Our Journey

Half Moon Island

From King George Island, the ship heads to Half Moon Island between Livingston and Greenwich Islands in the McFarlane Strait, a small semi-circular island consisting of statuesque igneous pillars linked by 'tombolas' of rock and gravel. 

It is home to a chinstrap penguin colony (and the ever-present skuas). We also see a lively group of fur seals and a much larger sleepy Weddell seal, apparently uncommon to see this far North.

Fur seals and a Weddell seal on Half Moon Island

Penguins are not always pristine

A rookery

From there, we sail across the Bransfield Strait to the Antarctic peninsula aiming to stop at Astrolabe Island. With the swell too high for safe zodiac entry the landing is cancelled and we have a morning to enjoy the view from the observation deck as we sail 7 hours further down the peninsula.

There is a constant flow of icebergs and occasional blows of humpback whales, which seem to be an even more frequent sighting as the days go on. Penguins resting on icebergs are mere black dots in a stain of pink, which conveys a sense of scale of the ice. 

Mikkelson Harbour

Mikkelson Harbour on Trinity Island was used by whalers and sealers at the end of the 19th and early 20th centuries with consequent piles of whalebones on the shore mingled with small icebergs and a colony of Gentoo penguins. 

Gentoo​​​​​​ penguin colony amid bleached whalebones

Old whaling hut in a Gentoo penguin colony at Mikkelson Harbour

Out in the zodiacs, we spot a leopard seal on a floe who constantly rubs its back and raises its head to look at us - usually they just stay blissfully asleep.

Foyn Harbour

Onwards through the Gerlache Strait (named after a Belgian polar explorer) to Foyn Harbour on glassy calm water surrounded by mountains and glaciers. I hadn't appreciated how mountainous Antarctica is and learn from the expedition team's geologist that the Peninsula is a continuation of the Andes. We start with a close up of The Guvernøren, a rusty wrecked Norwegian whaling factory ship which caught fire in 1916 and was sunk near the shore of Enterprise Island to save the crew, now home to Antarctic terns. We enjoy a synchronised swimming display of shags in the water and sleepy humpback whales snorting. 

The Guvernøren

Synchronised swimming display by shags

Afterwards, a surprisingly large number of brave passengers participate in a 'Polar Plunge' (jumping into the icy water and being immediately pulled out). We decline the opportunity.

The Polar Plunge: an Australian I presume

Paradise Harbour

We sail to Paradise Harbour with an Argentinian research station (Brown station) whose staff take the opportunity to ask our crew for fresh water. We notice nearby Leith Cove, legacy of the Salvesen whaling company based in Leith, Edinburgh. It seems a long way to come to be back in Leith! 

Brown research station

We are treated to an evening sail into Neko Harbour, surrounded by astonishing reflections of the mountains and ice in the still water.

After sunrise, we sail into the Lemaire Channel, which is less than 600m at its narrowest point, with almost vertical cliffs on both sides. It's worth noting that on the way back, a massive iceberg blocks the entrance to the channel but after our outings, it shifts far enough to allow us to navigate around it and through. 

Petermann Island

We land at Petermann Island on another beautiful sunny day with the temperature around 5-8 degrees Centigrade making it feel very hot with all our clothing on; I notice one man stripped down to a T-shirt. Gentoo penguins abound, and a solitary red hut makes the scene very picturesque. A small cairn with a cross commemorates 3 British Antarctic Survey members who died in 1982 attempting to cross the sea ice. It is a reminder that, despite the beauty and warmth, we are in a hostile environment and almost everywhere we've been is inaccessible during Winter months. 

The other side of Petermann Island

The blazing sunshine inspires the crew to prepare a BBQ lunch for us on deck (with obligatory party hats). I really did not expect to be eating outdoors here! 

Yalour Islands

In the afternoon we sail to the Yalour Islands to be amused by a colony of Adelie penguins who find sliding on their tummies across the snow easier than walking and are incredibly entertaining. Chicks constantly chase their parents (and other adults) for food.

Adelie penguins on Yalour Islands

'Follow Me Chaps!'

We spot more leopard seals on floes on a zodiac cruise and finally get a bit of mood against some enormous icebergs (a cloudy sky makes icebergs look bluer). Icebergs in all shapes and sizes, with different textures and patterns. I could photograph them all day long, which is probably why there are quite a lot of photos of them here!

Icebergs off Yalour Islands

There is heavy brash ice and we are the only zodiac to venture into it with our gung-ho expedition driver. At times it feels like the ice is trying to close around us and it keeps getting stuck in the propellor.

A solitary Adelie penguin in the brash ice

An unexpected brief landing on the Antarctic continent after dinner at Cape Tuxen completes a long day and I can celebrate having been to all 7 continents in the world.

 
An impromptu evening landing on the Antarctic continent

Argentine Islands

The weather is now overcast and the temperature below freezing with a moderate swell. Antarctica feels much more potentially threatening. We visit the Argentine Islands and watch the side of a huge iceberg disintegrating and exploding into the water - another reminder of the dangers here as it is difficult to tell how far below the surface an iceberg extends. My husband has already related a story he found about passengers dying a few years ago when a zodiac was capsized by a wave. 

Before and After

We cruise past Vernadsky research station which was sold to Ukraine by the Brits for £1, admire more icebergs in an 'iceberg graveyard' and have a brief stop to go inside Wordie House, a small hut which closed in 1954 and is preserved to show what life was like living here. Only books and board games to while away the hours and tins of food to keep hunger at bay. My pedantic English Literature PhD husband spots a book published in 1957 (Room at the Top).

Vernadsky research station

Wordie House

Pleneau Island

A landing at Pleneau island has to be changed to a zodiac cruise as there is too much wildlife at the landing site. Instead, we cruise around icebergs and admire the huge surrounding mountains, watch hundreds of penguins porpoising through the water, terns flying in circles just above our heads, and are treated to being within 10-15m of a humpback whale dozing lazily and occasionally blowing, only once lifting its knobbly head to check us out. It fails to wake up so we have to give up and head back to the ship. My only regret on this trip is not having seen or been close up to a humpback whale either fluking or breaching. The photos below are the most I saw. Others were luckier.

   Humpback whale

We are woken not long after 5am by an announcement of a sighting of Orcas nearby. By the time we get to the outside deck, they are swimming almost next to the ship and are clearly hunting seals, who frantically leap out of the water. it is snowing and the light is low, but I manage to get a few photos.

Orcas next to the ship

Cuverville Island

Our last stop is Cuverville Island which has a large Gentoo penguin colony, with many of the older chicks hunkered down for their moult - it expends so much energy that they can do little else until it is over. They look totally miserable. They exchange downy feathers for a shiny waterproof coat and can then enter the sea. The younger chicks accost any adult coming out of the sea begging for food (it sometimes works so worth the effort).

Chinstrap and Gentoo penguin chicks moulting, but nearly there

High Rise rookery

Penguins everywhere - including high rise ledges. We have our last zodiac cruise and find a crab-eating seal lazing on a floe.

A crab-eating seal (which doesn't actually eat crabs)

The Drake Passage

The last day exploring would have been my birthday, but Captain Oleg (from Bulgaria) decides to outrun an approaching storm so I celebrate it in the Drake Passage instead. Tours of the ship's bridge are on offer - no ship's wheel just a Playstation-like joystick and a dozen computer screens. The only traditional items are rows of flags stored in cubicles and we are pleased to note a separate flag for Scotland alongside the Union Jack.

Marine Traffic app shows our progress across the Drake Passage; Mike gets a chance to sit in the Captain's chair

The all-important joystick (middle right) and naval flags

I am presented with a birthday cake at dinner accompanied by crew playing guitars and singing Happy Birthday. I am also given a serenade by the restaurant manager of John Denver's 'You Fill Up My Senses', surreptitiously arranged by my husband. I find out that one of the waiters spent 18 months on board as part of a skeleton crew on a mothballed Fred Olsen cruise ship in the Firth of Forth during the pandemic, with only occasional outings to shop in Dunfermline. I show him photos of the 4 or 5 anchored vessels I took at the time from East Lothian near where we lived.

The Beagle Channel

For nearly an hour as we enter the Beagle Channel, pods of Peale's dolphins leap around the bow of the ship and seemingly landing on their backs with a splash just for the fun of it. Numerous albatross - black-browed as well as the much larger wandering - fly past. We circle for hours waiting for a pilot to come aboard to guide is to Ushuaia.

Peale's Dolphins in the Beagle Channel

Rising at 6am, a quick breakfast, a short walk around Ushuaia in the cold rain and we head to the airport. Thirty-six hours later, we arrive in Edinburgh, most of that time spent in airports rather than flying, via Buenos Aires and Paris. By the time we get home, it almost feels like being in Antarctica is a dream.

If you have the opportunity to visit Antarctica, it won't disappoint and will certainly be the pinnacle of your travels. There is nowhere on earth that can compare both visually and emotionally.

With many thanks to all of the crew of the Greg Mortimer for an incredible journey

All photos in this blog are copyrighted by the author and may not be used without license or permission