Mon 23 Jan 2017: Macquarie Island Base

We're woken at 6am to see Lusitania Bay. But... it's too rough to go in a zodiac.

We stand on the Shokalskiy deck. We know what we are seeing: 100,000 penguins on the beach, above the beach, coming and going to and from the beach. From the ship it's not much more than spots on the beach.

We try the binoculars. I see black shadows, blocking my vision from various angles. I try to focus. For a few seconds the view is slightly larger and less clear than with my naked eyes... Then the black shadows are back.

Next stop, the research base.

As I step from gangway to ducky -- the ducky drops a metre. I hold tight -- one foot dropping low -- till it rises again. Continue stepping on, no worries.

There's an Antarctic fur seal in the water as we land. It follows us ashore. Sniffs Deb's leg. Moves on to sniff the staff guide. It's a small and cute seal :-) Till it bites the guide.

Phil of Tasmanian Parks guides us round. He's interesting, the base is interesting. We go to a lookout, then back via the western beach. There are penguins near the water. The place is also littered with elephant seals lying, sleeping, snorting, everywhere.

We watch the launch of the daily weather balloon. It's about 30 seconds from appearance to disappearance, a white balloon vanishing into the grey clouds. Brilliant! I've heard and read about weather balloons and at last I've seen one :-)

Final stop is the mess, for scones and tea. And a chance to warm up... The temperature is no worse than usual. The wind is strong. The base is exposed. We're both warm in our gear. It's still nice to relax inside a warm building.

And there's souvenirs for sale ! We bought something for the boys... Guess what?!

It's now a rush to leave the island! The wind has picked up and changed direction. Nathan (expedition leader) is nervous. Mind you, he's often nervous, it goes with the job and the passengers.

A few of us are back on the ship -- when the zodiac drops alarmingly relative to the ship. Nathan undoes all ropes, pulls away. I'm on the ship, Deb is on the zodiac.

The water calms down, the zodiac moves back. Everyone else disembarks. Phew!

Now we're back on the Academic Schokalskiy. Which is, since last year, thought of as the Stuckiniceski...

Deb is at a talk on history.

I'm sitting at the desk in our cabin. One hand typing, the other holding the tablet. Every so often, the tablet slides away... as the ship rocks from side to side. Or from end to end. My chair slides... then rocks back, to push me against the side wall.

Yes, we're at sea. About an hour south of the shelter of Macquarie Island. In the open ocean. Heading south -- to Antarctica.

Time to stop typing and stare outside :-)