Dave & Claire´s Travels: Deception Island & Half Moon Island (Xmas Eve)

Well, after our long rest period in Ushuaia we finally set sail for Antarctica on board the Ioffe on December 21st 2007! We were walked down to the ship by Alecia (the woman who sold us the trip). Once on board we had to immediately hand over our passports. Odd. Needed for the ships manifest apparently. We got them back at the end of the trip. Hayley Shepperd, the Expedition leader (hence forth referred to as the EL) greeted us all aboard.

To our surprise, and delight, we had received a cabin upgrade! Instead of sharing toilet & shower facilities with an entire deck we would only have to share with our immediate neighbours. Each of us had a door to the bathroom in our cabin so when you entered you had to lock the other door from the inside (semi en suite). The reason for the upgrade was that there was a group of about 15 Michigan University students on a field trip & they occupied the full lower deck. Nice trip, eh? The normal price for our new cabin was $19,000, needless to say we were pleased as punch with this! The cabin itself was small. One bed to the left as you enter, bathroom on right, table & chair at end of bed with wardrobe & fridge opposite and couch (which miraculously transformed into a 2nd bed each night while we were at dinner) across the end of the room beneath a large window that we could open. That was our cabin. ......

No time to look around, we were quickly called to the dining room by our EL (remember Expedition Leader) for a welcome buffet & run through of our planned itinerary. She did stress that we´d need to be flexible because weather & ice would dictate our route & activities. She also laboured that we had 2.5 days on the Drake Passage getting to Antarctica ie if you have sea sickness prophylaxis take it now!! We had none, doh!! On the last crossing, the ship had done, the waters were very very rocky. Guests disappeared to their cabins & weren't seen for two days except for when they deposited their sickness bags outside their door. We were told there is there is the Drake Shake & the Drake Lake. Pray for the Drake Lake. Apparently there are people who´d love to go to Antarctica but won´t because of the Drake Shake. Anyway, you´ll be glad to know, as we were, that we got the Drake Lake.

The entire crossing was fairly uneventful really. Some of the naturalists on board gave scheduled lectures of a distinctly antarctic theme eg Shackleton, Seabirds of the south, marine mammals etc. An old fella, Ray, told us the story of how he came to have a mountain in Antarctica named after him when he led an expedition back in 1963. Fascinating character. Claire particularly liked him because he had some Scottish blood in him, he liked his whisky in generous portions, and more specifically, he reminded her of her Dad. At the various meals, we guests, busied ourselves sussing each other out. After a couple of days our steady group consisted of 2 Ozzies (Rowan & Jo), 2 South Africans (Jan & Jay), 2 Canadians (Andrew & Francoise) and of course Mick & Nadya (Irish & Canadian). Great craic, great characters.

Our first sighting of land was the South Shetland Islands. We were to attempt a landing at Deception Island inside the caldera of the volcano. En route we passed our first icebergs. So beautiful the Captain (see picture opposite) was good enough to circumnavigate one of them for us. We´re not sure what was more impressive, the amazing berg or the Captains ability to turn this huge ship around a relatively small object and yet so close to it!

When we got to Deception Island the entrance to the Caldera was blocked by sea ice. Our ship was rated to break one year old sea ice so the Captain got us up close to see if he would still attempt to get in. Meanwhile we could see a sailing ship that inside that we later heard was trapped in there for several days as a result of the ice. After nudging some of the ice out of the way our Captain felt he would be able to get in, but as hings can change so quickly, he could not guarantee that we would be able to get back out again! Our EL decided that, rather than spend our entire trip on Deception Island we´d take a Zodiac (inflatable dingy) ride along the shore instead. This was most enjoyable and we got to see penguins entering and leaving the water, seals & some funky rock formations. Towards the end of the 2 hour excursion most peoples feet were becoming blocks of ice. Quickly, back to the ship for a hot shower, ah that´s better!!

Next we made our way to Half Moon Island where we did manage to land. It was gloriously sunny so Claire and I decided to take the long hike option, remember we had been cramped on the ship for the last 3 days. The island itself was beautiful. It had those real stereotypical Antarctic Vistas. We climbed to a high peak at one end of the crescent shaped island and simply enjoyed the incredible scenery. On our way back to the landing site we passed a humongous Elephant Seal. This guy was as big as a house, he was huuuuuge. The penguin rookery was also drawing much attention from the photographers.... and would be photographers.

Once back on board it was time to head for the Weddell Sea. This is where poor old Shackelton came a cropper on his Endurance voyage. One of the naturalists told the full story the following evening. He even gave a special mention to Tom Crean, the Irishman from Anascaul, who was instrumental in ensuring the survival of all 27 of Shackleton's men. I (Dave) was reminded of the fact that a certain supervisor at Wyeth (who shall remain nameless), still has my copy of Tom Creans biography "An Unsung Hero"!