Day13 MS Roald amundsen

There is blue sky and a gentle rock to the boat. Somewhat less than yesterday!

Pretty chilly and very easy to tuck our heads back under the doona for some more sleep.

We are probably a bit silly but we do sleep with the door open a bit. It’s nice being able to hear the sea outside ( that is when I dont feel that it’s about to come through the door)

But it does make for a cold morning.

We only have one lecture this morning ( remember it is a conference!) and then a few mandatory briefings on what to do when we kayak or when we participate in mainland landings. We also have to vacuum any outside clothes/backpacks that will go ashore to prevent ecological contamination. Also we are told the “rules” to avoid stressing the the local wildlife, or us if the local wild life is bigger!

The captain informs us that we are ahead of schedule and he anticipates our landing at yankee harbour this afternoon.

Yankee harbour is a small harbour in the southwest side of the southern Shetland islands of Antarctica.

As we are close, we are all hauled out of a lecture to see an iceberg beside us.

As we approach the snow covered hills, they peek above the horizon and get larger and clearer. In the ocean around us the krill are visible, there are penguins .....above the water( though from a distance they are just splashed on the surface) all  around are puffs of water vapour like fountains on the ocean, indicative of whales, though none are seen. Our excitement grows. 

We have a short trip ashore to ... and see many gentoo penguins, only 1 chinstrap penguin and a few fur seals. One of which swims in the water close to us as we head back to our ship as the sun gradually settles below the horizon. 

What a day!! We have made it to Antarctica...