28 Jan 2015

Antarctic Playground

Yesterday we enjoyed a wonderful time at Cape Royds, landing at 0900 on Black Sand Beach. It was warm and sunny making the crystals in the rocks sparkle as we walked over the glaciated grey volcanic landscape to inspect Shackleton’s hut erected in 1908. Seven people at a time took their turn exploring the interior of the hut as guide David explained how the explorers lived and told stories associated with some of the artefacts which have been beautifully restored by the Antarctic Heritage Trust. This visit was especially poignant for one of the party. Jenny Gardner's great grandfather was the eminent geologist Sir Edgeworth David who travelled with Shackleton and Mawson. You can read the full story here.

By 1300 the party was back aboard as we relocated to the ice edge at inner McMurdo Sound.

Visit to Shackleton's Hut

Dessert on the Ice

We cruised along the McMurdo ice edge about 10 nautical miles from Hut Point Peninsula in flat calm seas with no wind enjoying the sunshine as we observed Orca and Minke Whales. We received permission from the US icebreaker Polar Star to enter the shipping channel for a short distance and arrived at Latitude 77 48’South, Longitude 166 06’East, our furthest south for this expedition. We tied up at the ice edge and following dinner went ashore to stretch our legs. A table was set up for hot cocoa and dessert as a game of soccer was between passengers and crew and Orca passed by. At 2300hrs with Mt Erebus lit by a beautiful soft light in the background a few bravely took a polar plunge.

Killer Whales cruise the ice shelf

The Spirit of Enderby at the ice edge