Adelie among the Gentoos

15 February

A busy day so far, and it is only just after 4 p.m. A pretty good day though. Some organising to do because we departed later than scheduled yesterday, but we did get our engine fixed! So we are heading south at full speed, and should arrive at Barrientos in the early morning day after tomorrow. I am looking forward to being back there again, it is a magical place.

After a group of almost only Dutch I now have a ship full of Australians. I am actually the only Dutch person on board, though one of the ladies was born in the Netherlands and emigrated with her parents when she was three years old. She still speaks Dutch. She rather likes being on a Dutch ship, where they have Dutch cookies, beschuit and liquorice.

So, only English spoken now, which is fine with me. It saves a lot of time not having to translate all the lectures and briefings, as well as the daily programmes and menus. I do feel there is a difference in culture somehow. I can speak the language, I know a little bit about Australia, but I am not familiar with much of the politics or the details of life. At dinner that means I don't always know just what the conversation is about. It is alright though, the people are friendly and we find things to talk about. They are also very interested, and ask a lot of questions about the trip. I hope they will have as good a trip as the last group. And I hope it will be a happier trip for me, with less complaining.


17 February

We were supposed to have our first landings today. I was up at 5 a.m., but had this weird feeling we were moving about a lot. And we were. Just before reaching the Aitcho Islands a force 11 gale hit us and we were forced to turn into a small bay for shelter. We stayed down there until just after lunch when we decided to brave the storm and head out to the continent. It's been a rough afternoon with some 20 people in their beds. Others spent a lot of time up on the bridge, or in the bar.

I think it will be a quiet evening too, with people trying to sleep as much as they can. There was a queue outside Dr. Max's surgery when we made the announcement about starting the crossing so most people will be out like a light. I managed to catch up on some sleep too this afternoon. Well, we'll see what the evening brings.


19 February

It's been a busy few days, not too much time to write, really. After our rocky start the trip has been getting better. Yesterday was actually more or less perfect. Crossing over to the mainland wasn't quite as rough as I had imagined it to be. Maybe it is because I am used to the Europa, but on the whole it wasn't all that much moving around. It wasn't comfortable, but not uncomfortable either. By nightfall we were close to the continent and the wind had slowed down considerably, so we could make good progress coming down south. The people woke up to a beautiful morning, mainly blue skies, not too much wind so you could stay up on deck. Sailing down the Gerlache Strait was perfect in every possible way. Sunshine, clear skies, beautiful light all around, icebergs everywhere, Fur Seals playing around the ship, penguins popping up everywhere, and some very good views of Humpback Whales. Most people spent the morning up on deck, watching what was going on and taking pictures. I took quite a lot of pictures too. They turned out like Edward Wilson watercolours. It was that kind of light.



Our first landing was also our first landing on the continent, at Neko Harbour. We still had sunshine and blue skies, and our first penguin colony. The landing was as smooth as you could hope for, and we greeted the guests with a drop of wodka to celebrate their first landing and their first step on the continent. That brought a smile to zodiac driver Andrey's face... Not a common sight. Neko looked so unlike it did in December. Most of the snow on beach level has now gone, the penguins and their chicks are moulting, and many have already left the colony.

The biggest change was the fact that the Argentine emergency hut on the island had been completely destroyed in the storm the day before. Looking out from the deck Alan, the hotel manager, and I could not find the little red hut and we didn't know what to think. Then, as we landed, I saw the debris all around. One beam had killed a penguin, and that had obviously happened just before we got there. I took a lot of pictures and on arrival at Almirante Brown informed the station manager there. One of the passengers told me that the hut was built in 1949, or so the Lonely Planet says. Judging from the furniture inside, or outside now, they could be right though.

At Neko Harbour we always warn people that the glacier just on the other side of the bay can calve big pieces, and that those calvings create mini tsunamis. I had never seen it happen, but guess what? Yes, just as I was walking down from the hill I could hear and see some small pieces go in, making a lot of noise. And just as I was standing there a really big piece came loose. I checked for waves and saw them, and I saw all the penguins running up the beach suddenly. But the people on the beach didn't budge. I had to break one of the rules and shout at them to move and then they did. Some 20 seconds later the waves came onto the beach. People would have gotten really wet if they hadn't moved, and I am sure some cameras would have gotten damaged.

We have a painter on board who has been working both on the upper deck and on the beach. He has all his stuff with him and just sits down and paints. It is fascinating to have someone do that. And there are a lot of photographers again, including some professionals. They've been busy too, the light everywhere is beautiful at the moment, though it remains hard to catch that on film somehow. It was good to see so many people up on deck today.

Last night we had another excursion, a zodiac tour around Skontorp Cove. Summer is ending here now, so it gets dark around 10 pm, but we still had a pretty good tour. We started out at Almirante and went along the rocks, past the nesting shags, into the cove. Just as we got into the cove we saw a Leopard Seal playing with a fresh kill. That got the cameras clicking too. I was in a boat where people had different interests though. Some got cold quickly and just wanted to get back, others were after the sunset, while others wanted to see the seals. Later on we got to see a couple of Weddell seals on an ice floe too. I always love Paradise, or Skontorp, for its glaciers, those fairy tale castle towers that always look different and are liable to go into the sea at any moment. The blue ice caves, the glaciers above. Somehow people were not too interested last night. So we headed out of the cove and went for the sunset. The light was beautiful again, and there was a fairy tale sky with clouds in different shapes and colours.



So far I have not had too many difficulties getting on with the crew. The language is a problem at times, but they are nice people, always working hard and trying to get the best out of the trip. I talk to the captain regularly, to discuss the schedule, and to talk about things that are happening. I talk to Andrey a lot, he is the radio officer and he speaks good English. He is a lovely man and he has a good sense of humour. Pavel is the best of the zodiac drivers, a quiet man usually, but good at his job and friendly, though I have a feeling he has his own ideas about everything he sees around him. He also is the one that catches the eye of most of the ladies on the ship somehow, though they all know his wife works on the ship too. She is actually one of the stewardesses working in the dining room. Sasha works there with Lina, and they work very hard.

This also is a good group. The people are pretty direct, and they are generally good-humoured. Some may not know exactly what they have gotten themselves into, some of the sailors among them know very well. It is a little tricky getting one or two of them in and out of zodiacs but as guides, and with the help of the zodiac drivers, we seem to manage.

The landing at Almirante Brown this morning was a rough affair, and some people got wet long before they got to land. Only some went all the way up, and no one really decided to slide down. I stayed down at the station again, this time to hand the commander the pictures I took of the hut that was destroyed at Neko Harbour. The Argentine crew were very friendly and welcoming again, they offered me coffee this time, and cookies. The commander had not realised that when I said that the hut had been destroyed that was exactly what I meant. He thought there was some damage and a door had blown off or something. Back on the ship I said to the captain that the Argentines would deal with the situation, and he said the first thing they had to do was bury the penguin chick that was killed by a piece of wood. Our captain is an unusual man, with an unusual sense of humour! Working with him has been good though.

This afternoon we sail through the Lemaire Channel again. We headed out from Almirante at less than full speed not to arrive at Petermann too early. We take the scenic route, through the beautiful Neumayer Channel and past Port Lockroy. That made my heart skip a beat. I offered at our lunchtime briefing to do a lecture on penguins this afternoon, but there were no takers. Good for me because I wanted to be outside, but even better for the guests, who also were outside on deck now, enjoying the view. After the Neumayer channel we slowly headed down to Lemaire, and there was a hush on the bridge with everyone trying to imagine how we would get the ship through. But, of course, no problems there. Pavel at the wheel, the first mate keeping an eye on the proceedings it all went perfectly. A few whales along the way, a lot of penguins in the water, no mist so we could see the tops of the mountains. Almost too good to be true. Well, the wind was pretty cold, so people must have been pretty determined to be out there.


20 February

I actually seem to be organised this trip. It's almost 7.45, I have just done the wake up call for the guests, in "dulcet tones" according to Dr. Max, have got together all my things for the zodiac tour this morning, and am waiting for breakfast. As I'm writing I can hear the anchor heaved, so we are about to leave for Pleneau Island for our morning zodiac tour.

Last night we had our landing on Petermann Island, which was a little weird for me. I am so used to the island being covered by snow, but this late in the season most of the snow is gone. So I had a little trouble finding my way across at times. All the young Adelies had already gone, the adults were moulting, there were no shags around at all, but a lot of gentoos, like everywhere else.

Going back we had to wait a little while for a zodiac. As we were waiting we were surrounded by a big group of Gentoo Penguins, with an Adelie among them. I had to make the remark I sometimes feel like that lone Adelie, one penguin among a huge group of slightly different penguins, like a Dutch girl among a big group of Australians. You feel at home, though you are a little different.


Later

much later actually, it's almost time to go to bed. Or it is nearly 10 pm. It has been another weird day. The day started with a zodiac tour close to Pleneau Island. An iceberg tour. We started after breakfast, and it was a good tour. I had wanted to be out for about 90 minutes, but we were actually out for about two hours. We started out having a look at some of the icebergs and got to see some really nice ones. We saw all the iceberg colours, the white, the blue, and some fantastic shapes again. The light was good, which made it all really lovely. Then a Leopard Seal caught on to us, and kept following the zodiac around. This was a big animal, and it kept close to the zodiac for a while, so we stayed out for a while. Andrey managed to stay close to the animal, or rather kept the animal close to the zodiac, without upsetting it, which is not that easy to do.



This afternoon started out alright, I went over to Wordie House to show the passengers around. I felt a little lost though, for some reason. I had a wander round the coast line of Winter Island and spotted one Krill swimming. I had never observed live Krill that closely before, and it was very nice to see. Then I had ten minutes by myself just beside Wordie, because everybody had walked up the hill. It was lovely, just to enjoy the peace and quiet, to look at and listen to the gulls and the skuas. I know I need to be available here, and I need to be at work, but just then I gave myself 15 minutes off, and it was lovely.

I went on to Vernadskiy, back to work, and stamped all the passports. I was given a vodka by the Multanovskiy and Vernadskiy crew already there, and then commander Yeugeni made me a coffe, which was really nice. I talked with the passengers, the people at Vernadskiy, our own crew and the people were all very nice to me. I got a big hug from Sasha, the barman, and one or two of the other people working there. It is a nice idea to have friends in such a place. The only thing was that people insisted on giving me a vodka, and so I ended up having four instead of the one I usually have. The last one was at the insistence of the commander because this was my last visit for the season. He is a lovely man, and so I couldn't say no. I did get back safely, thanks to our safety officer, Mikhail, who drove the zodiac. It was strange getting back here though. Then I was sent out to look for a pair of gloves, and ended up in the Russian quarters downstairs, among the Russians and Ukrainians that had come on board, and had my last vodka for the day. That one really hit me, and almost sent me to sleep. It was in a big glass, so it was probably more than I would usually have, and it was probably also the real stuff, the stuff they don't serve to the tourists. I had to go to my cabin for an hour or so...

Then I got a tough question on the schedule from one of the other guides, so that was a challenge, but I did work it out in the end, with some help from the captain. Anyway, to cut a long story short, after a long talk with one of the other guides it turned out to be too late to have any dinner, I had actually missed the whole barbecue. So I went to the office to do my paperwork and to make a program for tomorrow. As I said, another weird day.


21 February 2009

Well, the last day in Antarctic surroundings. We are sailing through the Neumayer Channel and will then head out across the Drake Passage again. For the last time this season. It has all gone so quickly, I can hardly believe it. It will be hard to say goodbye to everyone in three days time, just as I've gotten to know the crew a little better. My little Vernadskiypade yesterday got me some smiles in the morning. The zodiac drivers were very friendly. Well, they always are, but they smiled a lot more at me this morning.

Some of the passengers were asking me what happened to me yesterday, but I explained about all the hard work I had to do when I got back.... To some others I did explain about everything else too.

We had a wonderful last landing at Dorian Bay this morning. The place has a bad name, I guess, I've often had bad weather there, but it was a good landing this morning. We had sunshine, you could see the mountains and the glaciers in the Neumayer, still lots of penguins, and a Weddell and Fur Seal close up. Not bad going. People went to have a look inside the hut, climbed up for the view into Lockroy, and wandered round a bit. We had landed early, so we would have enough time for this last landing, and we did, people had time to sit down and enjoy what was happening all around.

Then there was another good lunch, a short briefing to tell the guests the crossing might be a little rough, some chat up on the bridge, and now we are sailing north. There is a pretty big storm in the Drake now, and it sounds like Europa is heading straight into it. We might just miss it, but Europa left Ushuaia this morning and will be heading into the Drake later tonight. I hope they will be okay in there and will be able to get some sleep. Almost the whole crew has changed, I do know most of them though, and have sailed with them. I hope they will have a good crossing and a good trip.

I didn't sleep much last night. Part of me knew I had to wake up early to do the wake up for this early landing, there was a lot of noise up in the bar until quite late, and I felt the effects of the vodka. I still felt them this morning, but I'm much better now.

Max asked me today about being with a group of Australians, and I could reassure him. It's been a good trip, even though I feel like an Adelie among the Gentoos. He is a lovely man to work with, gentle, with a good sense of humour.

Later

We had some good whale sightings before we headed into the Drake Passage. I was up on the bridge, and the Dallman Bay delivered once again. So I think it all worked out more or less alright. I spent much of my afternoon up on the bridge, watching the last icebergs disappear, watching the Fulmars appear, and watching the whales forage. I had another little chat with the captain, a longer chat with Andrey. After all the reservations I had beforehand I am very happy with the way things have turned out.

I also spent some time sorting out my things. I have more or less the same amount of stuff I arrived here with, I only bought a couple of books. As usual. I can leave some things in Ushuaia again, so it shouldn't be a problem. I've also sorted out all of the papers for this trip, and thrown some of them out. The kind of things you always do when you are finished with all the landings.

I am tired enough to sleep now, but dinner starts in an hour. I think I'd rather go to bed early tonight....

Later

Well, it didn't quite happen like that. I did lie down for a few minutes, and woke up just before dinner, so I slept for almost an hour. Dinner was an unusual affair again, with three people leaving our table early. It must have been something we said. Or maybe it was something else. We are rocking gently now, and I am feeling it a bit more than before. Heather, my colleague, was one of the casualties over dinner, and she is now in my cabin. I live on deck 3 here, so not too high up, while she lives on deck 6, which is quite high up. The dining room is on 3, so when she left I told her to go and sleep in the empty bunk in my cabin. I'll sleep up here on 6 for the night. See what that is like. I just grabbed all the things I need and moved up. Because I slept earlier I don't feel very sleepy right now.

We are not really rolling all that much, but we are not rock steady either. After dinner I spent some time on the bridge again, waiting for the weather forecast and chatting. For some reason it feels like I am still ahead, and there isn't that much work for me now. There is, obviously, like filling out 53 Antarctic certificates and signing them, sorting out some pictures and factual bits for the triplog, printing an address list for the passengers. Lots of little things. And hopefully the weather will be good enough for lectures tomorrow. I'd like to do the seabird conservation lecture so I can try to get people to donate to the Birdlife campaign.

I had a few funny moments tonight. At dinner one of the guests asked me just how the crew calculate the height of the swell, which of the instruments they used. When I asked Andrey he stood up, looked up, and told me the waves were about 2 metres high. The only instrument they actually use are the eyes. Not everything is done by machines these days. And Pavel must have had a funny moment when he got a call to help one of the guests who got himself locked in the toilet.

I'm still getting used to the idea that this afternoon I saw my last iceberg for the season, I wouldn't mind going back again. Maybe this really is addictive.


22 February

Out on the Drake. We've had a bumpy night you can say. My night on deck 6 wasn't what you would call a good night sleep. I was tossing and turning, in fact, everything was tossing and turning. Being up on the sixth deck is a lot rougher than being down here on deck 3. I think I made the right choice at the start, sleeping down here rather than up there, even though it is closer to the bridge!

I really hope to get some sleep tonight, two nights in a row is all I can take, I think. It looks like a little more rolling though. Breakfast was a messy affair this morning, so I don't know yet what lunch will be like. But I guess I am about to find out....

After lunch

Or sort of. I had to deal with a little problem up on the bridge and ended up missing lunch. I am pretty hungry now. Not good when you're on the Drake, but I'll raid the fruit basket later. I didn't realise lunch was already over when I got back down. Oh well, that is the way it goes.

And later

Lina, the stewardess who works in the dining room, took pity on me this afternoon. She beckoned me and took me into the Russion dining area, where she gave me some soup and bread. We have fun talking together, and she is a very nice girl. I'm glad she got me something to eat though, I was really hungry.

Today is my day for writing certificates. People who come on this trip receive a certificate to commemorate their achievements, like landing on the continent and reaching a southernmost point. The certificates are quite nice, but if you print on them it doesn't look very good. So I've been writing them all instead. I am actually nearly finished.

And I realised that I had offered to do a lecture on Seabird Conservation tonight, but only have a Dutch version, so I created an English one. So that was my "easy" day taken care of... I just shouldn't have said I haven't too much to do at the moment.

Later

My conservation lecture didn't go so well. I realised too late that a couple of slides were missing.... There was just too much going on today. Then when I started the film it turned out there was something wrong with the sound, so that didn't go too well either. I do think I got the message across though, or I will find out tomorrow afternoon when I will be selling my albatross pins.


23 February

we are approaching Cape Horn, and those people wishing for a storm have now got what they wanted. I think we are having a force 10 now, as we are heading north. Pavel is at the wheel upstairs and he seems quite happy. Other people are not quite so happy and are disappearing into toilets or cabins.

Euan, our resident painter, just held a short exhibition of this paintings in the dining room, and he is about to give a talk in the bar. He is a nice guy and I like the work he has done. I know they are not finished works, but it will be interesting to see what they turn into.

Some people are just up on the bridge, enjoying the waves. They are beautiful. I just saw a Black-browed Albatross from my porthole, holding its own over the waves. Stunning. And there are more birds out there now. The wind speed has gone up to about 22 m/s, and the waves are about 8 m high.

I slept upstairs again last night because Heather was still not feeling well. I slept better this time, but it still wasn't great. It was partly the movement, partly all the things that are on my mind at the moment. I'll be heading home tomorrow afternoon, that is a very strange thought. I could happily do a few more trips on this ship, go back to Capetown. And there is a lot that needs to be done over the next 24 hours or so, things to finish and organise. And at the moment that includes making sure people do't get hurt. It's hard for people to really be aware of the force of the wind and the waves, and to accept that they need to adapt their behaviour to this force.

Heather tells me my lecture last night was good, so I hope she is right. I think I told the whole story, though not necessarily in the right order.


24 February

I'm at the international airport in Buenos Aires, waiting for my flight to Madrid. It's almost 10 pm, my flight leaves in a couple of hours. Another long day, though I slept through most of my flight from Ushuaia to BA. It was actually quite sweet. I met up with a couple of passengers from the Multanovskiy on the airport, a father and son, and they were both very nice to me, very complimentary. During the flight the father bought me a glass of wine, but I was fast asleep when he turned up at my seat. It was very nice though.

I think on the whole the people were happy with the trip, one or two were not. That always happens. The last day was eventful in some ways, less so in others. The storm continued for most of the day, which made some people very unhappy. The ones who were sick and were confined to their cabin. Some, the sailors, were happy just being on the bridge, watching the waves. Just as we started dinner we changed tack, which made the hotel manager very unhappy, and he was ready to go up to the bridge to kill some of the officers. I told him not to, but I'm not sure that helped much. Then I proceeded to send people up on deck to see Cape Horn just about as they were serving the main course. But it was one of those things you have to do, you can't tell these sailors after they've finished their salmon that we have just sailed past Cape Horn. I like the hotel manager very much, so I didn't like upsetting him, but there wasn't really any other choice.

After dinner we had the photo competition, and then champagne in the bar. I managed to drop a whole tray of glasses in there.... But let's not get into that.

The really hard part came this morning, saying goodbye to everyone. It can be hard to say goodbye to the passengers, but it is many times harder to say goodbye to the people you have worked with. I hated saying goodbye to Heather and Max, and to Lina and Andrey. working together on a ship makes you get close to people quickly, and letting go is hard. The captain was very nice today, he said he had enjoyed working with me and even gave me a goodbye kiss. He is a good captain, he knows his job, and I have great respect for him. Before I went out I heard he was difficult to work with, but I had no trouble at all with him. It was good to work with Max too, our ship's doctor. We worked together on two trips and on the last one he always referred to me as the boss lady. He is a good man, very knowledgeable and interested, and he was a good support to me. Lina is just a lovely girl, very sweet and keen. Andrey was a good friend to me and he helped me on my first trip as expedition leader...... Heather and I spent a lot of time just talking, and we've become friends very quickly. It is lovely when that happens, when you just connect with someone.

It is such a strange idea to think that this time tomorrow I will be home, sleeping in my own bed. And that in a few days time I will be at work again. My mind is still on the Multanovskiy and I would have gladly done another few trips with her. I like the work, the challenges it presents, I like the people I worked with. And I still like the beauty of the Antarctic. Maybe next year I will get the chance to visit the Falklands and South Georgia again. Or maybe the trip up to Capetown. We shall see. As the Russians say.