22 Jan 2014

First Iceberg

We have spent the past 2 days at sea sailing south from Macquarie Island through the Furious Fifties and today enjoyed a sunny, calm day. Everyone was on deck to make the most of the sunshine and (very) fresh air. The big excitement of the day was the sighting of our first icebergs! It is always a very special moment when you see one of these "ice cathedrals" for the first time, drifting in the immensity of the ocean. There can now be no doubt that we are approaching Antarctica! Other evidence of this fact is sightings of "new" birds, such as the Antarctic Petrel and Snowy Petrel, which now fly around the ship until late each evening. The twilight has also become more spectacular as last night we had a stunning sunset on one side of the ship and the moon over pink tinged icebergs on the other.