Tuesday 13 January 2015
We have had another spectacular day in the Antarctic.
We have had another spectacular day in the Antarctic.
Early in the morning we picked up our
fellow campers who had been camping overnight at Petermann Island. A wonderful
experience, and certainly not one many people can say they have done! The sound
of Gentoo penguins could be heard all night, as icebergs slowly drifted by.
Within the colony an elephant seal could be seen.
Later all our guests also had the
opportunity to make a landing. Petermann island, found on the west side of the
Penola Straight, was discovered in 1873 by a German whaler Eduard Dallmann and
was named after a famous German geographer August Petermann. Our landing
started at Port Circumcision which was used by the French explorer
Jean-Baptiste Charcot who overwintered there at the beginning of the 20th
Century with his ship the Pourquoi Pas.
From our rocky landing site we could
observe the Antarctic continent on the other side, with towering mountains
reaching between 800-1300 metres high. On one side of the island our guests
could observe an “iceberg graveyard”, where many iceberg become stranded due to
shallow water. On the other side of the island, we found a rocky beach with
steep cliffs: home to large colony of blue eyed shags (many with quite grown
chicks, still with their grey plumage), Gentoo penguins and Adelie penguins.
Adelie at Petermann Island
Amazing glacier ice formations
In the afternoon we headed towards our
southernmost point of our journey: the Vernadsky research station. Until 1986,
the station was controlled by British Antarctic Survey but was sold for the
symbolic fee of 1 Pound to the Ukraine. Our guests were given a guided tour
around the facilities. As the departure time approached, nobody wanted to leave
as this would be the last Antarctic landing of our trip. To thank our Ukrainian
friends for their hospitality, we delivered some fresh vegetables, as they only
get one supply of food every year!
Vernadsky Station
The famous bar at Vernadsky
Home brewed vodka
Our Captain on a kayak tour
So far from everything, yet we felt very at home at the Ukranian base
We set sail at 6pm and now have 2 days of
Drake Passage ahead of us. Let’s hope for some quiet seas to end what has been
an exceptional journey.