Visiting the coldest, windiest, driest, iciest, whitest continent on Earth is not everyone´s idea of money well spent, but it is mine. I have always wanted to visit the mysterious Antarctic region but I´m not sure that I thought I would ever actually get there. A place confined to beautiful coffee table picture books and scientific expeditions, Antarctica can seem beyond the reach of the humble traveller. These past nine days at sea on board the MS Polaris have had their ups and downs (literally and metaphorically speaking) but making it to Antarctica has literally been a dream come true.
The first iceberg sighting was made as we approached the South Shetland Islands and it didn´t disappoint. As we got closer in the fading light of our second full day at sea an enormous tabular iceberg emerged. Reaching over 100 metres in height (bearing in mind that only an eighth of an iceberg is visible above water) it was a mo
nster! This initial sighting was followed in quick succession by others which appeared on the dusky horizon floating majestically on the Southern Ocean. With the calmer waters came a good night´s sleep and an early morning wake up call and the fun began. Our first trip off the boat was a zodiac cruise around Enterprise Island and to the wreck of the Governor (a 1920s whaling ship) in Foyn Harbour. It was 
a great first cruise and a good taster of how many layers (more) I´d need to wear on our subsequent outings! That afternoon we made our first landing of the trip on Cuverville Island, home to a large Gentoo Penguin colony. As we approached land it was clear that there were thousands of penguins on the island, both adults and large chicks. Identified by their distinctive orange bills and a white flash above the eye, these little fellows were my first introduction to penguins en masse and they were truly a sight to behold.
The following morning we sailed into Paradise Harbour and landed the Zodiacs at the now unused Argentinian base of Almirante Brown. We walked up the hill to enjoy the stunning view over the harbour and were treated to a beautiful sight - after a few grey days of rain and snow, the sun was rising over the mountains and the cloud receding. Looking forward to a day of good weather, the steep climb up turned into a great snow slide down for many. We got back on board the Polaris and set sail
for the Lemaire Channel, a narrow ice-filled channel that was a truly spectacular sight. The most scenic part of the journey it was a real treat to experience it in such good weather. Picture postcard opportunities presented themselves one after the other as we cruised through the ice the sun lit up the snowy peaks surrounding us. I didn´t think it could get much better than this until we reached the aptly named Iceberg Alley where the Antarctica of my imagination revealed itself. We Zodiac cruised for about two hours around the icebergs witnessing an abundance of wildlife including: Minke Whales, Humpback Whales, Crabeater Seals, Antarctic Fur Seals, a lone Adelie Penguin and the spectacular Leopard Seal. All of this as the sun slowly began to set over icebergs that were even beyond my imagination - turquoise in colour and carved into beautiful shapes. Truly overwhelming!
With the weather forecast for the following day looking a little less than perfect the expedition team even managed to squeeze in a third outing for the day to the Yalour Islands, home to an Adelie Penguin colony. A little smaller th
an the Gentoo and without the orange bill, these penguins are really cute but exceptionally smelly. As opposed to our landing on Cuverville Island where we were able to land away from the nesting sites, at the Adelie colony we found ourselves right in the middle of what had been their nesting site earlier in the season. The guano literally coloured the island red and smelled so bad that I was convinced the Adelie scent had permeated my clothes and skin! That said, it was a wonderful opportunity to see another species of penguin in such large numbers and to observe their amusing behaviours. Feeling exhausted we returned to the ship where we had a good nights sleep at anchor.
The next morning we woke up to worse weather (which made us feel very thankful for the perfect day before). We had been planning to visit the Ukranian Vernadsky Station on the Argentine Islands. Unfortunately though, they were in the midst of their annual crew change and it was not possible to tour the station itself. Very kindly they sent their radio controller, Eugine onto our boat to tell us about the station and answer our questions. 
It´s a shame we didn´t get to visit as I´m sure it would have been fascinating. We did land however at part of the original station, Wordie Hut, which was part of the British base B which later became Faraday. It has been left as a testament to how things used to be and was a real eye opener - the marmite looked tempting though, despite its age (I'm having some serious withdrawal symptoms here)! That afternoon in slightly less picturesque conditions we sailed back down the Lemaire Channel and on to our next landing site back in the South Shetlands, Deception Island. As our ship´s captain skillfully negotiated Neptune´s Bellows (a very narrow opening into what is in fact a volcanic caldera), Whaler´s Bay came into view. Whaler´s Bay was home to a succession of whaling and research stations and is now an open air museum with many well preserved remnants of years past. This was a fascinating stop and gave us an idea of the scale of whaling operations in the region.
Whaler´s Bay will also hold memories for us of a different kind. All week we had been gearing up towards a dip in Antarctic waters and were determined to beat the last Polaris Antarctic Swim Team recor
d of 31 passengers/crew. Had the sun been out it would have been a less daunting proposition but we took the plunge nonetheless. We had to wade into the water and ensure that we swam with our heads fully submerged in order to count as an official swim team member. It was a pretty amusing sight for the onlooking fur seal as 39 passengers/crew stripped down to their swimsuits and entered the freezing waters of the Southern Ocean. Not an experience I feel I need to repeat but one that with hindsight, and dressed warmly, I think I almost enjoyed!
After a hot shower and back into a sensible number of layers we made our final landing of the trip that afternoon at Walker Bay on Livingstone Island. The conditions were pretty interesting: the wind was blowing fairly hard and we had quite a big swell which made transferring from the gangway to the Zodiac and back quite exciting. We all made it unscathed though thanks to the hard work of the staff and enjoyed a final stroll on 
land taking in some new species and saying goodbye to some old friends. Large colonies of both Gentoo and Adelie Penguins lined the rocky bay as we walked to Hannah Point at the end of the island. The glacial ice washed up on the beach made for a spectacular sight and we were even lucky enough to catch our first sighting of Southern Elephant Seals. These monsters can reach four and a half tonnes when fully grown and if the juvenile males we saw (at about two and a half tonnes) are anything to go by, they must be gigantic!
And so began our journey home. My only complaint about this trip is that it was just not long enough. I could have spent many many more days exploring this last wildnerness but am thankful that I am one of the few who have been here at all. We were blessed that our return trip on the Drake was less eventful than our first and we will leave with wonderful memories of Antarctica. I feel a trip further north coming on...anyone ever seen a Polar Bear?
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