Still following in Shakelton´s footsteps we next headed for Elephant Island where 22 of his men lived for 4 and a half months, sleeping under their rowing boats, waiting and hoping that The Boss would make it safely to South Georgia and bring help to rescue them off this barren isolated rock. En-route the captain maneuvered us through a slalom of huge icebergs. If you hadn´t got that picture postcard shot yet, now was your chance. Everyone was hoping to make a landing on Elephant Island, including the crew, but when we got there the water was too choppy. which apparently is the norm. We did send 2 crew members out in a zodiac just to make sure it was too choppy for us paying guests. Yep, sure enough they were tossed around like a rag doll. Just then we got a call from The Fram, remember The Fram, who told us that they were in the bay of a nearby island, Gibbs Island, and that the waters were calm and perfect for zodiac cruising. They also mentioned that there were lots of macaroni penguins!! Let´s get going......
Well as it turned out there were very few macaroni penguins....2 in fact (see picture to left), but we did have a nice final excursion along the shoreline. The waters were still quite choppy so it was funny watching the penguins trying to get out of the water only to be dragged back in by the next wave coming along. They have great human-like characteristics right down to the shiver and shake they do when they are safely back on terra firma.With this last zodiac cruise complete on Gibbs Island we headed back to Elephant Island. Earlier we had been anchored off the southern shore. This time the captain took us around to the northern shore where Shack´s men moved to once they realised that their original landing site was unsuitable for "long-term" residency. As we sailed around the island you could get a sense of what the men must have been thinking. All along the shore it is nothing but sheer cliffs that come right down to the water. You could picture them rowing along in their 3 small boats thinking "come on, give us a break. Let this rock give way to a sheltered cove, or a beach that stretches back high above the waterline. Anything". What they eventually found was a small beach flanked by a glacier on one side, rocks on the other side, and sheer cliffs at the rear. The beach was only about 100 meters long. Nothing to eat but penguin and seal. I´ll tell ya, they must have been a long 4 and a half months!!
As we came around the island we had great views but then the mist rolled in and by the time we reached Point Wild (named after Frank Wild who was 2nd in charge of the expedition), where the beach is located, visibility was down to about 20 feet. We couldn´t see a thing. Thankfully the captain was happy to point the bow of the ship towards the beach and simply sit and wait. All the while Ray, the old Antarctic explorer mentioned earlier, was speaking over the PA system giving some history and background to the area. Eventually the mist did clear and we could see the beach. Scary. It wasn´t like these men could go anywhere. They were completely hemmed in and exposed to the harsh South Atlantic wind and sea. They had converted there 2 remaining lifeboats into sleeping/living quarters. There is a small statuette/bust commemorating there presence on the beach...well kind of, the bust is of the captain of the Yelcho, the ship that eventually rescued them. And with that it was time to turn the ship in the direction of the Drake Passage and start heading back to Ushuaia. Some of us wanted to feel the full fury of the waters this time around. "Come on, let´s see what you´ve got!!". It was a lot choppier than our first crossing with water crashing up onto the bow but I don´t think we say the worst of what it is capable of....or maybe we did and we just have cast iron stomachs.
We also had the small matter of New Years Eve to contend with. After dinner on the 31st there was a small fancy dress contest - theme "Sailors and Movie Stars". Claire already had her pink Lonesome George t-shirt on so she coupled this with a pink bandana worn on her head and an eye patch and hey presto...she was The Pink Pirate. And she was one of the 5 finalists who all won a prize. Incredible. Claire got an Ioffe/Antarctica cap that she later gave to Mick. With this bit of fun over with Claire, myself, and James (videographer) went to Mick and Nadya´s room for some contraband beverages. Once the engine was nicely ticking over, around 11ish, we headed down to the bar. Everyone was in great form. Claire had managed to borrow a tartan cap, complete with red hair around the sides and back, from the ships fancy dress box so I was sent back to the cabin to get that. The worst thing I did is that while there I also picked up our camera and camcorder. That´s right folks, our fall into the depths of insobriety has been captured forever. The craic was mighty and at midnight we had the full countdown followed by a rather dubious rendition of Auld Lang Syne. We continued partying until around 3am (some stayed up dancing until 5 and beyond). Needless to say we were a bit groggy the following morning but we all agreed that we had rang in 2008 in style.
Elephant Island
Point Wild
