There are so many wonderful places to see down here, and it is absurd to rank them. Fickle weather may render appreciation of any particular venue impossible - Paradise Bay was a case in point, where we had a defiant barbecue in a snow storm with little visibility. Nevertheless, the passage up the Peltier Channel to Port Lockroy for me has been the top memory to date, and I don't really wish to see anything better.

To set the scene: We had all had a wonderful time watching a pod of humpback whales off Biscoe bay, on passage from Palmer station. Morale was approaching boiling point. At 1900 hours, the ship's company sat down to yet another of Marianne's wonderful dinners. She appears to take a pride in "no repeats", and has an extraordinary range of brilliant menus. No need for a choice, because everybody loves whatever she cooks.

We were settling down to a convivial evening in the deckhouse, when all hands were summoned. Not on fire or sinking, but the call was to point out the stunning spectacle unfolding. The weather was bright, blue sky, and warm. The Peltier Channel runs for just over 10 miles North East between Doumer Island to port and Wienke Island to Starboard. It is between half and one mile wide , and was decorated with a dense array of floating ice "art forms" - this being a particularly good year for these wonders of nature. When derived from a glacier, the darker the blue, the older the ice. This means anything from 1,000 to 50,000 years.

The sun was low in the Western sky. Depending on the direction of view, this either back or spot lit both ice, and the dramatic geography. The Wienke island shore is bordered by the Fief range of mountains, known as the Seven Sisters. The highest peak, Mt Luigi, is over 4500 feet, rising steeply from near the fore shore. Ahead was the lesser but still formidable Mount Jabet (1800 feet), and on the other bank, Doumer Island has a hilly rather mountainous character by comparison, but nevertheless has a summit of 1600 feet.

With the blue/black water highlighting all shades of white, the colours, contrasts and overall effects were just stunning - not least for the atmosphere on this jewel of a ship. It must be our ancestral connections with ice age survival that engenders our species with this magnetism to frozen scenes. That passage will stay in my memory for ever. We dropped the hook behind Goudier Island in the pool off Port Lockroy, with two yachts anchored inshore of our position. It is the most perfect anchorage, predictably once favoured by whaling vessels during the season.

Reminders of those hard days abound. 0900 we formed shore parties to visit Gentoo penguin rookeries on Goudier Island. Somebody has "assembled" a whale skeleton on the beach, but without much reference to actual anatomy. It incorporates multiple animals of varying age and species. The penguins seemed if anything healthier than in other colonies we have visited. This is nature in the raw.Arctic Skuas hover. Leopard Seals on the ice flows cause everyone to hope these cuddly chicks will have learned all their caring mothers have taught.

Statistics mean there will be a good deal of carnage, but the fittest will survive. In the afternoon, we make a further foray ashore, this time to the Port Lockroy "base A". A peninsular base for the British Antarctic Survey between 1944 and 1962 when it was abandoned, it has been beautifully restored to a museum, shop and post office (most southerly in the world!), by the UK Antarctic Heritage Trust. Visitor numbers are high this year, in part because last year's exceptionally cold winter has closed access to many other places with pack ice.

The museum is fascinating, and displays life as it was for the men stationed at the base, including the skis, living quarters and catering arrangements withkitchen. It seems embarrassingly like my own home! The station is run by four nice girls, and Michael from Brecon. Yive is the senior, and sailed on Europa three years ago on this voyage. They all joined us on board for a drink, followed by roast beef and Yorkshire pud, with Irish coffee for afters. And the sun set as we chatted after dinner. A magical end to a great day? Not quite! Klaas brought out his ghetto blaster, and some folk danced the night away on deck.

John

What goes up, must come down. Or rather: what went south, must come north again. After many ‘firsts’,time has come for some ‘lasts’ already. Among the firsts were icebergs, penguins and whales. We didn’t go further south than 65˚10’, so there was a last day of heading south. Today we set our last footprints on the White Continent in the snow along Dorian Bay. Most of the group mounted the crest of the glacier between Dorian Bay and our anchorage at Port Lockroy. The silence there inspired the poet in me:

Terra australis

I see Antarctic mountains and snow,

but I’m unable to find words for expressing

this majestically beautiful creation

and my unique part therein.

Thus all this beauty

will remain forever unspoken.

I know I am part of it all

and I shall share this knowledge with all

in whom I recognize an open heart,

full of love and respect

towards those who carry eternity within.


Joop