I poked my phone to see what the time was. 7am, respectable. Our alarm was set to go off at 8am.
I got up and peeked through the curtains out our cabin window which spans half the ship.
“Ah,” I said.
A slightly concerned “what?” came from Dan.
“Ah,” I said again.
I turned to him.
“We’re not going back to bed.”
Dan got up and peeked through the curtain too.
“Ah,” he agreed, “we aren’t going back to bed.”
Words cannot describe the view that we saw through that front window. A couple of people had gotten up early and were out on Deck 7, but it was largely quiet and empty. We raced into our cold weather clothes, grabbed our cameras, slapped on some sunscreen and ran out the door.
***
The night before Dan ended up going back out onto Deck 7. I was feeling a bit off again, and was preparing to go to bed when I was overcome with Fomo to see an Antarctic sunset. The weather had cleared up considerably since earlier that day, and the sky was clear with patchy clouds ripe for the sunset to catch.
Sunset was about 11:30pm, and the sun rose again not long after. The sun never really vanished, and in the twilight light we saw a whale dive and decided that was now the time to go to bed. The boat was heading straight for white landmasses in the distance, and we already had the odd iceberg float lazily past us.
***
Overnight the boat had pulled up into a circular bay on Nansen Island. Surrounding us on all sides were white peaks, blue-white icebergs, Albatros and petrels swooping in the early morning sun. Looking into the sun changed the colours to hazy yellow and glitter on the water, while ahead of us lay deep, rich and bright blues and the shiniest white I have ever seen. Back and forth across the deck, photographing this peak and that iceberg and oh my god look at that.
We had a bit of a play with our magnetic gorilla pod and took some selfies with my phone dangling precariously from metal bits of the ship.
We were quite sure we’d use up our SD card just here on the balcony. After taking some photos at the front, we made our way to the back to see what it looked like from there. By now it was about 8pm and the main restaurants would be opening.
We chose linstrom as it would have the nicest view. We didn’t manage a window seat but it was still beautiful. Today I had the smoked salmon and scrambled eggs and asked for some fruit to be added as well. After breakfast we settled in our room awaiting the announcement for our group, the humpback whales, to be called for the zodiac cruise.
To be honest, I was anxiety ridden. Was I wearing enough layers? Was I wearing too many layers? Will I regret not taking my camera? How do we position our GoPros? Why is my boot hurting? This is just generally me when I’m excited about something - I tend to get a hit overwhelmed.
Dan and I spent some time organising our different layers and slowly donning them - and also turning the aircon onto freezing so we wouldn’t overheat. We weren’t supposed to go down to deck 3 until we were called, but we had to be ready. It all seemed to be running about an hour late, and our group was the very, very last to go. We were scheduled for 10:25, but that came and went.
By now we had sorted hair (I realised pigtails would make me look less like an egg in my beanie), sunscreen, thermal under layers, ski pants, slipped into the giant boots, fleece jumper, snood and chosen gloves - Dan and I both decided we would try our thinnest gloves and see how they went. The temperate was supposed to be a balmy 4C (actually quite warm) but wind temperatures etc on the open boat would make it colder.
Finally we were called and we raced down to deck3, only to discover we were exact last in the queue. Not sure how that happened as we followed the instructions. And we stood there. And stood there. I started to feel a little faint standing there in my full regalia - inside. Dan and I shuffled around a little bit to try to find some air. A lady from a previous tour was waiting for the kayak group, and we had a little chat with her. She said that it’s super warm out there, and that she definitely over dressed. Didn’t even need gloves! She also said that the boat is very slow - that she was able to change lenses while
On the move. We didn’t know this before, so we thought we could have brought our big cameras, but we were committed now to the phones and GoPro.
We stood there for quite a while and eventually shuffled forward inside the boot distribution room. 12 people were counted ahead of us and then the couple in front of us and we were told to stop.
12 people per zodiac and we were four left over.
“It’s 12 or it’s nothing!” Butler James joked. (At least, I hoped he was joking. My anxiety was pretty high right now so my mind was racing with what ifs).
Eventually another boat came in and the four of us had our cards scanned - “goodbye!” Says the machine - and we sailor gripped our way into the boat. Dan and I on one side, the other couple on the other. Dan was closer to the front of the zodiac and shortly after we set off I realised the GoPro I had strapped to my collar was only filming his red jacket. When the boat slowed we switched places, as his GoPro was attached to his head so was looking up and over me.
I think because we were a small group we had an expedition leader learning how to drive the zodiac as there was another driver giving him directions. He did a great job! Not long after setting off at a delightfully leisurely pace, we approached a shipwreck, and our guide was also pointing out the features of icebergs along the way. Icebergs look blue because they’re made from fresh water (not sea), and over hundreds of years the ice compresses and pushes all the oxygen out. This in turn means the icebergs reflect the colour of the water around them. They are created when glaciers sluice off at the end - we learned that glaciers are almost like really slow really really slow moving rivers that eventually push out to sea under their own weight as the underneath layers either melt or shift.
The view was breathtaking. I looked left and right and left and around and squeezed dans hand and looked out again. Because there were only four people on a boat made for twelve we had ample space and didn’t have to sit facing the one direction as we held onto the sides. What luck!
After a while we came to a stop and there was chatter over the walkie talkie. I think another boat broke down and so the other boats were giving suggestions and also working out whether to go help. We switched drivers briefly and jetted off at a fast pace towards the stranded zodiac, but soon the driver saw another boat closer so we returned to our leisurely pace and our learner driver. As we approached the ship, I asked if they could please take a photo of Dan and I with the MS Fridtjof Nansen in the background. They kindly obliged and the photos are amazing.
Before too long it was time to be back at the ship. Sailor gripped our way off again and returned to our room - elated.
And hungry! After stripping out of thermals (definitely not necessary on board) we went to the Aune restaurant to try out the buffet. They put us at a table at the back which had a lot of sun and we roasted. I really enjoyed the food here, and especially the calafate icecream but we got too hot and left pretty soon after eating.
No rest for the wicked - returning to the room we donned our cooler clothes and cameras (including my massive telephoto lens) and went to take some photos. We started on deck 11 which was a lot less populated than deck 7 at the front of the ship. The scenery was spectacular. Floating icebergs everywhere. All different sizes and shapes. Whites and blues. Occasionally we’d see little black ripples and penguins jumping through the water. After a while Dan wanted to check out deck 7, so he went ahead while I used the ladies. The view from the ladies is incredible.
As I had dragged my feet (and was feeling particularly drained) i was a ways behind Dan, when an announcement came over that there were whales on the starboard right side. I was right next to the deck 6 door so I went straight out and - being lower- this would mean better photo opportunities. So many whales! In groups! The colloquial name for this area is Whale Soup. Spouting here and there, then flukes and diving. In between, penguins scattering and diving through the water. Anika and Martin joined me and we were pointing out the whales and the penguins as we spotted them. A short while later Dan appeared - he must have seen me through the door, and I thought I’d try out the mega lens. Some penguins were perched on an iceberg and it was very cute. The lens is ok… but not as sharp as I’d like it to be. But I practiced on some more penguins and whales until suddenly we pulled towards Orne Bay, vintage sailing ship ahead of us.
The view was intense. Ice shards everywhere and this incredible sailing boat in the middle of it all. What it did mean was that we were restricted in how many of us could go ashore, so we were running a bit behind schedule again. As this morning, dan and I are in the last group to go onto land, but we can rest knowing we won’t be the last any other day because the landing orders change every day.
After taking more photos (so many photos) and then backing up said photos, we had an early dinner in the Freidheim restaurant. This one does the takeaway menu but also has a nice sit in area. As we were shown to the table (with our favourite Stocks family behind us) we realised the light reflecting off the land was just too bright to bear, and Dan had to move places. Here I ordered the hoisen pork buns and some chippies.
Dinner was quick! So back out onto the front deck for some photos. As it approached time for our scheduled departure for the landing, we donned our things then subsequently sweltered. We heard there had been a whale sighting in the bay - and it’s not a big bay. Apparently the whales we are seeing around here at this time of year are humpbacks almost exclusively. To cool down we decided to go take a look, and while we waited to see the whale there was a small avalanche. The noise was incredible. We heard many other avalanches but they must have been in surrounding bays and we couldn’t see them. The day was spectacularly warm so much of the ice and snow would have melted. Eventually we did spot the whale, but it never fluked so we returned to our room. Eventually they called the group before us and to avoid the mistake of last time, we headed to the landing at the same time. There were already 10 humpback whales in the queue so we knew we should make it onto the first boat!
We zodiac’d it over, and a group of late Orcas cut in front of us. However we still managed to land first! Getting ashore was a bit scary, but there’s always crew around to lend a sailor grip. We collected stocks at the bottom, given our time and instructions (9:50 to be back) and started up the steep incline. Dan and I were second behind a couple of older folks. At the first corner they stopped to catch their breath so I continued past them. At each corner I asked the people behind us if they’d like to take the lead if my pace was too slow, but they seemed to like my pace! If it had just been Dan and I I would have gone a lot slower but I had to keep the Conga line moving! I stopped occasionally to let people coming down pass - the path that had been created was only wide enough for one person so as not to disturb the landscape too much not zigzagged up the side of the hill with 7 corners, I counted later. I was wheezing. My eyes were going fuzzy staring at the snow in front of my feet. Stock step stock step try not to slip keep going. All the white snow started to blend. I didn’t want to really stop til we got to the top.
At the top we had to climb over a small rocky ridge, and as I waited for my turn the lady ahead of me said “I’m 75. You can do this!”
At the top we still had a ways to go still to see the penguins. The red flags prevented us from getting too close but the red flags don’t prevent the penguins from getting too close!
Immediately on our right was a nest, but further along were another few rockeries and in the distance, a really big mass. My hands were shaking so badly from the exertion that I had to put my shutter speed right up (my fitness ain’t what it used to be!). So close. So cute. To our left was an inlet and water, and as it was after 9pm the sun was a a bit lower in the sky, creating beautiful golden hour colours.
The two lecturers saw Dan and I and asked if we wanted some photos together. Then they spotted two little penguins gazing at each other and got us to recreate as the star crossed lovers! It was very silly and cute and there was a lot of giggling.
A tour leader started gttting edgy for us to leave, but we had only just got there so our whole group dawdled a bit. It was about 9:35pm.
Two lil penguin fellas then decided to inspect the group, the sunset, and make their way over to a different nest. Of course this meant that we had to wait, making us even more late. They were adorable, waiting for each other, crossing our path. Standing there just staring at us wondering what this huge weird red penguins were.
By now we were being rushed to leave, when I heard Dan say “CHICK!” I looked at the group of penguins closest to us, spotted the little “fuzzy potato”, snapped a few times and we had to about turn. So cute!!!
We crested the ridge and said goodbye to the chinstrap penguin colony. Our descent was extremely leisurely and it turned out the lady in front of Dan was having some serious issues going downhill. She was terrified of the height and the potential of falling. There was a massive convoy behind her, but to be honest I didn’t mind the pace as it meant we could savour the view of the bay, the whale that was circling it and our ship.
It was a little hairy going down, I slipped but righted myself a few times. I felt giddy and drunk and excited, even though I hadn’t had a drop in ages! At a corner, we passed the lady as a crew member came up to meet her to help, and we almost ran slid down, it was a lot of fun. On the way both Dan and my GoPros ran out of battery, so that was good to know how long they last.
On the way down I had spotted a couple of penguins swimming in a pool inside of an overturned iceberg!
Near the boat we had to return our stocks and get helped back in. I said hello to our driver.
“Aussie?” Yes.
“Adelaide?” Yes…..?
“36ers??”
Turns out there were two other adeladians in our zodiac so I waved and we exchanged living suburbs.
We stepped back onto the boat at 10:30pm to discover our group was now going to be first out at 8am in the morning. Dear lordie.
At some point before bed Dan turned to me and said “7 continents.”
I stopped and realised yes. Oh my god. Today we had stepped onto the Antarctica continent - not one of the islands - and I had now visited all 7 continents. It was a stunning moment.
We tried to watch the planning on our tv but it kept stalling, so we packed it in to get a little bit of sleep after a truly breathtaking, unbelieveable day.
PS any photos that are in the blog as of time of writing will be from my Phone and not from my canon - that had the good ones on it!!
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