More kayaking photos from Antarctica

Sea Kayaking in Antarctica: Waves, whales, seals and bergy bits!

Thank you to everyone who took such amazing photos of the kayaking group.  It was a little difficult for us to take photos when we were trying to avoid icebergs, wind gusts and whales!

I love this photo!  The water is so glassy and perfect.  The kayaking group wore yellow suits that made us stand out.  Kayaking on the trip was an add-on that had to be pre-purchased before boarding and it was limited to 16 participants. We had 12 in our group on this trip and if you're considering going to Antarctica, I would say kayaking is a must!

I love this photo because it captures the size proportions and makes me think we were insane for kayaking near these animals!

The infamous Leopard Seal spectacular.

Vicky holding up her bergy bit!

I think I spotted something.

Sully & Jordan in Wilhelmina Bay after we had an incredible late afternoon paddling with whales.

This is one of the beach launches- I think we only did two beach launches on the trip.

Me holding up my bergy bit!

Look at my game face.

Someone caught me taking a selfie with the bergy bit!

I love this photo because we hit rough patch of water around the shore and had to learn how to back paddle into waves with the kayaks perpendicular to the waves to avoid rolling.  We thought it was a blast but our guides were clearly concerned!

Oh hey there seal!

A rather large marine mammal rolling up...

Towing the kayaks to launch after our visit to Neko Harbor.

Oh, no big deal, just an enormous whale.

A whale resting on the surface next to us.

Whale tail!

Peter & Jane paddling near an enormous ice wall.

Friends Part 2: Victoria (aka: Vic aka: Vicky)

Again- it's amazing what happens when people are forced to interact because there is no internet, no television and basically no connection to the outside world for almost 11 full days!  I had the pleasure of meeting Vicky at our first kayaking meeting and I have never met a more positive, fun and beautiful person inside and out!

Taking time out from the last happy hour to take some photos : )

A quick duck face selfie at Deception Island!

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My two new sisters, Stacey & Vicky looking fabulous!

I love this picture so much- it sums up Vicky's happy and infectiously fun personality!  

This is a picture of Vicky, me & Nikki (another fab kayaker friend!)

Sully, Vicky & I did the traditional shot of scotch to toast the rounding of Cape Horn.  I'm not exactly sure who's tradition this was but we did it anyway- at 10:30 AM.  

Vicky may kill me for posting this but it's just too funny.  This is the whale tagging arrow that our friend Joe won at the charity auction.

Just another selfie.

Part of our kayaking crew: Peter, Vicky, Me & Sullivan.  Here we are at happy hour and you will note that Vicky is sporting her OE bathrobe- someone had just returned from our outdoor polar plunge pool!! (More on that later)

Vicky, I don't have time to deal with ship emergencies right now, there are selfies to be taken.  (The photos above are from our tour of the lower decks of the ship- if you missed my post check it out here.)

Look at this girl! She made the kayaking gear look good!!

You'll get to see more of Vicky when I write about kayaking in future posts.  I think everyone on the trip would agree that any time Vicky was around we were all smiling and laughing!  Her kindness and generosity is unmatched and I'm so thankful to have her in my life.  I'm looking forward to a visit to Buenos Aires to see her and hoping she will make it to NYC for a visit this summer!

Departure Day Recap

I never had a chance to post photos and updates from Ushuaia on the day we departed.  My group was scheduled to meet at the Albatross Hotel's restaurant around 2:30pm so I arrived early to have some lunch.

Local Malbec; the glasses used to serve the wine were labeled accordingly.  Fin del Mundo means "End of the World" and is used to describe the Ushuaia because it's the southern most part of the world, excluding Antarctica!

I tried the local fish, called "Toothfish" or "Hake".  It was a very heavy and fatty fish but I'm glad I tried it.

After the heavy meal I needed a double espresso before heading upstairs to the meeting point.

At 2:30 I moved to the second floor of the restaurant, our designated meeting spot.  There is a law that passengers must be transported to the ship and board as a group so we gathered upstairs, turned in our passports to the crew (this was unnerving), and were shuttled by bus across the street to the docks.  When I was filling out one last form upstairs and needed a table to write on, two people sitting near me offered me some space.  After a few minutes of chatting I learned that it was Clif's third trip to Antarctica and Stacey's second trip.  They were both from Calgary and I remember thinking, wow, that's pretty aggressive to go back multiple times.  I also remember asking them about sea sickness and prevention- I've been on the water a lot and have never been sea sick so I thought I would just wing it and take the Dramamine I brought if I needed it.  I'll never turn down advice- Clif and Stacey suggested I start taking the pills immediately and continue taking them every 4-6 hours throughout the first few days.  Thanks to them I never really got sea sick, but have a feeling I would have been completely ill and stuck in my cabin had I not taken the pills.  They make you drowsy but I definitely experienced some slight nausea and dizziness even with the pills so I can only imagine what would have happened if I didn't take them.

I felt as though I'd known Stacey and Clif my whole life; I'd found other people who were just as silly as I am.  I had a feeling that most people on the ship would fall somewhere in my range of personality- a little goofy, a little quirky and a lot of nerdy.  Love.  Side note: I remember Clif commenting on how both Stacey and I nearly ran into people because we were focusing on other things - Stacey and I happen to share the same quirky brain 'issues' as I like to say.  I was looking forward to meeting the rest of the passengers including my mysterious roommate!

First steps on the gangway!

Stacey & Clif on the gangway!

Once we got on the ship we were escorted to our cabins and I was able to meet my roommate, Kay, from Australia.  I'll be sure to share more on Kay; she was honestly the best roommate anyone could ask for!  Want to know what the cabin looked like?  It's small, yes, and I'd estimate it at about 150 square feet based on the size of my college dorm room.  To be honest though, after almost fourteen years of living in NYC, it didn't seem that bad considering the circumstances.

Our cabin as seen from the doorway.  Kay slept on the left and I slept next to the port.

My sleeping area, looking way less messy than ever.  What can I say, I have problems organizing things!

The itinerary, part of "Ocean Notes" that were posted daily around the ship. The Ocean Notes always contained some educational information, a recap of our previous day, the current schedule and a Russian word of the day. 

After checking into our cabins, we were taken upstairs to the ship lounge where the staff had food and cocktails waiting for us.

Rama, the ship bartender, passing out mimosas to celebrate our arrival.

We were fortunate to have such a beautiful sunny and clear afternoon for departure.  The tall ships (We were departing during a unique time when the meeting of the tall ships took place in Port Ushuaia; tall ships from around the world gathered in the port.) and mountains were amazing backdrops for some last minute photos.  

We had our life boat drill shortly before dinner.  As embarrassing as it is, the first thing I thought of was how they really look like the ones in Captain Phillips.  It's actually amazing how much space is inside of these lifeboats.  Supposedly every person on board can fit in the two lifeboats.  Thank fully we never had to use them.

And then we were on our way, see you in 11 days Ushuaia!

A beautiful view of Port Ushuaia and the tall ships as we began our journey to Antarctica.  Photo from our OE shared folder.

Before dinner Doug and Barb, also from Calgary, invited some of us to their room to have some wine before dinner.  Doug and Barb had been upgraded to a suite and actually had the space to share.  Doug and Barb met Clif and Stacey briefly in Ushuaia when Stacey made a comment about Doug's Calgary Flames hat.  Ironically, Doug and Stacey were connected in another way besides Calgary.  Doug drew Stacey's name from the hat in the charity raffle for this very trip to Antarctica!

Doug relaxing in his suite.  Kay, my roommate is to the left.  I am willing to bet that Barb was power walking through the halls of the ship- she was brilliant to do this during our long passage to stay limber and keep grounded!

Here's a better picture of both Doug & Barb.  This picture was taken on our very last night.

I have lots more to say about my wonderful roommate Kay, but for now I'll just post one quick photo of us.

Kay and I at dinner on the last night of the trip.  I'm so thankful to have met her!

There's a lot more to post on the amazing people I met during the trip.  I look forward to sharing some of the stories and photos in my next post.