After our Macquarie Island Zodiac cruise and landing we did a ship tour northwards towards the Australian base.

It soon became apparent that the wind was picking up, we still got a view of the base, but with the wild weather no personal were seen. Out Tassie guide, Penny, who has worked there described the huts and their various functions. Only 14 ships a year are allowed to land, and this can be reduced depending upon passenger numbers. We were ship 13, certainly not unlucky, with her repeat visit being the final one of the year.

A giant Petral escorted us out as we headed into a big swell.

That evening the swells increased to 5.5 metres, with 65 knots of wind. It was a wild ride and not many people got much sleep. Things gradually eased off during the next sea day, but there were a few running repairs going on around the ship.

This morning we positioned ourselves off the Snares, and were able to take a Zodiac cruise around them. The abundant bird life and green vegetation is a dramatic contrast to life on the ice shelf.

It was also our last Zodiac ride for the cruise, as we are now heading back to Dunedin. I managed to take 400 plus pictures, so will sort thru them tomorrow, as it’s a sea day, and do a final post. In the meantime we have a number of events to attend, mainly to say thanks to all the crew and staff who have done such a great job. The expedition guides have really made this trip special.

The ships motion eased during the night as we got closer to Macquarie. It was overcast and 9 degrees, we felt right at home, especially as it’s administered by Tasmania’s Parks and Wildlife !

We then had one of the best reception committees ever organised

We were first up, so had a quick brekky as the ship was repositioned to our Zodiac wet landing beach.

Upon landing we were assigned Penny as a guide. A fellow Tasmanian she has spent numerous years working here, so a perfect person to show us the 2 colonies of Royal and King penguins.

But first we had to cross Penguin alley, a constant stream going to and fro from the sea. The rookery was huge, noisy and smelly !

There were not many chicks left, but lots of adults moulting, resulting in white feathers everywhere.

Descending down to the beach we passed two of the Mega Herbs found here.

The later were particularly impressive with large inflorescences

On the way to the King Penguin colony we came across the local traffic warden, who’d had enough humans pass….

Our 1.5 hours were up, but Penny gave us a leisurely stroll back to the beach, passing posing penguins and elephant seals.

We made it back to the ship fine, but the boats in the afternoon were getting a bit wet !

One of the joys of this cruise are the enthusiastic people onboard. Apart from the Exploration Guides, we have officials from New Zealand and Australia who not only ensure everything is done correctly, but also impart their knowledge.

Patricia, who is onboard, works for the Antarctic Heritage Trust. They conserve and maintain the historic huts we have visited and had a auction last night to help raise funds.

One of the items that caught my eye was a book titled STILL LIFE by Jane Ussher and Nigel Watson, it’s now out of print and rare.

I managed to successfully bid for it, and was pleasantly surprised to find that all the photographs were taken with a digital Hasselblad Camera, similar to one I have at home. Hopefully my film Hasselblad photos will turn out as good as hers !

In addition to the authors signature Patricia generously signed a card to remind us of our times aboard Le Soleal. If you have an interest in these amazing huts it’s well worthwhile looking at what the Trust do, and considering membership to help their funding.

Last night the Captain warned us that we would have to start paying back for all the fine weather…..he wasn’t wrong.

With a swell of 5.5 metres and 55 knots of wind the seas were soon whipped up and we started to rock and roll.

During the night there were a lot of crashes and bangs, this morning all outside decks are closed, as are the top restaurant and observation lounge. Apparently there’s a lot of broken glass.

Penny, a fellow Tasmanian presented a lecture about Macquarie Island, which we hope to visit tomorrow morning. She danced around the stage trying to keep her footing, but at one point she disappeared into the wings as the audience held on.

The Captain is aiming for a bubble of good weather between 2 storms, but our landing depends upon the amount of swell. We have a bio security inspection this afternoon just in case we can make it.

We are heading north towards the Sub-Antarctic Islands, with hopefully a Macquarie and Snares Zodiac tours / landing.

Days at sea means lectures, with an informative one about shipwrecks in the southern ocean, how appropriate ! by Mark this morning. In the afternoon Sabrina presented one about the mystery of the megaherbs.

It was extremely well presented and researched. She could have taught some of my old Botany professors a lesson or to !

Divided into sections her lecture covered historical, identification and the future of this topic.

Suffice to say I should now be able to identify them, so long as the conditions are better than what we encountered at Enderby Island on the way down .

We had an early morning Zodiac ride around 2 of the Balleny Islands, and it didn’t disappoint. The morning was heavily overcast, with a big swell and snow blowing through.

As we go closer “tracks” showed up in the snow. These are in fact Penguin highways scaling the slopes for snow free nesting sites.

Everywhere you looked there were Penguins !

Down on the rocky beach there was a constant to and fro’ing

Eventually a large group entered the water and went porpoising past. One even landed in another Zodiac, then jumped out !

The landscape was amazing, and with the snow and swell increasing made photography challenging.

What a trip ! A more remote and wild place would be hard to find, but remember……you are being watched !

So we are heading to the Belleny Islands, with a full day at sea. The fog and snow reduced visibility making a whale sighting difficult to photograph. Instead I did a lot of picture sorting, blog writing and went to another excellent lecture by Natalie about moving the Halley VI station.

Time for afternoon tea, a photography session for our new New Zealand friends, and dinner. The days excitement peaked with a pod of humpbacked whales around the ship in front of our dining table ! I quickly excused myself and got these images……pretty pleased 😁

It appeared to be a pod of at least 3, if not 5 individuals spread out.

As a special treat one rolled one to feed, showing their knobbly snout.

What a dinner treat. An early bed for us tonight, our Zodiac ride is a 7:10am, it’s probably going to be a bit cold, and wet !

Sailing along the coast yesterday saw a complete change in the weather and scenery. Gone was the sun and pristine snow, replaced with forbidding black cliffs clothed in mist and ice.

Cape Hallet was closed with ice, no Zodiac rides here, instead we headed back to the Possession Islands, which we had passed on our way to Scott Hut. We had done our first Zodiac cruise thru some ice here, but in far sunnier conditions. Le Soleal stationed herself off Svend Foyn Island. A forbidding piece of rock, but home to a dwindling population of Adelie penguins as they return to the sea to bulk up before winter.

We were soon called for a Zodiac briefing. There was too much swell to attempt a beach landing but we could go for a cruise. As one of the last groups away we had time for lunch and a fortifying Bailey’s Hot Chocolate. Then it was time to suit up, and board our Zodiac piloted by a very French guide called Elsa.

We first headed out to some drifting ice to spot a Leopard Seal

Then back to the island with Krill coloured guano showing where the Adelie colonies had been. Some youngsters were still around though, in the final stages of their down moult. However as most of the parents had gone, hunger will drive most to leave within a week or so. It was great to cruise along, Elsa piloted us just on the surf’s edge in a great display of Zodiac piloting.

It was fun watching a parade of youngsters heading down to the water for a swim, but when a large wave came up they all ran away……

Time to head around the point and look at the ice waterfalls, as well as the breaking big swell.

Elsa checked her watch and asked if we wanted to go straight back to the ship, or do one last trip right along the cliff edge. Obviously we choose the later. We had just started when the motor died and Elsa started glancing behind her at the swell.

QUICKLY, pass me the tool pointing to a box up in the bow next to me. It was hard to open though in the confined space and swell.

I eventually managed to, but it only had some glasses in it, so I tried the front locker, desperately looking for a spanner or hammer. Her strong French accent made it hard to understand what she was saying, NO NOT THERE, THE TOOL, i misheard her and thought she meant FUEL, as there was a spare fuel tank in the front as well. I tried to pick it up and pass it back, all the time the boat was heaving up and down, and she kept glancing back. NO NOT THAT BOX, THE FIRST ONE… I slid open the box again, this time revealing a bottle ….how was this going to help ?

Elsa started laughing as she opened up the throttle and powered us out to safety……I WAS THE TOOL……to open the bottle and pour us all a drink !!! Everybody had a good laugh, myself included. I had been well and truly set up. IT WAS THE BEST ONE EVER said Elsa, still laughing.

After all that I was determined to open the Prosecco, even if I froze my hand doing so ! Our fabulous guide and prankster then climbed almost out of the boat to take our picture, still smiling 😁

What a way to finish our Antarctic Zodiac rides ! We had been warned that Cape Adare was still iced in, so no chance to stop there. However we are now heading to the Bellamy Islands, part of a chain of Sub Antarctic Islands. We can’t go ashore but hopefully will manage another Zodiac Tour, I wonder if Elsa will guide us again……I’ll take anything she says with a pinch of salt if she does. Just before going to sleep I had a quick look out….and saw a stunning Iceberg passing by, just enough time to take a pic in night attire 👍

After dropping us off at the edge of the ice Le Soleal shot off !

Much like the Penguin chicks of yesterday we proceeded to chase her thru the brash ice.

We were fortunate to see a very large Leopard Seal, who posed !

Pushing thru to the other side of the brash ice pack we sped off to the ice shield wall, but not too close in case of iceberg calving and subsequent waves

All too soon our hour and half was up. Back to the ship, quick change into dinner clothes and an excellent meal followed by New Zealand Day celebrations in the bar. Even at 11:30pm the views were calling me out onto the balcony to take more photos.

We are waiting for an evening Zodiac cruise, but first a recap from yesterday and this morning.

After 2 Zodiac rides yesterday we decided to have an early night, but I couldn’t resist a few more photos of this desolate but beautiful landscape. Beaufort Island looked very windswept as befitting its namesake.

During the night the ships motion got very lively, with the Stewards trolley crashing against one of our external walls, and water bottles rolling loose. The ship was also covered in snow…

After an excellent lecture on Orcas, we had an early lunch and waited for our arrival into Terra Nova Bay. It looked very forbidding as we passed Cape Washington on one side of its entrance.

We were summoned to the Theatre for a briefing about tonight’s Zodiac cruise along the shield ice and Drygalski Ice Tongue from the Reeves, Larsen and David Glaciers. By the time we emerged our positive energy had bought the sun out and dropped the wind. We really are lucking out with the weather.

The Zodiacs are being prepped, see part 2 for some hopefully amazing pictures.