Bumping up to 65S and heading back North

Well - today we went as far south as we are going. We nearly made it to 65S. The ship can not go beyond that point because insurance makes it too expensive. We did make it to 64 degrees 59 minutes which is the next best thing! Today we started off South of the South Shetland chain and amidst the islands of the Palmer Archipilego which is a string of islands lining the Antarctic peninsula. The ship stayed between Penisula and Archipilego (why do I think I am spelling that wrong? My minutes are too expensive to check and correct though so live with it!) all day and we stayed on deck all day. The weather was splendid - around +1 to +3 most of the day with very light winds and glassy seas. We sailed south taking dozens of ice photos and went all the way around Wienke Island into the Neumeyer Strait between Wienke I. and Anvers I. The Neumeyer Glacier is enormous and a deep, rich blue in many areas indicating its extreme age and thickness. The channel has astonishing vistas of ice in every shape and form imaginable - floating, clinging to rocky outcroppings, overhanging more ice, drifting in clusters or crashing with ahotgun like reports into the water. Ice is everywhere but life persists despite it or maybe because of it - different algae species stain it different colours in some areas and the ever present, ever happy penguins leap through the water like happy striped pebbles making wonderful "Splooping" sounds that we can hear from the deck. Occasionally they stop to sunbathe on an iceberg or to have a communal bath where they float like ducks and chatter to each other until they see a seal or an extremely large ship masquerading as an iceberg then they rush off in a flurry, leaping through the water like little torpedoes. I did manage to get some photos of even that activity (which is tricky photography, lemme tell ya!). As you can see - the wonders of technology and the joys of having a dear friend willing to sit and do it on our behalf, have resulted in pictures finally appearing. Jenn says it takes her awhile so we will be limiting them but we will send more as we can. We though the proof that we had been among the penguins was perhaps the most important!

We sailed through mountain ranges, fjords, glacier fields, iceberg clusters and crystal clear, smooth waters today. All around us, people are commenting on what a privelege it is to be able to witness the splendor we see all around us. None of us have come to the point at which we feel we have enough pictures of ice. Each iceberg and glacier wows us all over again and we are often afraid to go indoors for fear of missing the next whale, penguin, seal, ice formation or albatross. It is creation on a scale we never imagined - even living on the open prairies doesn't prepare you for Antarctica. The whole thing is mostly a composistion in black and white until the sun comes out and then the blue overwhelms everything and sparkles like diamonds all around you. I could stare at it for years I do believe.

We spent the day staring at the marvels and getting to know more people. We do most 'hanging out' with a couple from Florida who share leaning on the bar duties with us and pass the time much as we do. Joe and Dale go to Wii tournaments and Donna and I drink hot chocolate and muse on various items of the day. We also spend time with Sam and Dawn from Virginia. Sam delivers bread and preaches at a Church of the Nazarene and Dawn is a banker. We share a dining table in the evenings and have a lot of laughs with them as they both have a great sense of humor and quick wits.

We rounded out the afternoon with a lazy cruise through Paradise Harbour which is in the Gerlach Strait and is well suited to its name. there is an Argentine research station in the harbour as well as spectacular mountains, penguin rookeries and ever present leopard seals looking for lunch. We saw several humpback whale cows with calves and some orcas as well. the environment and atmosphere are pristine and the colours and clarity of light keep us gazing until after 11pm. Next sunrise is 4:15 - who knows what the world holds for us next? Remarkably, tomorrow we sail right into a VOLCANO amongst other things...

Feeling insignificant and very lucky -

D&M