All entries under Day 08: 20th Mar

Today seemed like so long that I forget already what we did. Late breakfast at nine, Leadership on the Edge (LOTE) session with Nick, Part III of Robert Swan’s Story. Took the zodiacs out to Charlotte’s Bay and headed out for a hike up approx. 300m for another LOTE session with Nick. What a scene: surrounded by snow and a pristine picture of the most serene beauty I will never forget. We teamed up with one other person to go through some discussions and lo and behold . . . in the distance an iceberg collapsed – right there in front of our eyes! Robert and some of the Team Leaders had never seen this happen before. We were amazed. It started collapsing from the side, then just went under and partly disintegrated.

We walked along the ridge of that mountain, which was first recceed by the Norwegian Leaders Knut and Tron. On the return most of us slid down to the bottom where the zodiacs were to return to the ship.

Half of the Team (40) are hiking out overnight and my turn is tomorrow night. It is a really calm night would you believe. The other 40 of us went to Port Loughroy where there are Gentoo penguins. They are so inquisitive . . . they come right up to almost talk to you. But boy do they stink. I filmed some of them and hopefully the film comes out OK.

Earlier today we saw a family of 5 killer Orca whales. What a sight. The Team Leaders and even the staff on the ship were out in force as this is a rare sight.

This trip is really something and one that I will never forget. The days are fully filled and the people (from 25 countries) are so nice and the whole thing is just great.

The year 2041 won’t be long coming. We really must try to keep Antarctica a preserved place for us and the rest of the world. It will be quite hard to explain to people the beauty of this place, and we have been privileged to have had the opportunity to come here and experience the things we have experienced . . . even to camp out here is not allowed.

It is a very emotional time and it is also good to have the time to see the beauty of this incredible place, and I will never forget this trip.

I would like to say Hi to all my friends and family who are reading this. See you soon.

Best regards.

Pam Coleman

Since the previous blog we have experienced nature showing off in many ways. The e-Base visit was completed via Zodiac in a 40 knot wind which was exciting to say the least! This combined with our latitude gave us a wind chilled air of –20C.

The base itself is a truly incredible achievement being now fully supplied by renewable power including solar panels, a wind generator and even a static bike to add a human power boost.

Since picking Robert and the team from e-Base we have been regaled with the many amazing tales of exploits and truly great achievements against the odds.

Yesterday was spent sailing through the ice bergs of the Weddle Sea on the way to brown Bay where we landed in perfect weather for a walk up to Brown Bluff to complete the photo opportunity bit. There was time whilst there to take in the atmosphere and sit quietly to reflect on the sheer majesty of where we were, a deep experience indeed.

Today we retraced our course through the Gerlache Straight again in perfect wall to wall sunshine. Having landed in Charcot Bay we a further Leadership on The Edge experience in what must be the world’s most fantastic open air classroom. This concluded when, right on cue a huge iceberg in the bay disintegrated in front of us driving home the effects of the warming that Antarctica is currently experiencing.

The last major event f the day was spotting a pod of Orka, an sight of sufficient rarity to have the crew running out on deck with their cameras. This was so great that I momentarily forgot the extremely lucky win that Harlequins had on the weekend (yes, some information can get through when it really important). Now that really is nature showing off!

I look forward to seeing those I left behind and sharing this seemingly endless stream of new experiences and possibly even how they have changed me.

Signing off for now, Mark

Nous avons donc foule le continent Antarctique au dela de la Peninsule . Robert Swann nous a explique son trajet , partant du reve d;’atteindre le Pole Sud a pied, ce qu’il fit . L idee est de mobiliser les individus autour de projet parlant .Il a donc poursuivi dans ce sens en conservant en permanence idée de proteger l Antarctique et dans ce but de faire attention au quotidien a nos actes dans le domaine de l’environment .Bien evidemment nous ne sommes pas inactifs dans nos contrees modernes mais il est grand temps d’accelerer le process . Sodexho et en Belgique particulierement ne sera pas en retard dans ce domaine.

Another calm night and I’m really getting used to the gentle rocking of the boat followed by Pete’s Team Inspire wake up call and the sudden realization that I’m on a ship in the Antarctic. Yesterday’s landing was still fresh in my mind and the sights and sounds experienced whilst sat quietly on a beach with seals and penguins is just about impossible to describe.

Today we traveled to Charcot Bay and what a place – clear blue skies, majestic snow and ice covered mountains and icebergs and ice scattered throughout the channel We’re now all old hands at getting in and out of the Zodiacs and some go ’hands free’ to take photos and wave to those waiting on the ship. When they said we would be partaking in ‘Leadership on the Edge’ I don’t think any of us realized they actually meant we would have a lecture (flip chart and all) on the edge of a steep slope with one side being an overhang over a freezing cove filled with floating ice and the other being a slope that gave the most unbelievable panoramic view of Antarctic scenery you can imagine. So it was just a little hard to concentrate on Nick’s presentation. As many a blog from today will tell you we were completely in awe/shock when the large iceberg just behind the ship in the bay literally started cracking and thundering and just disintegrated into the water with only a fraction of it’s former self remaining. My heart was absolutely in my mouth – mainly because it had taken a few seconds to associate the roaring noise with the iceberg and not the slope we were sat on happily enjoying the view (we had witnessed an avalanche yesterday) and I expected to be rolling down the slope – Of course I should have know that our trustworthy Norwegians would not have picked that spot if there was a risk – but even so it really brought it home to me how fragile the surroundings were.

All safely back on the ship after what has to be the longest free slide (voluntarily) down a snow slope I’ve ever done it was up to the bridge for a bit of relaxation therapy. The bridge is the most amazingly calm place with classical music playing on the speakers as the captain and his crew navigate around icebergs and avoid disturbing seals basking on floating ice. We had been told there was a possibility of seeing Orca in this area so when I spotted a couple of fins in the water it was with great excitement that I asked the crew if it was the famous killer whales. I was glad they were just as excited as me and immediately announced to the whole ship that a pod of killer whales were heading our way. There were about 5 or 6 females and a male – in fact the crew were so glad to see the whales that they presented me with a bottle of Malbec (red wine) as they hadn’t seen killer whales for a few weeks.

The boat now seems strangely quiet as half the expedition have gone ashore to camp – there has been an air of expectation all day with discussions of how many layers (I can’t stress enough the wonders of merino wool) and tent etiquette whilst in the Antarctic – our turn tomorrow but this evening we make another landing to visit the post office (now closed for the winter season so no post cards from Antarctica I’m afraid).