Raina's Blogging again - Rhapsody "Around the Horn" & Antarctica.

[Virtopia]

This review is absolutely amazing. I'm in awe looking at these pictures and reading your report. Such an amazing trip.

[demodawn]

Great adventure! Thanks for bringing us!

[cruisexlife]

Completely infatuated with your review. Patagonia is a place I would love to see, so thank you so much for the pics of your initial journey through there. I love your style of writing! I will certainly be following along!

[robandana]

Hey what a great review and the pic's are amazing!!

 

It was so much fun cruising with you around the horn.

 

We look forward to having the pleasure/fun of cruising with you again soon!!:D

 

Rob and Ana

Edited April 13, 2016 by robandana

[AussieVisi2r]

Day 3

Barrientos (Aitcho Island), Temp: 3°C

62°24,8´S

059°44,7´W

 

At this time of year the snow has gone…but the penguin poo has not. So it was a muddy poo covered island with two penguin rookeries. Gentoo and Chin Strap Penguins. Of course many Skua birds feeding on penguins. And some South American Fur Seals.

 

We got to wander around (in the areas) at will and look at what we liked.

 

Yes it was cold –Damned Cold! Not so much the temperature (or lack there of) but the wind. And it was sleeting – horizontally. So the big camera was not happy. But I didn't feel cold - too many efficient clothes on.

 

The penguins were very sweet. Feeding young, running around, singing and squarking.

 

This is how we think of penguins. White and shiny and pretty. And they are.

 

This is a Chinstrap Penguin.

 

Gentoo Penguin

 

But they are not always this pretty.

 

LOL.

 

 

 

But basically beautiful.

 

 

Tired chick.

 

 

After a few hours I headed back. You could go back at any time. The process was just as simple. Walk into the ocean a bit to get lots of the penguin poo off your boots, (using the foot wash station) then up to the Zodiac. Two staff to hold you while you stepped up on the step in the water and onto the boat, sit, pivot and slid. Back at the ship we pulled up along side and tied up. Then in goes the step, pivot, two hands to hold onto and your are back on the ship. You walked over to the big tubs with scrubbing brushes on the bottom and sides and scrubbed your boots (and walking poles). After the scrub tanks you walk back through the chemical tank, up the stairs, swipe your card and that is it.

We were again greeted with hot towels and hot sweet tea. It was a different kind each trip - Pink Lemonade etc.

Then back to your room to take off all the gear, hand it up to dry, dry off cameras, charge batteries etc to be ready for the next trip.

 

There were always cookies (too good), coffee, tea and hot Chocolate - Like in the Concierge lounges.

 

It was all so (relatively) simple and not nearly as hard as I though it would be. And so great that we got there early and had an easy day today with only one landing.

 

Later we had the Captains Cocktail party where we all dressed up and had drinks and lovely nibbles with the Captain. He is from the Ukraine, has a very thick accent and is very funny (I think).

 

The bathrooms on board are funny. They look a bit like a nursing home! 2 big grab rails in the shower, 2 big grab rails near the toilet. Great for rough weather.

 

Sleep time now as a big day tomorrow. The ship is rocking a lot but gently and very pleasant.

I love my room to my elf where I get to use all the hooks, all the power points etc.

 

Great day!

[AussieVisi2r]

Day 11 (of my trip)

Enterprise Island

64°33,9’S

061°59,6´W

 

AMAZING

 

We started with a Zodiac cruise to Enterprise Island. Amazing ice bergs. So wonderful. Huge! Old! And amazing.

 

 

 

 

The older the ice…the blue the berg. As the ice is compressed over the years the air is crushed out of it – turning it blue (lots of water looks blue – like in the ocean). We stopped next to some bergs and could see and hear the air effervescing as it was crushed out.

 

 

 

We visited a ship wreck of a whaler that burnt 101 years ago. And saw much of its infrastructure. Tie up points. Water boats (barges that were taken on land to collect water then towed back to the ship). Barrels. Remember timber takes hundreds of year to break down due to the cold.

 

[AussieVisi2r]

Day 11

Enterprise Island

64°33,9’S

061°59,6´W

 

 

 

 

 

As opposed to the Arctic which is a big ice block, Antarctica is actually a continent with a rock base. In inter it is massively bigger with ice sheets.

 

 

[AussieVisi2r]

Day 11

 

I saw Minke whales. Yay. And sea lions and seals and many birds.

 

 

After that we cruised through a strait 'Wilhelmina Bay' and saw many humpbacks. I spent ages up on the bridge with the whale spotters.

 

 

There is an open bridge policy (unless something is happening) so you can go up anytime you like.

 

 

 

I loved the ships flag! And took so many photos of it. It just provided that 'pop of colour' that all the interior designers all talk about on the house shows. It as such a great foil to all the monochrome.

 

 

[AussieVisi2r]

Day 11

Cuverville Island

64°40,3´S

062°37,2´W

 

After lunch we did another landing. This was to an island with a Gentoo Penguin colony. So much fun and so funny. There were thousands of them. The chicks are adult sized and are in various stages of molting.

 

 

They are still being fed by the parents who spend lots of time hunting for fish. They gracefully speed through the water, leaping out and flying for meters. They speed up to the rocky shore, stand up, walk forward and nearly always fall flat on their faces.

 

 

Gentoo’s teach the babies to hunt by running away from them with their food. So all over the beach are parents running away for usually two huge fuzzy babies. The chase goes for hundreds of meters with much ducking and weaving through the crowd and around rocks. The babies are clumsy and fall, running with their little wings flapping and yelling the whole time. Sometimes the parents run into the water and the babies stop dead on the edge, not willing to go in!

 

 

 

The fast chick - therefore the strongest, gets the food. The second one does not. Natures way! But it keeps the Skuas well fed.

 

 

[AussieVisi2r]

And then...... I got MY PHOTO.

 

That one that will always be special! The one that just by looking at it will transport me back to Antarctica.

 

 

 

 

The back story.

Parent was running away from the chicks with food. As it ran up the hill this chick fell way behind. The Skua saw its opportunity and 'came in for the kill'. The chick yelled and tried to get away. All of a sudden the parent turn and charged back, down the hill like a beast, and chased the Skua away.

Sensational.

 

How lucky was I. I expected David Attenborough to pop up beside me and start commentating.

[AussieVisi2r]

Still day 11

 

We had a fancy dinner tonight. A BBQ on the back deck.

It was amazing! I don’t have enough superlatives.

 

 

We sat on the deck…with white table clothes and full dinner service, ate a great BBQ with steak, ribs, stacks of salads and veg, drinking mulled wine (well they did), wrapped in fluffy blankets, in 5 degrees while some of the most spectacular scenery in the world slipped by.

 

 

Giant glaciers, huge icebergs, massive cliffs of snow and ice. Sea lions, penguins, birds. It was amazing. Surreal.

 

 

 

I was thinking, “WOW, what could they charge for a dinner like this”, then I realized the price would be $10 to $20,000!

 

The trip was worth it for this dinner alone!

 

 

Could this day be any more perfect?

[Big Kev]

Magnificent work Raina.. Thanks ... :)

 

Sue and Phil

[AussieVisi2r]

Still day 11

 

BUT THEN…..

 

Paradise Harbour, (Almirante Brown Station)

64°53,5´S

62°52,9´W

 

At 8pm, we kitted up and headed out again in the Zodiacs. This time we went to ANTARCTICA. As in the CONTINENT of Antarctica. We walked on the continent.

 

 

Snow Angels had to be made.

 

 

My SEVENTH continent. There was not a huge number of us who had visited ALL SEVEN continents. How exciting.

 

 

 

There were some pretty impressive views…but that didn’t matter. We were walking on Antarctica.

 

 

"Hands up if you've been to Antarctica!"

(They say you can take the teacher out of the classroom but you cant take the classroom out of the teacher"!)

 

 

We headed back at 10pm.

 

What a day!

 

I did say out loud, that if they decided we had to go home now, I would go happy. I have seen so much and done so much already. AND I HAVE BEEN TO ANTARCTICA!

 

[AussieVisi2r]

Sorry. My pano scenery shot has stretched this page wide.

 

Sorry!.

[pfsf cruisers]

I never really comment but have read all your fantastic reviews, and love hearing about you and your family.

 

This has got to be the most fascinating review I have ever seen. Your photos are phenomenal. Well done!! :)

[Newby58]

Hi all,

I'm back again. And doing another blog.

 

I have just returned from another amazing trip. I didn't make this a LIVE blog due to it being such a busy schedule and not enough time to keep up to date.

 

It was a huge trip.

 

Raina

 

 

Hi Raina, thank you for sharing! Can't wait to read your review and see your picks.

[pattle66]

Hi Raina,

 

I love your review and your photos are amazing.

 

I can not see your photos on your last post. You know the one where you actually stepped onto the continent of Antarctica!! How exciting. Is it just me or is there an issue with that post.

 

I look forward to reading the rest of your review.

 

p.s my kids still talk about fulfart ahead from our Radiance trip :D

[AussieVisi2r]

Antarctica

 

We get woken up by a PA announcement each day. Today was at 7.30. The expedition leader that does it has a really, really nice voice and is so sweet and gentle with it. “Good morning, Good Morning, time to wake up. Todays .......”. The last two mornings I have answered him…”Morning, I’ll get up now”, then realised I was talking to the PA. Funny. We shall see if he gets me again tomorrow.

 

 

This morning’s trip was to Port Lockroy. A British base, their first one, so Base A.

 

 

The sun was out and there was no wind. It was amazing. I put a t-shirt on under my jacket, as I knew it would be too hot. When we arrived I took off my jacket and life vest and was in a t-shirt for a long time. The base is now maintained by a historical society and has a fantastic museum.

 

 

The original hut is set up as it was with amazing gear in it……including the paintings of women film stars in the bedroom and very risqué paintings of women in very sheer lingerie in the head! The pantries were stocked and the book shelves full.

 

 

 

Their “thermal underwear” was knitted and was about as thick as a chunky jumper. Must have been awfully itchy! They had a god view from the bedroom though!

 

 

We all went and did a bit of shopping in the guest shop to support them. Some of us spent way to much on items made of Antarctic Tartan - one designed specially .

Of course there were Gentoo Penguins everywhere. The base is known as the “Penguin Post Office”. I watched a documentary on it last week!

 

I really do not need any more photos of Gentoo Penguins….but who can resist. The chicks are so damn cute. Before they molt, their feathers get particularly fluffy. They look like obese balls of cuteness. It really takes all of your will power not to pick one up and snuggle it and rub it all over your face. They truly are adorable. I know understand the obsession the world has with penguins.

 

 

 

Edited April 13, 2016 by AussieVisi2r

[AussieVisi2r]

Antarctica

Port Lockroy/ Jougla Point

64°49,6´S

063°30,1´W

 

Back into the Zodiacs and around the corner to a beautiful cove ...Jougla Point.. By this stage the weather had changed and it was very cold. Such an amazing weather change in 10 minutes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

And …you guessed it, more Gentoo Penguins. And some stunning views. There was a small yacht anchored in the bay. Maybe 20 meters. It did have a heavy hull, three masks and (apparently) twice the normal number of guy ropes to the masts. They must be seasoned yachties not tourists. I think the Drake would kill a normal person in that.

 

 

[AussieVisi2r]

Antarctica

 

The afternoon trip was to Useful Island.

 

 

 

Yep more Gentoo Penguins. There are only 300,000 Gentoos. They are the least common. They just happen to live at the places we have been! But I did see lots of good things. In the parent chase one chick was running with it’s chest up against the parents back. It was very funny. Like it was playing a “Ghosting” game with someone.

 

 

I also got some great views of parents returning and feeding their greedy little guys. And of penguins bathing. Like swimming but with heaps of rolling and flicking and tail swishing.

 

 

 

[bobmacliberty]

Sorry. My pano scenery shot has stretched this page wide.

 

Sorry!.

 

Please...no apologies. Absoutely amazing stuff!

[AussieVisi2r]

Antarctica

 

After a while wandering around and enjoying the stunning weather I sat on a rock for about 30 minutes and just looked. The sky was so blue and everything was sparkling. Apart from the old rotting snow…covered in four months of penguin poo and molted feathers.

 

 

I then hopped into a Zodiac for a cruise around the bay. We saw heaps of seals – mainly Crab Eater (who don’t eat crabs – but have teeth that have a hook on them that look like a crab claw) and Weddell Seals. Weddell’s are the seals that live on the ice floes attached to land and keep air holes open with their teeth. They are the southern most breeding mammal. We also saw Elephant seals. So the only one missing from the list is a Leopard seal.

 

 

We went into some very shallow water and looked for 'Copeopod'. Like krill. About 2cm long – tiny crustaceans that many of the creatures eat. I stuck the underwater camera to try to get some photos. I will definitely NOT be falling in. It was so very cold.

 

 

 

This little bay has some amazing small bergs. They looks like fides at a fun park.

 

 

[AussieVisi2r]

Antarctica

 

We then went cruising and looked at icebergs. Stunning. Some had archways. One looked like a huge modern art lotus flower – like the big one in Singapore. When we went into the shallow bay, our driver ‘Flipper’ said it looked like a theme park for Penguins. And then we saw some small icebergs (bergy-bits, under 5 meters) that looked like roundabout horses.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Can you tell I love ice!

 

Another stunning day!

[AussieVisi2r]

Antarctica

 

 

 

After a lovely dinner I decided that I would go up to the bridge to see if there would be a good sunset. The bridge is always open….unless it is not!

There were no colours but I picked up binoculars and started to help Annette the PHD Marine Biologist and whale expert look for whales. We found at least 6 different humpbacks all scattered around over a large area.

 

 

I saw one do a small breach! Very exciting. They were too far away to bother announcing it to the ship. We just kept watching and hopping they would get closer. We chatted about the chances of seeing Orcas. “It’s all about luck. They could be swimming past us right now on the other side!” At about 9.30 we saw a new group of whales. Blowing differently.

 

AHhhhhhhhhh. They were Orcas. They came towards us and got closer and closer. NOW it was time to tell the whole ship! Then they came closer. It was a pod of at least 10 animals. They were Type B.

 

 

After a while Jonathon, the Expedition boss, made another announcement and said something like “this is amazing…If you are not outside on deck watching this, you are on the wrong cruise in the wrong place”

The ‘followed’ us at least 20 minutes. The light was too low for any decent photos. There was John the photographer, Annette, another staff member and me all up there with huge lenses. But I don’t think we got many decent shots between us. It was close to dark. But I WATCHED A POD OF 10 ORCAS FOR 20 MINUTES!!!!

 

 

 

Annnette was so happy. Biggest pod she has ever seen.

 

WOW. What a way to finish a great day!

 

What shall tomorrow bring?????? At least we are not getting a wake up call until 8am. YAY sleeping!

 

[cinnamon]

What stunning photography and such an amazing experience. Definitely following along.