Friday -- today -- starts early...
At about half past twelve -- half past midnight, that is -- we sail over the magnetic south pole. (Let's call it the MSP.) There's a p.a. announcement fifteen minutes before. I went to bed half dressed, just need to wake up, finish dressing, get out on deck. Deb decides to sleep through it all.
I go to my favourite deck, 7, the poop deck. A few of us are up there. Most -- perhaps twenty of the passengers -- are on the bow deck. I think it's deck 4. There's a sign with the lat/long of the pole and an arrow to say, we are here.
So what is "here"? Sea...
I believe that Mawson reached the MSP in 1911... or some other year. (Though he may have been off by a bit.) Back then, the MSP was over land. Now it's moved out over the sea. So we can sail right over it. And see... sea.
The people on deck have a countdown. Then -- when we are really there -- the ship blows its horn... I believe Deb wakes up... She certainly wakes up at the second blast :-)
Photos, cheers, back to sleep.
Oh, and the sun is still up.
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We're sailing to Davis Bay, to see if we can land. That will give a bit more time for the ice to -- hopefully -- clear, by the time we have sailed to Mawson's base.
Most of this morning is watching pack ice. (Is that what it's called?) Lots of floating ice. From little lumps. Up to lumps of ice as big as a house. Bigger lumps -- proper bergs -- a bit further away.
Every so often the ship thumps, as we push aside a lump of ice.
There are a couple of penguins on one lump of ice... Ahhh, the cliche :-) We see a seal on another lump. Deb sees a whale, we may have seen a whale under water but close to the surface. A talk on icebergs is delayed, so we can watch the ice.
Our cabin has windows, fore and port. (That's front and left side, ye lubbers.) We can sit in comfort and still see lots of outside. We sit in comfort and look outside. And read. (I'm into a terrible book. I skim most of it.)
We do go outside, me more than Deb. Up to the poop deck again. There's a bit of ice on the deck. Icicles hang on ropes and rails. Temperature just before breakfast is one degree in the water and one degree in the air. Plus (or rather, minus) a brisk wind. We now wear thermals, puffy jacket, Antarctic over-jacket. (Finally, the passenger in shorts has changed to jeans. The NZ woman appears in shorts... that's okay, she's a Kiwi.)
The iceberg lecture happens at 3pm. Deb goes. I finish skimming the awful book.
I wander up on deck. The sun is shining. The icicles are still there.
The ship stops.
I go to the bridge. No-one knows why we are stopped. No-one who speaks English, anyway. I see Mikhail, the Russian passenger, ask him to ask the crew.
The good news: We are stopped to have a zodiac trip around the ice. The bad news: We are stopped because the ice has shifted and we will not be able to get into Davis Bay. Or, possibly, anywhere else on Antarctica. (But that's a problem for later.)
I hear mechanical noises on deck, go out to watch two Russian sailors lowering the gangway. It's complex! The gangway is mostly metal but there are handrails made of ropes. The sailors are debating where to tie the ropes. I stand and watch, to give them encouragement and support. We exchange a few comments, me in English, them in Russian. Cheerful incomprehension.
There's a small lump of ice floating below. The younger sailor leans out... snots once, twice... Two bullseyes!
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We're out in zodiacs, eight or ten per boat. Weaving in and out amongst the ice.
We spot an emperor penguin on a lump of ice! All five zodiacs creep up. The penguin watches carefully but stays put. We nudge his ice, five metres from the bird. Take photos. Admire the penguin. Aaaahhh shucks :-)
We see two seals on ice. Four more emperors. Two little adelies.
We also see whales! Well, just a quick flash of fin as a whale surfaces then submerges. We see several of these fins, never close.
We're out for over an hour and a half, it seems like half an hour... Great fun! Our toes are very cold, next time it's *three* pairs of socks. The rest is warm enough.
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10pm: After dinner.
We're now amongst some tabular icebergs -- long and flat-topped. Pushed off a glacier, over the sea, then snapped off. (Deb went to the iceberg talk.) I may put on several jackets and take some photos. We're told that the best light will be at about 1am...
Aside: We have a porthole in our "bedroom". I call it the sunrise/sunset window. As the ship sways, the curtain sways out -- and daylight shines directly onto my face. Then the ship sways the other way -- and it's sunset again.
Later: Enough iceberg photography!
Though it's now so warm that some of the icicles have fallen off the metal structure outside our window.
Time to call it a day. After emailing this post. And reviewing that terrible book. Luckily, I have plenty more books to read...
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