December 27th: Bongrain Point and Horseshoe Island

 Ok, so here we are way south, the sky is frickin blue, the wind calm and the ice bergs stunning. Life doesn't get better right?  Wrong!!!

OMG, OMG, OMG! today we found penguin babies at Bongrain Point! Wee bundles of silvery-grey fluff that hatched right around Christmas, tucked up under mum (or dad). Lots of twins too!

This adelie colony was breathtakingly stinky and off the charts cute! We wandered up to 15' from the nesting parents, mesmerized by the calls, gentle poking and feeding and coordinated efforts it would take to get their offspring safely reared. Surely a photographers dream?! Well, taking pics is harder than it looks. Firstly, in the colony area, there is a sea of birds, nests, rocks and "mud", rendering them all kinda red-brown. Secondly, the parents do a mighty fine job of hiding their babies. Pretty sure not from us per se, but definitely from skua birds who patrol the skies and land in search of unattended babies. At the first moment an inexperienced mom turns her gaze or her body from her chick, a skua will snatch it and call it dinner. After all, skuas are nesting now too and have hunting and gathering responsibilities if they want to get their chicks from fluffy to feathered before the summer ends. 

Life here is harsh. The struggle to survive is real, the timeline is exhausting, child rearing and keeping the bonds of partnership alive is a full time job.How many people get to yield to penguins on a penguin highway before wandering a beach that may never have been wandered on? We did. 

And then we cruised...

After lunch we did it all again. This time the location was Horseshoe Island. This area was mapped in 1936/37 and a base was established by the British in the 40's. It was only occupied until the 60's but remnants remain and seabirds are now the only ones to call Horseshoe, their home.

Every day just seems to be better than the last. The protocols and procedures are becoming second nature and all of a sudden I have more brain space to stop and breathe, look around and take in minute details of life, light and the environment that supports and reflects it all. 

Back at the ship, bathed in daylight, the picture-taking continued. We had a BBQ dinner, topside. 

Even the view out the window of our room was spectacular. <sigh>

So. Much. Gratitude. 

December 26th: Detaille Island and "The Gullet"

 Day 5: Dec 26th

Could today trump yesterday? Um... apparently it could and we didn't even get off the ship!

Moody skies and city-block sized icebergs frame gargantuan mountains. I mean, these things rise 5000+ feet from the bays, passages and ocean waters to the sky. Shear cliffs, glaciers and wind-swept peaks take one's breath away again and again. I live at the base of the Rocky Mountains and still have trouble describing the mountains of Antarctica. Using the word "indescribable" just seems lame but pictures can't do them justice either. 

Detaille Island was magnificent. Untouched, unspoiled, ruggedly gorgeous. An untamed animal. 

As the day warmed up and the sun broke through, the fog moved off in wisps and waves. Layers of eye candy for this gal who delights in how the sky in all its colorful, breathy glory, adds to a picture. 

We crossed south of the Antarctic Circle around 9:30am-ish this morning! Yet another reason to celebrate aboard the Ocean Endeavour.

As a consequence of the weather's changing mood out there, the swell was 6-10' and as it drenched the underpants of the gangway crew, the decision was made to spare the passengers and motor off to a new destination. 

There was a rumor (2 days old) the "gullet" might be passable. A chance Captain Alexi was willing to take - The Gullet had not be navigated by this or other vessels of this nature in about 7 years. Few of our crew had ever been this way... this far south... or had this good weather EVER and everyone was excited. 

Successfully navigating this narrow channel would take 4-6 hours and and yes, ice bergs were going faster than our vessel as Steve pointed out - but the alternative was a 17 journey around Adelaide Island, using more of our precious time and burning more fuel.

The journey was a spectacular one. No landing could have competed with this and I was not the only one who felt that dinner (as great as it was) pulled us indoors when we simply wanted to stay outside tonight. Did I forget to mention it's light here all the time?  Like... All. The. Time. The sun technically dips below the horizon between about 11pm and 1-2am, but not enough to turn the lights out. It's just dusky. Beautifully, softly dusky.

Aptly pointed out by Jonathan; You can sleep when you are dead.