Feb 08/12: Antarctic & Atlantic Oceans (2)

Feb 08/12: Antarctic & Atlantic Oceans (2)

 

Dad got up early at 7.30 and did the "Breast Cancer Run" on board at 8.45. He went 5K, while I lazed around in bed! (I was tired from doing laundry last night until after 2AM)  He was upset that I didn't get up to memorialize his walk on camera. At 11 am Dad and the others in our group got together to strategize their boat building - my contribution was to bring them several lengths of cord that I scavenged as the chairs on deck were finally being untied (they had been lashed up due to the rough seas we have had these last few days)  - they will be well used again now that we are in calmer and warmer territory. Am looking forward to lounging on them and doing some reading as i am way behind. There is just so much to do on board, that I seem to have very little time, contrary to what I expected! I am still trying to catch up on organizing all the photos we have taken!

 

As usual, Dad had been busy these past 2 days working on the daily trivia quizzes, playing group trivia, and generally hanging out in the library reading up on stuff. He even took in some Tech lessons about using his camera and working with his pictures on the computer. Unfortunately, his computer at home does not have Win7, so he will have to use mine, and as I tend to be on mine most of the time, he is already complaining that he doesn't see how he will get a chance to do anything! For now I am dumping all our pictures onto an external drive which I brought specifically for that purpose.

 

Anyway, after his walk Dad was tired, so he came back to the cabin for a snooze. I never did get to breakfast today, so I knutched around a bit and then went up to the dining room for lunch. Dad slept though lunch, and when I came back he decided to go up and get something from the Lido - a hamburger or so forth. I left to go to a "lifestyle" session on restorative stretching. After that I did the partner "Animal Toss" (stuffed only!), but could not find Philip so had to take on another partner who beat me, so no 'Grand$' s for me. Then Dad went to the talk on Montevideo, while I went back up to the dining room for the Afternoon Tea Extravaganza. Like I needed to eat more, but  everything was  soooo good. I am going to have to start walking around the deck now that the weather is warmer - or else I will really be in trouble. Running up and down the stairs just isn't enough! After tea I went to a tech seminar on making movies. As usual I learned a lot. Will have to try applying some of it to the videos and pics we have taken - when I have time!

 

Redeemed our ' Grand$' for some of the goodies- an adapter, a tiny thin nylon daypack, and a little maglite. Have none left now, so will have to start collecting more - BTW, these are '$' like monopoly money which you get when you participate in activities on board (and win, although occasionally you get them just for participating). Then it time to go back to the 'IT' room for 'texpert time' when I try to work on our photos and can have help from Will, the 'texpert'  on board from Microsoft. Dad had another snooze. Came back and got ready to join in on the pre-dinner group for appetizer (warm flatbread with balsamic strawberries, basil & melted Mozzarella) & a glass of 'Conchay Toro Sparking Wine' from Chile. This only occurs on sea days & costs $4, but i think it was worth it. Amazingly, everyone there today was a Canadian!!!! Had fun talking about Canadian wines, ice wine, and wines from the Okanagan Valley . BTW - Omi- I have met at least 3 people from Kelowna, but they live in the 'city', not on your side, but they knew Lakeview Heights.

 

Anyway, then it was time for supper... more eating. Afterwards, Dad & I went up on deck to watch the sunset, but it was not very good as things have clouded over again. I came back to our cabin and here I am, writing to you all. I have no idea where Dad is now, or what he doing, could be at the movies, the show, in the library but he must be having a good time as he's not here! Otherwise, no further news for today. I intend to download our pictures from Pt. Stanley, have some more tea, and get organized for Buenos Aires tomorrow as we both have excursions in the morning. Dad is going on a sightseeing bus tour of the city and I am taking a bus out to the pampas to an 'estancia' to see gauchos and have a typical 'asado'. (Argentinean bbq)  which will take all day as it's 8 hours long. Will give you highlights tomorrow.

 

Carl & Amanda - Hope Moustache is behaving better. I think he may be  doing that because he is bored- at home there is always someone to play with him, so he doesn't need to get his attention by doing disgusting things like that. maybe if you walk him a whole  lot, play until he is tired, and  give him enough baths ( which he hates )  he will not feel like doing it &  get the message. Of course,  reducing the number of and putting the litter boxes somewhere where only the cats can get at them would really be the best way to solve the problem. Good luck !!!

 

Hope you are  all having a good time in Cuba , Paul & Sabrina.

 

Miss you all, especially Carl's daily calls.  

 

Love, Mom & Dad.

Feb 07/12: Antarctic & Atlantic Oceans (1)

Feb 07/12: Antarctic & Atlantic Oceans (1)

 

Hi from the Antarctic & Atlantic  Oceans,

 

We have 2 sea days on the 7/8th while we make our way from Pt. Stanley to Buenos Aires. Weather has been high winds, large waves on the 7th, but has improved today (8th) and the weather is a lot warmer now. The water temp has warmed up to 16C and the temp outside is 19C, as of 9PM.  Still having high winds (sea state 4), and the combo of winds, waves & current is pushing the ship so that we have been making  close to or over the rated speed of 20 Kn. Since we lost several hours at Pt. Stanley on the 6th due to the waves / wind and not being able to get people back from shore as the tenders had to be cancelled for several hours due to safety concerns, this is helping us make up for lost time.

 

Have not seen much in the way of sea birds and no marine life these past 2 days, so no excitement in that department.

 

Another day at sea. Weather continues to be overcast, windy , with rough seas. Again going outside was discouraged and signs were up on the doors telling people the deck was 'off limits' due to safety concerns about the strong winds and wet decks and we were only to go outside in case of emergency. I could not even push open the doors, using my entire body,  the winds were so strong! I would certainly be blown all over if I tried to walk around on deck! So everyone stayed inside. We are trying to make up for lost time from Pt. Stanley, and it seems to be working. Phil and I are having a great time sitting in our cabin and watching the wave action through our window. Every once in a while they will really hit the boat and you actually hear it and feel the boat  pause for a fraction of a second - similar to when you are driving a car in gusts of wind. We are all walking around like drunken sailors, but amazingly few people seem to be suffering from seasickness. Dad & I are fine.

 

The big news today is that Dad won the Daily Quiz with a perfect score of 20/20. We have settled into a 'sea routine'. Sleep in a little later (than 5 AM!!!) then up for a leisurely breakfast, Dad does his trivia and reads the daily newspapers they have on board, I generally go to some sort of 'Wellbeing or Tech' seminar. Today I did the partner massage workshop (neck & shoulder massage only) but Dad refused to come along, so I had to partner up with someone else. Bah! Then it was on the French Buffet for lunch. It was fabulous, the best buffet yet. (they only have them on some sea days - I think it is their way of keeping us occupied - eating!). They had made to order fillet mignon steaks, veggies, scalloped potatoes, all kinds of breads, and then desserts.... desserts....desserts. I had a large dinner plate of several different desserts, all delicious, and then went back for seconds of the ones I really liked! I overate - boys you know me! But it was worth it.

 

After that Dad went to the Antarctica Forum and I went to some seminars about healthy eating & healthy diet - figured I needed it after lunch! Had a big sugar crash so went to sleep afterwards and could not even wake up to go to 'texpert' classes, so just got up for... you guessed it... supper! More eating ! It was formal night, so they had lobster on the menu - how could I resist????? Even Dad had lobster. Mmmmm.

 

Changed out of our 'dress clothes' and I went to the theatre to watch 'Dolphin Tale' while Dad went to play trivia and hang out in the library. Then decided to do laundry as our hamper was overflowing. The washers take forever to fill with water, AND the driers are the slowest... so it took me until after 2 AM to get all our loads done. At one time I had 3 washers and 3 driers going between the 6th and 10th floors (we are on the 5th floor BTW). I worked off my excessive eating by spending my time running up and down between the floors all night. Things are hanging up all over the cabin, from every place you can imagine - I even have bras drying on my bedside light while Dad has socks on his. Of course, the bathroom is loaded, there are hangers over all the doors, and have even hung stuff off the lights in the ceiling, along the desk, off the bookcase and even the picture frames. You can just imagine when our room looks like. It will take the next 2 days for everything to dry, so hopefully by the time we get to Buenos Aeries we can put most of it away.

 

Anyway, Dad worked on his Sudokus then went to bed and I did some reading before finally turning off the light. Dad has to get up early tomorrow to do the run for Breast Cancer, so have to get some sleep. I am not doing it so will not be getting up- intend to sleep in. I'm tired!

 

Hope all is well at home, and  you are all fine.

Feb 06/12: Pt. Stanley & Penguins!

Feb 06/12: Pt. Stanley & Penguins!

So have been at sea for several days since we could not get into Ushuia. Every day has been overcast, drizzly,  with snow or hail or a combo of all of them. Winds have been picking up and been pretty steady. It is difficult to get outdoors as wind pushes the door closed and you have to be careful not to get squished when it slams shut. Then getting it back open is another matter. Anyway, despite that have still seen many icebergs along the way, some fur seals, dolphins, and a variety of birds.

 

Today we arrived in Pt. Stanley, and the winds & waves are still very high, but it has been decided that we will try to get the tenders out and get across to land so we can do our shore excursions. It is about 20 -25 minutes by tender to get there.

 

Phil's excursion left very early, at 7am. He is going to Bluff Cove where there is a colony of Gentoo Penguins and also s few king penguins and visiting Magellans. His tour takes about 3 hours, so the plan is for him to to be back on board for lunch. He plans to walk around the town a bit before returning. I am going to see the Rockhopper penguins, on a 4 hour tour, and only leave at 8.30.

 

So, this is what really happened.....

 

Everything was delayed due to the high winds and rough seas. They had trouble lowering the tenders, and at one point there was a rumour that we would not be able to go ashore at all. But then the first set of tenders went out. Phil said it was a wild ride, as I found out when I went. the tender bounced around like a piece of popcorn - water splashed up the sides, and over the roof, leaking in everywhere. I had to put on my raincoat - inside the tender! They could have sold this as a thrill ride - it was like a roller coaster only wilder. We docked successfully, but the tender after us was the last one, and then they all stopped for several hours. There was some concern that we might end up on the island overnight if the tenders could not come back to pick us all up - which apparently has happened once before! As it turned out, we had a delay of about 3 hours but we did manage to get back on board the ship. Whew! Of course, now we are delayed at the other end, so the captain has to go full speed or more with the wind & waves pushing the boat, and even then we are expecting a delay of about 2 1/2 hours arriving to Buenos Aeries.

 

Dad had a great time. He rode in a 4x4 jeep with 3 other people over rough terrain & got all shaken up. His driver seemed to go out of his way to pick the longest and most challenging route to get them there and back. At the cove, he saw 3 pairs of King penguins. They were very beautiful but just stood there with the fluffy babies on their feet, so they were not very exciting at all. The Gentoos ran around, acting like Dad had expected a penguin to be. There was a little cafe called the 'Sea Cabbage Cafe' and they had free cookies and hot drinks and a very nice toilet next to the museum, which was just a tiny one room affair. (Dad says to tell you he didn't have anything!) It was windy and even hailed and rained, and the waves on the beach were crashing down in huge rollers. Dad was very  impressed that the little penguins could survive in these harsh conditions, and that they braved the waves like little soldiers. Penguins are Dad's new heroes.

 

Back at the pier, Dad went to the local hardware / lumber store and got some scrap wood that will be used to build the boat they are working on for the contest on the ship.  Dad got back to the pier just in time to catch the 2nd to last tender back to the ship before they stopped. My tour was later coming back, so when I got back there were no tenders running and we were told to just grab some food from the local pub and take a walk around town, go to the shops etc. for about 2 hours. But that comes later.... When Dad got back on board, he had lunch and then had a rest.

 

My trip was fabulous also. First we had a ride in a 12 person bus, then we arrived at a private farm at which we switched to 4x4 jeeps (4 people each) to ride over the terrain for about 30 minutes. We arrived at the top of the cliffs and there were the Rockhoppers. They are crazy!!! They are very busy, and they are thieves! The young penguins were there all alone as the parents had gone off to fish. They were practicing nest building very earnestly - but when one's back was turned, another would sneak up and boldly snitch a rock or twig from the nest and then run off and put it on theirs. They did this over and over. They really hop, too! It was very windy up there on the cliff, and then it started to rain and hail. It hailed twice!!! I spent the entire time outside, for 2 hours. There was also a spot lower down the cliff where there was a shallow pool of water and they would hop down the cliff to that spot and then frolic in the water. This is how they learned to swim. Then some would stand on the edge of the cliff and look down into the sea as if to say "Should I jump or not?". I watched one stand there for a long time, and in the end he turned around. I did not see any jump off while i was there. I would attach a video, but it is too large, so you will have to wait until we get back. It is very funny.

 

We had a little shack up there that had hot drinks and cookies, and a porta- potties, but I never went in. On the way back we stopped several times to look at the interesting rock formations and plants. There are no trees on the island, but there are a few small bushes that resemble blueberries. The plant is called the 'Diddle Dee' and they make jam out of the red berries (which are very sour). One of the most interesting things were the peat bogs all over, and there were sections, mostly rounded in shape called peat hollows, where the peat had been blown or washed away and you could see the clay soil and rocks underneath. apparently these are usually filled with water, but it has been dry out and they have dried up.  There were also lots of rock formations, mountain outcrops,  one of the most interesting were long rows of rock called rock runs, which are believed to be left behind from glaciers. From a distance, they almost seemed to be patterned and you had to wonder why..... alien writing perhaps??? You could see lots of grass, called white grass, but apparently it is not very nutritious, so it takes a lot more  land to raise the sheep there.

 

The tenders had been suspended when 'my jeep' got back to the pier to drop off the 4 of us, so I  walked around taking pictures of the town.  I also bought some 'Diidle-Dee' jam, so you will be able to taste it when we get back and you come over one Sunday. When the tenders resumed, about 2 1/2 hours later, it was not as wild a ride back because we weren't heading into the waves, but it was still rough out and there was splashing. Got back on board between 4 & 4:30, so just had time to clean up for supper at 5:30. Not much doing that night. Lots of waves & windy. We were delayed 3 hours and are trying to make up time as much as possible, but we do expect to be delayed arriving now.

 

That's it for now... more tomorrow.

 

Sleep tight.

Love Mom & Dad

Feb 02/12: Cruising Antartica

Feb 02/12: Cruising Antartica

 

Today is a sea day as we cruise the waters of Antarctica. The weather continues to be overcast, with on off sleet-snow and gale force winds. I had to get up at 5:30 AM- yes, mom got up really early! Dad stayed in bed, but did getup a little later- for breakfast! I skipped it as I was outside, freezing myself, and every time I thought I might come in, something else would appear. At that time the ship was going through Dallmonn Bay, Schollart Channel, and passing Cuverville island- where there is a penguin colony. Managed to see some of these, but then the fog rolled in heavy and thick and we never did get to see Cuverville Island  as a result. So we are just cruising and hoping the weather will give us a break. it is cold and very windy out. With the wind chill it is below Celsius and the  wind blows icy pellets right in your face.

 

Saw our first iceberg and ' berg-bits'. Some birds braved the weather and took pics of those. Saw 2 whales spouting, and a flipper but could not get the shots - by the time you click the camera they are gone.  I have attached some of the pics I got. I'd stay out for around 40-50 minutes, depending, then come in for 2 minutes or so just to warm up my fingers. Also had to wipe off the camera as it got rained  etc. upon, and to change lenses from time to time- indoors. Hopefully the weather will get better. Gave up because could see nothing at all anymore, and even the birds vanished around 11, and then ordered in some breakfast to the room- orange juice, an omelet and French toast.

 

Weather continued to get worse.  Wind picked up to gale force & greater, and it snowed steadily for quite a while- it even 'piled up' on deck - someone braved the weather and went out an built a mini snowman.

 

After breakfast, I decided to spend time looking out the window, but I got tired and so went to the cabin for a snooze because you really could not see anything. Woke up around 3 and Dad had had lunch, but did not go to the Greek buffet. I missed lunch, because at 1.30 we were passing by the Lemaire channel, Paradise Harbour and cruising the Bismark Strait, and I was trying to get pictures through the fog , snow and wind. Not much luck there. Then it was too late to get lunch  so just ate some fruit in the cabin, then got dressed again and went outside some more. There was a short reprieve of about 20 minutes where the fog backed off just in time for some more land to reveal itself very close to the ship.

 

Then it was time for the ' penguin plunge' at 4 .00. We will get a certificate and 5 "ship dollars' . Dad had already been up there 10 minutes when I joined him in my bathing suit with cabin robe overtop. Dad had a towel but I had expected to find some on deck- there were only blankets- so Dad ran back inside to get me one. During that time, they gathered everyone together out by the pool and took a group shot which Dad missed because they would not wait. Then it was a mad scramble into the pool. We had been told that the pool would be heated, but it wasn't !!! Brrrrr!!!! Literally went in & out. Freezing  when you came out with the wind blowing and the snow/sleet coming down the whole time. I hopped into the hot tub to warm up, but Dad went straight into the cabin. After the hot tub, I went inside and had a sauna and steam room as I was still cold. Finally I was warm again. By then it was time to get ready for supper.

 

As usual, I was the last one, and late. Tonight I did not order any dessert- instead I had the fruit plate. I have to start eating less as both Dad and I are eating much more than we would at home. During supper some really big icebergs showed up, and the fog was just far enough away that we could see them. We had a huge debate at the table as to whether it was land or  an iceberg, it was so huge. Finally it was confirmed to be an iceberg, so that was our real first iceberg. It was dessert time, so I ran away to get the camera and my jacket to take some pictures. When I got outside there were a few more - it was unbelievable how huge they were. Some were as long, or even longer than the ship, as well as high.  ( see movie) .No wonder the Titanic went down if that was what she ran into!!!! When I got in , frozen again, everyone was finished dessert and their coffee/tea, so I had to rush.

 

I had a  chat & some  rum with one of our table mates , Caroline, in our cabin while she gave me a foot massage which I thought was extremely nice of her. Dad and her husband, Erwin, went up to their cabin and had some wine with their chat. Then everyone went back to their respective cabins and I got ready for the night- namely took off my clothes and slipped into my bathrobe so I could do emails. I happened to look out our window, and there were 2 whales, spouting, and then we saw one arch it's back, and a tail fin. Since I was already undressed I sent Dad out to get some pictures, but he doddled getting dressed  and by the time he got out there they were gone. However, others took their place and Dad saw them spouting. Again, could not get any pictures, the camera is just too slw and they are just too fast. But we will remember! Anyway, it is now 11.27 pm, and I have to get up at 5:30 am again tomorrow to get pics for when we get to Palmer Station & the Neumayer Channel at 6am. I guess I will skip my nightly tea. Dad fell asleep on the bed, so will join him. Will try to send another update tomorrow.

 

Take care, love you all,

Mom & Dad

11:57pm...

It's finally totally dark out. Could not connect to internet, so will send all emails tomorrow.

Can't believe I'm getting up at 5.30 tomorrow- again!

 

Sleep tight everyone.

 

Love Mom