Awe and Wonder

So - this is the day of our last landing and also we set foot on the Antarctic mainland.  The plan was to arrive at Neko Harbour at about 9.00 where, luckily and by chance, our landing group was to be the first ashore.  We were certainly on time because, once again, we have sailed on a mill-pond.  However the Captain stopped the ship (in the middle of breakfast) for us to view a family of Orcas (Killer Whales) and more humpback whales.  This was a great start to the day.  We just had time to go back to finish our breakfast before the landing.

There were colonies of Gentoos and a spectacular view of a glacier, just across the inlet.  We were told not to stray on to the shoreline because if the glacier were to ‘calve’ (that is, a large lump of ice would break from the front of the glacier to form a new iceberg) it would set up a tidal wave that would crash on to the beach. 

Julia had said last night that the final things to ‘make’ the holiday would be to set foot on the mainland of the Antarctic Continent and to witness the calving of an iceberg.  Well, the first part was easy to arrange - but the second?

We had been ashore for about 20 minutes and had listened to some ominous booms which seemed to come from deep in the glacier.  We sat on rocks opposite just to gaze at this monolithic ice – for once, ignoring the antics of the penguins around us.  Then – yes, you’ve guessed it – there was a mighty crack and huge shards of ice tumbled into the sea setting off a wave that rushed to the beach we had been banned from entering.  It was, as our American friends say, “awesome”.

There was a chance for more penguin-watching after this – we saw eggs but no chicks – before, reluctantly we had to leave this majestic place and return to the ship.  We enjoyed our last Polar Cirkel boat trip as it cut through thin layers of ice on its way back to MS Fram.

This was a magical place and will hold some very special memories.  Haydn writes about the ‘wonder of his works’ in Creation – well, this was a time and place for wondering.

In the afternoon we were taken through the Lemaire Chanel, a narrow gorge with mountains rising to 1000 feet on each side.  Where the gorge opens out to a wider channel the water is shallow and icebergs get trapped in what is known as an ‘iceberg graveyard’. 

It is a really peculiar landscape as you look out and see the remnants of icebergs as far as the eye can see in all sorts of weird shapes and sizes. We reached 65 degrees 14 minutes south before turning north again.

Once through the channel we were heading for open water and we now have two days at sea as we head across Drake’s Passage and back to Tierra del Fuego.  This can be the roughest water in the world as it swirls around the foot of South America and the Pacific Ocean meets the Atlantic.  But it can also be ‘Drake’s Lake’ – flat calm; and that is what it is now… wish us luck!