It is not a coincidence that the first article I wrote for this website 12 years ago (see here) was inspired by my first visit to the Antarctic; and between 2012 and 2017, my wife, Sharron, and myself joined five more expeditions to the polar regions including another visit to Antarctica in 2014. A planned 3-week expedition to the Russian Arctic in 2020 was twice postponed because of Covid and so in late 2021, we instead decided to cancel our Russian plans, claim a refund,  and instead planned a third visit to Antarctica, in my opinion the most spectacular destination on the planet.

It is commonly believed Antarctica now attracts up to 100,000 visitors a year, mainly on small expedition boats that accommodate between 100 and 200 passengers and all equipped with inflatable zodiacs which allow close to shore exploration and wildlife viewing, carefully controlled shore landings and sometimes visits to research bases. However, these numbers also include occasional large cruise liners who may cruise offshore without disembarking, and the visitor numbers for the November 2021- March 22 season reveal less than 24,000 visitors actually landed on the continent.

Well, over 90% of all visitors to Antarctica concentrate on the spectacular Antarctic Peninsula some 2 days sailing across the famed and often ferocious Drake Passage, south of Ushuaia at the southernmost tip of Argentina.

However, as we had previously twice visited this area we opted to join one of two expeditions that go annually from New Zealand to the Ross Sea area of Antarctica.

Because it takes 5 days sailing to reach the entrance to the Ross Sea, this is a far less frequently visited area and far more remote than the Antarctic Peninsula but an area much richer in historical artifacts as it is closely associated with the 1900 -1914 Heroic Period of Antarctic Exploration and the race to be the first to visit the South Pole.

I decided I would keep a brief (!) daily journal and would post it as written together with images on this website. What started out as quite sparse and factual reporting ended up as a far more detailed and descriptive record as the trip continued and has ended up as by far the longest article I have ever written for this website! Perhaps not surprisingly in retrospect as the trip did last for 28 days!

I notice that the tense varies from present to past which was because sometimes I wrote the journal ‘on the day’ and sometimes several days later from notes kept on my phone.

Despite the inconsistencies, I have left it as written rather than trying to rewrite for a common format throughout.

And in a slightly different format, I am embedding all images taken on a particular day at the end of each day’s narrative before continuing with the following day in an effort to match the images with the description!

Everything is as written on the day with just grammar, punctuation, and spelling corrected except for any text in red which are additional ‘post trip’ comments or explanations when I felt such additions would be of assistance and/or informative!

DAY 1 – THURS FEB 2: QUEENSTOWN 

After 3 weeks of travel and meeting friends in NZ, we have finally made it to Queenstown -I found parts of the trip tiring but NZ remains a country of spectacular and varied scenery.

Late morning, we transferred from our next-door hotel into the Copthorne Hotel included with the package no problem with checking in early.

Sharron went into Queenstown but I stayed in the hotel all day booking hotels and flights for post Antarctic travel. I got quite stressed at the slow progress made!

Dinner with our fellow travellers and expedition team was provided at the hotel and I was surprised at how many passengers there were, possibly 150 and more than I anticipated. (I think there were just over 130 some of whom we never got to meet!)

My initial thoughts are that this is an older crowd, more down to earth and congenial than the groups on our previous trips with Quark. Probably because Aussies and Kiwis made up the majority!

 

DAY 2 – FRI FEB 3: TO BLUFF (INVERCARGILL)

Breakfast after 5 hrs sleep – rather more than my recent average!

Dropped off baggage and chatted to a Tom from S Diego. For the first time in 15 years, I have got my emails up to date and 0 emails in my inbox. Wow – will I learn to relax now?

I am very disappointed in myself that I have let my weight and fitness slip and this boat trip is not going to help. I am going to have to take off 30lbs between mid-April and late June to be fit for hiking in Switzerland this summer. (Sadly, it was to be a lot more after 25 days on the Heritage Adventurer!)

It was a hot day and the oldest bus driver I have ever seen but no issue at all – what is important is he drives safely. I sat next to Su from Taiwan, exchanged WhatsApp messages with my editing assistant, Julie, in the Philippines and noticed a British guy across the aisle from me in the seat was doing the Times Backgammon puzzle – great! We can have some games on board! (I hardly ever saw Tim on board but played plenty of games with Sharron!)

Boarded your boat and my initial impression was very positive with wide corridors and our cabin very impressive and spacious – king sized bed, L shaped settee, desk, unexpected fridge, TV and lots of shelves and cupboard space.

A good start – fellow travellers, boat and cabin better than expected!

6pm Orientation meeting and we have a crew of 88 from 14 nationalities and already noticed lots of Filipinos of course, my favourite people.

One of the expedition crew promised us ‘An adventure as close as you can come to visiting another planet’ A good phrase!

645pm Lifeboat drill was followed by excellent dinner with very convivial company – Alan from Sydney, Katherine from Nevada, and Swiss couple Kurt and Michelle now retired who spent 6.5 years driving around South and North America in a camper van.

I am not expecting so much from this trip scenery wise as it will be difficult to find comparable scenery to magnificent Antarctic Peninsula which we have visited twice  but will be interesting to see a different part of Antarctica.

I am also hoping to use down time and at sea days editing last 6 months of images, writing up two hikes for the Swiss hiking guides I am writing and if I did manage all that (which I very much doubt!) maybe get a couple of articles written for my website.

Considering we both had some minor reservations about the pre-trip planning and scheduling of this trip the first day could not have got off to a better start with outstanding facilities and excellent company.

I can’t get over how well designed the cabins are with plenty of shelf, drawer and cupboard space.

I discovered the well appointed library and stayed there until 0245 sending WhatsApp messages and video called my assistant Holly in the U.K., Julie in the Philippines, and our son David in London. We departed at around 0155 and lost reception around 0250 as I went to bed and just as I was trying to check the half time score of Chelsea and Fulham!

DAY 3 – SAT FEB 4:  THE SNARES 

Breakfast at 0800 though I would have been happy with a few more hours sleep.

Zodiac briefing at 0900 and then a very comprehensive bio security briefing.

Started editing my images in the library at 1015.

Why has the boat stopped in the middle of nowhere? Were we going to arrive at the Snare Islands too early and they need to allow time for lectures and lunch?

1100 Lecture on the Snares, the first of New Zealand’s Sub-Antarctic Island groups that we will visit.

After lunch zodiac cruise of the Snares – and when we eventually worked out that our group was not setting off till mid afternoon we went with Ian from Alaska as our driver/guide. Quite big swells and I thought as rough as I have ever been in a zodiac although Sharron disagreed. Ian went very close to rocky coast with towering cliffs above and we saw many seals lounging on the rocks and plenty of small penguins.

Back on board and we had an inspection of all clothing and footwear that we are taking ashore tomorrow in the Auckland Islands – the next group of New Zealand’s Sub-Antarctic Islands. I had to re clean Velcro parts of my waterproof trousers as there were minute seeds and we could not risk introducing a new species of whatever to the islands.

There was a briefing re tomorrow’s options before dinner after which I edited my images of Italy 4 months ago and had a chat with a Russian member of the crew who liked Putin because he had brought order and discipline to Russia.

When I found myself not remembering what I was doing at 1am I went to bed – my earliest for months.

DAY 4 – SUN FEB 5: ENDERBY ISLAND (THE AUCKLAND ISLANDS) 

Sharron and I decided that neither the 12km circular walk of the island nor spending all day on the 6km out and back boardwalk walk was for us. That left a 2hr zodiac cruise in the morning and an afternoon shuttle to go ashore to do the boardwalk – we don’t need all day for a 6km stroll!

Given that yesterday’s zodiac cruise was rough and underwhelming we opted to pass on the zodiac cruise, stay on board in the morning, have lunch(!) on board and then go ashore and do the boardwalk in the afternoon.

We did not get the impression the zodiac cruise was anything special but just an option for those who did not want to go ashore for the entire day.

Our decision was vindicated as it was rainy, apparently very choppy and less interesting than yesterday as far as wildlife was concerned.

After lunch we went ashore, in light rain and the boardwalk to the northern cliffs seemed a lot shorter than 3km so I am not sure how those who chose this as a full day option filled their time!

We saw sea lions and walruses at the far end of the beach, a lost sea lion pup on the boardwalk which meant we had to detour around it and great sightings of albatrosses, both in the air on the ground near the boardwalk. They really are big birds!

My iPhone decided to shut itself off for some reason and it wasn’t because of a low battery, but no problem as I had taken most of the images I intended to take.

The Auckland Islands are surprisingly extensive as we continued to sail through them en route to Australia’s Macquarie Island with a day at sea tomorrow.

After dinner Sharron beat me 2-1 at backgammon despite not playing for at least 10 years and I have been playing in two leagues the last two years!

DAY 5 – MON FEB 6: AT SEA heading towards Macquarie Island 

I passed on the 9am bird talk and continued editing my images but attended the 11am photography lecture given by the expedition photographer Richard which I thought was well presented and informative. Even if I knew most of it, it did no harm to be reminded.

I excused myself from the lunch table when Sharron asked Owen why he had a stent in his neck and Owen replied his head was almost cut off in an industrial accident but his spinal cord was not severed and he has a titanium neck cage and pulls a cord to open the trap and allow food to pass down his throat – the details were not what I needed with lunch! On a more serious note, the surgery which reattached Owen’s head to his neck was unique in the world as far as he is aware.

I had my first afternoon nap today as editing images in the swell made me drowsy and as a result, I missed the penguin lecture (probably a blessing according to Sharron) but also the briefing preparing us for landings, options and activities on Macquarie Island tomorrow as I thought Sharron could brief me. However, she did not fully understand as all options were dependent on weather and whether we could land – so we are both in the dark!

Early evening was the Captain’s reception and the pre- expedition material said dress would be semi-formal with jacket and tie recommended. I could not believe anyone heading for the Antarctic would seriously consider nor have either the space or inclination for a formal dinner or dress but at the last moment in Canada I threw in a shirt and tie so as not to embarrass Sharron if I was the only one dressed casually. It must be 25 years since I wore a tie for anything other than a marriage, funeral or a royal visit and yes, I have had the fortune and misfortune to experience all three!

But just before the reception, Sharron received a series of WhatsApp messages from the U.K. as she had paid for somewhat limited Wi-Fi on board expecting it to be good for the first three or four days only. I did not bother given I had got my emails down to zero in my inbox I did not want to be distracted and wanted to concentrate fully on editing images in my down time.

Anyway, it seems our son David collapsed/fainted twice in London last night and hit his head on the floor and was taken to hospital in an ambulance – he had several stitches and an MRI scan and was allowed home after five or six hours in the hospital. That’s a worry – he has been working hard for a number of years in a senior financial management position and had even more stress in recent months as he and his wife prepare to move into a new home next weekend and are temporarily living at our family’s London apartment.

As for the Captain’s reception where we were introduced to a multinational crew other than one other guy with a tie (Jeff a naturalised New Zealander from NYC and a Dean at the University of Otago) and one with a jacket (John retired head teacher from Orange, NSW, Australia), I did not see anyone who was dressed any less casually than normal (!) so clearly everybody shared my initial reaction!

After dinner I lost 2-1 at backgammon to Sharron – again!

Then I went to work at the double desk by the stairway and water dispenser outside the 4th floor restaurant and at the end of our corridor which is where I have been editing my images. I am like a pig in shit as it is a wonderful resource and handy to our room and no one else appears interested in using it! I worked until 2am, easily last person up on the ship and got my images edited and indexed in folders up to the end of October. I am fairly confident I will get the next 5000 images Nov – Feb Thailand, Philippines, Canada and NZ finished whilst I am on board and may even get some writing done.

Sharron is happy I am working at the desk which means I am not keeping the light on in our cabin.

Many passengers assume that sitting at the desk I am a member of the crew and I could already have sold shore excursions many times over! (except everything of course is included) It’s a good way of meeting and talking to passengers who are inquisitive as to what I am doing and tonight, I chatted with Hugh a retired accountant from NZ also a fellow Leonard Cohen fan and Anna, a retired social worker from Brisbane.

DAY 6 TUES FEB 7:  MACQUARIE ISLAND 

Woke as usual by a tannoy announcement at 0745, announcing a temperature of one degree (later corrected to six degrees!) and to advise that we had arrived off Macquarie Island, and that conditions were looking good for going ashore near the Australian research station. Snow was predicted for the afternoon.

We had time for a quick facetime call with David in London, groggy, black eye and seemingly OK but taking it easy for a couple of days.

We arrived for the 0730 – 0830 breakfast closer to 830 when most are leaving and indeed only two people were behind us in the dining room when we left!

Can’t take food ashore – cleared for going ahead and we are in first group heading towards the research station on a narrow isthmus between two green hills bathed in sunlight.

I was in one of the first groups which were for the most ‘athletic’ (as we were climbing to some viewpoint 175 metres above sea level) but as it transpired, everyone did the identical program, but some went to the beaches first and others to the viewpoint first.

After landing we formed a group of 10 and led by Kate, a marine biologist from Wilmington, North Carolina, whose area of expertise and research is paleoecology of penguins, and who was part of the expedition team for the two back-to- back Ross Sea Expeditions. We were also joined by long bearded Al (Al turned out to be one of the real personalities of the expedition, a seasoned Antarctic hand and a world renowned authority on Antarctic conservation). We took a right and headed towards the Australian research station after a few brief words of welcome and introduction by a park ranger from Tasmania. There are 27 staff residents at the research station and the island is administered by the Tasmanian Parks Department on behalf of the federal government.

Macquarie Island is notorious for foul weather, Heritage have been unable to land on many occasions and it rains most days throughout the year!

I wondered what the large rocks were doing on the beach and realised they were (very) large elephant seals and there were plenty more amidst the tussocks. It was very strange to see these giant creatures stretched out usually immobile and sometimes twitching amidst the sand dunes, often piled on top of each other in groups of up to ten. The isthmus area which we were walking along was historically used for the hunting and culling of seals for their oil and some of the original giant vats were left rusting amidst the sand dunes. Industrial heritage in sub-Antarctica!

We crossed the narrow isthmus to a sandy and stony bay with king penguins on the beach and a dramatic range of hills to our left stretching to a headland. I was just wearing a light wind/rain jacket, a nylon gilet (waistcoat) and short sleeved T shirt plus thermal long johns and waterproof trousers; but felt quite cold in the wind and had only brought a buff and not a heavier beanie for my head.

Memo to self – Time to get my day pack organised when I get back on board Michael!

Second memo to self – Use the bum bag that I brought so that I can more easily get my iPhone/rainhat/hankie/whatever out without having to take my gloves off in the cold wind to get items out of my pockets. Indeed, I wish I had brought a pair of lightweight gloves more dexterous for getting my phone and handkerchief out of pockets. I did look at several as we travelled around New Zealand but never got round to buying any!

Third memo – Bring a camera but a bit late to do anything about that!

Perhaps I should explain. I have been a keen photographer all my life but from about 2000 onwards, stopped using SLR cameras for good quality rangefinders (or ‘point and shoot’ cameras) which are much lighter and easier for walking in the mountains.

We did 6 polar expeditions 2012 – 2017 and I mainly used these rangefinders, and on the last, a Sony with a built-in optical zoom of 300mm but in the interim since 2017, I have exclusively used my iPhone Pro Max 11, 12, 13, 14 which has an outstanding camera which is fine for landscapes, panoramas and indeed 99% of my needs. I was so used to carrying my iPhone everywhere that I completely forgot about packing a ‘proper’ camera with a decent zoom for the wildlife in Antarctica!

In truth it’s not a problem as we get plenty close to most wildlife and I am more a landscape than wildlife photographer but it would have been nice to have the longer lens from time to time.

I found some penguin bones on the beach which I gave to Kate, and then we recrossed the narrow isthmus and made our way amidst the cold squalls and gusts of winds along the beach where we landed passing groups of sea lions and elephant seals, and of course many penguins (and giving way to the groups of king penguins who always have right of way and must not be disturbed) to the foot of the boardwalk/steps which took us up to a viewing area. 175m it was not (!) and only just over 200 very solid steps.

There was a great view over the isthmus, the research station, Wireless Hill and to the south along the spine of the island where a dramatic range of hills swept down to the coast.

We made our way back to the landing area and returned to the boat via visiting a small colony of rock hopping penguins.

We had lunch with Esther, a Portuguese marine biologist studying kelp movements and one of the younger passengers, and Barry, a very pleasant biologist from Connecticut as the boat repositioned itself southwards to Sandy Bay when we disembarked again via zodiacs.

Only a certain number are allowed ashore at a time and the 130 passengers are divided into four groups – Shackleton, Scott, Amundson and Mawson, and two groups went ashore 2pm to 4pm and the second two 4pm to 6pm approx. and we were fortunate that our group Shackleton was in the first.

We were told we had two hours to wander at leisure but not past the rope which marked the edge of a giant king penguin colony. There were of course penguins everywhere and not fazed by people as long as one does not intrude on their space. They are inquisitive and endlessly photogenic.

After an hour observing and photographing the penguins, Sharron and I made our way back along the beach and passed by many groups of giant elephant seals with the males sometimes raising themselves on rear haunches or flippers to challenge each other and bark furiously, a sound that one imagines would travel for many hundreds of metres. There was one enormous elephant seal at the water’s edge and by huge they can weigh up to 3500 kgs i.e. about 40 times my weight! There was also a group basking in a very photogenic heap all wrapped over and besides each other. And everywhere there were also amusing groups of penguins seemingly playing ‘follow the leader’ as they walked in a single file along the shoreline!

The board walk both ascended and led several hundred metres inland to a giant (sorry ginormous) colony of royal penguins which are distinguished by bushy eyebrows. The boardwalk passed a southern giant petrel happily nesting within a metre of the boardwalk and there were informative information boards along the way explaining how an AUS$25m 7-year rodent eradication program had ridded the island of rabbits, rats, cats and mice and how the island , an international biosphere  and world heritage area is the only place in the world where an oceanic crust has been lifted above sea level to form an island with rock from the sea floor more than 4000 metres below!

The penguin colony was I think the biggest I have seen, and the stench was foul but well worth putting up with to see penguins filling and extending up the valley almost as far as they eye could see!

We made our way back to the departure zone around 4pm and it was getting noticeably cooler even though, this time, I was wearing my yellow expedition parka courtesy of Quark Expeditions, who we had travelled with previously. I was glad our two hours was ending rather than beginning like those who were now disembarking as the sky was overcast and it was getting noticeably cooler.

Our zodiac driver, Yuri, seemed to delight in either showing off or giving people a thrill (depending on your age and perspective!) as he zoomed between the rocks as we made our way back to the ship.

Back on board, we stayed at anchor in the calm waters off Macquarie Island and had an enjoyable dinner with Sandy, a former American but now naturalised New Zealander, who originally headed to NZ in the late 80s to set up Citibank in NZ.  We departed just before 9pm and sailed down the eastern shore of this long thin island (35km long and 5km wide) and the hardy could go out on the upper decks to observe king penguin colonies on the beach as we passed Lusitania Bay.

At the southern end of Macquarie Island, the captain tuned the boat for better views of a school of orca whales, and then we headed south for 4 days of sea crossing with porthole covers being put on the third deck portholes as rough weather was expected.

Our original itinerary allowed for two days at Macquarie Island as often it is not possible to disembark, but as we managed two shore excursions over a long day in relatively good weather, and it was decided to head on which gives us an extra day to visit other islands or in Antarctica.

I beat Sharron 2-0 at backgammon, transferred to the desk I have commandeered on the corridor by the stairwell on our deck until  1am when I returned to our cabin and  watched an episode of the Korean drama series ‘Thirty Nine on my iPad with the wonderful Son Ye-Jin (who also starred in ‘Crash Landing on You’ one of my favourite Netflix Series and a worldwide smash) in our cabin before getting in bed at 0230.

DAY 7 WEDS FEB 8:  AT SEA – heading towards the Balleny Islands

I passed on the two morning lectures although I wish that I had gone to the first one on Antarctic history by John. In truth, I am fairly slack in attending the lectures as partly I have difficulty hearing and secondly, I am not so interested in the lectures on flora, fauna, birdlife, marine life etc., as I am more interested in viewing the magnificent landscapes of the polar region and I value my down time to catch up on reading, writing and editing images.

I am making good progress with my images and got up to departing Thailand on Dec 7 so should get up to date on this voyage.

We met Ceri, the expedition leader, in the corridor before lunch and it turned out she had previously been a group leader and worked for Quark Expeditions with whom who we had made our 6 previous polar expeditions and we were talking about expedition leaders and staff members we both knew. When I said we had done Svalbard with Woody and Annie as group leaders in 2013, and refereed to the incident (death) of a passenger in a zodiac accident she said she was on the next expedition a few days later with Woody and Annie and so were we (!) so it seems we had travelled with her in the past!

Ceri also said that earlier this season, there had been another two deaths in a zodiac accident in Antarctica and again with Quark and again Woody and Annie as group leaders! I suspect this was just an unlucky coincidence as I recollect that Woody and Annie were always committed to the highest standards of safety and caution. It turns out that Sharron was aware of this but had forgotten about it and had never mentioned it to me!

I watched another two episodes after lunch and then started editing and putting into folders, images I took in the Philippines in December. I did go to the Macquarie Island recap meeting in the afternoon to review and hear short talks about the various seals, penguins, and birds we had seen but mainly because I wanted to hear our plans. It seems as we gained a day at Macquarie Island, we will head towards the Balleny Islands and try and do a zodiac cruise there if possible.

The sea got increasingly rough and at dinner, the New Zealand accountant, Hugh, was reaching for something on the floor when the boat rolled quite severely, and he overbalanced from his chair and fell quite heavily. He also felt queasy so asked to be excused from the table and retreated to his cabin.

Apparently, the ship is only running on one engine, but the plan is to put it on two which increases our speed and makes the stabilisers more effective. Everyone marvelled at what a wonderful job the restaurant staff did (mainly Filipino of course) in keeping their balance and serving food in such conditions. And they are brilliant in remembering everyone’s names! They are of course always thrilled and pleased that I know their country and have been there so many times.

Hugh is in cabin 419 just opposite ours so I went and checked he was OK and not concussed or dizzy from his fall, and he said he was OK and just feeling more queasy from motion sickness than anything! Turns out he is sharing a cabin with Suu from Taiwan.

After dinner, I had a lot of hassle trying to download images since Dec 7 on my phone (iPhone) to my laptop (PC). In truth, it always has the potential to be a challenge and time consuming because great as Apple devices are they do not make it easier for their devices to interact seamlessly with PC products – the object of the exercise being to buy Apple products folks!

However, today, it was taking forever for my laptop to recognise that my iPhone had any content let alone 23,000 images, the last 4,000 of which I wanted to download and start editing and filing in folders! The only relief from my frustration was to beat Sharron 2-1 at backgammon in our cabin and take a 6-5 lead in our match to 11 points.

I relocated to ‘my’ desk to sort out the wheat from the chaff in the images I had managed to download. I am very happy using the double desk in the corridor/reception area on the way to the restaurant and it is also a great way to meet people as many people enquire as to just what am I doing and start telling me about themselves. Some people assume I am staff as I obviously look official sitting there and I jokingly said I could have sold multiple add on excursions to passengers who jokingly ask if they can buy a ticket from me.

Hugh feeling much better stopped for a chat at 2am on his way to getting a hot drink of Milo from the dispenser in the bar and I eventually headed for bed at 0545 just as the hotel manager was doing his rounds.

‘Good Morning ‘ he said and ‘Good Night’ I replied as I headed for our cabin and bed.

DAY 8 THURS FEB 9:  AT SEA – heading towards the Balleny Islands 

At 8am, Sharron asked me if I was going to breakfast and as I had been in bed barely 2 hours my reply was obviously ‘No I am not’ but at 0845 the klaxon in the cabin blared

 ‘Breakfast finishes at 0900 when the lecture an Introduction to the Ross Sea area will commence in the lounge.’

As I decided I had now been woken twice after less than three hours sleep, I might as well get up and in 17 minutes got washed, dressed, to the dining room for a quick hash browns and baked beans, grabbed a doughnut and coffee and was seated in the lounge within 2 minutes of the lecture commencing.

The lecture by the French guide Alex was interesting as I knew nothing about the Ross Sea except it is remote, very remote, and was the starting point for many of the early polar expeditions. I was aware that we will be concentrating on the western shoreline from Cape Adare to Ross Island and that we will also have the opportunity to view the Ross Ice Shelf, one the world’s largest ice fields and about the size of France. We also learnt about some interesting geographical features including the rare snow free dry valleys.

The Ross Sea was named after Captain James Ross who landed on Possession Island (now part of the New Zealand dependency) in 1841. I was interested to learn that the Victoria Range which follows the western shoreline contains 7 peaks in excess of 4,000 metres and several more above 3,500m. Erebus is a dormant volcano but with a continuous plume of smoke.

The Ross Sea is only ice free and navigable for 2.5 months a year and is the world’s largest marine protected area being established for a duration of 36 years in 2016 after 4 years of negotiations. This is in addition to the 23 areas of Antarctic Special Protected status in the Ross Sea area. These are designated by the Antarctic Commission. The Ross Sea also sees the world’s biggest concentration of adelie penguins with over 700,000 and the largest colony of 170,000 pairs being on Ridley Beach, Cape Adare where we hope to land to visit Borchgrevink’s Hut.

We also hope to visit in total all 5 historic huts used by early Antarctic explorers.

After the lecture, and now wide awake I used the morning to download the remainder of my images right up to the current day from my iPhone to an external hard drive, and then watched two episodes of ‘Thirty Nine’ and was concerned to see all the films and series I have downloaded from Netflix will expire in two days!

I went to the briefing in the afternoon so that I had some understanding of what was planned and it seems we will reach the Balleny Islands tomorrow afternoon, and Cheli is keen to see if we can do a zodiac cruise around 1am, and possibly again as we cross the Antarctic Circle. It would then be another two days sailing to reach the Ross Sea which presumably means Sunday.

After dinner, we watched a newly made documentary film on Cape Adare courtesy of long bearded Al who works for the NZ Antarctic Heritage Foundation. Afterwards, Sharron beat me  2-1 at backgammon (now 7-7) and then I transferred to my corridor desk to finish my work on Philippine images. Next up Canada Dec 17 to Jan 10!

I am really getting into the Korean drama ‘Thirty Nine’ but as each episode is an hour plus, no way will I complete all 12 before they auto delete some time tomorrow! I did watch episode 5 from 2am to 3am before going to bed.

DAY 9 FRI FEB 10:  AT SEA AND ARRIVED OFF THE BALLENY ISLANDS

After breakfast, I watched half of episode 6 of ‘Thirty-Nine’ whilst Sharron attended Ian’s lecture on whales – not for me but very appropriate timing as the day turned out.

We then played two games of backgammon with each of us winning a gammon (worth two points) to move the score along to 9-9 and I won the third game we played to make the score 10 -9 in my favour.

I then transferred this journal from my iPhone where I was writing it to my laptop by airdropping it to Sharron’s iPhone, and she transferred it to her MacBook and then back to my laptop via a USB!

The first ice berg sighting had apparently been seen at 0630 this morning and we passed another large and spectacular iceberg at lunch. As we approached it from my dining table seat at an angle, I was convinced that it was the first Balleny Island because it was dark and undulating but it was a giant berg that had broken off from an ice sheet probably a couple of years ago. It was quite a spectacular sight as we cruised past it.

I cannot believe how much I am eating on this boat! After January 2021, I lost 50lbs from 233lbs to 182lbs, stabilised around 187lbs and kept it off until June 2022 but in the last few months since leaving Switzerland with no exercise and constant travelling, I was 219lbs when leaving Canada and I dread to think what I am today after travelling around NZ and now three substantial meals a day!

I hoped to use the gym every day on the boat if I was going to eat a lot but it hasn’t happened and I am really disappointed in myself for undoing all the good work I put in. Once I lose my discipline, I tend to really lose it and hence two helpings of the delicious rhubarb crumble and custard with ice cream and that was for lunch God help me! I never eat lunch normally and pretty much gave up potatoes and bread. Once I get back to Thailand it will have to be two months of 800 calories a day and 5 mile walks every day!

In the afternoon, I concentrated on getting this diary up to date although as we were approaching the Balleny seamount where the ocean floor rises from a depth of 2000 plus metres to just 300 this is an area rich in marine life and so it proved with several pilot and orca whale sightings. Twice I waited to finish the paragraph I was writing before donning some warmer clothes and going on one of the upper and outer decks to look at the whales but usually after the action had passed, although I did spot some whales and their spouts in the distance on two occasions. However, Sharron stayed on the decks for much of the afternoon or at least was a more frequent visitor and shot over 150 images and was rewarded with some spectacular images of whales playing near the boat and whale tails as they dived. In truth there were some excellent whale sightings, Sharron shot some magnificent images and I missed out!

We had another biosecurity check pre Antarctica with all outdoor clothing (waterproof trousers, boots, hats and packs etc) being checked for seeds etc but not the new jackets that we were all issued with yesterday.

At the afternoon briefing, we were advised the likelihood was we would be crossing the Antarctic Circle between 11pm and 1am and there would be drinks on the upper and outer 8^th deck but as I suspected, this was going to be too late light wise for a zodiac cruise but instead this was scheduled for circa 0630 with the option of viewing a chin strap penguin colony which we will not be seeing again.

We had dinner with the very amusing Swiss couple Kurt and Michele who have spent their recent lives travelling and previously taking breaks from work for long journeys including 6.5 years in South and North America in a truck sized motor home they took with them from Switzerland after they retired!  More recently they were backpacking around South East Asia in their 70s! They are staying another month in NZ and after returning to Switzerland have three weeks in Denmark planned and from August a three months Pole to Pole cruise starting in Vancouver and ending in Buenos Aires via Alaska, the NW Passage, Greenland, the Caribbean, through the Panama Canal, the Chilean fjords and Antarctica!

This was only the beginning of their plans for the next two years which also included a month in South Africa, returning to New Zealand and another expedition on the Heritage Adventurer to Japan!

Sharron and I decided we had been on enough zodiac cruises the last 10 years and seen plenty of chinstrap penguins and we did not need to get up at 6am to see any more so decided to opt out of the 0630 zodiac cruise. We did however complete our backgammon match with me winning 11-10 and then commenced another first to 11 but this time using a doubling dice improvised by myself. Considering I have been playing regularly in leagues and tournaments and Sharron had not played for 20 years she is pretty good.

We went up to the 8^th deck just after midnight to celebrate the crossing off the Antarctic Circle, the third time for both of us and this will now be the furthest south and likely coldest we have ever been.

Cheli’s comments that …………..

‘If the conditions are suitable at 0600, I will announce over the tannoy that boarding of the zodiacs will take place from 0630. If there is no announcement just sleep on. At the moment the forecast is fairly windy’

…………. gave me the impression that it is less rather than more likely the zodiacs will be launched.

On February 10, there were some excellent whale sightings in the Southern Ocean near the Balleny Islands with a pod of whales playing close to and accompanying the Heritage Adventurer. The following images were taken by my wife, Sharron Best.

DAY 10 SAT FEB 11:  AT SEA heading towards Cape Adare 

As I suspected from Cheli’s comments last night high winds and poor visibility meant a Balleny Island zodiac cruise to see chinstrap penguins was not an option and we spent all day sailing east before heading south to avoid the ice packs blocking a direct route to the Ross Sea.

I felt very tired but still attended the morning lecture on Robert Scott’s Discovery Expedition given by John which was excellent.

We also watched the second part of the four-part documentary (yet to be released so a sneak preview!) on the first expedition to stay on Antarctica, the mostly forgotten expedition of 1899 led by Carsten Borchgrevink who built the first Antarctic huts, now being restored at Cape Adare. It too was also excellent.

We completed our backgammon match with me beating Sharron 11-10 eventually and then started another match before lunch, this time using the doubling cube where I again narrowly triumphed 11 – 9, but Sharron had full revenge in the evening after dinner well beating me 7 – 2 in a first to 7 match. A single game has the potential to last 15 minutes so in theory a match to 7 points could take up to 3 hours although the use of the doubling dice and players conceding mean in practice it is considerably shorter. I am very pleased to have been able to resume playing backgammon at a reasonable standard late in my life and Sharron is a good and well-matched opponent although she has not played for many years.

I resumed editing images in the afternoon choosing to miss the lecture ‘Time to Krill’ from a passenger who is a marine biologist but soon felt tired and retired to our cabin for an afternoon nap.

Before dinner, we received a full briefing on the planned activities at Cape Adare where we will go ashore in 4 groups and only three people at a time allowed in the Scott Hut with all the original contents restored and in situ. Dinner was with John and Jo (retired farmers from Tasmania) and Jo’s sister, Marie, who were amusing company and Ann, a New Zealand Justice of the Peace originally from the UK. It turned out that Marie had worked with Sharron’s cousin-in-law, Jim, who she will be visiting in a few weeks, in Papua New Guinea in 2006 monitoring the elections on behalf of the UN! What a coincidence.

I ended up editing my Canadian images from December and January until 0430

Crazy – I have to do something about my sleep management!

DAY 11 SUN FEB 12:  CAPE ADARE 

Somehow, I made breakfast at 0845 and then spent the morning until 11am working on my images before watching the third part of the Cape Adare documentary which again was excellent. I was unaware of the historical significance of Cape Adare and am looking forward to going ashore at Ridley Beach.

After the film finished and before lunch, I followed Sharron onto the upper decks as we were not far off shore amidst calm water and with blue skies above. There was a lot of ice and icebergs in the water and we could view glaciers discharging into the sea and high mountains inland.

I would estimate that 40% of the 140 passengers have previously visited Antarctica but for the remainder they could not have a better introduction weatherwise for their first Antarctic landing. I regret not bringing my rangefinder camera and not having downloaded the Antarctica data for my PeakFinder App prior to departing so I could identify the various mountains.

There were limited landing spots and just looking at the approaches beyond the glaciers over show covered hills and peaks towards the higher peaks further inland made me suspect most have not been climbed due to a combination of the logistical challenge and inaccessibility. No doubt my friend, Victor Saunders, would relish the challenge as he is still guiding on 8000 metre peaks in his 70s!

After lunch, I went on the top deck again to watch the zodiacs shuttling the first groups ashore (Thankfully still very calm!). I recognised triangular Ridley Beach with its very distinctive backcloth of sweeping cliffs beyond, just as pictured in the documentary that we have been watching. It must be strange for Al, project manager of the NZ Antarctic Heritage Trust, to come back for just a few hours after being based here doing restoration work for several weeks at a time!

I found myself wondering how the early navigators find these rare landing points when they had no cartography or aerial photographs to assist? I always find the shoreline looks pretty indistinguishable from the sea!

It was announced our group would be the third to depart at 1430 and it was a short smooth ride to shore where we were advised we had an hour to wander the beach area and then an hour in the protected zone. Most of the circa 340,000 Adelie penguins had departed but there were still plenty remaining on the beach to keep us occupied watching and photographing. There were many moulting chicks and the consensus was if they had not left for sea by now their prognosis for survival was not good.

The beach area was stony but marked by two characteristics. Firstly it was somewhat clay like and soft, partly because of the penguin guano (shit!) everywhere and secondly there were carcasses of dead penguins everywhere, some recently dead and being pecked at by birds but others obviously dating from earlier seasons and in various stages of decomposition. The carcasses were often mummified because of the lack of microbes in Antarctica and I guess researchers can dig and find penguin carcasses at varying layers.

After an hour, we made our way to the 6 ‘Dog Boxes’ which were pods secure on the beach where conservationists can live and protect themselves from the elements, and we were then directed towards Borchgrevink’s Hut. This was built in 1899 and was later used by Robert Scott’s Second (Terra Nova) expedition of 1911. Everyone had to clean their boots with a boot brusher and then walk on a clean plastic sheet to ensure no foreign substance was brought into this historic hut.  As only three guests were allowed in the hut at a time and we had all been brought ashore in 4 groups of approximately 30, there was a 20-minute or so wait to enter and we were entertained by a young penguin chick who tried to slide on the plastic sheeting obviously thinking it was ice. The chick insisted on hanging around the brushing area and pecking at the hut walls, separated from its mother and still moulting. Sadly, the prognosis for the chick’s survival was not good.

I think everyone was surprised at how small the hut was for ten men all with their own bunks, and our Expedition Historian John was inside pointing out features and telling us who slept where. The storage hut next to the main hut was partly restored and contained the original rowing boat used by Borchgrevink’s party.

We also walked around the area viewing the remains of the hut built by Scott’s party which did not survive which was why they had moved into Borchgrevink’s much better built hut!

The hills and cliff behind the beach were imposing and there were icebergs out to sea. We were blessed with blue skies and sunshine so could not complain as we wandered back to the loading area to get a zodiac back to the ship.

At the recap before dinner, we were advised we would head south in Robertson Bay until we were adjacent to Duke of York Island and then a mid-evening zodiac cruise in Colbeck Bay, adjacent to the Russell Glacier, was planned.

Dinner was on a large circular table with the same group as last night and Etienne and Cara, wildlife photographers from Canada and the UK who had a photographic business in Darwin also joined us. As it was John’s, the ex-farmer from Tasmania, birthday, the table was of course, serenaded by singing waiters!

We were out on the water in Colbeck Bay for about 90 minutes and Cheli, the expedition group leader, was also on our zodiac. I always enjoy seeing the glaciers discharging into the sea and was impressed by the folded rock patterns on Duke of York island. It was minus one degree as we boarded the zodiacs and I had on a neck warmer, two beanies and two fleeces under my waterproof jacket and it was only my hand that got cold when I took off a glove to take photographs. We even managed to find a lone isolated emperor penguin!

Sharron and I played backgammon in the lounge after we returned.

DAY 12 MON FEB 13 POSSESSION ISLAND & CAPE HALLETT

We woke to see a dramatic snow-covered range of mountains behind the coastline to our west and blue sky above us.

We were advised that the morning landings were going ahead but would not be for everyone as the ‘beach’ landing was boulders and parts of immediate ascent up and on to the beach were icy and slippery. There would be zodiac cruises along the shoreline for those who did not want to do the landing.

Our group was due to be first but they decided to combine groups as I guess only limited numbers wanted to land after the ‘warning’. The landing itself beneath dramatic cliffs was not too bad, slippery but Sharron (2 walking poles) and myself (just one) got up on beach no problem. The illustrations from James Ross’ account of his voyages proved we had landed at exactly the same spot as James Ross had landed in 1841 when he claimed Possession Island in the name of Queen Victoria.

However, the biggest challenge for me was neither the climb up over the boulders on to the beach proper nor having to claim any land on behalf of either Switzerland or Thailand (my homes), but the fact that my Black Diamond walking pole would not lock and every time I put it in the snow just separated.

There were more people ashore (maybe 50 -60?) than I imagined and many were spread over the extensive flat area behind the shore with plenty of penguins scurrying around here and there. However, most of us opted to follow a trail marked by wands placed by the guides to a ridge overlooking the beach.

I soon decided the pole was indeed worse than useless as I could not fathom out how the three sections interlocked.

(I now recollect that several years ago I had had the same problem in Canada and returned the pole to the Mountain Equipment store where I made the purchase where it also defied the efforts of the sales and customer service teams. They were about to give me a refund when a technician showed us all the deceptively easy key to making it lock but after several years and not using it in the interim, I had long forgotten the solution!)

I decided to leave the pole on a large rock on the beach but the lack of a pole was a problem because whilst he ascent up the ridge was not difficult, and people were already standing on the ridge, the route was over a combination of snow, ice and frozen penguin shit already quite smooth and slippery from the 30 or 40 people ahead.

Despite multiple days of glacier walking and non-technical climbing up snowy peaks, I have never been comfortable on snow or ice, probably as I have never skied, and for almost 30 years, all my mountain walking has been with one pole as the challenges of walking with two poles and using a camera has always been beyond me. I always joke that like(former President Gerald Ford who people joked was challenged to master walking and chewing gum at the same time (!) I could comfortably walk with one pole but was challenged by having to get my feet synchronised to walk with two!

It was barely 75m of ascent to the ridge but on some of the slippery sections, I definitely missed not having a walking pole and when I caught up with Sharron who had started earlier commandeered one of her poles to help me over a steeper section of frozen penguin shit and snow and not hearing her request to stay with her as she needed the two poles, I just continued on my way to the crest of the ridge. Poor Sharron slipped on the ice but one of the guides helped her up and she made it to the ridge eventually well pissed and muttering ‘I told you to stay with me’. I guess because I only walk with one pole, I assume that is sufficient for everyone else!

There was a great view over the sea towards the mainland and mountains and of the interior of the island with a flat expanse below us. Many were choosing to descend and then walk northwards around the end of the ridge and then head south to join the flat area where we had ascended the ridge. This, of course, was under the assumption that the ridge did not end by descending as a cliff into the sea in which case they have to return reascend the ridge and descend!

I assumed the expedition team would not have taken people down and around if it was impassable but I preferred the certainty of a short descent the way we had ascended although Sharron made it quite clear that she was taking both walking poles for support!

One octogenarian chose to glissade down the main trail on his arse which only made it more smooth and slippery for those behind so I chose to head for the deeper snow slope which gave a surer and more secure grip.

One of the expedition staff helped Sharron on the more slippery parts and when we met at the bottom, she was not sure whether she had been foolish to walk up the ridge and back or pleased she had managed to do it, probably both simultaneously.

I was wondering whether to leave my walking pole on the island to bequeath it as a historic artifact to be found by a future generation of explorers (!) but decided to take the more responsible option and retrieved it, and on the zodiac back to the ship saw another passenger had the same pole. Once aboard I asked her and she said she had experienced a lot of difficulty but showed me how the male locking pin could (with difficulty) be released. It turned out I had been trying to lock it the correct way but not using enough force. However back in my cabin we still could not release the catch to lock it so just as well I had brought two poles.

I felt quite tired after our morning exertions but continued to edit images. One of the expedition crew Ian from Alaska said he had been on the boat for three months and I was the first passenger he had seen using the desk on the 4^th floor. He thought it was a great facility and glad to see it was being put to good use.

We headed south over lunch past stunning mountain scenery with higher peaks inland only accessible beyond a range of smaller snow-covered peaks and glaciers discharging into the sea. It was not going to be possible to go ashore at Cape Hallett at there was too much pack ice but we were going to get the option of a 90-minute zodiac cruise amidst the ice.

I had been up on the 7^th deck to take pictures and admire the scenery and it was cold, just below freezing with a wind chill factor added caused by both the wind and the ships movement. The view was dominated by two dramatic peaks which both looked like mini Matterhorns joined by a ridge with dramatic near vertical south eastern (?) faces the closest of which was Mt Herschel (3355m) and the furthest Mt Peacock (3210mm). The two peaks  reminded me of the Finsteraarhorn and Schreckhorn in the Swiss Bernese Oberland.

Subsequent research revealed that the gigantic east face of Mt Herschel has caught the passing gaze of many southbound explorers and scientists and notably Sir Edmund Hillary, who led a successful expedition to climb the peak in 1967. However no longer with the strength of his youth, although other members of his party was successful, Everest’s famed first summiteer did not personally reach the summit of Herschel.

To the right (north) of Mt Herschel was a wide glacier flowing directly into the sea (probably the Ironside Glacier) which divided a few kilometers inland and beyond which were what appeared to be higher peaks of the Admiralty Range.

Because of the latitude and extreme temperatures, this dramatic alpine scenery that we normally associate with higher altitudes of the great mountain ranges of the world is brought down to sea level  and readily displayed in front of us as a ready to view panorama. And when combined with whales, penguins, seals and icebergs, Antarctica becomes an almost unrivalled travel destination.

As a tour operator for almost all of my working life, I am always asked which is my favourite travel destination.

When I was younger, I used to say for the variety of scenery it has to be New Zealand and for the friendliness of the people I loved Fiji. As I got older, I told people the mountain scenery in the Bernese Alps of Switzerland where we are fortunate enough to have a home is magnificent, and the mountain scenery in the Khumbu area of Nepal around Everest is incomparable but now I have only one answer.

‘Whatever you do ……………. mortgage your house, beg, borrow or steal, but find a way to get to Antarctica at least once in your life.’

But however impressive the scenery or indeed maybe because the scenery was so impressive, my preference for the afternoon was to stay on board, go on deck to admire the scenery from time to time and continue editing images. I also felt tired and as this is our 6^th polar trip in the last 11 years have been on plenty of zodiac cruises amidst the ice, but when I asked Sharron if she was going I was surprised she said ‘Yes as it is so beautiful’ so I decided I would go but did all I could to ensure I was warm  so I disembarked into our zodiac wearing:

– a marino beanie and a synthetic beanie to keep my head warm

– a buff to protect the lower part of my face

– a fleece neck warmer

– a heavy duty waterproof expedition jacket

– a fleece gilet (vest/waistcoat)

– a fleece jacket

– T shirt

– thermal long johns

– gortex waterproof trousers

– inner gloves

– outer waterproof gloves

– woolen socks

– mud gumboots

I somehow fitted my mandatory life jacket over all this and took binoculars, sunglasses and my iPhone which is now my camera of choice.

Our driver was Iwan from Ireland but based in Christchurch for 14 years, the ornithologist/bird expert of the expedition team and who was  making his first visit to Antarctica and always good for an immediate and amusing quip to suit most situations. This was his first experience of piloting a zodiac through a sea of floating ice so he tended to follow the French guide and ice expert/Antarctic historian Sam in the zodiac ahead.

The sun was out, the sea was incredibly calm as we journeyed amidst the ice floes of all sorts of shape and size and all the time with the magnificent mountains to our west.

The plus side was the sky was blue, there was no wind and I did not even need to wear gloves as we sauntered along. And all the time our views were dominated either by the dramatic peaks of Herschel and Peacock or a large but distant flat-topped iceberg looking like a perfectly carved giant rectangle floating in the sea.

The down side was zodiacs are not the most comfortable as one gets older and trying to twist round to take images and hold on when we accelerate requires a flexibility I no longer always possess. I have also noticed with my weak back I am always a little stiff and achy after zodiac rides on this trip.

After 70 minutes, it was time to head back and Iwan gave the two younger passengers a bit of a thrill by accelerating on the smooth water which led to a cooler (sorry colder) ride back to the boat.

When I was back on the boat I found the morning walk, afternoon zodiac ride and just being out for several hours in sub-freezing temperature had taken its toil as I lay on the bed and immediately slept for 90 minutes. It is very unusual for me to sleep in the day despite my erratic sleep management.

My back was a little stiff and I decided I am happy with zodiac rides to shore and back but I will probably pass on any more zodiac cruises unless there is something spectacular to see.

In the evening, I completed an 11-5 backgammon victory over Sharron and completed editing my images of Canada December 17 to January 10!

DAY 13 TUES FEB 14 AT SEA: Heading south towards Ross Island

Felt really tired although I had the best part of 6.5 hours sleep which is a lot for me.

Choices, choices, choices.

After breakfast do I attend Samuel’s lecture on James Clark Ross, continue editing images or wake up by watching Kate Winslet and the first episode of ‘The Mayor of Easttown’ on my laptop.

Fortunately, I attended Samuel’s lecture which was truly well researched and excellent. As I went to the lecture, I realised I had forgotten my iPhone in case I wanted to capture any of his slides or record the lecture. And sure enough once Samuel started I wished I had the phone so I could record it as it was so informative about perhaps the doyen of polar explorers with multiple expeditions to the Antarctic and also to the Arctic in search of Franklin.

It is a pity that Heritage do not record the lectures and have them available for playback on the cabin TV like Quark. It turns out Samuel had at one time planned to write a biography of Ross who was responsible for exploring and naming so much of Antarctica and it was clear he was very knowledgeable about his subject who interestingly enough has never been the subject of a biography.

Before lunch, the ship’s Hotel Manager Erik from Sweden laughed as he walked past me at ‘my’ desk as he headed off to the restaurant commenting ‘I was getting worried as you were not here earlier’

We chatted and it was indeed a small world as he had once managed a nightclub in Bournemouth in the UK where I was born and grew up and later had bought a condo in Pattaya, Thailand where I now live for part of each year.

At lunch, I asked Kurt and Michele from Switzerland  if they had plans after their summer trip to Denmark and autumn pole to pole cruise and sure enough in 2024 they are coming back to New Zealand to join another Heritage trip, this time to Japan! After lunch, the afternoon flew by with the final episode of the Cape Adare documentary which confirmed we were indeed lucky to be one of the rare parties able to make a landing at Cape Adare, a lecture by John on Ernest Shackleton’s Nimrod Expedition of 1907 – 09(during which I dozed off) and then before dinner, a recap on the last 2 days and a briefing on our plans for tomorrow.

We were already in sight of Ross Island and Mt Erebus and it seemed the ice was rapidly building up in the McMurdo Sound as the contrast between satellite photos of the base from last week, yesterday and today testified and I assume once it sets in at the end of summer (now) it does not miraculously melt! So, I am assuming we may or may not get in. It seems there is a supply ship due for the American research base and if so, the ice breaker that they keep there will open up a passage that we could follow in (and get out?), but it seems the Americans are not too good at sharing information and their plans!

Well, that’s a surprise!

After dinner, I went up on the top deck to watch the many whales in the water around the boat and admire the views of Scott Island but it was cold so retreated inside for some backgammon, writing and image editing. We are now in the zone of 24-hour daylight and I went back out at 1am to take some more pictures.

At 2am, I was packing up to go to bed and I heard a few bumps from below and the whole ship shudder slightly and when I looked through the port hole, realised we were going through an area of pack ice so put on a neck warmer, two beanies and grabbed a pair of gloves and went up to deck 7 for some great views of Erebus and Scott Island.

The light was perfect like a water colour or pastel post sunset or pre sunrise. There was ice everywhere and as we were proceeding at a snail’s pace and there was little wind, it was quite mild. Best part of the trip so far for me and there were another 30 or 40 passengers who had either got up or stayed up to see the excellent views of Mt Erebus that Samuel had promised and which indeed were delivered.

I was unsure whether I should wake Sharron who would likely take forever to get changed.

On balance, I decided it was not worth the risk!

DAY 14 WEDS FEB 15: ROSS ISLAND – Cape Royds  

I woke up around 0745 after just over 4 hours sleep and looked out of the window to see we were surrounded by ice and bathed in sunlight. I quickly got changed and headed up to the top deck to take some images and video of the ice floes which were very beautiful.

There were great views of Mt Erebus to our left with a whisp of smoke emerging from its cone and it certainly did not look 3794 metres high! Ahead of us on the horizon was the snow-covered volcanic peak of Mt Discovery, a perfectly symmetrical volcanic peak which made for some great images with ice floes in the foreground. After breakfast I spent the morning at my desk but with fleece,neck warmer, gloves and beanie to hand so I could make frequent sorties outside to take pictures. At one point, we passed an ice floe with a seal serenely lying atop and many of the fractured ice floes had penguin tracks crisscrossing them!

Cheli said we were exploring the options of getting through the ice to Cape Royds and the deck temperature was minus 2 degrees on the port side and 10 degrees on the starboard side!

We were called to a late morning briefing where we were advised we could get ashore at Cape Royds and we would be going in groups of 7 (7 plus one guide being the maximum allowed in the Shackleton’s Hut at one time) at 15-minute intervals starting at 1145 so that meant Sharron and I would be off at 1530 as we were in group 16.

After lunch, I edited images and then we were off at 1530 for the very short transfer to Cape Royds and after getting into the zodiac, Sharron asked me if Sally, the co-ordinator had given me my beanie (hat) and walking pool.

‘No – I didn’t see Sally’ I replied.

Sharron started to panic as I had given these to her in the mud room whilst putting on my boots and harness and Sharron had been concerned she might end up on a different zodiac so had given them to Sally to give to me on the gangplank. As it was, we ended up on the same zodiac but Sally had been back at reception and no longer at the gangplank when I disembarked!

Not to worry as I hardly needed the pole and I had two buffs/bandanas in my pockets which would keep the chill off my head!.

We disembarked ashore where we made our way over the snow from the landing point to be greeted by a mummified seal! (Truly!). All we then had to do was discard our harnesses, and make our way up the black lava tock slopes following the red flagged route to the crest of a ridge which afforded excellent views back over the pack ice to our ship, the Heritage Adventurer nestled against the ice with Mt Erebus behind. I wondered how on earth did the Air New Zealand DC10 on a sightseeing flight, manage to  fly straight into the mountain back in 1979. It is the most prominent land form around and even in inclement weather and low visibility, the plane would have had an altimeter for sure!

At this point, Shackleton’s Hut which we had come to see, hut was just below us to the left in front of a lovely lake which was out of bounds because of an Adelie penguin colony. Above and  the right of the lake, a path was flagged to a hill where we could see several expedition members presumably admiring the view and silhouetted against the skyline.

Following his role on Robert Scott’s Discovery Expedition Ernest Shackleton mounted his own (Nimrod) expedition from 1907 -1909 in his own attempt to be the first to reach the Geographic South Pole. The hut was the expedition’s base and refuge for 14 months protecting them from the severe Antarctic climate. It is also known as the Nimrod Hut, named after the expedition ship.

Sharron and I made our way down to the hut which was in a wonderful state of preservation with original and restored wooden storage boxes placed around and against the hut. We waited our turn in line after cleaning our boots before entering which was like entering into a time capsule as the contents, clothes, tinned food et al were presented in situ just as they were left or used over a century ago.

In many cases tins, containers, objects have been taken back to New Zealand, cleaned, restored, refurbished and then brought back. It was good a restoration of an earlier epoch as I have seen anywhere in the world and to do it in such a hostile and harsh environment was just incredible. Our guide got the seven of us allowed in to line up against one wall so we could take in and appreciate both the ambiance and the contents whilst he described some of the history and contents. And then we were free to wander around and take photos including a wheel of the first vehicle brought to Antarctica by Shackleton on the Nimrod in 1908.

There was no wind, the sky was blue and the temperature was mild (maybe just above freezing) and Sharron and I wandered over to the hill viewpoint looking down over the hut and lake and also affording views of the coastline in one direction and Mt Erebus in the other. The contrast between the dark lava strewn landscape in our foreground and the snow on the mountains and ice in the sea as background was dramatic and there were photographs waiting to be taken in every direction. This was the best day of the trip so far with a wonderful hut, mild temperature, blue skies and magnificent scenery fully comparable with the Antarctic Peninsula.

And thanks to an optical illusion it appeared as if Mt Discovery (2681m), some 100km/60 miles distant across the McMurdo Sound, was floating or at least perched on top of some strata cloud because the next lower of clouds below Mt Discovery was the same colour as the sky above.

When we arrived on the crest of the ridge, there were several southern giant petrels standing on a rock perfectly positioned to be easily photographed with Erebus in the background. There was an expedition team member positioned on the ridge to ensure no passengers strayed into the protected zone and I jokingly asked her if Heritage had tethered the bird to the rock for the photographer’s benefit! I guess not as the colony soon expanded from one to four!

After basking in the scenery and watching seals below us swimming and basking on ice floes, we made our way back to the landing point and a zodiac transfer back to the ship. We were told we would not be stopping at Cape Evans and Scotts Hut but head further south to try and make radio contact with the American Icebreaker to try and better assess ice conditions.

As we ate dinner, one of our dinner companions at the large circular table where we had chosen to sit at the rear of the dining room commented about the round construction atop the ridge beyond the shore line. There was conjecture that it was presumably a satellite receiving installation or transmitting device and it turned out we were first approaching and then passing McMurdo Station, the world’s most southerly permanently inhabited community where upwards of 200 people are based every winter and rather more in summer. Behind us there was also another ship, presumably the American Icebreaker.

I was certainly not expecting to see any station of size on this trip and it was certainly the largest facility I had seen in my now three visits to the Antarctic. In size and extent, it reminded me of Longyearbyen, capital of Svalbard in Arctic Norway.

McMurdo Station was certainly an extensive facility with many storage centres and buildings including some with as many as 4 floors. There were satellite dishes and communication devices, including at least 4 of the sphere-like structures, at high points on the hills above the station. After dinner, many people went on deck to look and take pictures of the station. Unfortunately, due to restrictions introduced as a result of covid it was not going to be possible to visit the station.

The sea was almost freezing as we went along, with a thin crust of ice everywhere and it was cold on deck……………very cold!

By 2130, we had made progress through the ice crusted sea, but now came to a thicker and more solid layer of snow-covered ice which I assumed was the beginning of the winter frozen sea and indeed, Cheli soon announced we were at 78 degrees and some minutes south and this was as far as we were going so we will not make it to the NZ Scott Base, just a few kilometres south of McMurdo Station.

I spent the rest of the evening playing backgammon with Sharron and editing images just occasionally going on deck with my iPhone and binoculars but my right hand was soon bitterly cold after any extended period with my glove off taking pictures.

At 1am, I packed up at my desk and prepared for bed but went up to the top deck for a last look around and any possibility of nice landscape images with the the 24-hour light but unlike the previous night, no one else was around as the surrounding ice was no longer so novel and it was far colder.

I beat a retreat to the library to warm my hands and was chatting with one of the Filipino seamen on night inspection duties. Somehow, he knew my name was Michael so I guess the word has got around the Filipino crew that there is someone on board who stays up late and is a frequent visitor to their country!

He pointed out that the shape on the horizon that I had assumed was a ship was in fact a building associated with the airport runway, as was a red light that he pointed out several kilometres ahead of the boat on the ice. The Lonely Planet Antarctic Guide to Antarctica had a chapter on the Ross Sea which I had photocopied and brought with me, and it said there were three airfields for the Ross Station and I guess it makes sense the only flat areas are on the permanently frozen ice shelf.

So I went back to the cabin for my binoculars and was able to confirm there were a few structures on the ice as the seaman had pointed out and I guess that is how supplies and people get in and out!

When I got back to the cabin I decided to watch half an episode of the Kate Winslet drama ‘The Mayor of Easttown’ before going to bed at 0230.

DAY 15 THURS FEB 16: ROSS ISLAND: Hut Point and Discovery Hut  

Woken by Cheli’s announcement that the temperature was minus 10 degrees with a wind chill factor of minus 13 making an effective temperature of minus 23!

And our group was due to transfer to shore at 0845!

Nevertheless, we had breakfast, put on all the warm clothing we had and were ready to disembark on time. Initially, the expedition team thought the low temperature would put some people off but I think most people went ashore.

As they were wearing goggles and a balaclava I have no idea who our zodiac driver was and when we got ashore, it was only a short distance over a stony beach to Scott’s Discovery Hut which was built for his first expedition of 1901 -04 although because it was drafty many of the crew preferred to stay on the Discovery. However, the hut became an important staging post for all the subsequent expeditions of the early 20^th century ‘heroic’ period of Antarctic exploration.

I was surprised at how close the hut was to the American McMurdo Station, which was maybe just 600 metres along the coast but very definitely off limits, but my overriding memory of Hut Point was how mercilessly cold it was. Having to use my fingers to activate the touch screen/shutter of my iPhone meant taking off the glove of my right hand which was soon extremely cold, and I was reminded how easy it is to get frostbite from exposed digits.

After cleaning our boots and having them inspected, we were allowed in the hut seven  at a time when long bearded Al who is the project manager for the Antarctic Trust gave us an informative talk about another authentically restored and immaculately maintained hut.

Once we were out, I took a few quick pictures of the McMurdo base and the hut resulting in a very cold right hand and then Sharron and I decided we would walk up the slight slope to the nearby Vince’s Cross, a memorial to T Vince who fell into the sea near this point in March 1902.

I barely stopped to take a few quick pictures of the cross and plaque because if I write that the wind made it bitterly cold, that is a colossal understatement extreme understatement.

Despite pulling my neck warmer up over my face, my nose was running and my eyes weeping from the cold, my hand ached from removing my glove to take pictures and I was happy to keep going and descend to the landing area and get the next zodiac back to the ship. I commented to Cheli that she had my full admiration for standing on the beach for 5 hours supervising the arrival and disembarkation for 19 zodiacs transfers let alone repeating the same words of welcome and instructions for departure for 19 arrivals and departures!

When I got back to the boat, I took off my parka and lay on the bed because  the exposure to the cold temperature combined with the ship’s warmth had made me quite tired and I realised that the subconscious reason I was lying with my right hand on my head was that was the best way of getting my hand warmed up was with the body heat from my head!

I could not believe we were out and back by 0945 which is about the time my body starts to function in a coherent manner, but I was soon back at ‘my’ desk editing images. Several passengers commented

‘Still working Michael, not bothering to go ashore?’

And I told them I had been on the first zodiac and was already back. When they asked how it was, I tersely replied

‘I have been to warmer places’

And left it at that!

Talking about it with Sharron, she reminded me in January 1981, we ran out of petrol at 4am driving across North Dakota and the radio advised it was a temperature of minus 20 and with the wind chill factor that was the equivalent of minus 50. As we were in the USA, I guess that was Fahrenheit not Celsius but I have no idea what that equates to, but Sharron thought it was colder then as the drips from my nose instantly froze in my moustache!

I have  slept at 6250m on the slopes of Everest beneath the North Col, and I always thought that was about minus 10 with the wind chill adding another 20 degrees as the wind ripped down from the Raphu La and Northeast Ridge of Everest, but I was in a down jacket inside a down sleeping bag inside a tent so that was bearable and I actually got some sleep, but today was really cold and certainly with the wind for me the coldest and most uncomfortable that I have experienced.

I am also full of admiration for the polar explorers of the Heroic Age who make their way on foot to the poles with no communication with the rest of the world and no support teams.

At the end of the day, one is up and down Everest on the final climb itself in just a few days, but the polar explorers had to endure months in the most debilitating, challenging, and draining conditions.

I was a little concerned that we might head to Cape Evans this afternoon to see Scott’s Terra Nova Hut from his second expedition, but at lunch, Cheli announced we were going to edge along the ice looking for emperor penguins and orca whales from the ship.

After lunch, I was editing images but felt pretty tired, went to the cabin and slept for 90 minutes. I went back to my desk and an excited Sharron came and asked me if I had seen the orca whales as she had spent most of the last 90 minutes on the deck photographing emperor penguins and orca whales who were playing in a hole in the ice next to the ship. She showed me several excellent shots she had taken of the orcas with their heads well above the water in the holes in the ice close to the ship.

I went up on deck and the ship was nestled up against the sea ice and there were about 60 emperor penguins on the ice no more than 100 metres away. They were so funny as it only took one to wander towards the edge of the ice and launch itself into the water by propelling itself forwards on its belly and then the others would follow (‘March of the Penguins’!) either in single file or pairs usually, and then at the end the last one or two, would be reluctant and would stay on the ice. Then they would be swimming in a pack around the ice floe and disappearing, and then 5 to 8 minutes later, start emerging from the water like elongated cannon balls to slide across the ice for several metres depending on the velocity with which they emerged from the water!

And then after several minutes contemplating life, one penguin would take the lead, return to the water, most of the others would follow and the cycle would repeat itself! I shot several videos and my time on deck was only limited by the time my ungloved right hand could hold and operate my iPhone. The penguins were indeed endlessly entertaining but better was to follow.

The penguins were alternating between two holes one approximately 100 metres from our boat and the other 50 metres, and after a while, the majority were congregated around the hole closest to our boat and then they started coming closer and closer to check out the boat, until we had about 20 penguins on the ice within a few metres of the boat and about 60 passangers on the decks looking down at the penguins below! One of the expedition team commented said they had never seen so many penguins so close to a boat before.

And when it was time to go, the penguins set off, most waddling across the ice, some propelling themselves along on their stomachs until they reached the hole. I was pleased to see that even some of the penguins managed to lose their footing and slip and fall on the ice which will make me feel less stupid the next time it happens to me!

And during my late afternoon early evening sorties to the decks, I was constantly scouring the horizon and could clearly make out two Hercules aircraft parked on the distant runway on the airstrip on the permanently frozen Ross Sea Ice Shelf. There were also two ships readily identifiable off the McMurdo Station – a cargo vessel with multiple containers on the deck and a brightly red painted US Coast Guard Ice Breaker.

At the pre-dinner briefing, we learnt the plan was to leave around 2230 and head towards Cape Evans where tomorrow we will visit the hut built and used by Robert Scott’s party  for his fateful second expedition.

After dinner, I chatted to Al, the affable and informative project manager for the Antarctic Heritage Trust who has been involved in the restoration of all the huts that we have visited and he told me that the supply ship came every year to supply the US McMurdo base who normally have two years of supplies in case one year the boat could not make it through the ice. The US Coast Guard Ice Breaker was prone to breaking down and came every year to be available if and when necessary to get the supply ship in. There were normally around 200 at McMurdo Station in winter and 800 in summer but at present he thought it was more like 1500 -2000 as they were doing a lot of construction work.

There is a gravel road lining McMurdo and the NZ Scott Base and Scott Base has an ‘American’ Day once a week where any Americans can visit from McMurdo without a formal invitation which is required at other times. Neither station has been accepting visitors post covid and that works both ways as the ship would not want to pick up an infection and whilst Covid was rampant, there was no movement between the bases but that has since been relaxed.

I was back on deck taking pictures of the penguins and beautiful sky as the boat reversed out of the ice leaving a path of clear water behind it which will very likely soon freeze over!

I was going to bed around 0230 but played backgammon against my phone for 45 minutes to make up for no recent games with Sharron! Even though it is set to the ‘difficult’ settings, I still manage to beat it more times than not!

On February 16, there was a very unusual situation when both inquisitive penguins and whales were playing close to the boat and the following images were captured by my wife, Sharron Best.

DAY 16 FRI FEB 17: ROSS ISLAND: Cape Evans and Scott’s Hut

Five hours after going to bed, Cheli’s voice cascaded through our cabin announcing that the temperature outside was a balmy minus four degrees and the wind was blowing at 20 kph. As I was lying in bed trying to summon the energy for a pee (I know – too much detail) I cannot blame her for waking me, but I do sometimes wish I could switch the tannoy off!

We are in group 16 with five others and were scheduled to go ashore at 1030 so after finishing breakfast of muesli, hashed brown, and baked beans (my choice from an extensive range of buffet options), I completed editing images from Christchurch before going to the cabin to change. I am beginning to think there is a chance I will get all my images up to date whilst I am on board and maybe get to the two outstanding hikes I have to write up for the Swiss Hiking Guides that I am currently writing.

(As I edit this 12 months later, nothing changes as I have 5 months of images to edit and 17 hikes to still write up after a summer of hiking in the Swiss Alps!)

It was a short ride to shore and Scott’s (Terra Nova) Hut was conveniently located right on the beach. This is the hut associated with Robert Scott’s second, final and fateful expedition of 1910 -13. After cleaning our boots, we were allowed in what was for sure the biggest of the historic huts we have visited and yet again another magnificent example of conservation and restoration.

We had been asked to read up in advance from the booklets provided so we could wander through the hut for 15 minutes at our own speed and without distraction, contemplating and taking in all the extensive range of artefacts restored, conserved, and put back in situ.

We were able to observe notebooks, papers, tins, tools and the table where the famous photo of Robert Scott’s birthday was taken. There were also bicycles (!), the skeleton of a dog, and a century old pile of whale blubber now oozing oil. And adjacent stables where ponies were kept! How on earth did they survive we wondered?

Afterwards, each group was allocated one of the expedition team to walk us through the protected area to the memorial cross commemorating three members of Shackleton’s 1914-17 Antarctic Expedition who died nearby.. On the way up, an elderly lady in our group was struggling so I took her arm and helped her up the short hill where we could also inspect the original weather vane installed by Scott’s party, and look down on the hut and surrounding area.

Our guide, Kate, then walked us through the protected area instructing us to keep off the snow as there may be artifacts below which we did not want to damage. To keep everything as authentic as possible many artifacts were left in situ outdoors. There were two additional supply depots where crates were left outside so they were not at risk from fire, the chain where dogs were tethered, an igloo built from rocks, a mummified seal and the anchor of the Aurora.

The Aurora was used by Shackleton’s 1914-17 expedition and broke free from its moorings at Cape Evans in May 1915 and was unable to return as the drifting ice carried it out to sea.

When our hour in the conservation area was complete, we had the option of wandering along the shoreline on our own and watching for seals or returning to the ship which we did!

I continued with my images until the lunch announcement which always fills me with dread!

For the last two years, I have managed very easily on just two meals a day with a light breakfast and late lunch/early dinner around 5pm and an evening 5-mile walk. Now I am eating a full breakfast, lunch just three hours later when I am not remotely hungry, and then dinner less than 6 hours later again!

I know I do not have to eat it but when travelling with others, it is not so easy to avoid it, and self-discipline and moderation have never been my strongest suits!

Once I am back in Thailand, I plan two months of just 800 calories a day and a daily 5-mile walk, and I hope to take off at least most of the weight I have put on in recent months and be fit for what I suspect will be my penultimate simmer of Alpine mountain walking as I complete the last of the 57 hikes I am describing for the 3 guidebooks I am writing, describing hiking routes in the Bernese Alps of Switzerland.

And another update 12 months later, after a year of travelling does indeed find me having just completed 800 calories a day for 14 days and a 5 mile a daily walk! Better late than never!

I was back at ‘my’ desk after lunch when it was announced we would be staying off Cape Evans for several more hours, and anyone who wanted to make a return visit to Scott’s Hut was welcome to do so and would be taken back to shore in groups of seven.

Me?

I made a return trip to bed and slept for two and a half hours!

I was able to do 30 minutes work on New Zealand images before attending Al’s lecture describing the multi-year restoration work done on Scott’s Hut that we had visited. I was so glad I did go (I choose to pass on several of the lectures) as it was so informative to learn how the restoration work was managed and undertaken, and no surprise to learn that New Zealand are considered world leaders in cold weather conservation. The description of how the linoleum was removed and rolled up without damage in limited space and two layers of floor boards removed to access and remove ice was fascinating as were the techniques employed to prevent future water ingress and ice formation below the hut. It was a lecture full of interest detailing and describing some outstanding work.

Al’s salary is paid by the NZ government but the Antarctic Heritage Trust is a charity that is responsible for its own fundraising. For restoration projects like the Scott Hut, they had a team of 8 down here for two and a half months for 5 years, and some of the artifacts were taken back to NZ for restoration whilst others were removed to Scott Base (which we were unable to visit), where some conservators would be based during winter. As these were frequently women, they were popular appointments for the mainly male personnel on base! Al himself is currently working part-time one month on and one off as he prepares for retirement, and will be replaced by two (!) personnel currently both working for the Heritage Trust. Their conservators are recruited from around the world.

Al’s beard is at least 12 inches long and speculation is rife as to whether it will be cut or trimmed this trip as his partner apparently wishes. She has never seen him unbearded and has apparently threatened to shave him after he dies to see what he looks like!

I thought today was half way through the expedition but I was corrected over dinner as in fact it was yesterday! We get back to Bluff on Wednesday March 1 which is 12 days away and we are at sea 25 days as we left at Bluff at 0130 Saturday Feb 5!

Dinner started at 1930 and we were still at our dinner table at 2150! Good conversation with three Aussies – Sue from Brisbane with a PhD in German literature, Alan from Sydney trained as Geography teacher and recently retired as a social worker, and Suzanne from Camden, Sydney, currently happy working at a local supermarket to stay engaged and interacting with people. It turned out there were a lot of movie buffs around the table.

I do find that with Aussies and Kiwis forming the majority of the passenger manifest the atmosphere is very relaxed and congenial. I enjoyed all 5 of the polar expeditions we have made with Quark Expeditions, but fewer Americans and Brits make it more congenial and casual which suits me fine. There are fewer Americans than with Quark and most of those on board have voted with their feet and no longer live in the USA so that helps the atmosphere as well!

The plan for tomorrow is to be at sea. I have no problem with ‘sea days’ (although none of us realised how many were coming up!) because as an eternal optimist I think I will make progress with my images but that does not always work out!

Today, we were barely ashore an hour but with three meals and two lectures and meetings plus a two-and-a-half-hour sleep makes me feel I made very little progress with my images. However, I am typing these words at 4am so I obviously did some work!

DAY 17 SAT FEB 18: AT SEA – CAPE CROZIER, ROSS ICE SHELF AND MCMURDO STATION (Again!)

For some reason, despite going to bed at 0415, I did not go to sleep quickly and then had a most disturbing dream.

Somehow, I followed Sharron to the dining room, could not see her anywhere, and sat down and stumbled through breakfast without speaking to anyone other than Sharron who joined me when she saw I had arrived. Apparently, no one had even acknowledged her when she sat down at a larger table!

I was back at my desk at 0915 barely 5 hours after I left it hoping to get a lot done today as no lectures or shore excursions or lectures planned other than the charity auction at 1745. I wonder if cutting Al’s beard off will be one of the items?

I spent the morning at my desk but with visits to the deck as we cruised along the north side of Ross Island to Cape Crozier. There were great views of Mount Erebus and through our binoculars, we could see a research party and tents where they were building a research hut.

We also reached the point where Ross Island joins the Ross Ice Shelf which means the ice field is actually sitting on the water and not land. I think we were surprised that the cliffs marking the edge of the ice field were not so tall. The ice shelf extends for 500 kilometers to the Bay of Whales and in area equates to the state of Texas or France!

The area near Ross Island was fractured with many inlets but the cliff face extended to the horizon, and our plan was to follow the ice shelf for a while when an announcement was made that due to a medical condition on board, we were having to turn the ship around and retrace our route to the northwestern corner of Ross Island where a decision would be made in regard to whether we could return to McMurdo Station if a medical evacuation was necessary!

When I was on the top deck taking pictures, Kurt, from Switzerland jokingly asked if I was feeling well and was I the reason the boat was returning, and when I saw 83-year-old John from NZ at the water fountain I quipped

‘Well at least you are alive and well’

And he replied

‘Yes, and my medical insurance for evacuation cost me $3000 because of a pre-existing condition’

‘Do you get a partial refund if you come back alive’ I asked?

At lunch, people were naturally speculating as to who it was who was ill and hoping they would be well when it was announced we would be continuing back to McMurdo station as arrangements had been made for an evacuation and it would take another three hours.

As I was getting a coffee at one of the machines after lunch, Sandy, the American Investment consultant who lives in NZ came up and said he was relieved to see I was around and well as he had noticed I was not at my desk earlier and wondered if I had been taken ill as my laptop, pens and notebook were there. I explained I had been on deck but wondered if I looked so unhealthy that people thought I could be sick!

Or possibly sick from overwork! Indeed, when Richard the photographer and expedition team member Lindsey walked past my desk before lunch, they commented ‘Here’s the hardest working guy on the ship’ as it was getting to be a running joke that was always at the desk. I explained it was a labour of love and I enjoyed what I was doing and I was still going on deck frequently despite the cold to take pictures and admire the scenery.

During the afternoon, there was a guest lecture from one of the passengers about the Air New Zealand DC10 crash (and subsequent cover up) on Erebus in 1979, when 247 passengers and crew died. The lecture was by a retired coroner and also a former Chairman of the Antarctic Heritage Trust and was informative although I found the presentation somewhat wooden and dry. I was not sure if he was joking when the lecturer said he was suffering from Parkinson’s, dementia, blindness, and deafness; but if indeed he suffered from any one of these ailments, then he certainly warrants fulsome congratulations.

And I was not making as much progress as I thought I would when the charity auction started at 530pm and lasted a tad too long for 2 hours, though I suspect this was partially to allow the transfer of the sick passenger to the base without distraction as we arrived off McMurdo Station whilst the auction was in progress.

Books were making $100, prints $200, and everything else between $300 and $600 as people generally bid crazy amounts to raise money for a good cause, the Antarctic Heritage Trust. A framed $5 note signed by Ed Hillary that I was interested in bidding for up to $200 made $370, and an Antarctic ashtray that I thought I might get for $100 went for close to $300. And a woolen sweater made $600, so I think they must have made the best part of $10,000 for a good cause. And yes, Al’s beard was subject to bidding! People could pledge funds to cut or not cut and Al would comply with the wishes of the biggest gross total!

Expedition team member Ian from Alaska was an excellent and amusing auctioneer with a real talent for keeping the action going, providing amusement and soliciting bids.

At dinner, we learnt it was the elderly couple from Alaska who had left the ship. Indeed Stephen looked the oldest and frailest passenger on the boat but had surprised many by getting in the zodiacs and making several of the shore excursions, but apparently it was his Inuit wife who was taken ill. I did hear her say yesterday she was not feeling well. We understood there was a Hercules returning to NZ and they would be back in NZ within a few hours. Apparently, this was only Cheli’s second medical evacuation after many years as an expedition leader, perhaps surprising given the age profile of a typical passenger manifest.

The bonus of returning to McMurdo Station where we immediately turned and headed back north were some more magnificent views of the perfectly symmetrical smoking cone of Erebus. Indeed, it looked so magnificent as we ate dinner, I had to excuse myself and go on deck and take some more images of the mountain with ice floes covering the sea in the foreground.

I worked on my images late evening with frequent visits to the deck when the sun was low and setting as there were heavy dark clouds around, and the combination of golden rays on the snow and ice contrasting with the heavy, dark and ominous clouds above Erebus was indeed magical.

After checking out the view from the bridge I had a chat with Cheli about the expedition cruises she has led around the remote Kimberley Coast of northwest Australia. I would love to see the area from the sea as I worked in the Kimberleys as an assistant prospecting hand back in 1972. My God that was over 50 years ago!

We are now well past the half way point with and ten days to go. Franklin Island is tomorrow’s destination, and in two weeks, I will be flying to Singapore from Sydney.

I retired to my cabin from my desk at 0345.

DAY 18 SUN FEB 19: AT SEA – OFF FRANKLIN ISLAND (eventually!)

Not so much to write today.

I woke at 0815 after 4 hours sleep and struggled through breakfast chatting to Sandy which woke me up (!), which was good as I wanted to attend John’s lecture at 9am on Shackleton’s Trans-Antarctic Expedition. Afterwards, I slept for a couple of hours, so did not attend the lecture by the guest filmmaker we picked up from our first stop close to McMurdo Station. I then had a shower and shave and hey presto it was time for lunch!

I really was not hungry so made a start on editing images (surprise surprise) as I was keen to finish the New Zealand images today, which means I am only 18 days behind with just the images I have taken since boarding to be sorted into chronological and thematic folders.

Because of ice conditions, we were not making as fast a progress as planned, so it now looks as if it will be late afternoon before we reach Franklin Island, but my intention of a solid afternoon of 5 hours editing disappeared when it was announced the documentary, ‘A Year in Antarctica’, was going to be shown full screen in the lounge. Sharron has already watched it in the cabin and says it is good.

I thought the film was very good but it is difficult to sustain a documentary over a feature movie length. Most documentaries are 60 minutes and this was 90. I thought the cinematography, editing and content was excellent and it was very informative in portraying the challenges of a year at McMurdo Station, but I did think the last 20 minutes were a little drawn out and it needed a tighter conclusion, but overall, it was still very good, and the challenges of shooting in such conditions formidable.

Once the film was over, I continued with my images but my 5 hours were now down to three and it was announced the briefing and recap and dinner would be brought forward to allow time for an evening excursion and possible landing on Franklin Island. Maybe I will not be completing the NZ images and up to Feb 2 after all today!

At the briefing, Cheli updated us re the evacuation of the elderly couple, Frank and Annie from Fairbanks, Alaska. Apparently, the ship cannot just call up one of the Antarctic stations and ask for help (!), so everything was done through the NZ Rescue Command in NZ who contacted McMurdo Station who had a flight about to take off to New Zealand. Apparently, they agreed to postpone the flight for 12 hours and the port operations at McMurdo (unloading the annual supply freighter which had just arrived) was halted to allow the unloading team to assist with receiving the couple. Apparently, the Americans were exceedingly helpful (perhaps because they were dealing with American citizens?) and the NZ Rescue said it was the smoothest rescue evacuation they had ever organised and the couple were flown back to New Zealand this morning.

And yesterday’s charity auction made $12,000!

Cheli advised us it would not be possible to land on Franklin Island as ice prevented us getting close to the landing area, but we had the option of a zodiac cruise after dinner and people should advise reception if they did not want to go. Sharron correctly surmised it did not appeal to me (or her!) as firstly, it is very cold, below freezing and even colder on the water, secondly, my back is quite tender and an extended period sitting and twisting for views in the zodiacs is both uncomfortable and leads to soreness, and thirdly, I want to finish sorting my New Zealand images this evening!

I am happy to go ashore on the zodiacs at any time, but we were not going to see anything we had not seen before, so on this occasion preferred to stay on board. I went on deck briefly to see the zodiacs were quite close to the ice cliffs of a big glacier flowing into the sea which was interesting but nothing new.

And at 0230, I finished my New Zealand images, so tomorrow I can start collating the images for this trip and I note I have taken 1855 images so far, so given I sorted through almost 500 today, I should be able to get completely up to date with my images by the end of this trip for the first time in 9 months.

NB As of mid-February 2024, I am 4 months behind again!

DAY 19 MON FEB 20: ROSS SEA 

I went to John’s lecture of ‘The Race to the Pole Part 1’ detailing the simultaneous expeditions by Scott and Amundson to the North Pole in 1911. It was informative, well presented and John is an excellent lecturer.

It was announced that before Samuel’s lecture on orca whales, he would be making an update re weather and ice conditions in the morning. Clearly, this was not the normal procedure, and probably indicative of bad news so there was a full turn out to learn what was going on.

In short, rapidly forming ice would prevent access to Terra Nova Bay and the sights and research bases there. This was a pity because I and others were looking forward to the reputedly excellent coffee at the Italian Research Station! It would be nice to go ashore and do and see something especially as I estimated we were about three days ahead of ‘schedule’.

And worse was to follow as the second problem was that very high winds were predicted for the crossing of the Southern Ocean back to New Zealand the combination of ice buildup and high winds were going to make plans for the next few days fluid at best with………………………… well nothing planned!

For now, we are heading north in the direction of Coulman Island and let’s see what happens!

I did not stay for the lecture because although Samuel is very personable and knowledgeable I find it difficult to understand with his accent when speaking through a microphone. The problem is more my hearing than his accent I would hasten to add! Furthermore, I am not interested in learning more about orca whales which I will instantly forget if I do take it in!

Had lunch with John, who was an active bus driver in New Zealand until he retired at 80 and the guy (apologies as his name escapes me) who gave the lecture on the Erebus air crash and former chairman of Antarctic Heritage Trust. Apparently, Erebus is off limits for climbing and not an option for a recreational climb for McMurdo residents on their days off according to our lecturer friend who also said acclimatisation was a potential problem.

We talked about the famous old NZ climbers Edd Cotters and Ed Hillary who he had known. I had met Edd Cotters and his son Guy in the Himalaya when trekking with our daughter Lisa near Everest in 2008 when Cotter senior was 80!

In the afternoon after a full lunch, I felt tired when editing images and slept for two hours and missed Als lecture on ‘Life at Scott Base’ which I would like to have attended, but woke up and played scrabble with Sharron in the excellent library at the front of the ship.

Coulman Island came and went and we sheltered near a large ice berg for the polar plunge for those who wanted to dive (or jump) into the Ross Sea before we leave it. Not really my thing!

I chatted with Sandy after dinner about his travels, diving, and my guidebook writing, and it turns out he and his wife hiked in the Bernese Oberland around 2015. I then watched the brave or foolhardy dive (or jump!) into the Ross Sea safely attached to a harness before concluding scrabble with Sharron in the library. No surprise who won and it was not me!

I continued with my images and when I went up for coffee, I thought people were rehearsing for the variety show passengers are putting on. However, it was just late-night festivities and the first time I had seen any action, dancing etc at the bar late evening and I am up there most nights getting coffee. When I was back at my desk, I heard a loud crash and assumed it was just another bit of ice we had hit but in fact a lady had fallen down the stairs as it pitched and rolled. Whilst I was trying to work out if she needed any assistance she got up and made her way to her cabin!

I chatted with expedition team member Lindsay for a while around 2am. He divides his time between homes in the Bay of Plenty and Te Anau and has a girlfriend in Wellington and works as a conservation consultant with his most important consultant, a group of property owners in the Hollyford Valley near Milford Sound. We were at a viewpoint looking up the Hollyford Valley just a few weeks ago! It turns out Lindsay has also hiked in the Bernese Oberland.

I headed for bed around 0415 but ended up playing backgammon on my phone until 0515! I desperately need to sign up for sleep management 101!

DAY 20 TUES FEB 21: ROSS SEA 

I was woken at 0915 by the captain’s announcement that we had headed east in the night to avoid ice and were now about to head north. This was the first announcement by the captain and as soon as he started speaking, I thought that this is going to be bad news as in ‘no more shore visits planned’. I assumed that the expedition team probably thought it was best coming from the captain as in ‘it’s his decision and weather related and not ours’. We were advised winds were 25 knots and would be increasing to 50 so there was going to be some rocking and rolling, we should wear appropriate footwear and hold on to the ship at all times.

Somehow, I struggled out of bed, had a shower and shave whilst I could, played a game of backgammon with Sharron to wake up and got to the second of John’s lectures on the ‘Race to the Pole’ between Amundsen and Scott. He was quite emotional with his voice wavering as he read extracts from Scott’s final diary and I came to the conclusion that the challenges the early polar explorers faced in getting to the South Pole were far greater than the extremes faced by their contemporaries a couple of decades later trying to become the first to reach the summit of Everest, or the Third Pole as it is sometimes called.

Whereas Scott was planning for a return trip of 144 days to the South Pole, climbers are normally only in the ‘death’ above 8000 metres for a limited period of two or three days maximum.

After lunch, I started on my images continuing where I left off at 4am sorting through the 550 pictures that I took on Macquarie Island. Probably a combination of the repetitive nature of the task, a (very) full lunch and lack of sleep as well as the motion of the ship soon had me yawning and I went to the cabin to lie down and slept for 4 hours! As much as I slept last night and so I got a good 8 hours in total!

I missed the Ross Sea trivia quiz which was not on my agenda anyway and passed on the 1900 briefing and recap on the basis that Sharron could brief me and, in any case, nothing has happened to recap and nothing is planned to be briefed on.

We sat by a window at dinner and we have 5 metres swells out of the window which looked fairly (sorry- very!) dramatic, but I have to say this boat is remarkably stable and testimony to the effectiveness of the stabilisers.

I played backgammon with Sharron and on my phone, and sorted out images until 0230. I am quite impressed with some of the images I took at Macquarie Island (particularly the facial impressions of the elephant seals), but then again, I did take 550 so there were bound to be some good ones! It has taken me the best part of a day to sort them out!

When I got to the cabin, I started to read ‘Only Two for Everest’ about Ed Cotter and Earl Rutherford, the two New Zealand climbers who did not join the British Expedition in the Himalaya in 1951 as the British offered just two places to the New Zealanders already in the Himalaya and these were taken by Ed Hillary and George Lowe.

The book was a gift from David Hodgson who worked for Sharron and myself as chief guide for our company Casterbridge Tours in 1986 – 87. We recently met David for the first time in 37 years in Christchurch, NZ and he was astonished that not only did I know who Ed Cotter was but that I had met Ed (then 80!) and his son Guy Cotter trekking near Everest Base Camp in Nepal in 2008!

After reading, I then played a few games of backgammon on my phone and it was closer to 6am than 5am when I finally went to bed.

DAY 21 WEDS FEB 22: AT SEA 

‘No, I won’t be going to breakfast’ was my response to Sharron’s enquiry at 0830 and I immediately went back to sleep, but there was no escaping the tannoy announcement from the captain blasting through the room saying the winds were 25 knots and growing to 50 knots and repeating the message to wear suitable footwear as we move around the ship and hold on.

I dozed for another hour before getting up and working on my images. I had passed on John’s lecture on the Antarctic Treaty at 0930 and passed on another lecture on orca whales. Later in the morning, Cheli announced we had 900+ nautical miles to Campbell Island and at 10 nautical miles per hour that is approximately 4 days, I guess. We are enjoying 5 metre swells which are occasionally rising to 8 metres but the ship is handling it well.

Sat with John and Mary, a nice American couple from Sacramento, California for lunch. She managed a portfolio of industrial property on behalf of her family which sounded very similar to what I do with commercial property in the UK for the family company now owned by our kids, and they also own a chain of leisure complexes in the western USA. We discovered a shared interest in tennis which is hardly surprising considering they employ over 70 tennis pros at their leisure centres!

After lunch, Sharron and I went to Richard, the photographer’s excellent lecture on post image processing using Lightroom but very similar to Windows Picture Editor which is what I use. Indeed, the basic tools and techniques are similar. He is a good teacher and communicator and I found his talk both reassuring and informative. I basically follow the same techniques he recommended re light management and cropping but did not realise that the ‘highlights’ tool is the opposite of shadowing – bringing out hidden detail in the brighter parts of an image without adjusting the exposure. Very useful!

When reading the CVs of our expedition team last night, I noticed that Richard had won the best landscape image at the Banff Mountain Festival in 2010 which I think was the year I attended! That is a prestigious award and he mentioned today that he also teaches Fine Art printing!

Sharron had a massage in the afternoon and I continued with my images, and for dinner, we sat with Sandy and his cabin companion Hugh from China who we had not met before. It turns out Hugh did part of his Architecture degree at Liverpool University and his Masters in Melbourne, but has subsequently returned to China to spend time with his family.

At 9pm when most people left the dining room, they headed to their cabins and bed. I played backgammon with Sharron and then worked at my images until 0315. Many of the staff knowing what I am doing ask me how I am progressing and I am pleased to report this evening I completed Possession Island and Cape Hallett which we visited on Feb 13, so I am only 9 days behind. Will I get up to date by the end of the expedition, I wonder with just over a week to go?

I hope so in which case I can enjoy a day relaxing and reading.

I played backgammon and read in the room so it was after 5am by time I went to bed. The sea was fairly rough and just after I drifted off to sleep, I woke with a start as we pitched and rolled.

I will need a holiday once this trip is over!

DAY 22 THURS FEB 23: AT SEA 

Breakfast has been extended to 0930, so I made it after about 4 hours sleep and then took my book ‘Only Two to Everest’ to the library for an hour before resuming sorting and editing my images from this trip. Apparently, we are in 5 metre swells with occasional 8 metres thrown in, and it looks fairly dramatic out of the dining room window’s 4^th floor as we had lunch.

We chatted with the Australian couple Ian and Carol from Canberra, who we sat next to at the Queenstown Hotel on the first evening who were childhood sweethearts. Carol lectures and teaches classes on modern embroidery, a subject on which she has written a book. There are certainly many interesting people on this boat with varied backgrounds.

And one assumes that most of the passengers who can afford a trip like this ($30,000 plus upwards in most cases) will have been fairly successful and well remunerated in their life’s work to have the necessary disposable resources.

I chose to have an afternoon nap (something I never do in normal life) rather than go and watch the film being shown about some ocean or other, information was rather patchy but I suspect a lot of people went. And then more image sorting until dinner.

I passed on the briefing and recap, but did go to the ‘How well do you know your expedition team’ where we had to match crazy situations with past life experiences of the various team members who then explained how and when they were pole dancers, released from an addiction centre, smoked opium and attacked by a bear etc. All for the most innocent reasons of course. (Usually!).

We sat at one of the big tables and I chatted with Mark, a vet from Yorkshire who is sharing a triple cabin with financial advisor Sandy (not in shorts today!), and Hugh from China. He is a passionate aficionado of soccer and tennis so we had lots to talk about.

I made progress with my pictures and now only have 250 images  left to sort through, and might actually get up to date tomorrow which would leave me 4 days to read and enjoy myself although I do actually have some writing to catch up with, and it would be great if there was time to fit that in.

I have omitted to mention this continual sitting at the desk and lack of exercise means my feet and ankles are continually swollen and the diuretic tablets that I have been taking don’t make any difference other than making me continually want to piss!

I can also see I have put on at least 10lbs on since getting on the ship – too many meals, too much food and far too little discipline on my part. I hardly had a dessert the last two years and now I am having two helpings at lunch and dinner. My own fault and no one else to blame.

The boat is moving around more than at any other times, but the stabilisers are still doing a great job considering how rough the seas are. Apparently, we are aiming to pass through a window between two strong wind systems.

I left my desk to go back to the cabin at 0340, I have not seen anyone else moving around the boat tonight since 11pm!

Like a fool, I played backgammon until almost five thirty by which time the ship was rolling so much that it was difficult to fall asleep, and when I did, Sharron promptly kicked me and woke me up for encroaching on her side of the bed.

Given our bed was shifting due to the rolling (and so was I) I did not have much say in the matter.

DAY 23 FRI FEB 24: AT SEA

I was awake at 8am and recalled a vivid dream that our son David had been blown away in the mountains by an errant hang glider which I guess was inspired by the ships motion, and/or by the excellent Korean TV Drama Series ‘Crash Landing on You’!

And what had woken me was a kick from Sharron to get me back to my side of the bed as apparently, I had drifted over against her in the night and not giving her much room.

I wryly commented that the rolling of the ship had moved the bed over as far as it could until it reached the bedside cabinet her side and with the constant rolling, more pronounced to the starboard or her side meant that I too had been manoeuvred across the bed without having much say in the matter!

I decided I might as well go to breakfast and chatted with Cathy the photographer whose next assignment is filming efforts to stop shark fishing in Lombok, Indonesia, another area renown for rough seas as I still consider the most terrifying travel experience that I have ever had was crossing from Bali to Lombok in rough seas way back in 1972. I thought our small overloaded boat with no safety provisions was in serious danger of being capsized by the huge swells, and later discovered that there used to be two ferries, but the second one had capsized a few months earlier with the loss of all 70 or so passengers and crew!

One passenger came up and asked Cathy if she could intercede with Cheli to try and arrange a tour of the engine room (as apparently that was not an option), or failing that, could Cathy film it herself and make a presentation to fellow passengers!

I wryly commented that in rough seas, taking people to the engine room was a non-runner but I understood that the hotel manager was planning a question-and-answer session with passengers but the dismissive response was that would be sure to be boring.

‘Well, I for one would probably find understanding the logistics of the operations more interesting than a visit to the engine room’

I replied, quickly mastering the art of how to offend a fellow pushy passenger!

Cathy mentioned that she had several assignments to do,  but the Australian woman was not taking ‘no’ for an answer and asked for Cathy to let her know Cheli’s response.

Sharron joined us for breakfast to report the reason she was awake to kick me in the first place (!), was because I had left a small bedside light on when I had been playing backgammon with my phone.

When I returned to the cabin I lay down on the bed and slept another 3 hours until Sharron woke me to advise me it was lunch time. I had missed the lectures on shipwrecks (sorry Gus -not interested) and a second lecture by xxxx on the medical challenges facing the early polar explorers. It turns out xxxx was a second doctor who always accompanies groups ashore in case any emergencies arise.

I had assumed there was just one doctor aboard, Lee from Taiwan/USA/Canada who had been introduced to us as the ship’s doctor at the beginning of the expedition. Perhaps I should have gone to the lecture as it sounded interesting and XXXX was likely a good speaker based on his comments yesterday when the expedition crew all told a story about themselves.

However, I was somewhat pissed off that I had slept all morning as I was hoping to get up to date and finish editing and sorting my images today.

The captain came on the loudspeaker/tannoy system to announce we were currently in 5 metre swells and 50 knot winds and would remain so for the next 24 hours when the winds would decrease to 30 knots, and meanwhile, be careful moving around the ship with one hand holding the ship at all times and one hand for yourselves.

How prescient was that in view of what was to follow!

He said he had also reduced speed to 6 nautical miles per hour to give a smoother ride and ended by wishing everyone bon appetit.

My God! I have barely recovered from the last meal and it is lunch time already?!

When I arrived at the dining room ,the affable Maître Di Israel, from Tagatay near Manila, pointed out where Sharron who had gone ahead was sitting with Ian from Brisbane, a retired engineer and cricket enthusiast and his wife who is the spitting image of Sharron. I told her I had twice previously made my way to sit down next to her thinking she was Sharron and another passenger has also commented to me they were of similar appearance.

The ship was really rolling now and although the dining room is on the 4^th floor, the waves and swells were at times higher than the window and I was fascinated by the contrast between the order of the dining room and the mayhem of turbulent seas outside crashing against the windows.

As the meal progressed, Israel and the waiters were fairly insistent on bringing food to the tables to save passengers going to the buffet and also as the meal progressed, there were an increasing number of crashes from the kitchen areas. Whether these were dirty plates waiting to be washed or meals waiting to be served, the number of loud crashes indicated someone had a lot of clearing up to do and broken crockery to replace.

When it was time to leave, Sharron and I got up first and extricated our bodies from the table and chairs as the boat continued to roll from side to side, and as we passed by the buffet area near the exit, the ship rolled over to one side more than previously and Israel grabbed Sharron as she passed him and I was lucky to be able to grab the counter.

But others were not so fortunate as many passengers were tipped out of their seats, others on their feet fell and glasses and crockery went in every which direction.

When the motion went from being very rough to just rough, I surveyed the scene and there were several passengers still on the floor and unable to get up as well as dishes and broken glasses on the floor. I went back to assist getting Brian on the next table to us back on his feet. He said he was OK although he had hit his head on the floor and there seemed to be others who had fallen requiring assistance. There was nothing much more I could do, so Sharron and I made our way back to our cabin holding on to anything we could en route and we passed the doctor en route who had obviously been summoned to the dining room in case any of those who had fallen required assistance.

I decided the best place for me was sitting at my desk (where else?) sorting images and no sooner was I safely entrenched, then all expedition staff passed me heading for the dining room where I guess they had been summoned to assist and to help people return to their cabins.

Over the next ten minutes, people emerged under their own steam or assisted by one or two of the expedition team. John, the recently retired 80+ year old bus driver was helped by a couple after falling from his table although protesting he was fine and it seems that the leisure club operator from Sacramento also had a bad fall.

It was announced the afternoon lectures and the briefing/recap were all cancelled to minimise movements around the ship and I continued with my images putting anything on the floor of the enclosed desk area if there was any possibility that it may roll off the desk.

After about 30 minutes at the desk, there was a large crash from the dining area and I looked up and down the passage way to the dining room to see dishes flying across the floor and the waiters confirmed at dinner there had been lots of breakages.

A further announcement was made that if people preferred to have dinner in their cabin, it would be brought to them by the expedition staff or waiters – passengers should just check the menu options on their TV screen and phone reception with their orders. People should not be going on deck and the open bridge policy was suspended so there were no distractions for the crew.

There was a surprisingly large contingent for dinner and how the waiters set the tables so immaculately beat me. We sat at a large table in the centre of the dining room with Sandy, financial advisor to the mega wealthy and his cabinmates, Mark the vet from Yorkshire, and Hugh, the Chinese wannabee architect. Brianna, an Australian PhD student, also joined us.

I cannot conceive for one moment that I would be willing to share a cabin with someone I did not know, let alone for a month but luckily, they all get on well.

Sandy asked me if I was worried and if I had ever been in such rough waters, and I asked him if he meant worried we might sink or worried we may not get through the meal without more accidents, and he said the latter! He had heard there had been some accidents in the dining room and I mentioned we were there and told him the names and backgrounds of those had taken falls and he said I was clearly a lot more socially interactive than he was!

I replied that I did not think I was that social but kept a list on my phone of everyone we met or dined with together with their names and where they come from. This explained why when I was seated at a table with someone I had met before but could not remember their name, I would be glancing and scrolling through my phone notes, hopefully as casually and unobtrusively as possible! Plus, having sat at my desk for 21 days people had a habit of stopping for a chat as they went past or of coming up with an enquiry thinking I was a member of the crew or expedition staff.

‘Well, everyone knows you as the man at the desk’

said Cathy the photographer who had sat down as she passed by

‘and you do look the part’

I guess she was referring to the bandana and ear rings!

We did jokingly wonder if anyone would remember where their life vests were, how to put life vests on, where to go and what to do if there was an emergency and the consensus was there would just be a general panic! I certainly could not imagine how lifeboats would be launched in such a wild sea.

Cheli came round to all the tables and told everyone whilst sitting to have their feed braced apart for support, and if there was a pronounced roll as at lunch time to hold on to the table for additional support. She was sitting at the adjoining table with some of the expedition staff and looked quite worried, not concerned that there could be a problem with the ship in the weather, but that one of the passengers might have an accident. When people were leaving after eating, the expedition staff were on hand to walk them to the exit and corridor where there was a handrail to grab on to.

Sitting in the middle of the dining room away from the window accentuated the pitching of the boat when viewing outside through the windows. Apparently, we have altered course to avoid the rolling but heading into the wind and waves is making for a lit of up and down movement, and there were gasps from time to time when one moment we just see sky out of the windows and the next nothing but water with waves crashing against the window.

And when the stern was high in the water and the propellers near the surface, the whole boat would vibrate. This was certainly the roughest sea I had been in since I took the Eastern Queen from Singapore to Perth in 1972. It was bad enough then that one of our table fell overboard and was lost the first night out of Singapore, and two nights later another passenger died and was buried at sea. To cap off a memorable voyage which also included, the Second Engineer shutting down the engines out of spite in the middle of the night to spite the First Engineer who allegedly would not settle a gambling debt,  we were hit by one of the fiercest storms off Western Australia for 50 years but the ships owners were too short of funds to run ahead of the storm and make Freemantle port as their philosophy was to arrive at 6am and depart at 11pm and avoid overnight port charges!

That was a rough storm and two fishing boats were lost off the West Australian coast but I cannot imagine it was any rougher than this, and I can see why they call these latitudes ‘the roaring forties’ though we are actually in the  fifties!

I had a lovely vegetable curry and good conversation and Sandy described his various annual salmon fishing excursions to Alaska only interrupted by glances at the spectacular waves rising well above the dining room windows from time to time. Andrea, our drinks waiter has been at sea for six years (six months on and six months off just doing polar cruises) and said she had been in plenty of storms but this was the worst, whilst Bernard, also from the Philippines (of course) has been at sea for 17 years (he is now 41 with a 21 year old son at university so works at sea to pay for his sons tuition) said he had been in other seas as rough as this.

‘So, I don’t think we are going to die tonight, we should be OK’

I commented to Sandy but again I could not help but comment on the contrast between us dining in luxury one side of the reinforced (I hope) plate glass windows and the mayhem and instant death raging outside just a few centimetres away for anyone unlucky enough to be in the sea.

‘I can see you would be a bundle of fun to share a cabin with’

Sandy wryly commented.

We were having such a pleasant evening despite the pitching and roll that Lindsey had to ask us if we could vacate our (last) table so the hotel staff could clear up the dining room, and I transferred back to my desk where I am happy to report at 0240am I got completely up to date with editing every single image right up to today.

That’s a result and the first time I have been up to date for over nine months.

I celebrated by staying at my desk until 4am playing backgammon with myself and writing this diary. Around 3.30 am, the ship was rolling quite severely again and I have no idea how I am going to manage to avoid rolling onto Sharron on one side or off the bed on the other! At times I am having to hold onto the desk to avoid falling off the chair and there are some terribly loud crashes from the deck above from time to time so I don’t know if something is loose up there.

Ah well, it is what it is and I guess this is payback time as we have crossed the notoriously rough Drake Strait between Argentina and the Antarctic Peninsula three times in relative comfort, so statistically, we were due a rough crossing on one of our trips to Antarctica sooner or later!

They have put covers on the 3^rd floor portholes so everyone down there has been bereft of natural light for three days. Apparently, a few months ago a rogue wave smashed a cabin window on an Antarctic expedition and a passenger lost their life.

On a lighter note, Sharron got reconnected with the internet today as the ship’s Wi-Fi has re-established its satellite connection as we head north, but I am happy not to be distracted by social media or emails and am happy to wait until we reach New Zealand.

There really is some almighty crashing from the deck above as I sign off at 4am!

DAY 24 SAT FEB 25: AT SEA 

Somehow, I struggled to breakfast and because the seas were horrendously rough, the buffet was cancelled and the waiters took orders and brought the food to the table rather than have passengers moving around and colliding with each other.

Israel, our amiable Maitre D’ put a menu in my hand and my laconic comment was

‘You don’t really expect me to be able to read at this hour do you?’

It was not that 0845 was particularly early, but rather that after 4 hours sleep, I take a while to get going.

When I did wake up, I chatted to Sandy at the next table who was trying to establish internet contact with Auckland as the investment group that he chairs was launching a new investment fund today based on bonds issued by companies with a solid ‘green’ track record. I was intrigued and was asking him if this was aimed at financial advisors or retail investors, who was the appointed fund manager and where it was regulated etc.

All in all a very interesting diversion from the travails of being bounced around the Southern Ocean!

Cheli advised we were sailing in 10 metre swells and 50 knot winds and had 290 miles to go. So, I guess the anticipated arrival at Campbell Island tomorrow morning is now more likely to be in the afternoon depending on the speed we make.

We also stopped for a chat with Mary from Sacramento whose husband John was one of those had a heavy fall yesterday in the dining room. It turns out he has cracked a rib and is confined to bed and in some pain because with the ship lurching all over the place, he can hardly keep still which is the normal remedy. It seems he will be needing wheelchair assistance to get off the ship and onto a plane to the USA the following day and will be confined to his cabin for the rest of the voyage.

We are back in satellite range again and internet is available again for those who want it. Sharron has been in contact with our kids but I will wait until I get to New Zealand and have 4G and can catch up with news and messages on the bus transfer back to Queenstown.

I also want to try and do as much as possible the last few days without distraction and have really enjoyed not being in touch and distracted as I am my own worst enemy as far as email and social media is concerned. I complain at how much of my day it takes up but I generate much of the traffic by emailing and messaging people.

Whilst I am away, my personal assistant Holly back in the UK, has been monitoring my personal email as well as business mail which she normally does, and I think I am going to continue this and just review my emails once a week after she has sorted them out on a daily basis. I have really appreciated being able to concentrate on tasks without the distraction of monitoring my emails or even worse moaning when I have 100 emails to read after a few days of not checking my inbox.

Now that I am up to date with my images, I want to get cracking on some outstanding work on the Swiss Hiking Guides that I am writing as I still have to write up two of the mountain hikes I did last summer, but I decided  I would treat myself to a couple of hours off and go up to the library at the front of the boat and continue the biography of the two famous New Zealand climbers Earl Rutherford and Ed Cotter that I had started.

My decision to spend a couple of hours in the library was not the wisest I had made on the boat!

I forgot the library was at the front of the ship (where I was!) and went to the back so I had to go back down to the continuous 4^th deck, make my way back to the front where I had started and then back up.  I then decided I needed the loo before sitting down to read and as the wc on the 7^th deck was blocked, and then the wc at the centre of the 5^th deck was locked so I was back down to the public wc on the 4^th floor near where I had started 15 minutes earlier!

As it happened, the toilet would not flush which I guess was going to be the next persons problem not mine (!) and I made my way back up to the 7^th deck, completely forgetting in my search for a functioning toilet,  I was back at the wrong end of the ship! I went down again, made my way to the bow and reascended for a 4^th time.

And now that I was finally comfortably seated in the library,  I discovered that on the 7^th deck the pitching and rolling was greatly accentuated and it was difficult to read!

I retreated to our cabin where Sharron had discovered the boat had slowed right up to minimise discomfort and we were barely doing 2 knots per hour! We had been making 11 to 12 initially on the expedition and slowed to around 7 knots when we first hit the rough weather.

Our comments were interrupted by an announcement over the tannoy system from Sally, the cruise director, originally from Yorkshire in the UK but a long time New Zealand resident, and in her best Abercrombie and Kent voice and with not a trace of a Yorkshire or Kiwi accent:

‘We are sorry for the inconvenience but I am happy to report the plumber has located and found the problem, and the ships toilets are now working again. Yet again, the problem was a face cloth flushed down the toilet. The plumber would greatly appreciate if guests could only flush the provided toilet paper down the toilets.’

On that note I lay down on the bed and slept almost 2 hours until lunchtime.

Just before lunch, the captain announced we were currently in 6m waves, and a 40-knot wind and it was predicted these will increase this afternoon to 6.5m and 45 knots before decreasing to 4.5m and 38 knots this evening. Tomorrow morning should see a 4.5 metre swell and a 35-knot wind falling to 3m and 27 kph in the afternoon when we should indeed arrive at Campbell Island, another of New Zealand’s sub-Antarctic Islands.

Lunch was interesting and even more so when one looked out of the window to see wild seas and swells sometimes higher than the windows! We sat next to Ken and Joy from Wollongong in Australia who are regular cruisegoers and who also trekked in Nepal when younger.

Apparently, they had heard there was one passenger who had spent the entire cruise writing a book in his cabin and had only come out to eat. I said I thought that must be a shipboard rumour as they were probably referring to me who has spent part of every day at my desk but not writing a book (at least not before today!) as I had been editing and filing images. And meanwhile, I had made all the excursions except one zodiac cruise. It turns out they are working on  a cruise boat next year (did Ken say as part of a religious ministry?) and are also avid cavers!

Sandy was sitting at the next table with Hugh whose partly decapitated head (due to an industrial accident) had been reattached to his neck in ground breaking surgery, and I was also able to continue my conversation with him in regards to the investment fund his organisation had launched yesterday.

After lunch, it was announced all lectures, recaps, and briefing were cancelled to minimise movement around the ship and I made a start on writing a description of the Bietenlücke hike I had undertaken in September for the Hiking Guide to the Swiss Bernese Oberland that I am writing. Progress was painfully slow as I had to review the 14 pages of notes I had made when undertaking the ten hour hike, collate all the statistical information (distance, duration, total ascent and descent etc) and after all that barely wrote more than three introductory summary paragraphs in four hours!

I did chat with Al for 15 minutes or so and it turned out this was the first time he had been to Antarctica as a guest lecturer, and in that regard, how lucky we were to have him as not only has he been managing the restoration and conservation of the historic huts, but prior to that, had managed New Zealand’s Scott Antarctic base for 12 months.  He has to decide how long he is going to work on a part-time basis before retiring and after a month at home will be off to Japan for a 6-week cycling trip with some mates.

Cheli announced over the intercom that the captain’s predicted 50cm increase in the swell was not insignificant (!) and the best and most comfortable place for people was horizontally on their beds and as her announcement was accompanied by the loud smashing of crockery, I can only surmise that she was speaking from the kitchen area!  The sound accompaniment really reinforced her message very vividly and indeed, when I went back to the cabin to get a notebook, I found Sharron asleep on the bed!

The boat was rolling so much that when I sat in the cabin chair in the centre of our cabin, I was twice tipped out of the chair and twisted myself around to land on my back on the bed (rather gracefully I might add) and clearly Sharron was in a deep sleep as there were no rebukes.

After dinner, I was talking to Lindsey and it turns out when he was last in Europe, he took the train to the Jungfraujoch and hiked to the Monchjoch Hut which I had hiked to in both 2008 and 2018. I was able to show him images I had taken in 2018 and then fellow expedition team member, Chris, joined us and when I mentioned the book I was reading about Ed Cotter who I had met in the Himalaya, Chris was surprised I had met Ed and also announced that he had dated Ed’s daughter in earlier times! Chris’s uncle had also hiked with Ed Hillary in the Himalaya in 1954, the year after Hillary became the first to summit Everest and also featured in the book I am reading. It is indeed a small world and rampant with coincidences! (see here)

I was not making much progress with my writing and feeling tired so packed it in at 1am and retired to the cabin only to read, play backgammon, and have a shower which kept me up until 5am.

I really need to do something about my sleep management!

And how many times have I written that!

DAY 25 SUN FEB 26: AT SEA

This is our 9^th consecutive day at sea without getting off the boat.

I got up for breakfast in my thermals and promptly went back to the cabin, but not before hearing the announcement that we currently had winds of 50 knots and swells of 5.5 metres which would decrease to 30 knots and 2.5 metres by late afternoon.

I lay down on the bed whilst I decided whether to attend a lecture or resume my writing, and promptly slept the best part of 3 hours missing the two lectures on Campbell Island which is our next and final destination where hopefully we will be able to go ashore tomorrow.

And when I woke up it was time for lunch!

I have not eaten lunch on anything other than an infrequent basis for many years and I am never ever hungry to eat just three hours after a breakfast, but sadly, I don’t have the self- discipline to  stay away and it would not very nice to let Sharron go on her own every day. Of course, once I am there, I help myself to soup, salad, perhaps the main course vegetables and some delicious dessert!

Like many people, my organisational skills are quite good,  except when it comes to self-management!

When I looked in the mirror on the way to the dining room, I could not believe how bloated and overweight I looked and I was quite dismayed.

In a few months from January 2021 I lost 49lbs or 22 kilos and I kept it off until June 2022 but with a lot of travelling and little exercise and then Christmas and New Year with my family in Vancouver I was already disappointed  to see I had put 35lbs back on by the time I got on the ship!

And now I have zero doubts that I am  back up to 230lbs plus again!

I was feeling both angry and disappointed at myself for putting all the good work to waste and letting myself get out of shape again, and I am determined that once I get back to Thailand, I will fast two days a week, restrict myself to 800 calories the other five days, and walk 8 kilometres along the beach on a daily basis.

Good plan but…………… when I did get back to Thailand, I got involved (consumed?) by a legal dispute between owners and management in a condominium where I own an apartment. I never found time to exercise. But now a year later, I am in Thailand for an extended stay, the legal dispute is still ongoing but hopefully nearing resolution and I am well into a program of walking 8km a day and restricting myself to 800 calories a day. I have already removed 14 of the minimum 40lbs or maximum 57lbs I want to lose by June. So better late than never!

I am OK if I can control my environment and there is not much food in the house, but on the ship, I am like a kid in a candy shop and the problem is I wont be getting back to Thailand until mid-April.

However, I have a lot of mountain walking to do in the Alps this summer to complete all the hikes I am including in the hiking guides that I am writing,  so I need to be fit and lose all this excess weight.

I managed 28 days of mountain walking, but it was tougher than it should have been with too much excess weight.

Meanwhile I went for lunch!

In the afternoon, there were bio security checks to ensure all our raingear, headwear, packs and boots were free of seeds and contaminants before we landed at Campbell Island. It is of course good practice but the weakness in the system is that what is checked today might not be what we end up wearing tomorrow!

I relinquished the use of my desk for a couple of hours so the expedition crew could use it as an inspection post for 4^th floor cabins, and once our gear was inspected and passed free of contaminants our names were signed off. This is all to comply with provisions of the Antarctic Treaty, and Australia and New Zealand have made similar regulations for their sub-Antarctic possessions.

When I saw Cheli, I asked her if the ship was going to facilitate the exchanging  of emails between passengers who are willing and wanting to do so and she said ‘no’, but the passengers could do so themselves and suggested I might want to put a list on the desk I have been using and which everyone walks past. As an aside I have found that data protection is a convenient excuse for not doing a lot of things! And cannot for one moment understand why there is anything out of order in Heritage providing a sign up sheet for passengers who want to exchange email addresses.

By midafternoon, the seas were indeed much calmer and we came in sight of Campbell Island, and there was an early briefing meeting to explain the options for tomorrow which was an all-day 12 km walk across the island through the bush, all day exploring along a 3 km boardwalk leading to an albatross colony or a morning zodiac cruise followed by an afternoon on the boardwalk.

I asked Cheli what we were doing with the ‘extra’ day we had gained as we were not due back in Bluff until Wednesday morning, and I wondered if we were going to have two days on Campbell Island, proceed slowly to Bluff taking two days rather than one for the last leg or arrive at Bluff a day early (!), and use the ship as a hotel for one night.

Cheli replied that there was no extra day! I was thinking it was Saturday and not Sunday (!). And although she did not say as much we had made very slow progress in the heavy seas, so it seems we have ‘lost’ the extra day we had gained by not visiting Terra Nova Bay or Frasier Island.

The cynic in me wondered perhaps  we only had a permit for a one day visit to Campbell Island (I have no idea if we did or did not), and maybe that was a contributory factor to our slow progress. In any case this is academic and everyone was keen to be getting off the boat rather than be bounced around the high seas doing not very much.

Sharron correctly deduced that I would probably opt out of the morning zodiac ride and go ashore for the afternoon hike along the board walk. She surprised me by saying she would probably go on the morning zodiac cruise, so I said I would watch the weather etc and maybe I would go, as she is often or usually right about these things.

We went on deck after the briefing to view Campbell Island, but in truth there is so only so much one can see of an island in low cloud when one is off shore – it is a breeding area for albatrosses and one could just make out a large colony on the cliffs but I was soon back below decks.

We had dinner with Kurt and Michelle whose infectious enthusiasm for travel in general and life in particular brings out the best in everyone. As well as a month in a camper van in New Zealand after this voyage, a 3-week trip to Denmark in June, their 3-month expedition Vancouver to Antarctica via Greenland starting August 1, and another Heritage trip from New Zealand to Japan in March 2024; they are hoping to squeeze in a visit to Southern Africa in early 2024 as apparently, they visited that area 8 times in eleven years in the late nineties/early 2000s but have not visited since. Last night they were presented with a cake and serenaded by the serving staff and we enquired if this was a wedding anniversary or birthday.

‘No, but an anniversary of the day we first met’

replied Michelle who said they had mentioned it in passing to a fellow passenger who in turn mentioned it to the kitchen who baked a special cake.

They may just be the most popular and liked passengers on the boat as they are so nice and friendly and Michelle is enthusiastic about everything. I hope we can meet up for some hiking in Switzerland.

After dinner, it was time for the varietysShow which was being put on by various members of the ships crew and passengers who have all been rehearsing in individual groups over the last couple of weeks, and the show was great fun.

In all there were 27 performances which were basically broken up into limericks, singing, dance routines, one comedy skit and poetry readings both original and well-known favourites. Andrea, our Filipina bar waitress, and Lou, the government conservation rep proved to be outstanding singers, and Akya from reception who is from Kyrgyzstan, did a colourful dance in her national costume. Dance routines by both the Filipina crew and passengers (great penguin imitators) were well done and amusing but what really surprised me were the number of poetry renditions and especially from Australian males who revealed a, for me surprising, empathy with verse. Our sometime dinner partners Barry from Connecticut and Alan from Sydney, both revealed themselves as poets in waiting. Barry from Connecticut gave a moving rendition of an ode to Antarctica that he wrote and the first poem that Alan had written since being a starry eyed teenager in love was also  was well received by the audience.

I have yet to meet a Filipino who cannot sing as they are truly the wandering minstrels of Asia. If you go into any bar or hotel lounge in Hong Kong, Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Phonm Penh, Bangkok, Pattaya, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore or Jakarta, the chances are the vocalist fronting the house band will be a very talented Filipino. It seems every Filipino can hold a note, and karaoke in the Philippines is a privilege to attend and not an embarrassment!

I sat at the side of the stage and shot videos of the various performers which I will try and email to them.

After the show, I sat at my desk and concluded the route description I was writing for the Bietenlücke Hike in Switzerland. There are still lots of people I have not met out of the 130 passengers but the desk is a great magnet that attracts people who want to chat or who are intrigued at what I am doing. I must here the comments ‘still working’ or ‘don’t you ever stop’ at least five times a day as I walk past.

I repeatedly say it’s not work as in a chore but, I just want and need to get up to date processing, indexing and filing my images away, and writing up my hiking notes. Yes, it can be repetitive but I enjoy what I am doing and it gives me pleasure to accomplish these tasks.

So, I get plenty of opportunities to meet and chat with people. This evening, Dave (from Ireland?) came up and introduced himself, and I was chatting to Nick, a South African who had relocated to the Gold Coast in Queensland and Graham from Geelong who came up to talk about a thank you speech he planned to make to the expedition team on behalf of the passengers.

We anchored in Perseverance Harbour, a sheltered inlet and it was a real treat to be sleeping in a stable bed!

DAY 26 MON FEB 27: CAMPBELL ISLAND 

Woke up at 8am and parted the curtains and saw low cloud and rain, so that meant an easy decision for me re the zodiac cruise but Sharron is still going. I did wonder how many of the 25 or so that had opted for an all-day 12 km cross island bushwalking trip with Lindsey (no trails and head height vegetation in some places!) had made it out.

As the boat was not facilitating an email exchange, I have made a list of people to exchange emails with and stay in touch with and kept my eyes open for people at breakfast and through the day. I kept my notebook handy so they could scribble down their email and had a supply of business cards to give to people.

After breakfast, Sharron got changed and was out on her zodiac cruise, and I worked at my desk checking some altitudes and distances for the hiking notes I had completed and ensuring this journal was up to date. It started as a brief daily record and is now a 25,830 word journal  and counting?

My God that’s a quarter of a novel!

I walked around the boat and checked the library and lounge, and it seems pretty much everyone is so stir crazy and want to get off the boat they have gone on one of the all day hikes or zodiac cruise as I only saw two people on the ship! I went on deck and it looked pretty bleak and still raining so I had no reservations about not going, but when Sharron came back, she had some great images of seals playing close to the zodiacs in the water and I thought perhaps I should have gone!

At lunch, I asked our petite Indonesian waitress Khusnulk how she managed to have a smile on her face all the time, and she said it is always better to smile than cry and she has always smiled a lot. I had watched her stack dishes on her tray the previous day and she was smiling all the time, and whenever she speaks to any passenger, her face is lights up even further and is beaming. She is so tiny and has such a low centre of gravity, she has coped with the weather quite easily running all over the place. It seems her mother died when she was seven and her father not long after but she is determined to make the best of her life and clearly has  a very positive attitude.

After lunch, we headed ashore to the small landing point by some isolated buildings that the NZ Parks department keep on this uninhabited island. I was wearing a light wind/rain jacket with a fleece under as I thought that my waterproof canvas Quark jacket would be too warm for walking. However, on the zodiac, it was quite chilly despite although it was meant to be a balmy 10 degrees and I was wondering if I had made the correct decision.

It was around 1330 when we landed, and the plan was to follow the boardwalk inland towards an albatross breeding area some 3 kilometers inland at the end of the boardwalk, and with an elevation gain of 240m.

The idea was we were free to wander at our own pace as far as we wanted to go and then return, and Ian from Alaska walked those of us on the last two zodiacs past the few wooden buildings to the beginning of the boardwalk just above the landing area. We started off at around 2pm and were told the zodiac shuttles would be running back to the ship from 3.30pm to 6pm

Once we got to the boardwalk, we all walked at our own speed. As we started, it was fairly constant light rain and the cloud was low and because I was wearing a T shirt, nylon gilet and fleece beneath my wind jacket as well as a hat, neck warmer and gloves, I soon warmed up! I was sweating on the inside, it was raining quite steadily on the outside and I was already thinking this could be a wet couple of hours.

My main motivation for walking is, and always has been, views and vistas so with rain, low cloud and an overheating body, I was beginning to wonder about how much I would enjoy the walk when my walking pole got caught in the wire meshing protecting the boardwalk and came apart as I tried to extricate it. This was unbelievable. In Switzerland and the Alps I have alternated between the  same two walking poles for ten years for as many as 30 -50 walking days a year without a problem. On this trip I have hardly lifted a foot in anger and I have broken two poles!

So, I stopped to try and fix my walking pole which in all honesty is somewhat superfluous on a boardwalk in any case so I left the two parts in the bush beside the path to retrieve on the way back, and after a second stop to remove my neck warmer, which allowed me to cool down a bit, I set off and at this time Sharron and the others were way ahead.

The boardwalk was quite interesting. I have walked along boardwalks in various countries, primarily in Canada, and usually they are for a short duration, and sit on the ground to protect a fragile ecosystem, or in wet and marshy areas or mangroves they will be elevated but always over level terrain.

This boardwalk was quite different to any I have seen before as it was long (3 km) and continued up over a hill side before descending and rising again. It was sometimes close to or sitting on the ground, but at other times, almost a metre above the ground so you definitely would not want to fall off. There were sections that incorporated a series of steps or occasional steps so you needed to keep your eyes on the boardwalk for much of the time, but there were a series of risers to make foot placement more secure and almost all of it was covered with a fine wire mesh to make it grippy and secure, and to reduce the chance of slipping.

But with constant year round rainfall and dense vegetation, there was always the potential for it get slippery and especially where there was a series of steps. It also got interesting when groups who started earlier were coming back and had to pass on the narrow boardwalk.

Once the rain lightened off and the clouds rose, it was a pleasant enough walk with views over Perseverance Harbour, an inlet where the boat was anchored and also of the distinctive hump of Mt Honey, the islands highest peak at 569 metres.

The vegetation and foliage were lush and interesting and I took several pictures of interesting and distinctive plants and windswept shrubbery. I caught Sharron up and we wandered along together for perhaps two thirds of the walk and Sharron said her back was a little sore and she was inclined to turn and would prefer to go back to the harbour with someone in case sections of the boardwalk were slippery, but she was happy to wait for me to go to the end of the trail and return.

Most of the people returning indicated it was a nice enough walk but we were not going to see anything different to what we had already seen, so I told Sharron I was happy to walk back with her from that point.

We met a very excited Kate, the zoologist in the expedition team, and she grabbed me and said

‘Michael, did you see these little orchids here?

And my reply was

‘Err, you are addressing the wrong person here. Are we talking fauna or flora?’

I had been discussing photography with Kate on this trip as she was a frequent late-night visitor to the water fountain near my desk and she said she had already taken well over 500 images of plants that day, and in fact later in the evening, she told me she had shot over 1000 images!

When Kate said she had taken over 500 images of different plants today, I was pleased to see someone was taking as many as me although in truth I have been averaging 100 – 150 on shore days although one day I took 500!

One of the benefits (or curses) of digital photography is there are no restrictions on how many images one takes which means more images to review, crop and process and file away in digital folders. I remember I had told Kate earlier in the trip that when I left London in 1972 to travel overland through Asia to Malaysia, I took 6 rolls of slide film with me which meant I was restricted to 216 images in 3 months!

When Sharron and I  got back to the landing point, Cheli was there and we put on our safety jackets and she asked us if we wanted to go back, but Sharron replied there was no hurry and we were happy to wait and look at the scenery whilst it was dry until some others turned up.

I told Cheli

‘You could read the entire works of Shakespeare the amount of time you spend on polar beaches during an expedition greeting every zodiac that lands from the ship and then loading every one when it is time to come back’

In truth, it’s a thankless task to sit on stony and icy beaches for several hours on end in sub-freezing temperatures, but every expedition leader we have had on 6 previous polar expeditions makes it their responsibility, and although we take these transfers for granted a zodiac was flipped by a rogue wave on Elephant Island off the Antarctic Peninsula just a few months ago and two passengers downed and so the expedition leaders will always want to be on the spot and supervising  landings.

When the vicious sandflies started biting, I cried out to Cheli  that it was time to play russian roulette as the next zodiac driver was the famed, or should it be infamous Yuri, who has a not undeserved reputation for being the fastest of the zodiac drivers, but thankfully it was only a short trip back to the boat.

As we passed the rear of the boat, we could see where the heavy winds and waves that we had experienced the previous days had either ripped away or heavily distorted the metal bars around the second deck rear open area. Someone said there had been a metre of water in there!

We were on our way by 1900 and a mild 2 metre swell was nothing after the last few days. We had a very pleasant dinner with Barry, university lecturer from Connecticut, Alan retired social worker from Sydney, and Noreen retired tea shop owner from Tasmania, and all had read verse at last nights ranging from Noreen’s ‘Nautical Naughties’ to Barry’s more serious ‘Ode to the Antarctic’.

I asked them all what they were most looking forward to after they got off the boat, and Barry and Sharron both said the same – to stay in bed later every morning! Alan opted for the freedom to open his front door and go where he wants when he wants.

‘And You Michael?’   asked Barry

I replied that I wanted to go through the English Premier League Football results from February 2 until today in chronological order, so I can experience the highs and lows and so I can see if Arsenal are still in first place (if they win the league in May I will pocket £2000), if Tottenham are in the top 4 (if they are in the top 4 at the end of the season I win £800), and if Southampton are in the bottom three at the end of the season I win £200. When we got on the boat, they were 1^st, 5^th and last respectively.

The first two bets were unsuccessful and the third was a winner. At the time of editing a year later, I again have bets on Arsenal to win the Premier League for a £1500 return and Tottenham to finish in the top 6 for a £2000 return. With 13 games to go Arsenal are 2^nd two points off the lead and Tottenham are 5^th 9 points clear of 7^th so I am cautiously optimistic!

It turns out that both Barry and Alan (big time) are movie buffs and in fact Barry does not own a TV but saw 73 movies last year, and always makes a list of the top ten of the year which he sends to friends annually.

As we left the dining room, we passed Sandy holding court with his two cabin mates and the charming Esther, the worlds greatest expert on kelp or at least the greatest expert on the Heritage Adventurer.

I commented to the others

‘I hope you guys realise what a privilege it is for you to be sharing a table with one of the world’s leading proponents of ethical investing and corporate governance, and I am wondering if there was any under the table payment made to secure your seat here?

And don’t, whatever you do, ever buy a bond issue promoted by a guy you meet on a ship at sea’

By the way Sandy, what is the going rate for a seat at your table tomorrow night. Farewell dinner? I suspect there will be a substantial premium on your normal fee?’

Sandy took the teasing with good humour and laconically replied

‘I will think of a number and get back to you on that’

Later that evening, I was tempted to go down to his cabin (all cabins onboard are left unlocked) , open the door and leave $5 on the floor as a starting bid for a seat at the king’s table until I realised I did not know his cabin number.

I was writing at my desk when Lindsey stopped by for a chat and apparently 18 of the 25 who signed up for the full day hike showed up and he led the group across the island with 3 of the expedition team assisting.  The movie theme of the day continued as it turns out Lindsey’s girlfriend is an interior designer and most of the projects she is involved in are for the famous NZ Film Director Peter Jackson of Lord of the Rings fame. Apparently, he owns a number of properties around his own home on a peninsular close to Wellington and Lindsey’s girlfriend has been involved with the interior design work.

And apparently, Peter Jackson invites friends and colleagues to view rushes and advance showings of projects he is working on, so another of Lindsey’s claims to fame as well as pest eradication on Campbell Island, conservation consultant  and expedition leader around Fiordland is as a guest at some of Peter Jackson’s private showings. Or technically I guess his girlfriend was the guest and Lindsey the significant other!

DAY 27 TUES FEB 28 : AT SEA  

At breakfast, I went round some of the tables to exchange my email addresses with others, and when I went to Kurt and Michele ‘hiding away’ (as I tease them) in the corner of the dining room, Michele suggested we have dinner together this evening as it was the last night. That was nice of them.

At 0930, there was a briefing from Cheli on the procedure for immigration and disembarkation tomorrow with passengers either being taken to Invercargill Airport, Queenstown Airport or the Copthorne Hotel in Queenstown for people staying on one night or longer in New Zealand. It seems most people are flying on tomorrow. We thought we would leave a day spare in case the ship was late back!

Cheli explained how some of the crew would also be disembarking and how there were three groups of employees on the ship. Cabins, Laundry, kitchen and restaurant is the Hotel Division under Eric from Sweden and Gunther the master chef, and they would be putting on a Q & A session later today. They are supplied by a marine company called Master Chefs. The Victory Group supply the Ships and Engineering crew, and Heritage supplies the ‘Smurfs’! (The Expedition Team).

After the briefing, Samuel  was giving a lecture and he started by showing satellite images of the ice in Terra Nova Bay on the day we were planning to enter the bay, the following day and then a few days later. The bay iced up rapidly, we may or may not have gotten out, and so every possibility if we had gone in, we might still be there and/or waiting for next summer to get out!

I did not stay for Samuel’s lecture as my hearing is not good with accents or microphones, let alone a combination of the two so I worked on this journal at my desk.

One of the crew’s electricians had heard that I had made videos of most of the show two nights previously and brought a USB stick for me to copy the videos for him as I think he had performed in one number.

We had lunch with a New Zealand couple we had not chatted to before, and then Sharron strongly suggested I started packing rather than keep her awake all night. I had planned to work at my desk but Sharron correctly pointed out there was not much free time  left so I spent most of the time between 2 and 4pm packing, and then it was time for afternoon tea (tuna sandwiches and scones with jam and cream anyone? And much more! Yes please!) which was followed by the question-and-answer session with Eric the hotel manager, Gunther the head chef, and Israel the restaurant maitre d’.  Eric had a list of maybe 10 questions which I assume he had anticipated from previous sessions.

As I suspected the logistics for keeping the ship afloat were amazing – there were 11 chefs helping Gunther who reviews projected passenger loads and nationalities in advance, and then a provisions manager will order supplies  3 months in advance through a German food supply company, and some foods will be supplied locally and some shipped from  Germany. The chef prefers to use local foods whenever possible but at one time the ship was not allowed to buy NZ beef whilst in NZ, but it was possible to obtain NZ beef from their German supplier who shipped it from Germany back to the boat in NZ! 10,000 eggs had been used on this one-month expedition and thousands of kilos of meats and vegetables. Vegetables and fruits are kept fresh in a chilled room and sprinkled  with water twice a day.

There are 88 crew with 14 nationalities, many of whom want their national cuisine, so there are separate menus for the crew as well as any food cooked for passengers and not consumed. Staff working conditions are now governed by maritime law; and the boat, like any other, is subject to spot checks in ports, and crew are interviewed independently about work and conditions.

The staff have a range of social activities below deck and 5% of the funds raised at the charity auction went to a fund providing the crew with social amenities like games etc.

And after Eric had run through all the questions, there were plenty more from the audience and all in all I found it fascinating. As with most things there is a lot of paddling out of sight beneath the water to make things that we take for granted happen!

There was a short break between the end of the session and then at 6pm it was cocktails and farewell to the crew, of course accompanied with snacks for our 4^th food intake of the day! However, before that, I managed to get and spend 30 minutes at my desk and when Cheli walked past, I thanked her for all she had done throughout the trip and I asked her what her plans were now. She said she planned a couple of weeks chilling out in Queenstown and then maybe a golfing holiday with some of her buddies. We talked for a while about tennis and golf, two sports she follows and she told me how disappointed she was when she took her mum to watch the  quarter finals of the Australian Open in Melbourne, and it was the one year Federer was knocked out before the quarters! I told her Sharron and I were regular attendees at Roland Garros for the French Open, and if she wanted me to procure tickets for her, she only had to ask. I also told her to consider Thailand as a golfing holiday destination and Tony and I could help her get to courses.

The ‘farewell’ session started with an impromptu speech of thanks from Graham from Geelong, but not so impromptu that he had not circulated slips with ’Hvar’ written on it so we could toast the captain in his own language. The sentiments of his speech were of course welcomed and appreciated by all, but there was a general feeling two or three minutes rather than fifteen with almost a day-by-day review of our journey would have sufficed. I noticed a few eyes glazing over and with all the kitchen staff  lined up waiting to be thanked, and with a few of the expedition staff looking at their watches, I genuinely wondered if our meal would be delayed!

Eventually, we were able to resume the planned programme and the ship’s entire kitchen, hotel, engineering and deck crew paraded across the stage to applause from the passengers, before Cheli thanked her team which apparently included 4 expedition leaders in their own right – Chris, Gus and Samuel which was not at all surprising because our competent Frenchman personified knowledge, expertise and professionalism whenever he spoke. I am not sure Cheli would be everyone’s cup of tea as a leader as her put downs, although usually in a teasing manner, could be merciless and the faint skinned might take offence but she was also quick to mock herself. She was a large lady, probably just north of 50, always congenial and professional and I would travel with her again in a heartbeat. She was very generous in her praise of her team and the captain who brought everything to a close with a few words.

Captain Rada is Croatian, is not a man to use 20 words when ten will suffice but he did say that sailing a vessel in the Ross Sea was more difficult than the Antarctic Peninsula area (where we had been twice before) because we are further south. He also said that whilst every voyage is going to be different, this was not one he would choose to repeat by choice, not because of the passenger manifest I would hasten to add but because of the ice and strong winds!

And then we were off to dinner, our 5^th food consumption of the day! It was nice to sit and chat with Kurt and Michelle and learn about their future plans and past travels. They really are an amazing couple. Sandy and his cabinmates, and Esther the kelp researcher were on the next table, so it was good to get a picture of us all together.

And following dinner, it was the end of expedition slide show put together by Richard the photographer, and it started with some images by each of the 4 clients who had accompanied him on the expedition as part of a Photography School. It was only Hugh from New Zealand’s bird images that did much for me. I thought they were indeed impressive.

As for the slide show covering the entire voyage, Richard explained it was difficult to try and compress an overview of almost 4 weeks into 20 minutes but I was a little disappointed.

I think he is an excellent communicator and teacher and a very good photographer, and probably the best of the 7 photographers that we have travelled with on polar expeditions, and I have really enjoyed looking at the high-quality images he has been posting most days on the ship’s screens around the boat, but many of those images were not included and I thought quite a few of the images were flat. The font used for the text introducing each section was a flowery script that was difficult to read, and one or two images I would have deleted and not even saved to my hard drive if they were mine!

I also thought the presentation did not capture the interplay between the sun’s rays and ice floes at the end of the day or in the middle of the night. I would also have liked to have seen more images with passengers to stimulate interaction.

However, I must stress  the main reason I was disappointed was because he had set the bar so high for himself with his previous work and I appreciate he did not have much time to prepare.

So, what does one do on the final night of a 26-day expedition? Well, go back to my desk of course for a final session writing up this journal. And of course, many people said farewell or commented that I was still ‘working’.

Cheli dropped by to check I was not missing a USB drive (I was not) and I reiterated my advice for her to come to Thailand for a golfing holiday rather than Hawaii.

At around 1230, the captain walked past and I told him we had travelled with him before but I could not remember where and which boat, and he said he had been working in the polar areas since 2008 for various operators and knew Woodie and Annie and Solan from Quark. He said he preferred the Arctic and especially Svalbard where he also holds a pilot’s licence as

‘Down here in the Ross Sea the ice is difficult’

This of course was reiterating his comments in his address before dinner.

He was very chatty, much more so than his public persona and he said he had no problems or tensions between Russian and Ukrainians in his crew. At sea, they are members of the same team and it was the same with Serbs and Croats during the Balkan Wars. We also talked football and he came up to shake hands when he went on.

I cleared the desk for the final time at 0130. In fact, most previous nights I had not cleared the desk but just left my laptop on the desk for the next morning, as clearly no one else had any wish to use the desk.

I returned to the cabin for some final packing and when I was in the cabin my phone beeped so I guess we were close to shore and I was in 4G coverage. I saw I had 268 WhatsApp messages and 5 Line Messages. Ha Ha easy to tell who loves me most! (In fact, most of the 268 were from my family and not the Philippines!)

I resisted the temptation to open my phone and start reading, checking and replying because if I have gone 25 days without WhatsApp and email, I can easily go one more.

What discipline!

And when I put our bags outside our cabin at 3am, I was surprised not a single other bag was there although they had to be put out by 7am.

I guess most people are early risers and do it, then and I am the opposite with no intention to be up and awake at 7am!

 

DAY 28 Weds March 1 29 BLUFF – QUEENSTOWN 

We woke to found we were already dockside in Bluff some 24 days after we departed.

Most of the passengers had already eaten but we said good bye to our favourite restaurant staff; the ever-smiling Bernard, Andrea the bar and drinks waitress who had worked on Quark’s polar cruises for 6 years and who knew several members of the various Quark Expedition teams with whom we had travelled, and the grand Maitre D’ Israel, who knew everyone’s names. All from the Philippines and all as naturally friendly as only Filipinos can be.

We also said farewell to the diminutive and ever smiling Khusnul from Indonesia, 28 and looking barely 18! As she gave me a farewell hug barely coming up to my chest I said  I was going to have to travel to Java to visit her, but Bernard was quick to jump in

‘No need Sir, she has no family, so we are going to take her back to the Philippines so she can live with us’

I have no idea if he was serious or joking, but clearly tiny Khusnul inspired everyone to shower her with protection and affection!

And with that, we went back to the cabin to collect our hand baggage saying farewell to various passengers as we went and waited to be called to the lounge to clear New Zealand immigration.

After some final farewells and going through immigration, it was time to disembark down the gangway to the quay where all the expedition staff had lined up to bid everyone goodbye. Like the passengers, the expedition staff were going here there and everywhere – some to return to other employment in New Zealand, others to travel and/or wait for their next contract either with Heritage or with another polar expedition company for the forthcoming Arctic season in the Northern Hemisphere, summer, and some to depart later the same day on the Heritage Adventurer’s next voyage which was an exploration of the New Zealand fjords.

The passengers were split into three groups – Invercargill Airport, Queenstown Airport or the Copthorne Hotel in Queenstown which was where we were headed, not to stay at the Copthorne but another slightly less expensive hotel next door!

The three hours plus journey was uneventful other than we stopped for a toilet break at Garston where Sharron and I had stopped several weeks earlier when exploring the South Island of New Zealand. As well as being the town in New Zealand located furthest from the sea, Garston is distinguished by a magnificent single story Art Deco hotel (almost an early motel) and a very quirky collectors shop owned by a French couple selling furniture, wonderfully made models of vintage aircraft and genuine Art Deco sculpture priced at $6,000, all in a community of maybe 50 people and thousands of sheep!

I am of course exaggerating but you get my point and I know all this because we had discovered the shop and spoken to the owners previously, and I had considered buying one of the replica vintage aircraft models and had even discussed shipping it back to Europe. However, as it was made in Western Europe I had decided to try and trace the manufacturer and order from source as it seemed rather incongruous to buy a European made replica made in New Zealand and then ship it back to Europe!

But now at least I understood where they get their clients from which is clearly from buses and tourists heading for Te Anau, Milford Sound and Invercargill!

As we followed the beautiful Lake Wakatipu on the final stretch of our journey, I was thinking about how air travel and the growth of organised travel in the last 60 years had very truly made the world a much smaller place.

For 28 days, the 130 passengers on the Heritage Adventurer had rarely been more than 500 metres apart but were now going to be scattered around the world like seeds around a corn field after a strong wind.

I would love to see a map of the world with a pin showing the location of the passengers 36 hours after disembarking, but for sure it was going to include North America, Europe, Australia, Asia and…………… Invercargill where Barry is staying on for a few days! I never did ask what it was that attracted an American biologist to stay on in the most southerly of New Zealand’s cities, but I know like Oamaru also on the South Island, Invercargill has some interesting heritage architecture.

And whilst still ruminating on the various locations where we all be scattering to, we were back at the Copthorne where we first arrived 26 days ago.

What were my thoughts of the expedition?

Well first and foremost, if there was an itinerary that appealed I would have no reservations about travelling with Heritage again even if they are a little more quirky than Quark in the pre departure admin and correspondence.

I thought the boat was excellent. It handled the extremely rough weather very well, the food was outstanding and the cabin was both comfortable and spacious. Although I was personally very disappointed to lose my discipline by both overeating and not visiting the gym which I managed almost daily on our last expedition, that was my fault alone.

I thought the fellow passengers were very congenial and good company, probably the best group I have travelled with and almost certainly a reflection of the Australasian origin of the majority which provided a bedrock of easy going and lack of pretentiousness.

Whilst the scenery was not quite as spectacular as the Antarctic Peninsula or Greenland, it was still more impressive than I expected and indeed I thought the views and vistas from the ridge on Possession Island and from the ridge beyond Shackleton’s Hut at Cape Royds were very impressive and indeed I think one of the images I took at Cape Royds was as impressive an Antarctic panorama as I have taken.

And the wildlife on Macquarie Island was also very impressive. Perhaps because it came early in the itinerary I was more focussed on what was to come, but the more I think about it, look back and review the images, the number of penguins and elephant seals all over the place was truly remarkable.

A downside for some of the passengers were the number of sea days when we did not land or get off the boat.

Ignoring the final few hours of our early morning return to Bluff, we were on the boat for 25 full days of which 16 were sea days and 9 we landed although 4 of those 9 days were not in Antarctica, but rather Macquarie Island and on New Zealand’s sub-Antarctic Islands. So, it could be said that 5 Antarctica landing days out of 25 is a pretty poor return but remember we were going to the Ross Sea because it is a pretty isolated spot, indeed one of the most isolated locations that one can get and it takes a long time to get there and back!

And we were unlucky with the ice which prevented landings to see the Hillary Hut near the Scott and McMurdo Bases (from whence Edmund Hillary set off on his 1957 trans-Antarctic Expedition) and also prevented  landings in Terra Nova Bay and visiting the Italian Research Station. It was a pity we missed the Hillary Hut as that would have been a little more relevant to the modern age and my generation and interesting to compare the contents with the other 4 historic huts that we visited.

To be fair to Heritage, the trip was sold all along on the basis that everything was fluid and weather dependent in an area of severe climatic conditions, people understood this and there was certainly no undercurrent of discontent. It was unfortunate we lost several days in the Ross Sea prior to the 4 days return to Campbell Island which meant 9 consecutive sea days. I was aware when we booked  that there was high number of sea days and that was not unattractive to me as I planned to use them to do some writing. As it was, I used them primarily for image editing and was well pleased to get up to date so I was able to use the sea days as productively, or more productively than most.

I thought the expedition team were professional, capable and knowledgeable although like Sharron, struggled at times to understand some of the speakers who spoke English with an accent when it was not their mother tongue. However, I must stress that I think this is more a reflection of my hearing than their capabilities in English! Sharron did wonder if they did not gell as a team as much as some teams we have met in the past and perhaps this was an impression caused by their origins in a range of nationalities. They did perhaps not intermingle with passengers quite as much as some previous teams and many would eat together as a group, but really these are just observations and not criticisms and I found the team to be friendly and professional and constantly trying to enhance the passengers experience. Cheli, their leader was a character, a one off and a very positive contributor that facilitated an enjoyable experience.

Yes it was a little long, yes there were a number of sea days, and yes we knew that in advance so I have no problem in concurring with everyone else that it was a professional and positive travel experience to one of the world’s most remote and difficult to reach destinations. And for sure the 4 historic huts that we visited were masterpieces of cold weather conservation and a tribute to Al, the NZ Antactic Heritage Trust and all those involved in their preservation and restoration.

When I first proposed this expedition to Sharron some 18 months ago, I thought it would work well with our plans to spend a family Christmas 2022 in Vancouver, Canada, and then it would be a relatively ‘short’ 12-hour hop to New Zealand in comparison with almost 30 hours from Europe, and would give Sharron the opportunity to visit her son Stephen and many friends in NZ dating from when she lived there 50 years ago.

I assumed at the end of the trip I would return to Thailand, and Sharron to the UK probably via Canada. However we had both overlooked or not considered Sharron’s mum’s impending 100^th birthday on April 6, so we now have the best part of a third month to ‘fill’ before we can settle down.

Sharron plans to spend a few more days with her son Stephen in New Zealand before flying to Queensland in Australia to stay a couple of weeks with her cousin Lindy, and then they will both fly to Vancouver for Betty’s 100^th.

Me?

I am heading to Singapore and Malacca via my old stomping ground of Sydney for 48 hours, and ironically in Singapore will only be a couple of hours from my eventual destination of Thailand. But my route via Cebu to Manila and a direct flight to Vancouver and then back to Bangkok via Manila will total some 33 hours and a 3^rd and 4^th Pacific crossing in less than 3 months.

Since leaving Switzerland for Italy in mid-October, I will have spent 6 months travelling with 4 weeks in Pattaya, 3 weeks in Vancouver and 4 weeks on the boat the only stays of more than a few nights.

Time to slow down methinks or at least not combine our next polar visit with additional travels!

Queenstown NZ March 1 2023

© Michael Bromfield