Today’s adventure started out with on a beach with an old whaling station. When we left the warm comfort of the ship, we were greeted by frigid winds and snow. The zodiac ride was a little choppier on the way into shore, but the spirit of adventure certainly kept us warm. For today’s outing, I dressed a little warmer with thick thermals, a sweater, polar gloves, a scarf, and waterproof pants. I had to change brands of pants today because the warm black pants I was wearing for the past few days had developed a hole in the crotch and that seemed like a poor place to have a gaping hole. So for the rest of the trip I’m going to be sporting some super white snowboard pants, and hoping they keep me comfortably warm. These pants are made by Volcom and they’re pretty comfortable, but not made for the shape of my body. It’s made for someone with a much bigger butt. I found myself cinching the belt tight so they wouldn’t fall down. I will say that I am very happy that I brought the spare pair on this trip otherwise I would have some rather embarrassing photos.
When we arrived on the beach we were informed that a hike had been set up for the group to the top of a hill to afford us a great view of the harbor, an expedition leader was available at the buildings for a history lecture, and some seals were available for us to watch on the other side of the harbor. The area we’re walking on today is an old volcano as well, so it should provide for an epic experience. I crawled out of the zodiac, onto the beach, and immediately was met with the stunning beauty of decay. Our landing site was near the old whale oil storage tanks. The thanks were lined up in a row and had begun to lean over slightly as the rust continued its slow destruction. The tanks also provided some much needed reprieve from the snow. I stood next to the structure for just a moment to enjoy the sanctuary from the wind and wipe off my glasses. I marched on to check out one of the abandoned wooden structures. We were not allowed to go inside, but it seemed surreal to be standing outside looking through the abandoned building into a former kitchen with the stove still inside. I left the building after a moment, mostly because the winds had picked up and the structure didn’t seem that sound so I moved on to the next cluster of buildings. In order to get to the next set of buildings, I had to walk across a small snow run-off. I was surprised at how soft the runoff was and how quickly my feet were sinking into the snow. I made it across to the other side, and stepped onto the volcanic soil. The soft, black soil appeared to be untouched, albeit momentarily before our group came. I walked over to the cluster of buildings and observed the remaining pieces of furniture scattered around the insides of the building as the wall panels and roof had collapsed a long time ago. My journey continued over to some penguins near the shore, and to the hanger bay on the other side of the island. This building was in pretty decent shape since it appeared to be a newer air force base made of steel construction. We weren’t allowed inside but it was really interesting to stand on the other side of the building, looking in to see the snow blowing where there windows and door was. The best description of this, is ghost like. I spent a few minutes walking around the outside of the building to see some scattered structural steel framing laid on the ground as if organized to re-construct the building, broken glass, metal barrels, and a variety of metal equipment which I couldn’t identify.
After walking around the building I started the hike up to the top of the hill which was about 500 meters high. The hike was more difficult than I had anticipated. The hike was very steep with a narrow walkway. I was okay with that, but I struggled with the un-compacted stone beneath my feet as I hiked my way up. I found solid footings on rocks and larger stones to aid in my journey. As I was hiking, I had become very hot so I unzipped my jacket, thanks to Christian’s advice from the previous hike, and strapped the Velcro together on the front of my parka so it would let wind through but not the snow. This made it much more comfortable to hike. Mid-way up the mountain I realized I was having trouble breathing because my pants and long john’s had been too tight around my waist and were acting like a girdle. A quick adjustment and everything was back to normal. When I made it to the top, I gave the others in my group a high five and inhaled in the stunning beauty. From the top I took a few photos, before hearing the ships horn blow. From our orientation, I had heard this was a signal to get back to the ship so I started walking back down the path. I ran into an expedition leader who informed me that the crew was performing a drill and I could continue to enjoy my experience on the volcano. With the confidence from this new information, I continued down the mountain and headed to the other side of the shore where the seals were. Along my path I couldn’t help but notice some wood on the ground… well, I thought it was wood. Turns out it was whale bone, and a lot of it at that.
When I arrived at the other side of the beach, I approached the crab eater seal. I only got within twenty feet of him or so. On the other side there was a nest of birds and a very protective mother protecting them. As I watched the seal, I noticed the bird start to swoop down over the seal in a circular motion. As the bird swooped down, the seal would wake up- roll from its side onto its back, raise its head about a foot or so to try to eat the bird mid-swoop. It would then disappointingly flop his head down on the beach when he missed. This happened a few times, so I watched him for a while before moving on. I walked back to the zodiacs, but not before playing in the water a little bit. Okay, who am I kidding. I splashed in the water on the shore line all the way back… because I’m on vacation and I can. At the end of the walk, I stood back on the beach just watching the ice burgs, the penguins, and the activity around the ships as the people were efficiently loaded in and out of the zodiacs. While I waited for my turn to be loaded up, I was speaking with Chris and he recommended that I test the warmth of the water in a shallow pit in the ground. The water was HOT! The first attempt It felt great, the second attempt was scalding hot. That is not something I would have expected to experience in Antarctica. However, I had also never considered having a volcano in Antarctica either. It dawned on me as I was loading my butt back into the zodiac that there was also no visible permafrost under the buildings either. On the way back to the ship, I enjoyed the scenery as we bumped along the path.
Old Whaling Ship on the beach at Whaler’s Bay
Crab Eater Seal waking up
Seal and Whale Bones
After lunch, our next expedition was to another part of the island which was a small hike around the crater of the volcanic eruption. As I unloaded my butt from the zodiac onto the soil, I was informed that the hike would take about 1 hour to complete. “Challenge Accepted, ” I thought to myself. So, I trudged my way along through the snow path and up a hill to the first overlook. The journey through the snow was slightly more challenging than I had expected. The snow was pretty soft, and I wound up sinking in a little bit. I also had to contend with some of the larger groups taking photos and moving at a glacial pace. When the snow would shallow up, I would jump in front of them and scamper a little bit further ahead to give some distance between myself and them. When I arrived at the first overlook I enjoyed the scenery before journeying further onto the top. At the top of the crater I took a moment to enjoy the view. To the one side, the volcano had the ice running off, creating its own river, to the other side, snow covered mountains, and then of course there is the rocks and ocean. I like watching the river run-off. The water was moving pretty fast, for such a small area of snow. As I walked along the path, I would watch the snow fall onto the hot ground and melt instantly. The path continued alongside the snow path and into an open snow field. I was surprised at how deep the snow was as I trudged along. At some points I was up to my knees in snow, but mostly I only sank in 8 inches or so. When I finished the hike (20 minutes later), I sat along the snow embankment at the side of the shore watching the ships and the zodiac. Some of the other girls on the ship came up to me and asked if I would be interested in participating in the polar plunge from the sea side. I politely replied that I didn’t have my bathing suit on me, but would offer to hold the clothes. The ladies then suggested I go in my underwear, but I didn’t want to get my long johns wet. I had misunderstood. They were asking about my panties and bra, since it would cover the same amount as a bikini. I told them, there were not enough blind folds for all the participants to see that, so I would sit this one out. The final offer was for me to go in naked… and NOPE! That’s not going to happen. The ladies who were asking were from Europe, where nudity is not as frowned upon as it is in the US. I happily stayed warm on the beach while the plungers ran naked into the ocean and I held their camera to grab video evidence of their naked plunge.
After the plunge, the weather started to get rather snowy so we quickly loaded back into the zodiacs and headed back to the ship. Onboard we enjoyed some conversation, scenery, and music at the club for a while until our daily briefing with emphasis on the harrowing journey of a Swedish explorer, Dr. Otto Nordenskjöld, who was stuck in Antarctica after their ship couldn’t make it through the ice pack, leaving three men to fend for themselves. I’m not doing the story justice here, but it is a rather remarkable story of survival. During the lecture, we also saw pictures of the plungers, and were reminded of the captains cocktail hour.
After dinner, I put on the black dress I had brought for the captains cocktail and went to the lounge area. I was greeted by the expedition crews, dressed in their button down shirts and pressed black pants, with cheers and “wooing” as I walked in. I blushed, naturally. I sat down with some friends while drinking champagne and waiting for this to start. When the captain was introduced, he greeted everyone in his thick Russian accent and big bushy eyebrows. He gave a warm reception to everyone on his crew and brought the house down with funny commentary about the ship and his staff. It was a lot of fun! After the captains cocktail hour I went upstairs to grab a drink and talk to some people at the bar. I mean, if I’m already in the dress, there is no reason not to go! I had a great night talking with some of the friends I have made on the trip and with the expedition leaders. It was quite a wonderful evening.
