, Antarctica

I woke several times in the night as the boat listed sailing through some big gusts, quite annoying having Justin wake up fresh as a daisy having slept through it all. Drinking several cups of coffee at breakfast perked me up, and the announcement that we would cruise round Mikkelsen harbour before landing on D’Hainaut Island is a small, largely flat & rocky island (less than 1km2) that lies within Mikkelsen Harbour on the southern coast of Trinity Island. The area was first charted by Nordenskjöld’s Swedish Expedition, and later used by whalers as a mooring point for factory ships each season from 1910-1917. The remains of wooden casks, water boats and whale carcasses dating to this period can be seen at the landing beach, and there is a semi-derelict Argentine refuge hut that was established in 1954. The weather was described by Ross, our driver as ‘soupy’ a dense grey fog hung over the sea. We zoomed around the coast looking at Gentoo & Chinstrap penguins, seeing more jumping in the water. Fur seals and Cormorant birds were also found on the craggy, algae covered rocks around the bay. We then got to land on D’Hainaut island which had a colony of Gentoo penguins along with large whale bones. Fur seals once again littered the landing shore in varying states of interest in us but the stars here were the penguins. We walked part the adults going through a moult, and clambered over a small hill which was just covered in penguin poop. This stuff is pinkish due to the krill they eat and stinks! We spent about an hour watching the penguins, saw 2 with young chicks in the nest and found if we just sat quietly the juvenile birds would be curious enough to come up to us – so cute! Justin even got pecked by one until it decided he didn’t taste as good as Krill. Took a bit longer washing down as we got back onboard the ship and the cabin still smells a little penguinish. After our usual buffet lunch where I also finished five banana fritters off quite easily, we hopped back in the zodiacs to explore Cierva Cove. Cierva Cove lies on the south side of Cape Herschel, within Hughes Bay. It was named after Juan de la Cierva, the inventor of the autogiro (the precursor to the helicopter, first flown in 1923). The cove is surrounded by glaciated peaks and valleys up to 2000m in height, is known for its stunning icebergs, which were all stunning sculptures. They seem to be more vivid against the grey cloud, towering in chunks of blue and white. Lots of Antarctic Tern birds gliding around the rock. We found a Weddell seal having a good roll and scratch on a iceburg, and also 2 Crabeater seals playing in the water. Lots of penguins rushing through the water before hopping up to the rocks, I even saw a chick being fed! The great spot today were 3 Antarctic Minke whales that were just off the front of the zodiacs, apparently about 7m long and one of the fastest. We ended up staying out for 3 hours and ended the cruise by stepping off the zodiac onto the main Antarctica continent. An area home to Primavera, an Argentinian summer research station but for us a jump onto the rock for a official Antarctic picture as I can now say I have been to all 7 continents in the world! This evening was a BBQ on deck, below zero but good food and mulled wine to keep us going!