Today was just an amazing day. We had a 0530 start so breakfast started at 0430. Almost all of us got up to go but it was raining so it was postponed until 0700. I ate breakfast and then went back to sleep for an hour. Once we started boarding the zodiacs the wind picked up and it was raining and cold. The first landing was on Salisbury Plains. The scenery was spectacular – green rolling hills and glaciers and snow capped mountains in the distance. The beach was covered in King Penguins and Fur Seals. It was great; except that it was raining so couldn’t really take any photos. I joined Tom for a walk up one of the hills to see the King Penguin colony from above. It was a steep, slippery hike up but to get to the colony and see thousands upon thousands of King Penguins was great. The babies are so cute – all big and fluffy with brown down and they hang out in crèches with the adults either nesting or loafing on the outskirts. I didn’t stay too long because it was really cold and my borrowed mittens were soaked through as was my camera and backpack so I headed back to the zodiacs. On the way down the hill I slipped and skidded down this rather wet, rocky and mossy slope for about 5m. It was a bit hairy and I ultimately ended up covered in mud!
Back down on the flats seeing the penguins here there and everywhere was really special. Half of them are going through their moult so they look twice as fat and have feathers falling out in clumps. They are just a beautiful animal and their colouring is just perfect. I saw my first Elephant Seals on the beach when I returned to the zodiac. They were only juveniles but they are massive. In the water there were loads of Fur Seals swimming and playing as were the penguins. I was back on the ship by 1145 and then had to wash everything to get the mud off. It was so good to have a hot shower because it was just ridiculously cold.
After lunch, the even number rooms were to depart for Prion Island first. Unfortunately it was too windy so we had to wait for them to pull anchor and reposition the ship. That took about 45 min. During that time I was sitting with Matt and Laura and we spent the entire time laughing at how stupid the Americans are. They really do come out with some doozy one liners which had now become part of the daily therapy for the Australians, Brits and Swiss. Then we were on our way again. Prion Island has one of only two Wandering Albatross nesting sites in the world. The zodiac ride was very rough and it started snowing so we got absolutely drenched on the way there. The scenery in this area, known as the Bay of Isles was lovely and having penguins and sea lions dotted all over the rocks and beaches just added to it. There is a boardwalk on the island and the rules are very strict as to how many people can be on there at any given time so all up we were only there for about 50min. When we landed the beach was covered with seals. Most of them were babies and they are just so cute. It was very windy initially but once up in amongst the tussock grass the wind died down. The boardwalk takes you past lots of seals and at the top is where the Albatross nest. It was very windy up there and it was extremely hard to get the camera to focus because you couldn’t stand still. Once back down on the beach we were on our way back to the ship. The ride back was relatively calm until we git to the ship and then we got dumped by two huge waves. So it was back in the shower to warm up and to clean and hang up all the wet weather gear. Our cabin currently looks like a Chinese laundry! Thankfully my camera is still working, although there are many peoples whose aren’t.
At dinner we were informed that we were passing a glacier that connects to the sea. Naturally, we all jumped up, ran to the starboard side and went ‘oh wow’, turned and then the race was on to get down to the poor level to pick up cameras and bolt up to the top deck to take a photo. Unfortunately we had passed the glacier by the time we got back up top so everyone turned around and ventured back inside again. Once we dropped anchor I went out to see where we were and we are currently in a bay surrounded by massive mountains, snow capped with some green grass and it was snowing. I didn’t last too long because I only had my thongs on and its really not appropriate footwear when it’s snowing! Hopefully it will not be raining tomorrow as it’s going to be another all day-er on land and getting wet is the last thing I want.
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