It was a chilly night as the temps plunged after the sun went down. Don and I had grabbed some extra blankets and with our 40 below down jackets and sleeping bags we were rather comfortable. Julia on the other hand with a sleeping bag rated well below zero couldn’t get warm.
The snow had firmed up during the night so it was quite easy to head up the hill behind our tents next morning.
We couldn’t have done this walk yesterday or we would have been walking in snow above our knees.
I am sure that this place will be in the top ten places that we have camped.
A couple of penguins watched our departure.
It was back to the boat where we hung up our tents to dry and have breakfast. After Don and I made apple pancakes, Ryan, Beth ,Jamie and Julia head off in the kayaks. It was the calmest day that we have experienced. Jim, Don and I are taken by dinghy to Brown Base which is owned by Argentina. No one is here yet so we can explore around the outside of the base and walk up the hill behind the base.
Once the base is manned it will be off limits to visitors. The penguins have taken over the surrounding area and the odor is not pleasant.
Between the smell and the noise, I think it would be difficult to get much sleep.
The hike behind the base was worthwhile to take in the views of Paradise Bay.
We had carried our sleds up to the top with us and it was a fun ride down.
Voy picked us up in the dinghy and we headed back to the boat where we would have some lunch and then go kayaking. First though we found an iceberg for Jim to take his turn of iceberg standing.
On the way back to the boat we are able to get close to an Arctic Shag rookery. The adults are busy feeding their young which appear to be as large as the adults.
Such demanding young!
In the water shags are sometimes mistaken for penguins.
No mistake when they are on land.
Don,Jim and I take our turn with the the kayaks and take advantage of the afternoon sun.
This is an iceberg!
So many glaciers!
Its fun to make our way thru the small chunks of ice.
We hear a whale and then see it just sleeping on the surface and occasionally breathing.
A perfect day for kayaking
And riding an ice horse.
Back to the boat where we put away our now dry camping gear. Voy makes a quick decision to head to our next anchorage right now! The plan this morning was to spend the night here. Just need to go with the flow. We quickly tie down the kayaks and pull anchor. We will eat dinner en route. There has been a lot of ice in the passages and the current and wind have opened up a route. We are soon underway and taking in the surrounding views. This is a very popular section of the cruise ship routes. So far this year there has been too much ice for the Lemarie channel to be used so we plan to take another channel and hope to be able to make it to Port Lockroy. About 10:00pm we see the Lamarie channel in the distance. There is plenty of ice blocking the channel so we head north and transit thru a smaller channel. The peaks of the mountains are impressive.
We are all on deck bundled up to keep warm.
Everyone is tired, but the views are stimulating.
Jamie shades his eyes from the sun which is low on the horizon.
This is our view as we set anchor.
By midnight we have secured the boat and we are finally ready to head to our berths!