Penguins, plunges and triangulated truncated icosahedrons!

Yesterday was a truly epic day.  If part of what makes this trip an expedition versus a vacation is the need to remain flexible and open to a change of plans, as dictated by the weather conditions, then yesterday is a shining example of what can happen when everything goes right.  We’d had a bit of a disturbed night as we had noisily crunched our way through some sea ice around 3am, preceded by announcement over the intercom system at 12.30am that there were killer whales sighted at the bow.  Yet again, we had been blessed with clear skies, calm seas and bright sunshine and so our expedition team (led by a very capable Brit called Jamie) made the last-minute call to get the kayaks out!  ManpanionTM and I were actually on the bridge when all this was being discussed and decided – it was interesting to listen into the conversations between the expedition team and the captain and his crew about how to plan the day’s activities.  You can see from the pictures just how gorgeous it was – which is why the planned ice walk got changed into a kayak outing instead.

Although Lee Ann and I had recently spent an afternoon kayaking on the Chicago River in preparation, I was a teeny bit apprehensive given the consequences of fucking it up and going into the water.  As it turned out, there was no need to be worried at all as the kayaks were extremely stable (they are basically giant yellow rubber bananas) and it was a lot easier to paddle round the ocean than it was to navigate our way around all the architecture cruises on the Chicago River!  As ever, safety came first and we all were given a short briefing about what to do, how to paddle and what areas were out of bounds (basically don’t paddle right up to the ice’s edge or towards the giant icebergs as the currents around these areas can be quite strong).  We were also issued with an alarm pendant that would sound on contact with water, in addition to wearing our life jackets.  There were also a number of safety zodiacs scattered about too, to keep an eye on things and to provide rapid assistance should anyone get into trouble.  Most of the kayaks were 2 person (with a few singles available) so ManpanionTM and I clambered (carefully) into ours and set off.

So much fun.  The kayaks were super easy to maneuver and steer, although ManpanionTM said something was wrong with his paddle as it didn’t seem to work properly, so he was forced to sit in the back and relax, while yours truly did all the paddling!  Hmm…. We spent about 45mins out on the water, just pootling around, tracing along the edge of the sea ice before curving back round towards the ship.  The thing which left the biggest impression on me was just how deeply blue the sea was – it was just mesmerizing.  Apparently it is possible to get sunburnt in Antarctica so we’d remembered to apply sunscreen to our faces – and went easy on the layers as we’d generate heat as we paddled (at least, I did…).

After our paddle, it was time for lunch and it was a British theme, with both fish and chips and bangers and mash, followed by Eton Mess, on the menu! (the head chef is a Swedish lady called Sarah – and the food has been consistently outstanding!). After lunch, I stood out on the deck for a bit watching the expedition scouting team check out the landing site for this afternoon’s activity (a walk on the sea ice) – and saw a big pod of Adelie penguins leaping and gliding through the water!  I did get some video (this fancy Olympus camera that I’ve borrowed also shoots video) – but forgive any shakiness – I’m not going to be rivaling David Attenborough anytime soon!   We were split into 2 groups – again, by Zodiac boats – and we were going to be in the second group at 3.30pm.  In the meantime, we listened to a lecture on penguins – the start of which was, fittingly, disrupted by the sighting of a lone Emperor penguin, out on the ice near where the afternoon’s expedition would be!  We were very envious of the first group that headed out – and just crossed our fingers that the penguin would still be there when it was our turn.  It was – and it got even better as the first Emperor was joined by a friend!!  There were also a ton of Adelie penguins (the ones with the googly-looking eyes) around so it was a wildlife-filled walk!!  The Emperor penguins are so majestic and enigmatic – they just look as they are filled with profound thoughts, as they stand there gazing off into the distance.  And then they start to move.  Then they don’t look quite as stately, as they waddle across the ice, before dropping to their bellies and pushing themselves along with their feet.  The description I’ve heard multiple times on this trip already at that penguins are “nature’s toddlers” – very fitting!  As impressive as it is to watch the Adelie penguins as they shoot out from the water and propel themselves up onto the ice, as soon as they hit land, they have a tendency to tumble over or land with a big fat squelch!  The ice (which is only 2 metres thick) was pretty slippy, so I was glad I’d taken a walking stick out with me – otherwise I’d have been on my ass, like the penguins!

We stayed out on the sea ice for about an hour, watching the penguins, before it was time to head inside.  As we disembarked, I noticed a table was set up with some cups and a big vat of hot chocolate – and that’s when we heard those immortal words “Polar Plunge”!!!  Yep – as the conditions were as perfect as you could get, our expedition team decided this would be the perfect time to take the plunge!  If you had asked me before this trip if I was going to do it, I would have replied emphatically “Hell, No!” but instead I found myself saying, “Fuck it, lets do it!”  So, there we found ourselves, back down in the Gear Dock signing waivers that we didn’t read (had to sign 3 times) along with 59 of our fellow crazy passengers!  We didn’t expect to have to queue to do the plunge!  It was a really fun atmosphere as we waited – especially as the first brave souls started to come back through the dock, exhilarated by their experience!  And it wasn’t just the younger folk who were taking the plunge – all ages, shapes and sizes were up for it!   We waited for about 10 mins, shuffling forward until we were almost at the dock door and couldn’t wait any longer to take off our nice warm fluffy bathrobes.  When it was our turn, we were helped into a zodiac, then walked across a short, shallow platform into another zodiac where we would actually jump into the Weddell Sea!  Already, wading into the water and standing outside in just a bathing suit, it was cold – but it felt silly to complain about feeling cold when you were about to go full on into the water!  ManpanionTM and I had decided to take the plunge together and so we had to decide who would stand on which side – the outer person having further to swim back to the platform.  Made sense to me that it should be the person with the longest legs, so I voluntold ManpanionTM it would be him.  And then, on the count of three, we jumped.

The next 3 seconds are a total black hole.  I think my brain just switched off completely because the next memory I have is of scrambling desperately for the platform and being helped up and out of the water, then climbing back into the zodiac and the doctor telling me to remember to breathe!  I wish I could adequately describe what the water felt like – but I just can’t.  It was like nothing I’d ever experienced before – and unless I come back here and do it all over again, I’ll probably never experience anything like it again!  (if it helps, ManpanionTM said that, to him, it felt like a thousand tiny knives stabbing his body).

And, just like that, it was all over!  We were handed a towel as we got off the zodiac back into the boat and quickly wrapped ourselves back into our warm dry bathrobes!  We then collected our paper cup of hot chocolate with a shot of vanilla vodka as well as our Polar Plunge patch, ready to sew onto our expedition parkas for total bragging rights.  And the weirdest thing happened.  After 2-3 mins, we no longer felt cold at all – we felt euphoric.  Part relief at having done it (and not needing the services of the doctors standing by), but mostly fueled by the insane amounts of adrenaline that were coursing through our bodies and making us feel incredible!  Our guide from BA, Ana, had been espousing all the benefits of Wimhoff cold therapy and – now feeling the way we did – we could totally understand why.  After all the guests had completed their plunge, some of the staff also did it too – by this point, we’d gone up to the top deck, so we could look down and watch everyone.  After everyone had plunged, we had a quick warm-up in the sauna before it was then time to meet Patrik (the head of guest services) who was going to take us for yet another adventure!

Because we had reserved a fancy pants Category 7 cabin (which I know I still owe you a tour of), a big part of its benefit was that you would get priority on booking a night in the igloo.  There are only 2 on board, at the bow of the ship and we are at sea for a total of 8 nights, so that’s only 16 possible booking opportunities – basically, not everyone who wants to spend the night in the igloo is going to get the chance to do so.  We’d only upgraded from our original Cat 5 cabin a few weeks before the trip and the igloo reservation was one of the main reasons we splurged the extra cash.  Given not all the Cat 7 cabins had been booked out, we were pretty much guaranteed to get our night under the triangulated truncated icosahedron.  And this morning, when we left the cabin to go to breakfast, there it was – the letter of invitation to the Igloo Experience left in the little pigeon hole outside our door!  We would have access to the igloo from after dinner until breakfast the next morning.  Dinner was again excellent (so much food!!!) – you can actually get half portions so you can try more dishes – so that’s what I did and enjoyed both tiny lamb ribs as well as seabass (which is actually Patagonian toothfish!).  After dinner, we headed straight to the igloo to make the most of our time there.  It was pretty toasty warm – but Patrik recommended dressing in layers and a hat, socks and gloves as it would get colder during the night.  Eye shades had also been provided as it stayed quite light for most of the night and there were also two big fat hot water bottles stuffed inside the bed, so we were very comfortable!  As we were getting comfortable in the igloo, there was another after-dinner excursion with the opportunity to take another walk on the sea ice and hang out with the Emperor and Adelie penguins again.  We decided to remain in our perch, looking down on all the activity below – which included not one, but two, weddings!!!  And yes, both brides did wear white dresses – I could see one of them turning visibly redder from the cold the longer they were out there!!  Sunset was also gorgeous – but alas we didn’t see any stars – partly cos it was too cloudy but also because it didn’t get dark until well into the night and we were already asleep.

I didn’t expect to sleep well, but after slipping on the eye shades and snuggling up with ManpanionTM and my water bottle, the next thing I knew was Patrik knocking on the door at 6.30am, waking us up with a cup of coffee and some breakfast pastries.  We sipped our coffee and looked out at the giant icebergs in front of us, reflecting on what had been an amazing set of experiences.  Then it was time to leave our little bubble and head back into our cabin.  We skipped the zodiac cruise around the giant tabular icebergs this morning, preferring instead to view the spectacular scenery from the comfort and warmth of our own cabin!  As it turned out, that was the only off-ship expedition today as the weather finally began to turn.  In his morning’s address over the PA, Jamie had said that we expected to encounter heavy seas starting around 2pm this afternoon.  The winds were picking up and the waves were likely to be between 3-5 m in height (around 16ft).  Earlier that morning, as we were leaving the Weddell sea and the huge icebergs, we were on the bridge and saw just how easily the ship was able to push its way through the sea icefield.  Up until this point, the sailing has been so smooth, its sometimes been hard to tell if you are actually moving or not (assuming you are not looking out of the window) because you can’t hear the engine noise at all.  Everything about this ship is state-of-the-art (some say unsinkable – jk) with how the bow is designed in that striking X-bow shape as well as the gizmos that balance the ship (sorry – I can’t remember what they are called but for all you ship nerds out there, here’s a link to our ship https://www.nationalgeographic.com/expeditions/ships/national-geographic-endurance/).  Well, all those systems got put to the test this afternoon as it has been pretty rough and the ship has been bouncing around quite a bit.  There were quite a few green-looking folk staggering around the corridors and I can imagine that the onboard doctor had a steady stream of visitors for seasickness meds!   It was still quite bumpy by dinnertime, but we choose a table right next to the window so we could look out at the huge waves crashing along the side of the ship – it was stunning to watch and utterly compelling.  I took a few photos but – like the massive tabular icebergs – nothing really captures the essence and power of what you are looking at.  After dinner, we watched this compelling documentary called Chasing Ice which describes the start of the Extreme Ice Project, a photographer’s mission to capture the retreat of various glaciers around the world by using timelapse photography.  The composite videos that were shown as a result of these efforts are sobering indeed.  We will hear more about the impact of climate change later on in our trip.

Anyway, for now, you are all caught up.  I do have some more photos and videos from the last day but for some reason they are refusing to load up into this blog post (probably because everyone is trying to do the same thing and overloading the wi-fi network!).  So I will try again and update tomorrow but – for now – enjoy!