My Blog

Last Stop

2010-12-07T16:20:00.000-08:00

Last Stop, a photo by jakehyr on Flickr.

Beached Iceberg on pebble beach

2010-12-07T16:19:00.000-08:00

Iceberg, a photo by jakehyr on Flickr.

Deceptively Deceptive

2010-12-07T16:18:00.000-08:00

Today’s schedule included Deception Island and Half Moon Island, both of which we did not visit. It was supposed to be a nice wrap up to the entire trip, having us land in the above mentioned, but due to strong winds we couldn’t execute the landing. We did however, cruise into the caldera of Deception Island, and then made a landing in. This being our final stop in Antarctica before the Drake Passage, everyone got off the cruise ship with a look of sadness on their faces. It’s fantastic to go home, but this trip has been so touching and intimate to most that it’s such a sad thing to have to part.

Walking along the shoreline of the pebble stone beach, I took in the strong, cold, harsh winds for the final time.

Skua with egg

2010-12-06T04:16:00.000-08:00

Skua with egg, a photo by jakehyr on Flickr.

Happy Skua Day

2010-12-06T04:14:00.000-08:00

We did a landing in the morning on Paulet Island, where we were greeted with the adventure stone hut left by Nordenskjold’s team when they did the expedition some time back. Of course, it was derelict at the present moment and the Adelie penguin colony took the liberty of establishing the stones as their nesting ground. The morning was exceptionally interesting when I sat on a rock for about an hour watching the nesting penguins. On two occasions, some skuas flew directly over the colony and took the eggs of the penguins away. This created quite a scene, as both parent penguins looked at each other in bewilderment, wondering where their egg went. After examining the nest for the absence of the egg, they would let out a screech of discontent or amazement, whichever applied according to their cognitive abilities (which we humans have not quite understood yet), and continue staring at the empty nest. This repeated itself and I couldn’t help but stare in awe, somewhat like how the penguins were searching for the egg. Meanwhile, the skua was happily cracking open the shells and feasting on the chick within. I then took a short walk along the coastline and headed back to the boat. Such a perfect day for self reflection!

The afternoon was our only landing on continental Antarctica, at a site named Brown Bluff, and there was quite a swell. We opted for kayaking, but only after the glacier walk. The glacier walk was really scenic, albeit cold because of the fact that stubborn me refused to put on my beanie. My head numbed out in the end, along with the brains within, so that didn’t cause a problem after a while. What was the more apparent problem was the fact that our entrance had, over the fifteen minutes we had crossed it, filled up with sea water and that meant that we had to hike over a mountain to get to the same spot again. The climb was tedious and steep, and we had to turn back because the guides realised that really wasn’t the option and we opted to cross the way we came in from. All this while there were strong winds, heavy snow, and by the time we got to the beach, or kayaks were frosted over, which made a very nice picture indeed. We spent some time walking along the beach, and had many pictures taken. We even had the opportunity to sea some nesting snow petrels.

Now that the trip is nearing the end, I feel the urgency to absorb every single passing moment – the air, the sights, the sounds, all because I’d never know if I’d come back to this wonderful place ever again in my lifetime, all this while reflecting how blessed I’ve been to be born in this loving family of mine.

Polar Plunge!

2010-12-05T04:06:00.000-08:00

Eventful day it was, probably the best day of the trip, but only because of the moments and experiences of the day. We spent the morning negotiating the ice bergs that were aplenty in the peninsula, and amazingly arrived at Snow Hill Island, an area that would have otherwise been completely covered in fast ice that a ship like the Ocean Nova would not be able to navigate around. This was our first landing after many days out at sea, and it was definitely a good thing to be in calmer waters. We were awoken by dad’s claims of having seen the moon adjacent to the sun in the sky, and although that was generally impossible to be seen (unless of course there was going to be an eclipse), we decided to go out and take a look. Antarctica is cold, period.

Our landing was miserably cold. We didn’t wear our gloves and although the air temperature was two below freezing, it sure felt like 20 below because of the wind chill factor. We visited the hut of Nordenskjold, half the time freezing bits of our face off. My hands were chilled, my legs were chilled. Still, we decided that it was timely we did a hike up a slope to get better views and the Katabatic winds there were so strong it could blow anyone off their footing. There wasn’t a path either, Snow Hill being very less visited than the other sights. The loose gravel, pebble rock, and slushy ice made the climb a lot more arduous, but a lot more exciting at the same time. The solitariness of this land, with all the grounded ice bergs on shore concocted such an incredible portrait of the forces of nature. We went back to the boat and I completed Tale of Two Cities before lunch, which happened to be a mixture of mussels and calamari.

Now after lunch we arrived at Devil’s Island, so named because of the twin peaks that look like the horns of the devil. We decided to paddle around, and circumnavigate the island, which was much easier than the previous paddle. We saw Weddell Seals so it was really quite an experience. Dinner was shortly served, at the top deck of the cruise ship, and tonight we were having a barbeque. It was an awesome barbeque, and the food tasted so good I don’t think I have tasted any better, nor will I taste any better in the future. Maybe it was because we chose spot on the top deck as well, where we were at the mercy of the cold winds. Well, it was a good warm up for what was to come next – Polar Plunge.

After watching so many videos of people doing polar plunges in the Antarctic waters, now was the time to claim the grand prize of having bragging rights to this famed jump. I had planned to do a star jump, but ended up just diving into the water because it was so cold. I opened my eyes for a brief moment when I was under water and I have to add that the water here tasted less saline, but the clarity of the waters could be felt on the skin. Thrashing about in the water like creatures put in a spot, the chill numbed the entire body, and I had to be helped on to the gangway by the crew members.

The night was spent at the Panorama lounge, over 9 shots of whisky we spoke to people on board the cruise. It was a good night, and we spent bouts of moments exchanging photographs and videos as well. I too, uploaded the pictures on to the voyage dvd and for the photo competition. Not that I intend to win, I downsized all the pictures for ease of uploading as well. We stayed up till about 0100 hours, and with the eminent sense of doom of having to wake up extra early the next day, we slept our happy hearts away. O happy day!

Poker Face

2010-12-04T12:02:00.000-08:00

To break the monotony of our third day at sea, there was a poker tournament hosted today. Funny it is, that lady luck should favour those who begin their endeavours from scratch. Well I lost, and the game went on for ages. The night was surreal, spent in the lounge looking at icebergs float by. Nothing quite soothes the soul as such picturesque moments.

Shingle no shingle?

2010-12-03T16:02:00.000-08:00

Today was supposed to be the opportune day for us to make a landing in the South Orkney Islands, at this place called the Shingle Cove. That did not happen due to some really strong winds. So off to the peninsula we headed, with lots of rough seas.

Tornado

2010-12-03T04:01:00.000-08:00

The chair had fallen, the bottles had fallen, and everything that was not securely fastened to any non-slip surface, had fallen. It almost seemed like the ceiling would fall too.

We received some 40 knot winds which made our ship rock terribly this afternoon. This resulted in the entire day being dedicated to the strife for complete balance on board. We did attend a lecture on Antarctic Whaling, but that was basically it.

Drygalski

2010-12-02T03:56:00.000-08:00

Our four days in South Georgia had gone on very well, and today was a particularly nice reprise of the symphony of sights and sounds we have played audience to for the past three days.

We woke up to the very distinct voice of Brandon over the PA system, or Bing Bong as it is colloquially termed. The time was 0500 and we had barely had 7 hours of rest. The ship had anchored in Gold Harbour and we had to seize the opportunity to get to the harbour before the swell comes in. The landing on the harbour wasn’t any different from the rest, and neither were the observances any newer – we had king penguins and elephant seals alike. Yet this beach was dotted with so many beach masters that were bellowing and fighting out for their rightful spot on the gravel beach that it was a remarkable sight indeed. I managed to catch skuas fighting over a seal pup’s carcass.

We then attempted at our second landing on Cooper Island, but the swell was too huge, with fur seals that dominated the beach that we could only do a zodiac cruise. It was the first zodiac cruise on our voyage, and we were rewarded with a great view of a colony of macaroni penguins. The expedition team reckons this would probably be our one best chance to get a glimpse of macaronis, so it was worth the while.

The day’s spectacle ended of course, in Drygalski Fjord, an amazing cruise inland to the receding face of a glacier. It calved three times, and we got it all on film. The glaciers glistened with such a brilliant shade of azure blue that it matched the blue skies which we had. We’re off to the peninsula!

All that glitters is gold harbor

2010-12-01T22:08:00.000-08:00

Our four days in South Georgia had gone on very well, and today was a particularly nice reprise of the symphony of sights and sounds we have played audience to for the past three days.

White Fur Seals are Uncommon

2010-11-30T22:01:00.000-08:00

What a day today has been. Thinking about the doubts I had last night, I realised how unfounded they have been! We woke up to a fresh start, and had the option of kayaking in Moltke Harbour. As they said there wouldn’t be much to see ashore, we decided to do the kayaking, and went up so darn close to the glaciers I swear if it calved (which it did, three times), we would have been swallowed up by the wash that followed it. This was my first time kayaking amongst such huge ice floes, ice bergs and growlers that it was certainly breathtaking. As the boat negotiated each piece of ice, it made a rough crackling sound against the boat, which resonates with the feelings I had, of peace and tranquillity, out there in the middle of the ice. We weren’t alone of course, and were accompanied by the very playful fur seals, and the occasional cormorant flying above us.

The paddling was difficult, and once we made it up the boat we swore we had enough for the day. Lunch was light for me, and rightfully so, because after that we were to make a landing at Godthul. Ben gathered the kayakers again and most of them backed out. Bro and I had planned to give this one a miss, but then somehow we were compelled to go down, partly because we felt then and there, that we needed the bragging rights to having kayaked three times, treble the amount most people do, in South Georgia.

We started slow, and came to a small cove, where we were greeted by an albino fur seal. It was huge, such that it looked a bit like a polar bear. First it went up the Growler, and sniffed Stephen’s arm before bellowing out at them. We were lucky to have it nose up our kayak, but it swam away disinterestedly soon after. The catabatic winds soon caught up with us and we battled against it for a huge distance, before heading back, riding the surf, to the beach. After popping by a small rookery of gentoo penguins, we went back to the boat, spent from the day’s activities. Tomorrow we leave South Georgia for the peninsula!

2010-11-29T21:48:00.000-08:00

We woke up earlier than usual, at 0600 to have breakfast in time for the hike from Maiviken to Grytviken. The zodiac landed on a beach full of fur seals, and the males were rather aggressive today because, according to the staff of course, the pups were delivered just this morning. The hike was rather scenic, although not as picturesque as the Shackleton hike. We managed to arrive at some lagoons along the way, and saw several aid stations as well. The trail wasn’t very easy, but we did enjoy our climb up the mountain and down again. We were greeted with the sight of the church at Grytviken, along with the rusted remains of the whaling station.

The scenes that unfolded during the hike were like a documentary film

We did send a postcard home today, and bought a set of 12 postcards which had Shackleton’s pictures on them, taken by Frank Hurley of course. Saw the James Caird, and had a toast of rum to the Boss himself at the grave. Lunch was incredible – Ocean Nova Burger. We had to limit ourselves to one serving because two would have been over the calorie count. After that heavy meal, we rested in bunk before heading out to our final destination for the day – Saint Andrew’s Bay.

Expedition Historian, Louise, leading us in a toast to Shackleton

There were approximately half a million king penguins at this rookery, and we just spent two hours sitting on rocks, watching the penguins. There was a creek that ran by the rookery, leading to the open sea and it was remarkable how these penguins tried to swim against the current. On the way back a Skua made a meal out of a penguin, starting with the eyes. It must have tasted good. Two more days in South Georgia, and I hope the following days can impress me further because I wonder what could be more impressive than these sights!

Shackleton Hike

2010-11-28T21:38:00.000-08:00

I was just reviewing the pictures we took on this trip and realised how the pictures we took today were so astonishing that the pictures we took on the sandy beaches of Carcass Island a few days ago would blush and hide themselves. Today was simply amazing.

We began the day with a landing on Salisbury Plain, and even before the ship anchored, we had pods of seals surfing the wake of the ship, and huge flocks of king penguins, with their heads arched above the waters, swimming towards the shore. The sight was simply amazing and unbelievable. Once on shore, the entire scene was filled with little specks of black, brown and white. We had quite a bit of fun scaring away the feisty little fur seals, but the animals made the entire scenery all the more picturesque.

King Penguin Rookery on Salisbury Plain

Fur Seal Pup being feisty

Inquisitive creatures would just come up to us

We were toying around the idea of having to kayak, or going on the Shackleton Hike, but just half an hour before the ship anchored, we were told that we would be given both on this landing. Kayaking was simply amazing, and we named our kayak “Shag-A-Ton”. There were simply so many seals popping their heads up and down the water that it made the entire ordeal seem so ordinary. We saw a giant petrel feasting on a pup as well, and that was truly noteworthy. No photographs for this because we didn't want to take the chances with getting our DSLR wet.

The Shackleton Hike, despite the horrors we’d heard about it, was really quite simple. It was a good walk, but I didn't have my camera with me on this hike because I passed it to Dad for the kayak. It was still worthwhile, and we got Nobu to take the photos for us. We arrived shortly after on Stromness, and was rewarded with more sights of wildlife. South Georgia was truly amazing, and we were blessed with such impressive weather it was almost unbelievable. As the sun set over the mountains today, it left such an impressionable print in my mind, and never will I forget having dinner with elephant seals, fur seals and king penguins just outside the porthole.

Whale, 1 o’ clock!

2010-11-27T21:33:00.000-08:00

The day was full of lectures, but we spent some time in the afternoon vacuuming our clothes for South Georgia. We were in the midst of a lecture on whaling in Antarctica when someone spotted some whales. The lecture was postponed and we spent probably an hour or so, on the decks photographing the whales. We saw southern right whales, orcas, perhaps even a blue whale when we were passing Shag Rocks. We make land tomorrow on South Georgia. Honestly speaking, I can’t wait to touch land after that many days out at sea.

Shag Rocks in the distance

On a side note, I finished all the postcards today. Brandon did preamp us on the next day in South Georgia. I have read so much about Salisbury Plain, which happens to be our first stop tomorrow. Then we proceed on to Fortuna Bay, followed by Stromness. We should be able to do some Kayaking at Fortuna, and some crazy 5.5km hike up Stromness to trace Shackleton’s last leg of the journey. They said it would be tough, but I know I will regret it if I don’t go on it. So looks like tomorrow will be a very physically demanding day indeed!

Ocean Nova

2010-11-26T21:04:00.000-08:00

Today was basically a day battling the rough seas that the southern oceans had to offer. What was worse was that we were entering the Antarctic Convergence already, so the weather became a lot more bleak, and the fog started to build up. I thought it would be timely to talk about this vessel we've been on for the past few days. (Besides, I wanted to do a review of the Ocean Nova and Quark Expeditions but realised that there wasn't a decent website where I could do so.)

So, the Ocean Nova! I was never too particular about the specifications but it looked like a pretty decent expedition ship. There were about 100 people on board our ship, including expedition staff and passengers. With a strengthened hull, and an amazingly dexterous captain, our ship was able to negotiate the roughest seas, evident in the picture below.

Ocean Nova in the Drake Passage

Meals on board the ship were surprisingly good. I say this in retrospect of course. Throughout the entire course of the expedition (19 days), the kitchen was able to whip up the best tasting meals. It puzzled us how the food managed to be so fresh despite having been stored for so many days. They did run out of several fruits like bananas towards the end of the voyage, but that wasn't really the concern of most of us. The variety was wide, and there was always a plethora of cheese to choose from at the end of dinner. For food and beverage, the Ocean Nova deserves 5*!

Accommodation was rather simple. The cabin wasn't very big (large enough to fit our suitcases but with no more room to move about). We had a twin cabin, and I do suppose it was already quite spacious (I pity the claustrophobic sharing the triple cabin). Well, I wasn't expecting the standard of a luxurious hotel, but the cabins did keep us well rested. 3.5*!

Toilet

Shipboard accommodation

There were a few places we could go to on the ship. Most, if not all of the lectures are held in the Panorama Lounge, and if not for the fact that the boat rocked a lot and the Lounge seemed to suffer much of that rock, being in the bow and the highest deck, it would have been such a wonderful place to hang out while at sea, with 300 degrees view towards the bow of the boat (60 degrees were compromised due to the bar and the lecture screens, towards the stern)

There was also quite a huge collection of books in the library, and indeed it rocked less there, so it was really quite comfortable indulging in literature there.

Albatross sleep whilst flying

2010-11-25T20:53:00.000-08:00

The morning was spent in Port Stanley, the much raved about civilised port in the Falkland Islands. We arrived at the tourist centre, where the family made some calls home, to office and to everyone. This was probably going to be the last stop we would get communications to land. We did a city tour on foot, checked out Christ Church Cathedral with the famous whale bone arc, and several other sights. Probably the most memorable thing we did was to visit the museum. A small quaint hut, no larger than a hut, which had so much memorabilia, that I felt compelled to take pictures of the things that struck a note in me – literally and figuratively (literally because there was a symphonium on display which could still function well). The war relics were very interesting too, with the trusty GPMG and HMG guns in the midst as well.

We attended lectures on board after lunch, and to my amazement, Albatrosses sleep whilst flying. They do so because it takes more energy for them to lift off than to continue flying. The night was spent watching part I of the movie on Shackleton.

Terra Terra

2010-11-24T22:10:00.000-08:00

We got tipped off that waking up early, at 0500, will prove to be rewarding, and that was exactly what I did. Got on the stern of the boat and saw that I was not the only one there. The sunrise was simply breathtaking, and there were dolphins at the side of the ship as well! Peale’s dolphins, they were.

Sunrise over the horizon

It was only during breakfast when we learnt that our landing at Saunders’ Island was not possible due to waves that were just simply too strong. That was really unfortunate as Saunders’ Island had a huge population of King Penguins, and not being able to visit that meant that the King Penguins would have to wait. We were rerouted to West Point Island instead. After a long walk (which I am not complaining about since we spend too much time on board the ship), we reached a rookery where there were the population of albatross there was about 2000 and the rockhopper penguins, 500. We did a short hike up to the peak where we took fantastic shots of the devil’s nose.

Black browed albatross nesting at West Point Island

Scenery that greeted us upon first sight of land

The next stop was after lunch on board, a short sail away from West Point island to Carcass Island. The kelp grew so rampantly there the sea appeared to be full of them. The zodiac landing was a beach landing, and it reminded me of the coastal assault that we did previously. Again, we reached a Gentoo penguin population after a short walk, and we saw some Magellanic penguins in their burrows as well. The beach at the other end showed some penguins returning to the shore, and also held our first sighting of a seal – a lone female elephant seal basking in the sun. We arrived at the owner’s hut of Carcass Island after a walk of about 4 km and had the best tea ever served. Maybe we were just too hungry, or maybe we were exhausted from the walk, but the food there was certainly scrumptious.

Southern Elephant Seal

Maritimus

2010-11-23T22:06:00.000-08:00

I was awoken today by the rocking of the boat. How terrible the rocking was is inexplicable in words. I thought I could handle the nauseating feeling, and went up to the Panorama deck, finding dad already in his seat sipping coffee. I popped a pill and went to sleep again, praying hard that the medication will take effect. I was up and ready to go by noon, and persisted from then on.

Evidently, the rocking of the boat did create quite a mess

Lunch was the best marinara ever because they were so generous with the toppings. There was really good squid, prawns and mussels as topping and I had a lot of them. There was a briefing on using the Zodiac boats for the landing tomorrow. Well, we’ll see how it goes, now that we are calling at Falkland Islands! Can’t wait to see my first penguin!

Tierra Del Fuego

2010-11-22T15:01:00.000-08:00

I woke up earlier today, in attempts to secure seats on the “El Tren del Fin del Mundo”, or “Train at the end of the world”. Of course, judging by the word “attempts”, you’d realise by now that we didn’t get a ticket. We did, however, get ourselves booked on a trip to the Tierra Del Fuego national park, the world’s most southerly national park.

End of the highway from Alaska to Tierra Del Fuego

The national park was rather surreal, with the petrified forests and lichen growing all over the birch trees, it reminded me of Denali national park and our trip to Alaska a few years back. It was raining, but that did not dampen our moods for we were still quite happy snapping away at geese and hares. It was also amusing because our guide kept referring to the Nires tree as “low deciduous bitch tree”. I didn’t know trees talked behind each others’ backs.

Boarding the Ocean Nova was really quick, unlike the previous trip on board Celebrity Cruise. The small ship needed no orientation, and it was really easy walking around the decks. The sea proved to be quite calm, as we cruised down the Beagle Channel. Brandon, the expedition leader, however warned us of the changing currents and sea conditions further ahead and how rough seas were expected through the night.

Rough seas they were.

Antarctica Voyage!

2010-11-21T13:00:00.001-08:00

After a really long series of connecting flights, I finally arrived at Ushuaia. The long stay at the airport the night before was quite rough, and it was the first time the entire family had to put up in such unfavourable sleeping conditions. The chairs were not cushioned and hence proved to make very bad sleeping beds.

The landing strip in Ushuaia

The landing in Ushuaia was probably one of the most scenic landings I’ve ever been. It was flanked by the Beagle Channel to the left, and mountains to the right. A perfect welcome to the capital city of Tierra Del Fuego. After we checked into the hotel, we cleared some email and headed straight down to town.

Tea was served at this restaurant called Banana, and although the service wasn’t exactly top notched, the scrumptious food surely made up for it. I had myself a Neapolitan Pizza, with a hint of garlic and the best tomato slices I’ve ever tasted. The visit to the souvenir shop proved to be rather interesting as well, and I got myself some postcards. This is a personal reminder to grab some key chains and perhaps, a wooden figurine of some sort to take home when we port at Ushuaia 19 days later. The highlight of today was the Natural King Crab, which cost us 105 pesos, bloody cheap indeed. The waiter’s character was extremely effervescent, running up and down the restaurant, making weird noises that constituted his replies to the questions we had about the food. Well, for such a meal like this, we paid less than 150 SGD, and it was certainly marvellous indeed!

We will board the Ocean Nova tomorrow!

Greetings from Ushuaia