7 for 7 - Setting foot on Antarctica!

Four days into our Antarctica voyage and we are just now finding time to write a recap.  We boarded the MV Plancius at 4PM on Feb 26, and after a brief delay (the dive guide's luggage didn't make the flight) we sailed out through the Beagle Channel and headed south.  The first few days were spent in the Drake Passage, which is known for its terrible seas.  With the winds gusting more than 20 knots the ship rocked and rolled its way south.  We both managed to avoid the sea sickness that seemed to attack about half of the people on board.  During meals we were amazed at the staff carrying multiple plates and pouring coffee while we struggled to walk.  A couple of times we bundled up and headed out to the top deck in search of wildlife.  We managed to see tons of birds and a group of hourglass dolphins.  Sometime in the middle of the second night we crossed the Antarctic convergence, a place where the water temp suddenly drops and is typically home to tons of wildlife.  The howling winds prevented us from seeing much though (very different story on the way back, but you have to wait to read about that!).

On day four we awoke, surrounded by glaciers.  We woke up early because we heard the sunrises were spectacular.  It was amazing to see our first glimpses of the white continent.  The sunrise didn't disappoint and produced some of our best pictures from the trip. I am glad we rolled out of bed early, because that would prove to be the last sunrise we saw until we sailed back into the Drake on the way home.

After breakfast we reached our first landing, Port Lockroy which is a British station.  We bundled up and loaded into the zodiacs.  Ashore we were greated by 100s of penguins (and their terrible smell).  You can be thankful smell-o-vision hasn't been created yet!  After tramping threw penguin poo in our awesome rubber boots, and taking about 100 pictures, we headed over to the buildings at Port Lockroy.  We made it just in time because it was the last day the station would be manned, and the last mail boat was coming that afternoon (which means the postcards we sent should make it home before us instead of the 10 months it normally takes).  We also got the official Antarctica stamp in our passports.  After our vist we headed back to the boat for lunch (you aren't allowed to eat onshore) and the boat moved around the corner to Dorian Bay.  

At Dorian Bay we participated in our first activity, kayaking.  We opted for a double since we had such good luck in New Zealand.  After loading the kayaks behind a zodiac and getting kitted up we headed out.  About 5 mins in I lost control of the rudder and couldn't get it back (we learned later that the string broke).  Steering a double kayak without one is practically impossible.  I froze using my paddle as a rudder and Adam sweated his butt off paddling us around.  Even with our technical issue we had a great time and got up close to several icebergs (and bergy bits).  At the end we paddled around the Plancius, talk about feeling really small.  After our 3 hour paddle we were both cold and ready to head inside to warm up.  At dinner we looked out the window and realized it was snowing (big fluffy flakes, my favorite).  A third of the boat headed out for camping, we were happy to stay onboard.

Check out the rest of our pictures here