Honeymoon - Antarctica

Antarctica - our seventh continent and what an amazing place! The 48 hour crossing of the Drake Passage there and back was distinctly unpleasant although they claimed it was pretty calm. Five to six metre waves meant anything not bolted down flew across the cabin and we´d slide about ten inches up and down our beds with each wave. Sitting or standing meant automatic sickness so we spent a lot of time lying down and my wife lost five pounds - the Drake Diet they call it.

Once that was past however we were treated to the most amazing scenery and highly entertaining wildlife. We managed to ´land´ a couple of times a day. Generally the sites were full of nesting penguins - adelies, gentoo, chinstrap and macaroni. They shuffled about like old men stealing rocks from each other’s nests or sliding along on their stomachs when more speed was required. They didn´t seem bothered by us and were inquisitive more than anything else. Also lots of elephant seals and Weddell seals and a couple of whales out at sea.

Most memorable stops were in the Weddell Sea on the NW of the continent where a peculiar circular tide caused Shackleton´s boat, the Endurance, to get iced in and eventually sink in the early 1900s (the crew were forced to live on the pack ice for five months but all survived) and makes navigation tricky. The captain of our ship was a brave Englishman who managed to break through the ice and get us further into the Weddell Sea than any of the staff had been before. We had one landing where he jammed the bow into an area of fast ice and we were able to get out and walk on it - about seven feet thick with a quarter of a mile of water below us. A large snowball fight ensued and several penguins came to investigate.

My favourite morning was a particularly calm one. We were up at 5am (sunrise at 2.30am this time of year) and went out in the dinghies to watch Emperor penguins (apparently only about 10 000 people have ever seen them in the wild) and stunning icebergs everywhere in all shapes and sizes. Massive tabular ice bergs over 20 miles long and the 10 percent above the water about 30 storeys high and smaller chunks with penguins bobbing along on them. The colour varied from white through turquoise to sky blue depending on the density of the ice.

I got hold of a digital camera which kept me quiet and took hundreds and hundreds of photos so I suggest no-one asks to see them! Not as cold as we expected, about -1 and probably about -10 with the wind-chill but it finally got me into trousers.

Interesting fact: if you throw boiling water into the air at -50 it freezes instantly and turns to snow!

My wife was forced to wear 4 pairs of socks, 3 pairs of trousers, 5 layers and a coat, gloves, a hat and a scarf on her top half. Mobility was somewhat reduced and led to a particularly amusing game of ultimate Frisbee in snow up to our knees being unclear on the rules anyway! I have to say I´m pleased to be off the boat but what a fantastic trip.

Sadly the ship that took on this fantastic voyage lies at the bottom of the Antarctic Sea. Perhaps the skipper was too fearless in the end!