Having departed the Argentinian port of Ushuaia overnight, we sailed south with much anticipation of the incredible journey that an adventure to Antarctica promises.
After a deep sleep, gently rocked to and fro by Mother Ocean, people found their sea legs quickly and breakfast conversations carried us into the first of a series of presentations that offered some new perspectives on the great Southern Continent, some of her creatures, and a taste of her history.
From the earliest splash of sunlight, we were accompanied on the high seas by an entourage of the Southern Ocean’s seabirds that captured the imaginations of so many who came before us and so it was fitting that we began our day’s discussions with Steve’s presentation: “Ocean Wanderers—Southern Seabirds”, giving us a birds-eye overview of the new feathered friends we would encounter on our voyage south. We spilled out on the decks to apply our newfound knowledge to the spectacular gliding birds that followed in our wake—magnificent wandering albatross—swirling around the ship and giving us great close views of the world’s longest wingspans.
What had been a stormy early sunrise cleared to gorgeous blue skies and seas, and while the large rolling swell continued throughout the morning, a buoyant atmosphere carried us forward to the frozen frontier somewhere beyond the horizon.
After a lovely lunch, Ian—with support from his photo team of Massimo and Adam—offered a handy introduction to expedition photography, which would help us to capture better images and share these memories with those at home. After a social chat over afternoon tea, a siesta or for some the chance to get a little lost in the pages of a good book in our library, Tom Ritchie took centre stage in our lounge to prepare us for the wonderland ahead with his “Introduction to Antarctica” talk, which created much interest and animated discussion, as he always does so well.
We convened in the lounge for a happy half hour of cocktails and a short briefing on our expectations for tomorrows approach to the northern Antarctic Peninsula, with calming conditions promising the chance of an early arrival. A very exciting prospect!
With beautiful and impossibly large white wings, albatross glided past our dining room windows, seeming to usher us on to distant snowy lands of tomorrow.
