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Monday 2nd March 2015

Brown Bluff and Paulet Island Weddell Sea

First and foremost a quick rundown on the Aurora crew in whose care we will be for the next week.

Aurora Team
Back L to R Alisdair, Liz (penguin outfit) Judd
Front L to R Martin, John, Birgitta, Diego behind Heather, Peter

Christian Genilliard- Our very well-travelled Expedition Leader who has worked on projects such as ‘Round the World Race’ and the America’s Cup.

Liz Pope- Assistant Expedition Leader who has travelled widely throughout Australia, New Zealand, India, Vietnam,Nepal, Mexico,Europe and Africa.

Alasdair McGregor- Historian, painter, photographer and writer.Vast experience and knowledge of the Antarctic and the author of 3 books with Antarctic themes, including the biography of famed polar photographer Frank Hurley.

Diego Punta Fernandez.- Naturalist. Originally from Buenos Aires but now based in El Chalten Patagonia. For over 15 years he has been leading trekking, birding and photographic trips through South Patagonia.

Dr John Barry- Doctor who has worked in over 50 countries over the past decade and when not aboard Polar Pioneer works as a GP in Bondi. A big part to play in getting some of us landlubbers through Drake Passage on our return from Antarctica .

Elena Wimberger – Hotel Manager. After working on board Polar Pioneer in the European Arctic in 2014 Elena is now visiting the Antarctic for the first time.

Birgitta Moeck – working on her first trip to Antarctica but a very experienced diver and underwater photographer who is the Creative Director for her family company Crystal Water Film Production AB. Birgitta comes from Orust on the west coast of Sweden an area with which I am very familiar and which we visited last year.

Other vital members of the crew with whom we have less contact in view of the activities for which they are responsible are :

Judd Hill, Sea Kayak Guide, Martin McGrath, Scuba Diving Guide and Peter who works for an independent company, Waterproof and is involved in the diving and kayaking area.

I have had a good night’s  sleep but Gail has had just the opposite with the luggage drama really hitting home. The previous night’s sanguine attitude had been replaced by her understandable anger at the stupidity of the idiot who had made the mistake.

Given the fact that we had been on a charter flight with only Aurora passengers it is unforgivable.

Understandably Gail is totally uncompromising in her determination to get the right size of waterproof jacket ( which had been ordered some months earlier) rather than the XL provided.Liz, the assistant expedition leader feels the full force of a very disenchanted Gail. The correct size L is delivered to the cabin but it has been used and has salt stains on both sleeves. Not happy, Liz!

Excellent breakfast after which we have another mandatory briefing on zodiacs and how to get our superannuated limbs into and out of them.

With rather threatening skies we eventually land at Browns Bluff ( as distinct from Paulet Island which had been the original plan). Our first landing on the continent of Antarctic!

Get to view Adelie and Gentoo penguins at close quarters plus a few fur seals. Weather and visibility closes in and the call comes to return to the zodiacs before the ice closes in.

Hot drinks and a great lunch thaw us all out and with the temp now at minus 5 we are off again on the zodiacs landing on the north side of Paulet Island.

Unmistakable odour of the Adelie penguins ( by now few in number as the end of the season approaches) and the Antarctic cormorants assails our senses as we land and receive an informative briefing from Alasdair on the ill- fated Nordenskjold’s expedition of 1901- 1904 and the loss of the ship Antarctic.

Remains of stone hut occupied by 20 survivors from the sunken ship Antarctic 1901

Spend considerable amount of time on shore and are able to view the wild life at very close quarters. Have good chat with Birgitta Mueck in Swedish which is lot better than my very rusty Spanish.

Before heading back to the ship Liz, who is our zodiac skipper for the afternoon takes us on a great tour through the maze of icebergs and fantastic shapes, even achieving a short stay on floating ice.

Return to Polar Pioneer very happy with the day’s events and Gail decidedly less peed off with the luggage issue.

Drinks in the bar with the Captain to celebrate this epic journey and he makes a fine brief speech before returning to the task of keep us all safe.

Usual great meal although Gail blots her copybook by forgetting to save a seat at our table for Sarah, our UK friend who has charged the battery to Gail’s camera.

G tries to make amends by making a non too subtle attempt at matchmaking by finding Sarah a seat next to Diego, our pin-up Argentinian naturalist .

End the day chatting to a group including Ross, with whom I discuss the merits of George Best, Becks and a few others. Peter, who had lead us from the aircraft on the first day, joined us to tell us his version of events on the luggage and Sarah stays to join us and tell us  of her career as a diver and instructor.  As Peter is not employed by Aurora he is able to be fairly blunt with his comments but is full of praise for Aurora and the whole team.

In bed by about 11pm after a day which has gone a long way towards taking Gail’s mind off lost luggage,at least for a while.

 Cheers

Obese Ferret

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Sunday 1st March 2013

Charter Flight Punta Arenas to King George island in the Antarctic

Wake up to the good news that the flight to  King George Island is definitely ‘on’.

Quick drive to the airport and duly take off at 10.00 approx under clear skies in a

90 seater  BAe 146-200.

Excellent lunchtime snack on board  and after very smooth flight of 1 hour 50 minutes we land at KG Island in surprisingly warm conditions.

Boarding the BAe146-200

1st site of Antarctica – flying into King George Island

Chile Base KGIsland

King George Island

Interesting sight when we are confronted on landing by a Hercules aircraft belonging to the Brazilian Navy which had crash landed some weeks earlier. Sergei, a member of the Russian crew on Polar Pioneer, asks us to take a photograph of the  stricken aircraft  for him.

Arrival on King George Island in Antarctic

Radio Operator Sergei near crashed Hercules KGIsland

As our luggage ( or at least most of it- more on this shortly) is being offloaded from our aircraft we proceed to an area where we change into wet weather gear for walk down to awaiting zodiacs for short trip to Polar Pioneer. The wet weather gear included gumboots which we had ordered some months earlier and which we would have to wear for any excursions from the ship.

The 1km walk in rubber boots to ship in distant background

1st site of Polar Pioneer (smaller ship on left) the trusty zodiacs and Gentoo penguins

Again the pre-trip organisation left something to be desired and it was a fairly chaotic scene as we all tried to locate our correct size especially given the fact that many of the gumboots had no size markings.

Far more impressive was the attention given to briefings on safety and other procedures prior to getting into the zodiacs and on board ship.  This was to be a feature of the whole trip.

We are directed to our very comfortable cabin on the 5th deck and prepare to settle into our new home for the next week but the best laid plans …..

Some genius has either failed to off-load Gail’s case or has loaded it on the plane again. The result is that it is back in Punta Arenas with no prospect of getting it back for the trip.

Craig has again come to the rescue and has tracked the case down through the ‘Find my phone’ app.( Gail’s phone is in her case). The ship’s crew members are not very helpful so C is our tech saviour again.

Whilst fellow travellers could not be more supportive with various offers of assistance it still sticks in the craw that this has happened at all. It has certainly taken the gloss off the start to the trip which is only alleviated by the excellent dinner served up.

In bed by 10.00.

Cheers

Obese Ferret

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Saturday 28th Feb 2015

Punta Arenas

Get up ready for the great adventure only to be thwarted by the news that the flight to King George Island has been cancelled due to the weather.

Head off to Dreams hotel for coffee but decide to go back to our hotel for the planned briefing at 10.30. This did not eventuate so we take time out to buy a cheap hair dryer and have another look around the city eventually returning to Dreams for a very nice brunch.

At 3.45 we set off on a bus tour of Punta Arenas with the first stop being the Salesian Museum and this was followed by a return visit ( for us) to the Cerro de la Cruz lookout.

Finally we visit the PA cemetery which is very impressive and our guide gives us a brief summary of the history of this place and the city in general. Apparently he has just returned from duty looking after 3000 tourists from a mega cruiser in the harbour.

Dinner at a changed time ( the timetable seems to be a moveable feast) and then off to bed.

Whilst we all appreciate that we have to accept the vagaries of the weather in this part of the world we are nevertheless less than satisfied with the way in which Tomas Holik has handled the situation. Communication during the day has been decidedly haphazard and given the fact that we have lost one day of our Antarctic trip we feel that firstly we should have been provided with lunch and not left to our own devices and secondly we could have been advised of any other  options for the day rather than just a tour of Punta Arenas, parts of which we had already covered.

Cheers

The Obese Ferret

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Thursday 26th February 2015

Santiago to Punta Arenas

Another sunny day but the air pollution is extreme, apparently the result of a number of bush fires in the area.

The usual fine breakfast and then it’s off to the airport in a taxi seemingly driven by a superannuated Grand Prix driver.  Finally board the Latam Airlines A 320 for the 3 hours and 20 minutes flight to Punta Arenas.

I pass the time chatting to a guy from Denver who is doing some trekking through  Patagonia with 10 other travellers as Gail has managed to get a window seat in row in front of me.

As we fly further south we fly over some truly magnificent mountain/ glacial scenery and I start to appreciate to the remoteness of this part of the world.

Glaciers NP Patagonia

We arrive about 3 pm and after a short taxi ride we duly check into the Hotel Cabo de Hornas for our two night stay. To be honest the hotel has seen better days but is perfectly adequate . Once again we have eaten very little during the day so we are both more than ready for our evening meal. Unfortunately, dinner is not server until 8 pm in the hotel so it’s off to a local fast food restaurant for a very tasty large pork toasted sandwich.

In contrast to the scenery on the way down to Punta Arenas this area is totally flat and somewhat windswept . The temperature, at least when we arrive, is not unduly cold and after the meal we head off on a short walk through the town and down to the waterfront.

Punta Arenas Chile on Magellan Straits

Straits of Magellan Statue Punta Arenas

Punta Arenas Main Square

By the time we finish our stroll the wind has become stronger and the temperature has dropped markedly. One can only imagine what this place is like in the depths of winter!

We are both now feeling the effects of our travel and are happy to crawl into bed for a good night’s sleep ahead of our journey into the frozen wastes of Antarctica.

Cheers

The Obese Ferret.

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Friday 27th February 2015.

Punta Arenas

Slept well until about 5 am but then decided to catch up on all the blogs to date for this trip. Complete this task by about 8.00 am and after a shower head down to the hotel breakfast room. The breakfast is fine although the service is ordinary at best.

We now have problems with the plumbing in our bathroom so it’s perhaps a blessing that our system is as blocked as the hotel’s! We report the problem to the girl at reception but all the staff seem to be working on mañana time. The weather is surprisingly fine and the temperature higher than the previous day which was in itself fairly mild. First priority is to find a pharmacy and try to source some adhesive tape for my knee and some thyroid prescription drugs for Gail ( she had forgotten to take them out of the fridge at home). Successful on both counts thanks to a very helpful lady with whom we were able to communicate in spite of her almost non-existant English and my equally rusty Spanish.

Set off to walk up Juez Waldo Seguel to the lookout at Cerro de la Cruz. This offers a fine vista over the town and the main square which we had strolled through earlier in the day. Gail purchases a hand knitted beanie complete with ear flaps So if we can find a herd of alpacas for her to take on board the Antarctic vessel she will look the real deal.

Back to the hotel where I once again request a plumber to look at our loo. He duly arrives and ‘ solves ‘the problem . A very temporary solution as it later turns out. Gail spends the next couple of hours doing camera, website and travel blog updates while I watch Man City being outclassed by Barcelona in the Champions League and nodding off from time to time ( that’s me not Man City! )

Nothing left for us to do now other than to have an early dinner, attend the briefing by the Aurora team and turn in for an early night. ( We have to be up by 5.00 am the next morning prior to flying down  to the expedition vessel.) As we will be out of contact for the next 10 days this will be the last blog for a while.

Cheers The Obese Ferret

Stop Press. We decide to give the undoubted culinary delights of our hotel a miss and instead head over to the newer Hotel Dreams on the waterfront. We are rewarded with a superb meal of savoury crepes ,  a berry tart, and the best coffee since we arrived in Chile. In short it was our hotel before the rigor mortis set in.

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Wednesday 25th February

Valparaiso to Santiago.

A lovely breakfast served up by Alexandra and we meet up with the owner who gives us some background on the guesthouse and it’s history.

We opt not to go on a guided walking tour of the town, preferring instead to do our own thing and cover the areas to the west of Av Templeman , visiting Plaza Anibal Pinto, Plaza Victoria and the Catedral de Valparaiso.

One of many parks catering to families

Reloj Turri

The Museo Palacio BaburizzaPort

Down at the port area

Sign regarding Tsunami instructions – note wiring also!

Finally arrive back at the bus terminal after passing through some less than impressive precincts and take the hour – long trip back to Santiago.

After the initial misgivings about doing the detour to Valparaiso we have found it to be a charming, somewhat quirky town  with loads of character and well worth the detour.

Back in Santiago we check back into Hotel Ismael and find that we have been given a lovely room overlooking the park at a very reasonable rate. It turns out that the girl at the reception had made an error on our taxi booking when we first arrived in Santiago, hence the special treatment for our return  stay. We also make an advance booking at the same reduced price for two nights on our return to Santiago at the end of our trip.

Also on the recommendation of the hotel we walk to the Lastarria area to Nolita restaurant. Although situated in a delightful spot where cafés, pubs and fine dining establishments abound Nolita is a major let-down. Whilst the food is quite acceptable the service is terrible with the waiter seemingly completely apathetic to our needs.

In short right area but wrong establishment !

Gail returns to the hotel while I do one last walk down to Plaza de Armas- a big mistake as at night this becomes one of the least salubrious areas of Santiago and I suspect one of the more dangerous.

Pleased to be back at the hotel and pack the bags for the long journey south to Punta Arenas the next morning.

Lowlight of the day. Gail picks up from checking online records that there are 4 ‘rogue’ withdrawals against my Visa Transaction  Card. A quick check by yours truly shows that my card is missing and it seems to have gone on 23rd Feb, the day of our arrival in Santiago.

Phone calls are made to cancel the card and this is achieved without any dramas. However, efforts to have the card replaced are thwarted when the girl to whom I am speaking in Australia simply  cannot get her head around the fact that I am not able to pop around the corner to the bank to pick up a replacement and I am not sitting at my desk with all of the necessary information on our various credit cards readily available.

Before I finally get to sleep I am able to discuss the lost card issue with a member of the bank who is not as geographically – challenged and can now continue on this memorable journey with my some peace of mind.

Cheers

The Obese Ferret

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Tuesday 24th February.

Santiago to Valparaiso.

Much of the morning spent seeing more of the areas around Bellas Artes, Plaza de Armas, and the market before heading off to take the train to Pajaritos where we switch to the bus for the 100kms trip to the coastal town of Valparaiso.

Interesting journey through the many fine vineyards of the region before arriving at about 3.00 pm in the Unesco-listed city.

As in most towns the area around the bus terminal leaves something to be desired and the walk into the centre along Ave Brasil takes us through a somewhat seedy part of town. However, first impressions can be misleading and this is certainly the case with Valparaiso as we pass through the many colourful streets which rise up from the singularly unimpressive port to the beautifully painted houses and steps. To help us tackle the first part of the steep climb we take a very rickety funicular after buying tickets from an equally rickety, semi-comatose lady. This brings us to Av. Templeman, the main street leading up to Voga, our small bed and breakfast in a very attractive area. A delightful young lady Alexandra greets us and gives us a quick Cooks tour of the very tastefully furnished house.

The steep climb up Templeman St

Street Art abounds in Valparaiso

David standing next to some street art bearing his name

As it states in all of the guide books Valparaiso must provide plenty of prospects for cardio-thoracic surgeons but our daily walks along the beach in Busso must have done the trick as we seem to cope with some fairly demanding walking without any problems.

Somewhat surprisingly no steps seem to have been taken to beautify the port area although the Plaza Sotomayor makes for reasonably impressive approach to the centre.

As we have not eaten any lunch we are well and truly ready for dinner at the superb small restaurant La Concepcion offering a fine elevated view over the town. The quality of the food is in keeping with its vantage point and we arrive back at the guesthouse very happy with our day in Valparaiso.

Voga Guest House

Cheers

The Obese Ferret.

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Monday 23 February 2015.

Sydney to Santiago, Chile.

Given the 14 hours time difference between Sydney and Santiago we arrive in Chile one hour before we take off ! The premium economy flight is comfortable enough but at 11 hours it is really too short to enjoy a good sleep. However, I thoroughly enjoyed ‘ My Old Lady’ a film with Maggie Smith, Kevin Kline and Kristin Scott-Thomas. MS at her imperious best well supported by the other fine character actors.

Arrive in Santiago feeling rather jaded and mood not improved by the no-show of our our pre-booked taxi driver. Eventually, we place our  rather fragile  trust in the hands of a fairly unsavoury- looking character who deposits us at the fine Hotel Ismael overlooking a park in the Bellas Artes area of the city.

We do our usual walking tour of  the more popular spot s including such as Plaza de Armas and the Patio Bella Vista area although time does not allow us to travel up to the San Cristobal Hill for a view over the city. We do , however, manage to revisit the old Mercado Central which we had last seen in 2006 when we visited Peru, especially Macchu Pichu.

Dinner is taken at Galinda restaurant in a fairly bohemian part of the city. The establishment has a certain quirky charm and the food is all that one could wish for. The evening is made all the more memorable when an obviously hungry local starts tucking into the large pile of chips which we had left on the serving plate at our table.All this while we were still finishing off our meal!

Turn in for an early night and to catch up on some much-needed sleep.

Cheers

The Obese Ferret.

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Sunday 22nd February 2015.

Perth to Sydney.

Quick call to my former cardiac cell mate Shaun Allen on our anniversary  then it’s off to the airport with Craig driving Gail’s BMW which he will use during our absence overseas.

Say our usual fond farewell to the young fellow and after a pleasant flight up to Sydney we enjoy a quiet dinner at the Rydges Airport Hotel.  Now well and truly ready for our trip of a lifetime.

Cheers

The Obese Ferret

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