The Falkland Islands
Needless to say, Jutta and I have been back for a couple of weeks now, but felt I should finish the blog, for the sake of my own memory, as much as for the many of you who are just sitting on the edge of your seats waiting for these last few pages covering the Antarctic cruise portion of the trip, so here we go.
It wasn't long before we were introduced to the ship's PA system..........Gooooood afternoon ladies and gentlemen.........our expedition leader Hayley Shepherd greeted everyone over the speakers with her Kiwi accent, and laid out the schedule for the rest of the day which was comprised mainly of mandatory safety meetings and drills, but also a run down on what the next 19 days was going to look like for us. We would be cruising for 1.5 days to reach our first destination.......The Falkland Islands. Every day had been planned, but as we found out, the weather is a very important factor in these parts, and our schedule would change dramatically from what was first suggested.
When you were at sea, the days were filled with lectures and presentations from the expedition team........a most knowledgeable and accomplished group of people who we were most lucky to have with us, and their leader Haley was an Antarctic guru, this being her 17th season down under.......they had so much to tell tell us, and all were so passionate about this amazing part of the World we were about to visit. Oh yeah, I forgot about the other part of our day......eating.......breakfast and lunch buffets, afternoon tea with scones on the even days, and panini sandwiches on the odd, snackies as we went into our daily recap around 6pm, followed by a full 3 course dinner 7:30'ish. That shower stall is looking smaller all the time.
The seas were manageable on this leg of the trip.......4-6 meter swells, which Doctor Tom the ship's Kiwi doctor said was baby stuff. Jutta and I have decided to avoid taking any anti nausea medication as they all seem to have drowsy side effects........would rather be fully awake and just deal with it if we can. Most other passengers are on the dope, wearing wristbands, or have the medicated patches on behind their ears.......as Tom would say, "When did you get the bolts removed?" Right on cue, our second day at sea, first thing in the morning.......Gooooood morning ladies and gentlemen......guess who?........she woke us up every day for almost three weeks.........this morning she was announcing our first land sighting.....the northwest tip of the Falklands.
We had two terrific excursions on this day, via zodiac to Westpoint Island, and Saunders Island, and were introduced to our first wildlife of the trip. I have to say, I never though I would have so much interest in birds, but they were a huge part of the trip as it turned out, and the sea birds in particular are nothing short of amazing. We met our first penguins of the trip, and were introduced to that lovely odour which is fresh in my mind every time I look at my pictures.
When I mentioned weather above, this is where it got interesting. The next leg of our voyage was some 800 nautical miles to South Georgia Island in open seas the whole way. It would take over two full days to cover this distance with reasonable seas, but at our daily recap, Haley announced the weather forecast looked pretty scary. A storm was brewing to the west, and if we left now as planned, it would slam into us as we headed south. The ship was equipped with the latest forecasting equipment as it was totally refurbished just a couple of years ago, and was able to predict with great accuracy expected winds, sea swells, etc.. The captain reinforced Haley's position, so the decision was made to wait it out, have another shore excursion in the morning, then hunker down overnight and let the storm pass before possibly leaving the next afternoon. There is no land mass west of the southern end of South America, so storms routinely travel unimpeded across open waters, and slam their way through the narrow Drake Passage and into the Scotia Sea producing some crazy conditions.
The winds picked up as expected overnight. Nobody expected they would reach hurricane strength, but they did. Even in our somewhat sheltered position in the harbour, the captain was working very hard at keeping the ship in proper position into the wind........fair to say that a lot of sleep was lost that evening. Expectations were that we would be able to leave the next afternoon and follow the storm as it passed through, so we made our way to the outer harbour, a large bay east of Stanley. All of a sudden the ship slowed down. I went out for a look with the binoculars and saw in the distance the end of the bay leading to open sea. Couldn't believe it. Huge waves visible on the horizon, crashing into the rocky island in the centre of the channel and on the shores of either side, and then a ship came into view heading north, a rockin' and a rollin' like crazy. Turns out this was a ship we saw in port the day before........much larger than us........headed to South Georgia also.......tried to make a go of it but were forced to turn around and come back to a safe mooring. Needless to say, we were going to be spending a little more time in the Falklands. At recap Haley ran through what had happened over the past 24 hours, and advised that the forecasts looked promising for departure sometime after noon tomorrow. Turns out that is exactly what happened, and we were on our way to South Georgia Island.........
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| Our route
The embarkation process was very well organized except for one late bus.....ours......taking us from the hotel in Ushuaia down to the the port. We were only a few minutes late however, and as a result, I had the honour of being the last person to board the ship before the gangway was lifted and we were underway. Saved the best for last. Our cabin was good sized on one of the two upper decks, had a nice little balcony which came in very handy as the trip progressed, and we were right next door to the bridge, just in case the captain needed to call on me for advice. The washroom was as small as I thought it would be, and with one look at the shower stall I was sure my extensive yoga training and naturally flexible frame was going to come into play daily.
 
Thats us up there
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When you were at sea, the days were filled with lectures and presentations from the expedition team........a most knowledgeable and accomplished group of people who we were most lucky to have with us, and their leader Haley was an Antarctic guru, this being her 17th season down under.......they had so much to tell tell us, and all were so passionate about this amazing part of the World we were about to visit. Oh yeah, I forgot about the other part of our day......eating.......breakfast and lunch buffets, afternoon tea with scones on the even days, and panini sandwiches on the odd, snackies as we went into our daily recap around 6pm, followed by a full 3 course dinner 7:30'ish. That shower stall is looking smaller all the time.
The seas were manageable on this leg of the trip.......4-6 meter swells, which Doctor Tom the ship's Kiwi doctor said was baby stuff. Jutta and I have decided to avoid taking any anti nausea medication as they all seem to have drowsy side effects........would rather be fully awake and just deal with it if we can. Most other passengers are on the dope, wearing wristbands, or have the medicated patches on behind their ears.......as Tom would say, "When did you get the bolts removed?" Right on cue, our second day at sea, first thing in the morning.......Gooooood morning ladies and gentlemen......guess who?........she woke us up every day for almost three weeks.........this morning she was announcing our first land sighting.....the northwest tip of the Falklands.
We had two terrific excursions on this day, via zodiac to Westpoint Island, and Saunders Island, and were introduced to our first wildlife of the trip. I have to say, I never though I would have so much interest in birds, but they were a huge part of the trip as it turned out, and the sea birds in particular are nothing short of amazing. We met our first penguins of the trip, and were introduced to that lovely odour which is fresh in my mind every time I look at my pictures.
A warm welcome and cuppa tea at Westpoint
Black Browed Albatross
Chick
Rock Hopper Penguin
Saunders Island
Gentoo Penguin
The ship cruised overnight and in the morning we arrived in Stanley, the capital of the Falklands. We docked a short distance from town and chose to walk a path along the shore rather than take the bus.......good choice. Town was lovely and very British. Many reminders of the Falklands war, both 1982, and 1914, and a great museum installation, well cared for and very well presented. We had a great walk around town, nice lunch, stopped at most of the shops, took a whack of pictures, and made our way back to the ship stopping for a beer along the way.
Everyone on these islands drives a Land Rover
EXCEPT THIS GUY
The winds picked up as expected overnight. Nobody expected they would reach hurricane strength, but they did. Even in our somewhat sheltered position in the harbour, the captain was working very hard at keeping the ship in proper position into the wind........fair to say that a lot of sleep was lost that evening. Expectations were that we would be able to leave the next afternoon and follow the storm as it passed through, so we made our way to the outer harbour, a large bay east of Stanley. All of a sudden the ship slowed down. I went out for a look with the binoculars and saw in the distance the end of the bay leading to open sea. Couldn't believe it. Huge waves visible on the horizon, crashing into the rocky island in the centre of the channel and on the shores of either side, and then a ship came into view heading north, a rockin' and a rollin' like crazy. Turns out this was a ship we saw in port the day before........much larger than us........headed to South Georgia also.......tried to make a go of it but were forced to turn around and come back to a safe mooring. Needless to say, we were going to be spending a little more time in the Falklands. At recap Haley ran through what had happened over the past 24 hours, and advised that the forecasts looked promising for departure sometime after noon tomorrow. Turns out that is exactly what happened, and we were on our way to South Georgia Island.........
Stormy night on the bridge
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