Ports, Bays, Channels, Harbours, funny hats and a BBQ – 20 March

Eyes open today after a good nights sleep anchored near Port Lockroy.

We have a good 10-15 cm of snow on our balcony and as the fog cleared I could see Port Lockroy in the distance.

Unfortunately the crew that staff Port Lockroy left about a week ago and while we can go ashore and look around the first UK Antarctic base and through the museum, the Post Office and shop are shut. Aurora have two expedition team members who have spent a season at Port Lockroy, so we can visit the Museum.

Off to breaky as usual and then back to get ready for call to zodiacs around 9am.

Deck 7 was first call, so a scurry to final touches before heading down to the Mudroom on deck 4, here we put on our ‘Muck’ boots and life jacket then line up to await the call to zodiac. We then scan off the ship with our ‘Orca’ card and step into the mixture to clean boots for bio security. Then out of ship onto Zodiac (we learnt today that the ship moves ballast to create a list (which is a lean to one side for us landlubbers) which brings the door in the ship’s hull to zodiac level to make it easier to step on. It was snowing when we got on the zodiac, we fluked all being on same first zodiac to Port Lockroy with Stephi as driver giving us a history lesson on the way.

What started as a dreary, foggy day was turning into another ripper day. The landing at Lockroy was pretty straightforward, we landed on rocks and then wandered up the trail in the snow to the museum, being an early zodiac we got in straight away and looked through the base including kitchen, workshop, loo, sleeping quarters, scientific room, and some more.

The island the base sits on is Goudier Island, and the people who staff the base carry out research on the impact of tourists – half the island does not have any human visits as opposed to Port Lockroy which is the most visited site in Antarctica. The good news is the tourists make no discernible difference to the penguins existence.

There are penguins all around the buildings and we were able to stand and watch their antics. The penguins here are Gentoo penguins, mostly these are the chicks born earlier in the season and fewer adults. The chicks are moulting and many are still hassling adults for food. We stayed and watched for a while before transferring back to the Zodiac to go and have a bit of squiz at Jougla Point.

Getting off the zodiac I saw a really cool bit of phytoplankton- I must chase Russell from the expedition team and ask him what it was. He told me and I’ve forgotten I think it’s a salta or something like that.

Jougla point had a few options set out by the Expedition Team – a view of the boat and the bay, with Gentoo penguins, cormorants, skuas and other birds all around, there was also a frozen lake.

In the other direction there were some whale bones and another set of bones laid out in shape of whale.

I spent a lot of time watching penguins in and around the water and rocks which was filled with snow capped bergy bits in all shapes and sizes.

It was a fun landing on both spots.

Back to ship, where Howard suggested a quick lunch and back on deck to view our passage through Nuemeyer Channel. Again another stunning passage though icebergs and bergy bits surrounded by the tallest and cragiest mountains capped with ice and snow and glaciers. The height is deceptive as all the scale down here is – size is all relative and it just goes on and on infinitum.

We travelled through for about 45 minutes in delightful sunshine and clear skies. Then we rounded a point and the wind kicked in, it was chilly and cold and sent us inside for a bit, but then the views and reflections were too much and we’d venture out again.

We were entering Neko harbour, our second landing for the day. The crew had set out a hike up to a stunning viewpoint. There was a humpback whale calling and blowing in the bay, again Gentoos coming in from the sea and using their well worn penguin highways to move from the shore up to their rocky rookeries.

We climbed to the viewpoint and overlooked a sun streaked harbour filled with ice and bergs. The weather was kind, it was hot climbing up, but well worth the view. Then a short zodiac ride back to the ship. I was in a separate zodiac to the others with Howard who was teaching Lelia to drive an icebreaker zodiac through the brash ice. We were lucky enough to see a leopard seal on a berg.

Back on board we had BBQ on deck 8 with Gluhwein and silly hats. We ate our main course out on deck as the sunset, with those views just getting better. It got too cold so we took dessert inside in the observation lounge, chatting with other passengers before heading back to cabins to shower and download pics, write up the day and try and get an early night.

Today at Neko Harbour was another continental landing.

With no recap/ precap we had to wait for the updated Daily plan to see what tomorrow holds.