January 1, 2009 -- Happy New Years from Antarctica!

I woke up this morning and promptly looked out my porthole....Antarctica! What a way to start the year. I saw my first glimpse of 'bergy bits' (pieces of ice smaller than 100m) and the Antarctic Penninsula islands. Not wanting to miss a thing I rushed up to the lounge to grab some tea and breakfast before I headed up to the bridge to watch Antarctica come into view. I spent well over an hour watching us approach Anvers Island, with its amazing peaks! I don't think I realized how breathtaking the mountains down here would be.

Moving through bits of ice, we made our way to the Ukrainian research station, Akademik Vernadksy, on Marina Point of Galindez Island. Formerly the Faraday Station -- a British Antarctic Survey (BAS) station -- it was purchased by the Ukraine (for the equivalent of 1 pound sterling, so I'm told) in 1996. Some of the primary research being conducted at this location is work concerning the ozone hole and other meteorological studies.

We had lunch on the ship before getting ready to head out. In order to get to the station we had to get all suited up in our bright yellow Clipper parkas, rubber boots, and lifevests and when zodiac group was called (I was in group 3), we made our way down to the boarding room and walked down the slick metal staircase and onto the awaiting zodiac! The brash ice in the bay was quite thick, so we had to manoeuver the zodiac carefully, but we were so close to the ice and icebergs.
The colours were amazing...the icy-blue bergs above water, with the brilliant blue hues glowing through from underwater. Breathtaking! The sun was out, the sky was blue, a leopard seal was hauled out on the ice and gentoo penguins were porpoising through the water.

We got a tour of the station, where I sent some Antarctic postcards -- which I'm told have to go to the Ukraine first, and then on to their final destination, so don't expect them until May 2009. We also got a tour of the bar/lounge at the station, which is apparently where they spend a lot of their time in the cold, dark winter months! They make their own special brew of vodka here, so we had the option of trying some to warm us up from the inside-out!

I also acquired a roomate whom we picked up at the station. Nataliya is a software engineer from the Ukraine who was helping with a project on the base while visiting her boyfriend who had been overwintering on the base. He had been on the base for 11 months before she arrived, and has 3 more months to go! Apparently Nataliya is the first 'girlfriend' to have visited the base, in the entire history of the Vernadsky (Faraday) station! She should have some interesting stories to tell as she was able to stay at the station for 6 weeks.

We made our way back to the ship, and ate supper in the midst of French Passage, with more penguins porpoising on the port side of the ship and icebergs to the starboard side. We ended up near Petermann Island with Mount Shackleton casting a dramatic background! This is where we would have our second landing of the day. This was our furthest south landing that we will do on this expedition, at 65 degrees 10 minutes South, and 64 degrees 10 minutes West.

Petermann Island has large colonies of Gentoo Penguins, Adelie Penguins and Rock Cormorants, so I was excited for this landing (to say the least). We were able to traipse through the snow -- sometimes 1 meter deep! -- avoiding the penguin highways of course and find a spot to just sit and watch the wildlife. The smell of penguin guano was ripe in the air, but I had an amazing time watching the gentoos flop their way up to their little rock nests, the males sitting keeping the eggs warm, the females stealing rocks from their neighbours' nests to add to their own. Some of the penguins on this island even had chicks! But the little ones were spending most of their time hidden under the feet of their parents. I can't believe I'm actually in Antarctica and hanging out with penguins!


Its currently 10:40 pm and the sun is still shining brightly! I even put on sunscreen for our evening landing yet I still feel like I might have a bit of a sunburn. Time for some rest so I can prepare for our landings and zodiac cruises tomorrow!