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Friday 7th - Sunday 9th February The Long-Haul Home

This will be the final entry for the blog. I finally had time to read through all that I had written and found a few mistakes especially with some of the dates! Sorry. I blame tiredness or maybe a few too many wines or it’s just senility setting in. I fixed some of the mistakes and have asked Rob to re-post the blog so at least the dates are correct.  We had a fabulous time last night at the Tango Show. Rob had booked the dinner and theatre show from Adelaide and had chosen well. We enjoyed a lovely 3-course dinner, followed by the show. During our Hop-on Hop-off bus tour and when our driver, Pablo took us on a tour, we had been told about this very old small building (dating back to the 1780’s) had been various establishments over the years. It was also the place where Tango was first performed and had been a Tango venue since it was first performed here in Buenos Aries. This just happened to be the one that Rob had chosen, and it was very entertaining. We didn’t get back to our hotel until well after mid-night and so enjoyed a later start to the day. We had a late checkout of 12 midday and so after organising our luggage etc. we decided to visit a nearby shopping centre, Galerias Pacifico. The building which housed this shopping centre, is quite spectacular. Large murals fill a huge dome, and this grand old building has been beautifully renovated. We spent a couple of hours wandering around the shops, spread over 3 levels. Following this we returned to our hotel for a rest and break before leaving for the Buenos Aries Airport for the long trip home. We left Buenos Aries around 3.30pm on Friday 7^th.  A long but uneventful trip home saw us enjoying a “real” coffee in Sydney at 8.30am on Sunday the 9^th not sure where Saturday went! We arrived safely back in Adelaide around 1pm. This trip has by far exceeded our expectations and we feel very lucky and privileged to have been able to experience it.

Thursday 6th February A Last Tango in Buenos Aries

Just a footnote to yesterday. We had decided to visit another famous “meat” restaurant for dinner and absolutely had far too much to eat. We had learnt that you don’t go out for dinner here until at least 8.30pm so that’s when we headed out. We successfully ordered the cuts of meat and salads we wanted but far too much. The meat was brought to us on a large metal platter that was heated from below with charcoal. The boys had sirloin steak and Millie and I were meant to have a ½ portion of flank steak each but think we ended up with two ½ portions! It was delicious but we had so much left over! We got a take-away container and gave it to a homeless woman when we walked outside.  This morning, we awoke to clear skies and were up early to catch the “hop-on, hop-off” bus. The drive seemed to be much quicker this morning. Originally, we were going to stop at “Holy Land”, a massive theme park replicating Jerusalem and recreating Bible Stories, much to Rob’s distressJ, it was not open, so he had to endure a longer stop at our next destination, The Cemetery of Recoleta! This cemetery was the first public cemetery in Buenos Aries and opened in 1822. It is spread out over 5 hectares and is full of majestic pantheons and mausoleums. We were keen to visit Eva Peron’s mausoleum which compared to some, was surprisingly small. Some of the more spectacular ones were for army generals, ex-presidents, doctors, founders of organisations like the jockey club etc. Millie, Geoff and I spent a lot of time wandering through the laneways and looking at the incredible sculptures and constructions. More than 90 of them have been declared National Historical Monuments. Rob lasted well too although he needed a toilet break and we agreed to meet home back at the entry area, later. Once we’d completed this we hopped on the bus again and this time headed to our next stop, La Boca Caminito, a working-class area, close to the original soccer stadium for one of the popular teams here and full of street artists, cafes, brightly coloured and decorated buildings, many with either a tango theme or soccer theme. There were many shops, selling soccer memorabilia and many crafts and artists displaying their wares along the narrow streets and alleys. We stopped for lunch in a small café where it was a little tricky to translate what we would like for lunch, but we got there in the end! We once more hopped on the bus to take us back to our hotel, to prepare for our night out at the theatre for dinner and a tango show! Tomorrow we will be heading to the airport in the afternoon for the long journey home after what has been an unforgettable and wonderful holiday.

Wednesday 5th February A Rainy Day In Buenos Aires

We awoke to rain which was a little disappointing but considering we’d had near perfect weather in Antarctica we couldn’t complain. We had a lovely breakfast before heading out on a tour of the “Delta Tigre”. Our driver, Pablo picked the four of us up from the hotel and drove us through the very busy streets of Buenos Aries to the harbour. The rain was constant for most of the morning, but this did not dampen our spirits. We boarded our large catamaran and sat in comfort as we started our tour. The first part took us out into the very wide and open area of the delta which although still classed as a river, seemed more like the ocean.  After about 30 minutes of travelling along the coast and despite the rain, picking out many of the highlights along the coast of Buenos Aries we turned into one of the small rivers that make up part of the delta. Here we saw many homes located on the banks of the river. The majority are much like holiday homes or shacks we would see on the river but there are a few permanent residents. The only way to get to these homes is by boat. There are water-taxis which will take you from place to place, a rubbish collection by boat, a grocery delivery by boat, a doctor who you can visit, and even a hospital, all accessible by boat. It was a fascinating tour. After an hour or so on the river we arrived at a different marina. Here our boat docked, and our driver was there to pick us up. Pablo was from Buenos Aires but had spent several years in the US studying and was an excellent guide (apart from the crazy driving). We were meant to go for a walk around the area near where the boat had docked but the rain prevented this. Instead, Pablo was keen to drive back to the city to do a tour of the city. He was worried that areas near the river were going to flood because of the constant rain (and poor infrastructure). Anyway, he did a great job showing us many interesting parts of Buenos Aires and telling us much about the history of the place. We worked out not to ask too many questions if you were sitting in the back of the car because while driving (and with one hand on his phone) he would turn his head around to the back seat to answer your question. Not such a great thing to do while driving in very fast and congested traffic and while it’s pouring with rain! Once Pablo had safely returned us back to the hotel, we purchased tickets for the “Hop-on Hop-off” bus. There was a stop close to our hotel, and we set off to do a complete round of the city, taking in all 23 stops. This exercise was to take us close to 3 hours…and apart from changing buses, we didn’t get off. Anyway, we did learn a lot from this activity and luckily the rain had ceased. Buenos Aires is a city of contrasts. There are many magnificent parks, gardens, wide boulevards, beautiful sculptures, statues and monuments. There are areas with modern, glass fronted high-rise buildings, beautifully maintained and restored older buildings which have a heavy European influence. In fact, in some places, you would think you were in Paris or Barcelona. In contrast to all this there are areas of extreme poverty with people living in buildings that are crumbling around them, crammed in small apartments, with poor infrastructure. We saw many homeless people. By the time we returned to our hotel, we had worked out places we would like to visit tomorrow when we once again take the Hop-on, Hop-off bus.

Tuesday 4th February Time to say “Goodbye” to Swan Hellenic, Vega and “Hello” to Buenos Aires

We had packed our suitcases last night and put them out by our door so all we needed to do this morning was dress, have some breakfast, pack our carry-on bag and relax in the lounge of the ship until our group was called. We sat around chatting to the other Australians and quite a few of the UK people who we had got to know during our adventure. A coach to us to the Ushuaia airport and there we had around a 3 hour wait for our plane. (The plane was specially chartered by the Swam Hellenic company.) It was great because we didn’t have to worry about our checked luggage or boarding passes as all this was taken care of by the company. The flight to Buenos Aries was uneventful. Once we had arrived at Buenos Aries, we were picked up by a driver who took us to our beautiful hotel, Alvear Art Hotel close to the centre of the city. It was interesting to note that all the Australians doing the “Trip-a-Deal” holiday were transported to the hotel this way, rather than using a coach. We all made it safely to hotel and after unpacking and settling in, we went for a walk around town to find a spot for dinner. A cafe that advertised “steak” was the place we picked and we enjoyed a lovely dinner. The only thing was that we ordered “sirloin” thinking it was beef steak but was actually pork and we also ordered “chorizo” which was actually beef. Our Spanish isn’t too good!

Monday 3rd February Last Day of our Antarctic Adventure

We decided to have a little sleep in this morning before heading down to breakfast with Geoff and Millie around 8.30am We enjoyed our breakfast before going to the Observation lounge for a very interesting talk about Penguins in Antarctica, this was followed by another presentation about the first “over-wintering” group in Antarctica. A group of men led by Adrien de Gerlache were stuck in their ship by ice and unable to get out and so spent a Winter down in Antarctica until the following Summer when they cut the way out for the ship. This happened around 1898-9, I think. It was a fascinating history talk and one I will do more research on when we arrive home. One of the men on board this ship, the Belica was a young Roald Amundsen who, later was the first person to reach the South Pole. We enjoyed a delicious lunch and then returned to the lounge for another interesting talk about super-heroes of the Southern Ocean, krill and why they are so important for the ocean life. Our presenter, Anya is a passionate marine biologist from Russia, and she has done many presentations on this trip. They have all been extremely interesting, informative and entertaining, really aimed at the correct level for guests. We joined with other guests for an Antarctic Trivia afternoon and the four of us finished mid-field. In the early evening, we said a formal farewell to the expedition team and were then shown beautiful photos and a wonderful video of our trip, taken by the expedition photographer. We will receive a copy of these and I’m sure they will be much better than any we took. We docked in Ushuaia just before 7pm. Some of the guests chose to disembark and go into town but we opted to stay on board. The make-up of the 150 guests has been interesting. By far the biggest groups would be the Chinese and Russians. Next, I think would be the 30 or so Australians, followed by the UK, USA and then small numbers from places like Brazil, Vietnam etc.

Sunday 2nd February Heading to Ushuaia, It’s all about the Vega

We are on our way back to Ushuaia and luckily it is predicted we will have good sailing conditions. There is a little bit of a swell, but it is coming from behind the ship so isn’t as bad as if it was front on or from one side. Despite this there a few people on the ship suffering from seasickness. We enjoyed a good night’s sleep and had a lazy start to the day, enjoying a later breakfast, doing some laundry in the ship’s laundrette and attending a lecture about the Swan Hellenic Ships and the cruises they offer. The cruise company only has 2 ships. They are both fairly new, 5-star, small contemporary ships, designed for expeditions, to areas in the world that many ships are unable to visit. They have specially built hulls to transverse the Artic and Antarctic regions. Our ship, SH Vega, has 117 crew and 150 guests and 9 decks. We were told yesterday that only ships that carry under 500 passengers are allowed to stop and let people go onto land in Antarctica and only 100 people are allowed to be on the land at any one time. This explains why we were divided into 4 groups so these numbers could be managed. When we first boarded and went to our room, we found our lovely warm, weather-proof, Antarctic jackets to wear when out and about. We are allowed to take these home with us. (Not sure how we’re going to stuff them in the suitcases!) Also in our rooms were our life jackets which you needed to take with you every time you left the ship on the zodiacs. These life jackets were obviously excellent, although quite heavy and yesterday during our walk/climb of the volcanic area we visited, they added another layer of difficulty to the exercise as we had to wear them for the whole time because there was nowhere to put them all. It was tricky trying to strip layers off as we warmed up during the hike. The area on deck 3 of the ship, is where we board the zodiacs and is known as the Base Camp. Each stateroom has a locker, and in your locker are your “Muck Boots”. You put on these boots and walk through a large trough of disinfectant whenever you leave the ship to get on a zodiac. If you have been ashore, when returning, you must give your boots a good scrub and again disinfect them before putting them back in your locker. There are specially designed scrubbing stations which makes this a very easy task while wearing the boots.  This is to ensure that everything remains pristine. During a landing on shore, you were not permitted to kneel, sit, or even crouch. This was to make sure that the only thing that touched the ground were your boots. After lunch we were lucky enough to visit the bridge. The captain gave us a lovely welcome and then one of the officers described all the intricacies of the very technical looking bridge. There were computers screens, keyboards, buttons etc. everywhere and a tiny ship’s wheel which is not used much at all. This very modern ship virtually steers itself. Later in the afternoon we attended another very informative session about the seals of Antarctica. This was followed by the “Captain’s Farewell Reception” where we were served canapes and drinks and nearly the entire staff from the ship were presented to us. From the Captain down without exception, everyone we have met from the staff, have been outstanding so it was great to show our appreciation

Saturday 1st February Sailing and Hiking into a Volcano

 

We were up early and ready to visit the observation lounge and deck by 6.45am. This was because we were to sail through the very narrow passage of Neptune’s Bellows and into a huge, protected area called Port Foster, with our ship stopping in Telefon Bay. Deception Island virtually surrounds this very sheltered the bay which is a volcanic crater. Volcanic mountains, craters, black sand, rocks and debris create a dramatic back-drop. The last eruptions encountered here, were in the 1960s. We took the zodiac to shore for an energetic hike in this volcanic landscape. The walk was longish and steep in sections but well worth the effort for the wonderful views. We did a loop walk which took us up high to the volcanic mountains and then back down to the black beach where we met our zodiac. Following lunch our ship moved out of Port Foster and back through Neptune’s Bellows and around to the outside of Deception Island to Baily Head, a prominent headland160 metres high. While travelling to this area and waiting to be called to board our zodiac, we watched the seas from our balcony. The water was teaming with hundreds of penguins. A sight I’d never seen before. Our zodiac excursion took us out into the ocean to observe the many “chin-strap” penguins in the seas and on the beach around Baily Head. This is one of the largest chin-strap penguin rookeries in Antarctica. The volcanic headland was very spectacular too. This was our last zodiac experience and a wonderful way to complete our four days in Antarctica.

Friday 31st January Museums and Post Offices of Antarctica

Our morning started with a talk from a woman who is currently living in Antarctica and working for the UKAHT (United Kingdom Antarctic Heritage Trust). This charity-based organisation, conserves and manages 6 museums across the Antarctic Peninsula which were formally research stations and are now museums, being restored to their former glory. It was a very interesting presentation and following this we visited the first of the museums. This was the Port Lockroy Museum which had been a variety of things over the past century. It had served as a whaling station, a staging post for British Expeditions, a strategic spot to watch for enemy ships during the WW2, a research station etc. The base a Port Lockroy closed in 1962 and after extensive conservation work, became a museum recreating accurately the conditions in which men lived and worked in during the 1950’s. The building also has its own shop and post office and a small team is employed by UKAHT to maintain buildings, operate the shop and post office and carry out long-term monitoring of the wildlife. It is entirely funded by the gift shop and post office. There were many, many penguins all around the base and once we’d finished looking through the museum, we spent time watching them. After returning from this excursion, our ship cruised a short distance to Damoy Point, a rocky headland on the west coast of Wiencke Island. Once again, we were able to go ashore and have time for walk and continue to observe the many, many penguins who inhabit this area. The penguins move around from one area to another using a “penguin highway” so it was great fun to watch them using these “highways” as well as sliding on their tummies, building nests and looking after their chicks. It was a beautiful calm afternoon and made more picturesque by the snow falling. Once again, a stunning day in Antarctica

Thursday 30th January A Snowy Zodiac Trip and Paddling with Penguins

We had an early start to the day as our ship had arrived at the Melchoir Islands and groups were to depart on Zodiac tours around the area from 7.30am onwards. The kayaking group that had missed out on kayaking yesterday were also heading out. It was quite calm on the water but what made it even more special was the fact that it was also snowing! We were taken around the area, enjoying seeing the birdlife and a group of small seals, playing on the snow and diving into the water. A much larger, Weddel seal was lazing around further up the bank of snow. This area was close to an old Argentinian research station that appeared to not be used anymore. The buildings were still intact but needed maintenance. This was a delightful excursion made more fun by the falling snow and our zodiac breaking down. Another 2 zodiacs came out straight away to rescue us and we had to do a zodiac-to-zodiac transfer. All 10 of us managed this without falling in the water! We completed our zodiac tour and returned to the ship to dry off and have a hot drink to warm us up. Once everyone had returned from the zodiac cruises and the kayaking group had returned (they said they had had a lovely time kayaking around in the snow), the ship moved, heading for Neko Harbour. We enjoyed a very interesting talk titled, “Titanic Wings: Albatrosses and their Oceanic Heritage”, presented by Emil, one of the expedition team members. Following this we had lunch and then had a little rest as we were still travelling to Neko Harbour. Upon arriving, we were called down to “Base Camp” as we were going out kayaking in the magnificent bay, surrounded by huge glaciers. The glaciers were “carving” and when this happens, the sound is like thunder. We dressed into our dry suits, and prepared ourselves, stepped on to the zodiac and then were taken out into the bay. Our kayaks were trailing behind us and once out in the open, we had to transfer ourselves from the zodiac to the kayak. This seemed to be one of the difficult steps but proved to be very easy! Our guide gave us instructions on the way out in the zodiac. There were 10 guests in 5 double kayaks and our guide. We had an easy kayak enjoying the beauty of the magnificent scenery, the wildlife (penguins and seals) and the various icebergs, bergy bits and kayaking through smaller growlers. We kayaked for nearly two hours, going around a huge iceberg and our guide then took us back closer to the ship where we did the next difficult task of getting out of our kayaks and back into the zodiac. We were then given the chance to complete the landing, where the rest of the guests were, enjoying watching the penguins all assembled in the huge rookery. We quicky changed back into our “landing gear and boots”, jumped into a zodiac and took off to the landing point on a small rocky beach near the rookery. A steep but short walk on the snow took us to the main rookery. We spent an enjoyable time observing the many penguins, their chicks and all their funny antics. Returning to the ship we showered, changed and then proceeded to the dining room for another delicious 5 course dinner. Each afternoon/evening, we have a daily briefing of the day’s activities and what is coming up for the following day. This briefing was meant to start at 9.30pm but was delayed due to the fact that a whole group of orca whales were frolicking around the ship. The captain manoeuvred the ship so we could view these amazing creatures up close. It was a wonderful experience to watch these apex predator whales who swiftly move through the water more like dolphins. Our meeting did not start until 10pm!

Wednesday 29th January Stepping on to Antarctica

Overnight our ship travelled to Portal Point, a rocky narrow point in the northeast part of the Reclus Peninsula. Located on Portal Point is Cape Reclus which was a British refuge hut which operated for a couple of years in the 1950’s. It was here we were to first step onto the Antarctic continent. The guests on the ship have been split into 4 groups for the management of the excursions. Our group was to board our zodiacs in the last time slot and luckily for us, by the time it was our turn the wind had abated, and the conditions were very calm. (Earlier in the morning they had been very strong, so strong in fact that the kayaking group had to be cancelled.) We managed the “wet” onshore landing from the zodiacs with ease and enjoyed the magnificent scenery of this incredible place. Snow, ice, glaciers etc. We only spotted one lonely penguin and a couple of leopard seals during this visit although the birdlife nearby was abundant. We completed a walk up a hill to get a better view. This was pretty easy, with the only difficult part being the fact that the snow and ice which covered ground was slippery. After an hour or so we returned to the ship for lunch and we sailed on to our next destination, Wilhelmina Bay. We once again enjoyed a wonderful zodiac cruise in the bay, observing abundant birdlife and a few seals. The highlight of this cruise was spotting and watching about 4 humpback whales who were just playing and really putting on a show for us. These magnificent creatures were mesmerising and made all sorts of noises including squeaking, squealing, and noises that at times sounded like an elephant trumpeting. We spent around 20 minutes just observing them up close from our zodiac. We could have stayed out there much longer, but we needed to return to the ship. Following this wonderful experience, we were offered the “polar plunge” experience, where you could go for a quick dip in the ocean. Rob and I opted out of this activity but Millie and Geoff both bravely had a dip and survived. Following a delicious dinner, we spent time watching some more magnificent humpback whales, putting on a show close to the ship.

Tuesday 28th January, Iceberg Ahead, Land Ahoy!

Once again, we slept well and had an early start to the day. We did some whale spotting before Millie and I went to the gym around 6.15am, while the boys headed to the laundry with our washing. While in the gym, we saw more whales and our first icebergs. This was exciting and the further we ventured the larger the icebergs. Following breakfast, we attended a compulsory briefing for people who hoped to be able to kayak during the next few days in Antarctica. We all went and are really hoping that we will be able to do this activity. We were shown photos of how you get into the kayak and a video of how you get out…..which seemed to be the most challenging part of the excursion.J Another demonstration was how we would put on and take off the specially designed “dry-suit” which you would wear kayaking. Again, this could be quite the challenge. The scenery became more interesting as we passed snow and ice covered volcanic looking islands. These included King George Island, Livingstone, Deception Island and many other small islands.  Another lecture provided us with interesting information about “What is a sea-bird?”. These lectures are provided by members of the expedition team who have the expertise in the topic. Later in the afternoon, we enjoyed an unusual session about crimes in Antarctica. In between the talks we enjoyed watching the ever-changing magnificent scenery of ice, snow, icebergs, whales, birds etc. The actual itinerary for today had a late change and this was due to the fact that we had arrived in Charcot Bay, Antarctica and that zodiac cruises had been organised for the guests.  We were very excited and so had our dinner and then went to our room to dress by layering, up to go out in the zodiacs. It honestly is too difficult to describe the beauty of this zodiac excursion amongst the icebergs and wildlife. We were lucky to see two leopard seals lying on small icebergs and a whale. Our trip lasted around 40 minutes before we returned to the ship. We had only just got back on board the ship and were in the lift, returning to our rooms when there was an announcement to say that 3 humpback whales were frolicking near the ship. They were probably 50 metres from the ship and started at the bow and proceeded to entertain us with a wonderful display that brought joy to all who saw this. They were blowing and making noises, diving, banging their tails etc. Rob captured some great video of this. As they moved away from the stern of the boat, they continued to display these behaviours. It was almost as if they had come to greet the ship. The weather for this excursion was perfect so we were very lucky. Apparently, it is the best it will be for our trip but even if this is all that we got to do I would still die happy and think how lucky we have been.

Monday 27th January, Drakes Passage A Busy Day Prepping

After a great night sleep we headed down to breakfast. We had been told by our expedition leader, last night that we should have a reasonable journey across Drakes Passage over the next two days unlike the last expedition where the travellers experienced very rough conditions with huge waves of 7-10 metres. In fact we found out, that passengers had been encourage to stay in their rooms because it would have been dangerous to move around the ship. Despite being given this information, we still did some rocking around and some of our group (mainly Rob) did start to feel a little queasy. He took some medication and limited his eating which hopefully will do the trick.  Following breakfast, we headed to the Observation Lounge for a mandatory (and interesting) briefing session for environmental protection of Antarctica. We were also lead through a detailed explanation of how we would get on and off the zodiacs when going to the land and the dos and don’ts as far as dealing with the wildlife and the Antarctic environment. This was followed by Muck Boot fittings and a mandatory biosecurity of all our outer-wear. Gloves, pants, hats, neck warmers were all checked for anything on them that might need cleaning off and a team from the ship, brushed, vacuumed, and dusted the clothing, especially velcro areas to ensure everything was pristine and that people would not be transporting unwanted seeds or whatever from their clothing to Antarctica. Later in the day we attended various lectures presented by the expedition members, with subjects including photography and discovering Cetaceans. Following these lectures, I decided to go for a dip in the outdoor, heated, small infinity pool with some of the other Australian passengers, I’d met. It was quite pleasant and certainly lovely to enjoy the pool and the good conversation in a most extraordinary situation. Prior to dinner, we enjoyed the Captain’s Welcome Cocktail. Here we could enjoy canapés and cocktails while the Captain introduced the Senior Officers of the ship. We went from this lounge to the restaurant for a delicious 4 course dinner. It seems that nearly everything is included with this cruise. We are always offered wine, beer etc at dinner and the bar area has a large range of wines, beers and cocktails that are all included. Interesting to note that some guests are indulging in alcohol quite early in the morning. Not us of course! We finished the night off back in the Observation lounge for some light entertainment. One of the expedition team, Gustav from Sweeden, when not working on Antarctic expeditions, is involved in musical theatre and he provide us with some excellent renditions of many older hits.

Sunday 26th January, The Excitement Begins, Buenos Aires to Ushuaia, then boarding Swan Hellenic Vega

We both awoke before our 4.20 am wake-up call repacked our gear, and headed to breakfast, where the other 150 Swan Hellenic guests from all over the world were also enjoying breakfast. Following breakfast, we were taken to the airport. Buenos Aries airport does things a little differently. As a group we joined the security line-up, about a 500metre line that snaked its way around the terminal. The line moved quite quickly so we weren’t too concerned. Once we were at the nominated gate and ready for our departure, staff just called us up in our groups for loading and asked us to line up in imaginary lines. Also, if they needed to find a passenger, they didn’t use the audio system they just got the person with the loudest voice to call out the person’s name, several times until that person heard and went to the desk. Our flight to Ushuaia was uneventful but particularly spectacular as we approached Ushuaia. Huge snow-capped mountains all around us and the winds buffeting the plane as we came in for landing made for an interesting time. Once we arrived, we were put onto several coaches and given a tour of the town. Ushuaia is a small town in a stunning location and of course has become famous for being the starting point for the Antarctic Cruise ships. We were then taken to our ship and completed boarding formalities, before going to the beautiful restaurant for a late lunch. Our ship is simply magnificent, quite luxurious and our cabins are spacious and beautifully appointed. Following lunch, we went for a short walk around the main part of Ushuaia before returning to the ship for dinner. Before dinner, we had an introduction talk in the Club lounge where the general staff and expedition team were introduced to us. This group was made up of 14 people from all over the world with expertise in different fields relating to Antarctica. These included zoology, geology, marine biology, scientific research, history, photography, environmental science etc. Many will also be driving the zodiacs which will take us to shore.  A lovely young Chinese couple were sitting adjacent to us, and we asked them where they were from (Shanghai) and they asked us where we were from. When we said Adelaide, they became very excited as they had both studied at the University of Adelaide to obtain their degrees. They had been in Adelaide for 4 years and had met there, returned to China to work had recently married. This trip was their Honeymoon. We returned to our rooms after dinner and we virtually fell asleep as soon as our heads hit the pillow.

Saturday 25th Jan. A long day in planes! Adelaide to Buenos Aires

We had an extremely long day in planes today but in the end, it was well and truly worth it. Arriving at Adelaide Airport around 6.15am, we had plenty of time to check in and have a coffee before we needed to be at our gate for the flight to Melbourne. Our luggage had been checked all the way through to Buenos Aires. While having coffee with our travelling companions, Millie and Geoff, we met up with a woman from my gym and started chatting to her. She was heading to Laos to a bear sanctuary. She kept chatting and then Rob received a phone call from our airline to say that we needed to be on the plane as the plane had been loaded and was just waiting for the last passengers, that was us! Any way we left Adelaide around 8.10 am in the morning and had had an uneventful trip to Melbourne. In Melbourne we had a couple of hours to transfer from the domestic terminal to the International one. Our next flight was to take 13 hours, Melbourne to Santiago, Chile, flying with Latin American Airlines. This trip included us flying over the international dateline and so time went backwards, and we arrived in Santiago on Saturday at a time that was before we’d actually left Melbourne! The plane we travelled on was a very new one and had all the flash lighting on it to simulate, dusk, dawn, night etc. This would have been OK had they not kept us in the dark for so long. They clearly hoped everyone would sleep. Out of the 13 hours in the plane, at least 10 of them were in night mode. We all struggled to sleep instead opting to watch movies. Arriving in Santiago, we originally were going to have a 2 hour wait to catch our next plane to Buenos Aries, but this ballooned out to nearly 5 hours due to issues with finding a crew for the plane. By the time we finally arrived in Buenos Aries it was dark and approaching 9pm. We along with the other 14 or so people from the Australian group were met by a representative from the Swan Hellenic cruise company and were then taken by coach to our beautiful Sofitel Hotel, arriving around 10pm. By now we were all feeling exhausted and were desperate for sleep but we had been given a voucher for dinner by the cruise company, so we headed to the restaurant and ended up having a delicious dinner. We finished up back in our rooms at 11pm. Rob and Geoff estimated that we had been on the go for about 30 hours without proper rest so we were pretty exhausted and after a shower fell into bed….because we were going to receive a wake-up call at 4.20am on Sunday so we could be ready for our next flight to Ushuaia.

Probably the Last Photos for the Blog

 

Now for a Few Photos