Our Captain awoke us this morning with a sighting of Orcas on the port side at 7am. Grabbing my long lens, and still in night attire aka boxers the -16 degree wind chill factor was quite suprise, as I was to the Orcas so they swam away !

The fun continued with the Captain announcing again, in the middle of breakfast this time, that the ice shield walk would commence in 15 minutes time starting with the red group, ie us !

Surprising the cabin attendant we ran back in, stripped off and geared up for a cold excursion. The ride over was good, and the walk on the sea ice exhilarating.

The surface was a mixture of ice and snow, very slippy in a few places. I managed to break thru the a top layer at one stage, giving myself and H a surprise. Luckily it was firm underneath. At this point we were the most southerly ship in the world.

After a leisurely lunch it was back to the cabin to sort pics or have a nap, as we headed north to Cape Bird. The weather looked a bit dicey as we arrived a few hours later, but could see thousands of Adélie penguins in rookeries.

“Bonjour, it is your Captain speaking, the red group can disembark in 15 minutes time” Another mad rush, this time by myself, H had a better offer of knitting and hot chocolate whilst watching mad Zodiac drivers…..

The fluffy babies were cute, but the attrition rate was terrible, with bodies strewn everywhere. Most couples have 2 eggs, sacrificing one whilst growing up and providing food for Skuas.

We walked along a set out corridor, gradually climbing to the highest rookery.

I didn’t stay long up here, the Skua’s were circling prey and I didn’t really want to watch them catch one.

They babies are delightful creatures, even if slightly smelly and covered in regurgitated fish !

By the time I got back to the beach it had started to snow, and a few growlers had beached. This made the trip back slightly frantic, I got fairly wet and the boat half filled with water with a surprise wave coming over the stern. Good call H, a hot chocolate in the lounge was greatly appreciated, as was dinner and hopefully an early bed……” this is your Captain speaking” Noooo !

Todays Zodiac excursion was to Cape Royds, where Shackleton based the British Antarctic Nimrod Expecition (1907-1909). It was a tricky landing, basically a V cut in the ice with a few steps. The Zodiac was driven, held in by leaving the power on, and the passengers pulled out ! As such H decided to skip this one…

Not so a Chinese Social Influencer…who stripped down to a bikini and pranced around whilst having her photo taken for Insta, I’ve blurred the photo 😁

H took a few pics of me loading up. It was the full regalia for a -6 day, plus a significant wind chill factor. Click to enlarge pics.

The landing was tricky, but our group of 7 were soon marching inland, across a barren landscape, to a more well sheltered hut.

It “nestled” into the landscape compared to yesterday’s.

The hut was very personable, but our 8 minutes allocated soon passed. Time to visit the adjacent Adelie Rookery, the most southern one. They would have been noisy neighbours!

We could then return to the ship, or do a free wander around a designated area or ASPA. There, with one of the guides, a most memorable Penguin encounter occurred.

It was time to head home, with a final look at Mt Erebus, still cloud free and under a blue sky. We have something different planned for tomorrow, fingers crossed for continued good weather.

I’ll just put up a few words and pics about our zodiac excursion yesterday to Scott’s Hut. Compared to Enderby Island it was comfortable, but we still dressed up for the expected -6 temps.

This comprises of thermal top and bottoms, thick shirt and waxed trousers, thick fleece top and waterproof over trousers, polar parka, beanie, neck warmer, 2 thick pairs of socks and water proof rubber boots plus 3 pairs of gloves. Then you add a life jacket, camera bag and sunglasses. You’re good to go….! nobody talk about beached whales or the penguin waddle.

The beach landing was easy, so we started making our way up the hill to a memorial.

The view from the top was stunning, overlooking the bay and Mount Erebus behind us.

There was hardly any wind, and with the sun shining it felt positively warm. Apparently there about 6 days a year that you can see the mountain, an active volcano, like this.

Heading back down to the hut we passed numerous artefacts, rarely exposed but visible now due to lack of snow.

There were a few seals and penguins around as well

After touring the hut, see previous blog for pics, we were given the choice of returning to the ship or having an hours “free time” to wander around a pegged area to a glacier. H elected to return whilst I walked out to take a few more pictures.

A truly memorable day, capped off with a rare Penguin sighting! YES 2 Emperor penguins, plus 3 Adele’s were sighted later on. These are EXTREMELY rare to sight (do you remember David Attenborough’s program about them in the middle of winter incubating their egg ?), so these and the Orcas have got the naturalists on board super excited.

I’m just going to post shots from within the hut for now. They are in Black and White as homage to exceptional men.

I’ll do another post later on about the full trip, suffice to say we are in the Bar with some fellow Tasmanians having a G and T to celebrate an exceptional day.

Yesterday was mainly occupied by a couple of lectures about Shackleton’s expeditions. Our lecturer, Natalie, has produced the documentary about the expedition that found his ship Endurance under the sea ice.

She focussed on how music had influenced the men, from the band in Argentina playing “It’s a long way to Tipperary” to the music the men were listening to just prior to the ship sinking.

A well presented lecture, from an unusual aspect. Her second lecture was about how she made her documentary. Unfortunately as it’s owned privately we were unable to photograph screenshots, but “Endurance” the film looks a great movie to catch on Disney or National Geographic streaming channels

During dinner the Captain announced our approach to the Ross Ice Shelf, but warned us temperatures outside with a wind chill factor would be around -20. It was extremely challenging to take pics, but a fantastic experience.

It’s approximately 500klm long and 950klm wide to the barren and rocky shoreline. Overwhelming really, and brings home just how tough the men were. To top things off a pod of Orcas swam past, with penguins sitting on icebergs.

The Sunset lasted all of 5 minutes before it rose again ! So sleeping can be a bit challenging.

This morning we are anchored at Cape Evans, opposite Mt Erebus. We are shortly due to take a Zodiac and visit Scott’s Hut.

It’s hard to believe we are actually here….I’ve loaded my film camera with black and white film and am channelling my Frank Hurley photographic style. See you later on ❄️❄️❄️❄️

After suiting up…..thermals top and bottom, shirt and waterproof trousers, thick sweater and neck warmer, 2 pairs of thick socks, polar parka and polar over trousers, 2 pairs of gloves, explorer boots, life jacket and camera backpack ! we waddled out to the Marina waiting for our Zodiac.

Luckily it was warm, at -3 plus a wind chill factor. Our Guide Mark explained it could be down to -16 here on some trips, with the boat spray freezing on the parkas.

It was a perfect evening for a cruise, a slight swell and short ride before entering the ice.

It was a serene, and surreal moment. Gently bobbing up and down as we threaded our way through the ice, gently pushing larger pieces away.

Le Soleal gradually disappeared, soon it was just us floating along as we spotted a seal and penguins in the distance.

After an hour we exited the ice to find Le Soleal in the distance. It’s amazing how fast the pack moves with wind and currents.

All too soon it was our time to disembark. A quick dash to the cabin with dinner at 9pm. Then a musical trivia quiz to 11:30 and bed at midnight along with the setting sun. Fortunately we didn’t have to get up with it….as it rose 40 minutes after setting ! An UNFORGETTABLE day, and just what we needed after 3 days at sea.

So yesterday I left you just after lunch with land sighted.

The Captain was worried about the rate the ice was moving, despite it being a calm day. We were unlikely to get a Zodiac landing because of the time it would take, but pushed on to see what options were available.

The closer we got the more impressive, and colder it seemed. To get closer we pushed thru some brash, and larger growler, ice.

We went fairly slowly, pushing the larger growlers away with crashes and bangs. After an hour or so we were through to clear water around Fohn Island, part of Possession Island

Our temporary mooring spot, no anchor was dropped, had a large Adelie penguin rookery nearby.

Several icebergs had floated past when the Captain informed us that a Zodiac Ice adventure was being organised. No time for dinner, Red B are up first. Time to scramble below and suit up. To be continued !

This morning there was a profusion of birds wheeling around the stern of the ship. Gone are the Albatross, largely replaced by Petrals (snow and antartic)

During lunch the Captain announced the sighting of the White Continent, very exciting after 4 days at sea.

Possession Islands

We are listening to a lecture at present, shortly the Expedition Zodiacs will be launched and we hope to be onshore this afternoon / evening. Part 2 to be done later, weather permitting.

Tracking our position on Dads old map we could see our heading for Cape Adare, which has a couple of early explorers huts there and a massive Penguin colony. Ponant hasn’t been able to visit here for the last 2 years due to the ice and wind, but all indications were good last night with a lot of crossed fingers.

The Camera Lens Blower shows where we are heading, Cape Adare. The other plots are a trip my father did to Mawsons Hut.

Dad had plotted an iceberg in our current area, and sure enough..

There are a few eyes on lookout in the bridge, along with a lot of sophisticated equipment. Le Soleal has an open bridge policy, it’s only closed when in port operations or the Captain wants peace !

Patricia from the Antarctic Heritage Trust gave an informative talk this morning about the trusts aims, and info about the huts at Cape Adare.

Penguins could give site access problems…

Unfortunately the swell is up again, we’ve had to reduce speed and steer around the ice ahead, this increases the chance of more ice moving and stopping us from landing. But we are thinking positively, and have a bio contamination inspection slated for later on, which will ensure we’re ready to roll …..ice and light permitting.

UPDATE – Late afternoon info by Captain and Expedition Leader – Ice forming around Cape Adare with a big storm due on Sunday. Will hopefully visit Possession Island, south of Cape Adare this afternoon, evening then run further south to Scott Hut to avoid the weather. But we will see Continental Ice Shelf today, and hopefully get a run in the Zodiacs.

After yesterday’s afternoon soaking the Captains Gala Cocktail Evening was extremely enjoyable. One of the best big group prepared meals I’ve ever had. The Beef Wellington fillet was melt in the mouth, as were the lobster tails, delicious desert and French Champagne….as you can see we cleared the table with some new Kiwi friends.

This morning an entertaining lecture about birding resulted in a rush to the back deck as we all tried our hand. It’s not something I usually photograph, but was pleased with the results. Mind you the keep rate was not good, about 20 out of 400 !

By now the swell was starting to really build, and it was exhilarating to stand at the stern as we surfed over 5 meter swells.

It’s also down to 7 degrees, though it’s only a couple a few steps through to the lounge and all of its delights. Strawberry Pav for 2