Following good progress overnight we made it to the South Shetland Islands. In the morning we did our preparations for landing – Boot fitting, vacuum cleaning clothing to ensure biosecurity and the IAATO briefing.
We were ready for landing but not before the Captain held the delayed welcome cocktail. Plenty of photographs were taken.
The weather was just perfect for our first landing at the Chinese station – Great Wall. The wintering team of 12 were very welcoming and showed around the impressive base. Earlier in the morning they had cleared a pathway for us, luckily they had a big excavator on hand as there was a lot of snow!
We also had a good introduction to Antarctic wildlife with Weddel seals, Chinstrap and Gentoo penguins as well as logistics with a Hercules C130, DH7 Twin Otter taking off from the nearby Chilean airfield at Presidente Eduardo Frei station as well as the Chilean SAR vessel.Tomorrow is another day and we hope it is like this one.
