After all of the hoops we needed to bounce to get to Antarctica (in our earlier publish), right here we lastly had been. Antarctica!
Like, this took a short time for it to sink in.
I bear in mind wanting to go to for like 10 years after which it took plenty of planning to lastly get so far and right here we had been in Antarctica.
I bear in mind pondering to tempo myself after I received up in the course of the night time for a pee however all these although went off of the figurative window the minute we opened the literal window.
We noticed ourselves surrounded by icebergs.
Suffice to say, there was no want for caffeine that morning. The solar wasn’t shining but it surely simply added all of the extra to that drama.
To not point out the recognizing of wildlife which had change into much more frequent now that we had been in Antarctica.
Penguins bobbing throughout, extra seals on icebergs across the ship and the occasional whale within the distance.
We had been just about bouncing off the partitions all morning after which the captain determined to up the ante.
Because it seems, you possibly can go to Antarctica however not get into the Antarctic Circle.
The Antarctic Circle is loads decrease down and only a few ships ever make it that far south due to the ocean ice.
As you possibly can think about, the nearer it will get to the South Pole, the thicker the ocean ice is.
The Ocean Victory ship we took right down to Antarctica is definitely constructed to traverse the ice right here.
That being mentioned, the ocean ice on the journey to the Antarctic Circle is simply too densely packed and much too thick for many ships to undergo so loads by no means make it that far south.
They only don’t trouble making an attempt it.
Our captain nonetheless determined that the climate situations seemed nice and the ocean ice didn’t look too unhealthy so we might flip our complete itinerary on its head and enterprise far south into the Antarctic Circle.
If we left it a couple of days extra, there’s an opportunity the climate might change or the ocean ice might get thicker and so we simply needed to benefit from it whereas the situations allowed for it.
Seems, he was proper and with that, we had been the primary crusing of the season to get into the Antarctic Circle!
There have been whoops and cheers throughout with champagne all over the place to rejoice.
This was a milestone I didn’t even know we would have liked to fulfill previous to the crusing but it surely was superb. Haha!
To be trustworthy, simply going to Antarctica is a large enough win with or with out the cherry on the cake that’s crusing into the Antarctic Circle.
It was completely superb and such a superb approach to begin the journey.
Plus now let’s imagine we’ve been to the Arctic Circle (we did this a couple of years in the past in Norway) and now the Antarctic Circle.
We spent the remainder of the day just about in awe of every little thing we might see round us.
We’d already come throughout humpback whales, leopard seals, Weddell seals, Adélie penguins (that are tougher to identify than Gentoo or chinstrap penguins) and a few extremely humongous icebergs.
Then the pinnacle of the expedition group gave us a little bit of a shock announcement by saying that we’d be venturing out on our first zodiac expedition to Antarctica.
I didn’t assume it was doable to be much more excited than we already had been however seems, it is vitally doable certainly.
Bear in mind, once you’re in Antarctica, your plans are topic to alter relying on the climate.
So, having nice climate to have the ability to do a zodiac boat tour felt very very similar to the massive deal that it was. This was very true as this wasn’t a confirmed plan for the day earlier on.
Oh, and by the best way, the waters had been very calm by this level.
It was calm sufficient to make us not trouble with the ocean illness tablets. Plus, these make you drowsy so it wasn’t one thing we wished to take if we didn’t must.
Saying that although, I did take one at night time. I figured the drowsiness wouldn’t matter an excessive amount of and that might preserve any sea illness away whereas crusing at night time.
That turned out to be a terrific plan as I discovered a couple of days later after I didn’t take them and began to really feel somewhat seasick whereas we had been crusing round in Antarctica.
Quickly sufficient, we had been referred to as to do right down to the mud room. Able to get suited up, booted up and life-jacket as much as get on the zodiac boats.
You additionally must disinfect your common garments earlier than you go so that you don’t carry contaminants with you.
It’s not likely executed for brand new garments however for older garments and footwear, specifically.
They don’t need you bringing invasive species to Antarctica. So, to assist with this, your boots are decontaminated earlier than and after you go on the boat (even should you’re occurring land).
Your garments are all executed prematurely of heading right down to the boats and the simplest approach to describe that is that it’s primarily like they only vacuum your garments.
The zodiac boat cruise was unbelievable.
You possibly can inform how superb and the way big a few of these icebergs are from afar but it surely doesn’t examine to once you get near them.
Their sheer measurement is simply mind-boggling; and that color too!
It’s a shade of blue you’ve by no means seen elsewhere and received’t overlook in a rush.
And yeah, that’s how we spent our first day in Antarctica.
We completed off with dinner and wine underneath the Antarctic midnight solar, which to be trustworthy, was behind some clouds however by no means truly set so it was vibrant all night time lengthy.
Bear in mind it’s summertime in Antarctica once you get to go to then so the solar doesn’t fairly set correctly then.
Catch you in the following weblog publish after we lastly set foot on land in Antarctica.
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