Dave & Claire´s Travels: Christmas & Boxing Day in Antarctica

On Christmas Day we took a really enjoyable zodiac cruise along the side of some thick sea ice. It was as though the penguins had an underwater trampoline. One second there was nothing, the next second there was a penguin 4 feet in the air landing on the ice. It was hilarious to watch. Our EL who was dressed from head to toe in red (including festive Santa hat) decided that we should disembark onto the ice... once she had determined that it wasn´t going to collapse under us.

Antarctica is similar to Galapagos in that the penguins have no fear of humans. They will come right up to you (no one has told them about the 5 meter rule). It felt really special to be out standing on a vast plane of ice, surrounded by penguins, on Antarctica, on Christmas Day. That´s one for when we´re grey & wrinkly.

Back on the Ioffe the captain had filled the large outdoor plunge pool with water from the surrounding Weddell Sea, i.e. icy cold, and invited anyone brave enough (or stupid enough depending on your perspective) to jump in and submerge themselves in Antarctic waters on Christmas Day. Who could resist? Well, quite a few as it turns out. Claire was going to do it but chickened out at the last minute. In the end only about 15 of the 100 passengers chose to do the plunge. We were presented with a special certificate stating:

"This Certificate is awarded to David Barry in order to honour the adventurous spirit that inspired you to immerse your body and soul into the icy waters of the Antarctic".

Oh, and in case you´re wondering, yes, it was bleedin´ freezing. Then it was time for a slap-up turkey dinner. Ok, it was nothing to compare to the one we prepare back home but hey, I guess turkeys aren´t as plentiful in Antarctica....at least I think it was turkey. After dinner we retired to the bar (& joined in a Christmas Carol sing along) where James, the 6 foot 3 inch Welsh on board videographer, was completely smashed. His brain was MIA so whatever came into his mind to say he would just say without that "is this an appropriate thing for me to say or not" stage kicking in. I won´t quote him here as there may be some minors reading this but suffice to say it was rich in dockland humour. Great guy, great craic. For our part we were pretty sedate. We enjoyed some drinks with our aforementioned friends, Claire had a bit of a boogie on the dance floor and we hit the sack around 2am.

We headed south through the Weddell Sea until just before 64th parallel ie 64oC South, where we were prevented from going any further by thick pack ice. Not wishing to reinact the voyage of the Endurance we turned the ship around & headed for Devil Island just a little further North. Here again we had a really great landing. The weather was clear, dry and sunny. There were penguins everywhere and lots of hiking options available also.

Remembering his childhood days of watching "Marys Make & Do" Dave had made a makeshift Irish flag from the back of a cornflakes box and needless to say, had to take himself off to the highest peak, in order to claim rightful ownership for Ireland. If you´re ever in the area feel free to stop by.

Dave got some great video footage of the penguins here too. You are supposed to stay back five meters so when he saw a procession of them coming his way he placed the camera on the ground, recording, and stepped back a safe distance. The penguins proceeded to walk straight passed the camera lens. It´s fab.

At this stage of our trip we were constantly seeing huge tabular icebergs. Colossal slabs of ice cut in almost perfect squares and completely flat on top. Some were a few kilometers long!!

Tabular Iceberg