The seventh continent and only one I had not visited. This was a celebratory trip for finishing my 193 UN countries and I couldn’t think of a better present to myself and way to celebrate!
I’d randomly found out my buddy, George (from the Papua New Guinea trip) was also on the trip so we’d met up in Ushuaia a few days early to catch up and explore together!
The last night in Ushuaia, George had been sharing with David, and I had been sharing with Hannah, and Jacky we found in the taxi queue, waiting to go into town, and that became our group for the trip!
The boat was huge! And somehow I’d totally lucked out getting a twin suite with a window and was sharing with Hannah!
A 10 day trip on a large ship is quite intimidating for someone with sight issues. This was the perfect opportunity to blank everyone you should be starting to recognise and coming across very rude and aloof. When you can’t recognise people’s faces, you look for other things to identify them, but this was over 160 people - an impossible task and there were numerous meetings/lectures where walking into a room full of people and trying to find the one or two people you should recognise turns into a vast amount of t of anxiety!
There are ways to counteract this - always being early, so people have to find you, not always possible with various different things going on. Or alternatively just having very kind friends that come grab you when they see you struggling, or generally having a set place you always all sit in. This seemed to work pretty well overall.
After getting on board we wandered around the ship, had safety drills and abandon ship drills and then we sailed away into the sunset, no idea what faced us for the next few days!
We had been warned about the Drake Passage - one of the roughest areas of water on Earth that varies dramatically between a “drake lake” smooth sailing and the “drake shake” sit down and buckle in - it’s a rough ride ahead.
The sailing days, are generally full of lectures and activities. I was in the photography group - I wanted to learn how to use my camera - again! We had two sessions a day, setting up the cameras, learning what we should be looking for, how to frame shots and what settings would be useful to get familiar with. One of the main perks of photo group was always being the first boat out! This was incredible as it meant we always got around 10 minutes before anyone else got in the photos! These 10 minutes were always really magical! The fresh untouched snow and landscape free of people! It was heaven!
We got super lucky and a drake lake got us across to the Antarctic peninsula far earlier than planned and a surprise landing on Deception Island was the reward.
Deception island is an active volcano crater, that has a flooded caldera and a small entrance through Neptunes Bellows, that provides a protected harbour, that was used as a whaling station. It is a very unique place and stunningly beautiful. I had been warned that Antarctica was a mix of black and white - no colour, but I hadn’t necessarily prepared myself mentally for this! Deception island was indeed volcanic black rock with a coating of snow. Black and white. There are no trees. No grass, no plants, flowers…
Deception island was a fabulous treat and it was also a very welcome chance to step on land after two full days on the boat! I was managing to do 10,000 steps virtually every day, despite being on the boat! When we got back on the boat, George, and I along with our three new friends (Hannah, David and Jacky) popped open the champagne - we had stepped foot on Antarctica and another goal was achieved.I slept amazing that night after opening one of the bottles of champagne we’d brought to celebrate stepping foot on the 7th continent! It was a very happy moment.
The next day, our adventure really started! We would have a zodiac cruise at Cierva Cove, an area full of pack ice and icebergs that could flip at any time. The expedition team were very careful how close they went to the bergs, as most of the iceberg is below water and if they flip they can cause a little tsunami, that could tip the zodiacs over.
The morning was grey and my fingers were freezing, trying to use my camera, and despite how amazing the archway icebergs were, and the many penguins, I knew that the hand warmers needed to come out for the future zodiac cruises. We also got to see humpback whales, but I was way to slow to get a photo! By this time, George had joined the photography group zodiacs as we were short of a few people, so we got to hang out and explore together, which was cool, to have a friend to share the experience with!
In the afternoon, we had another landing - this time at Mickelson Point. By this time it was snowing heavily and I was wearing virtually everything I’d brought onto the ship (that wasn’t sweaty and smelly already!). This landing was a pebble beach and then a stroll to the highest point to get great views. George and I, were one of the first to head up - it was hard work in the new snow, but we would find that coming down was harder, after 100 people had also walked up behind us and it was very slippery. But it was super cool to see the gentoo penguins and the views. I couldn’t complain one bit! It had also started snowing heavily and given it was the week before Christmas, it felt like an early white Xmas!!
One of the things we had been lectured on, a number of times on the sailing days, was about the avian flu that had hit South Georgia incredibly hard and was now also impacting Antarctica. I had seen pictures from the past, with friends lying in the snow, surrounded by penguins, this year, there was no, sitting, crouching, lying - anything other than standing and walking in the snow, and when we got back on the boat, we had to have the boots sanitised to ensure we weren’t going to move anything between stops that could transit the bird flu further.
The next morning, we awoke to beautiful sunshine and blue skies. It was the perfect antarctic day and amazing for photography. George and I were keen to explore Danco island, and hiked to the top to get the views over the water and over the penguin colony, stopping along the way to capture the penguin highways (routes the penguins make for themselves to get to and from the water) and capture special moments.
I had been carrying my dry bag around for moving my camera between the boat and land. I jokingly said to George, "there's a little penguin, help me steal it!" We of course, did not, steal the penguin. Penguins, although they look super cute, are stinky, dirty and vicious creatures! I would be staying well away from them!! I had messaged my dad a few days before from Georges phone to say we had made it to Antarctica. A few days later, George said, "your dad messaged. He said have a great time but don't let Hayley steal any penguins!!" Hahahahaha.
The day was stunning, it was the perfect time to get my back tattoo photo. Whilst I was doing this, two of the photo group, were having a life changing moment, when Alex proposed to Allyse - luckily she said yes!!
After that we did a zodiac cruise around the island, which was equally as beautiful and the water held perfectly for the time we were there. We saw seals, penguins on land, but also penguins swimming, which was super magical! I desperately tried to get a picture of them porpoising, but they were way to quick for me!!
Back to the boat for lunch and for the boat to be moved to our next destination. We were hoping the weather would hold, the blue skies against the snow and the sea made photos look incredible! I was getting a lot more familiar with my camera now, and was really starting to enjoy taking photos, once I could see the thing, I was taking photos of, and George was great at lining me up, so I could get the penguins or the seal, and I was hoping we'd get another chance to see the whales!!
That afternoon, was the first time we stepped on the mainland of Antarctica at Brown Station, located in Paradise Bay. The water was starting turn and the blue skies had turned to grey. We hiked to the top of the island and again took in the views, and did another zodiac cruise. The scenery was very different to the morning.
The zodiac cruise was a little different to usual, as it was getting colder and the ice was starting to freeze on the surface. Even the ship had to move whilst we were out, to ensure it didn't get trapped in the ice.
As we were heading back to the ship, we were starting to wonder if we were going to camp that night, given the weather was turning, and the more important thought process, of did I even want to camp tonight? I think the answer was "no" to both, but we weren’t told until 10pm that we would in fact NOT be camping that night!!! I think everyone was very relieved.
I was fast asleep by five past ten, and the expedition team set to work trying to find a solution to where we would go next and if there was a chance to camp again - maybe not, we’d been told.
The next morning we were continuing to move north, looking for blue skies and sunshine, which we didn’t quite find, but we did get better weather than we’d had the day before. We didn’t get out that morning, but after lunch we went to Foyn Harbour for a zodiac cruise. Foyn Harbour had a long history of shipwrecks, one was a whaling vessel that had caught fire. It was cold and windy here but still a relief to be out again and enjoying another different part of our Antarctic journey.
After we'd explored the shipwrecks we went in search of some more wildlife. The whales again were being elusive, however there was still penguins and birdlife to enjoy!
We moved to Portal Point and were given the fabulous news that camping was on tonight. The campers we ecstatic and everyone was glad that they hadn’t pulled out the day before. The non campers went for a landing, whilst the campers got ready and then at 10pm, we were taken onshore with our pre-prepared divvy bags and were shown where it was safe to camp.
We could, as always, only walk around a set route.- to minimise our impact to the environment and the spread of avian fly. We dug a hole in which to protect ourselves from the wind, if it picked up. George and I decided to dig one hoe that we would share and we argued extensively about how large the hole should be! He thought it should be much larger than I did, but maybe I’m just lazy! The only problem with digging the hole, was that you had to fill it in, in the morning!! David chose not to even dig one!
Once we’d prepared where we would sleep, the four of us, George, Jacky, David and I decided to walk the loop to ensure we got the full experience of camping in such a beautiful place. Everyone was spread out (there were around 60 people camping) so we checked out the views, found where the toilet bucket was, and took photos!
We got into our sleeping bags in the bivvey bags, I put my hand warmers in my gloves and socks and prepared to go to sleep. George was messing around trying to get his boots off and wanted me to get out of my sleeping bag to help. Not a chance. I was all snuggly and warm but laughed at hi, until someone came over to find out what was so funny and help him. Of which, I had to take photos. George got in his divvy bag and then Jacky came over and jumped on each of us. I could see there was not going to be much sleep tonight!!
A few minutes later one of the other passengers came over with an Antarctica flag saying “My 7th Continent”. The three of us took photos, which was an unexpected treat and then it really was time to sleep.
Despite the fact it was as light as it would be during the day - this really was the land of the midnight sun! I closed the divvy bag, shut my eyes and then the snoring started. I was wondering how I’d ended up sharing a hoe with the loudest snorer on the island of Antarctica?! Somehow I managed to sleep, although kept being woken up by the snoring! In the morning, we were woken up to get back on the boat. I jokingly/seriously said to George, “man, you snore loudly”. He responded - “ that was you”). Hell no, is wasn’t! Then we heard David from a good 30 metres away laughing. “It was me!” He said. George and I looked at each other in shock and started laughing. The snoring had been so loud it was like it was next to you - not 50m away!!!
On returning to the ship, we knew it was our last day. We grabbed a few more hours sleep as the ship moved locations and got ready for our last landing at Two Hummocks, We had another beautiful day, and as my photography had been improving, I decided not to walk to the top for the views, but instead try to get some good penguin shots. Although I loved seeing the penguins in their colonies, I preferred photographing penguins by themselves or in pairs. I set about trying to get pictures of them jumping, or kissing, or indeed just doing anything a little bit different and was really happy with the results.
The island was beautiful and the sliding, jumping and funny penguins were amazing! I was glad we'd had another beautiful day to take photos. We'd even been able to see the kayakers (Hannah was in this group) from the island.
Before heading to the ship, we still had a zodiac cruise - another opportunity I hoped to get whale and penguin photos. I was not disappointed from the start. Whilst we were waiting for the second zodiac (you were always in pairs, in case anything happened) we had porpoising penguins, and this time I got them!
And then we saw them... well everyone else did. George lined me up and there they were, the beautiful curves of the whales playing at the surface.
They were there for around 15 minutes, before Rune (our guide) said, "she's turning, get ready!"
Indeed the whale had shifted her body position, just before...
Such an amazing morning... Porpoising penguins and a whale fluke! Awesome morning.
Our final zodiac trip was at beautiful Spert Island. We cruised between the icebergs looking for penguins and seals, and hoping for whales. The icebergs were incredible.
And there were so many seabirds flying around!
As we were heading back to the ship, I finally got the last photo I had been waiting for - a penguin diving into the water. I was totally over the moon about this, and couldn’t wait to get back home to download all my photos from my camera (as I’d left the SD card adapter at home for some stupid reason!)
We got back on the ship and I was really sad to know that we wouldn’t be stepping foot on Antarctica again (at least for another year!) and then it was announced that we had enough time and the weather was holding, to do the polar plunge! This was fab news, but also my worst nightmare! I love the water, but hate being cold! What a combination. The photo group went down first. All excited and nervous and we got Ben to go first! In hindsight, going first or second, was probably a good idea, as the harness they make you wear around your waist (so they can pull you back in, if there is an issue) is dry for the first two people, but then cold and wet, thereafter!! I was third!
Luckily, for a bit of dutch courage, we’d all had a shot of vodka beforehand (provided by the crew!) and with the threat of peer pressure and ridicule, you just had to go for it! Which I did!
We nipped up to the hot tub to warm up before showering and heading to the bar!!
We then had three days travelling back to Ushuaia. Time for food, drinks and sleep and more lectures.
I was quite honoured, on the last day to be asked to speak about finishing my goal of travelling to every UN country of the world with a disability and was even more surprised by how well received it was!
Our trip was coming to an end, and our little group had a final dinner together on the boat. I'm sure we will all meet again.
Goodbye Antarctica. Until next year - stay amazing!!
A massive thank you to Intrepid, the expedition team and all the crew, but especially to Rune, Jay and Adrian who led the photo group! THANK YOU for a fabulous trip!!