow step back and after checking on Val and her neighbor she grabbed the motor and pulled us away from the boat. Mark radio’d to Sylvia and let her know the zodiac in back had been moved. So we started our journey to the back of the boat.
A few minutes later, since Sylvia was being very responsible in the waves and swell and checking in on Val and her neighbor – we finally got around the back. She did her best to do a polite pull up and tried to get as close as she could but it was not close enough. The waves continued to push us away and the swell continued to lift us up and down, up and down. Just like on the side of the ship, Sylvia then had to back out and try again. This time she just drove straight at the gangway and with extra help called to get us ashore, we were able to finally get pulled in. We were all so relieved and couldn’t get off the ship fast enough. We got sprayed off and I went straight to our cabin where Nancy had been waiting the whole time since she had gotten off! She thought I had been thrown overboard it had taken us so long to get on the ship! But she took a picture celebrating my return and immediately went to the bar to get us a drink! Whew.
Dinner was late and full of wine. Erik ate two entrees because his fish was small and he made the mistake of trying my dinner and decided he needed that to be satiated. Nancy begged for the pea/mint soup to be served the next day, Marko obliged to both, and I had to pee so I left early.
What a day.
There was no wake up call on the 25th and what a glorious feeling that was! Woohoo! We all somehow slept into 11 and only got up because there was going to be penguin presentation. It was a bit dry and scientific, I expected all sorts of cute pictures, so I mostly thought about what I wanted for lunch. Soon enough it was over and we headed to lunch.
We feasted, yet again, and headed back to the room for our post-lunch nap. But since there were no wake up calls happening for the presentations – we all ended up sleeping until 3! Lol! We got ourselves together and headed up for happy hour in the bar. Happy hour slid right into our evening recap which included bubbles to help lube us up for the auction! The live auction was super fun, we all bet on something and got outbid, but the bubbles kept coming so we were happy.
After the auction we skipped downstairs for dinner and the staff continued to keep our wine glasses full. Instead of a bar talk that night, they hosted some trivia! I was really fun, we were on a team called “Ocean’s 12” – which I thought was an excellent name while at sea. The trivia was just how tall/long are different things – from a whale’s fluke point to point, or how tall is Jomi (the bird guy on board), etcetc. Things got heated and we slowly started to lose steam and did not end up in the top 3. However, there was a tie for the first place and to break it WT made the two teams do a performance – of mating chinstrap penguins! Lololol It was absolutely hilarious, and the 2nd team just didn’t even participate knowing they would have lost to that performance and spared themselves the embarrassment (and I would say the fun).
We hung around for one more drink and headed to bed.
On our last full day at sea, the 26th, we woke up a little earlier today (also no wake-up call) BUT! There was a yoga at sea class and a chocolate breakfast! Lol, there was probably a 10ft table filled with chocolate pastries, breads, sweets, etc, etc.
After breakfast, Erik went back up to listen to a lecture, but Nancy and I headed to the room to start packing up. I was feeling so sad to be leaving Antarctica and not waking up to insane views out of my porthole. But I was also feeling relieved a little because the cruise life is NOT for me. Seeing the same people everyday and not being able to find anywhere to be alone for a bit was very exhausting. The excursions were so fun, but everything was so packed into a day. While I do like having busy days on my vacations, I also really like getting to pick when I need to participate or being able to find some quiet space to relax.
Lunch rolled around, and then back to the cabin we went. Our goal was to finish packing, take a nap and be ready for the 2:30 presentation how disembarking would go on the 27th. There are still events tonight, like a cocktail send off, a presentation of other Quark adventures as well as a viewing of all the pictures Dave put together in a slideshow!!
Feeling ready for our next adventure, brokenhearted to be leaving sooner than I’d want to but also so grateful for this time. That I am able/capable of going to Antarctica, that we were able to do this trip with Nancy (and Dwain), that Erik and I got to share the experience together.
This Antarctica portion has been an absolute dream. On our zodiac with Nicoleta, my last zodiac cruise, she made a comment that really hit home and that I hope to take with me on the rest of our travels and forward through my life. If you just stay in one spot, if you just give in to letting time pass, the things that need to come to you, will. We learned that while sitting out in the open water of Antarctica, eventually a whale will come up for air, eventually that curious fur seal will come check out what you’re all about. It’s so easy to race around thinking your checking off all the must see items, when really if you just stay put, you can see how beautiful the world can be without you rushing it.
