Antarctica is obviously a pretty brutal place, and there is the potential on this trip to remain ship-bound and seasick for the entire week without even setting foot on land. It it's too rough to launch the zodiacs then they don't. Bluebird days are pretty unusual, so when we woke up the next day in a bay off the Neumayer Channel with Anvers Island and the impressive Mt Francoise at nearly 3000m asl to our west, and Wiencke Island to our east, we could hardly believe our luck. One of the most glorious mornings ever!
Mark told us to indulge for breaky and take some snacks as he wasn't planning on returning back to the boat for lunch. There was hardly a breath of wind all day, and we had some amazing climbing and skiing on reasonable corned snow.
Everywhere you turned was a wonder.
On the way back we visited a Chilean Base with an old British Base now a museum of sorts surrounded by penguin rookeries and seals. On the way over the Drake, and then every evening, the Quark folk host a series of lectures on Antarctic history and ecology, usually finishing with some entertaining talks by the guides.
The day culminated in the polar plunge, which was pretty freaking cold!
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