Author: awaywiththebirds

Jan 20: in the Ross Sea Penguins are so enchanting and entertaining to watch…. The small penguin at the front is an Adélie penguin….they are extremely curious and this little penguin decides he’s going to see what the group of Emperor penguins are up to. The Emperor penguins are the tallest and heaviest of all…

Jan 19: Cape Royds The  Nimrod Expedition was Shackleton’s first major expedition (but overshadowed by his Endurance expedition). He sailed from NZ on the ship Nimrod, a 40 year old converted Norwegian sealer on Jan 1, 1908. Shackleton assured Scott that he didn’t intend to enter McMurdo Sound, but thick sea ice forced Shackleton to…

Jan 18: Cape Evans Here’s sky from last night. Obviously we don’t get sunrises or sunsets, but the skies are still amazing Captain Robert Scott’s final expedition was in 1910-1913. He expected to be the first to reach the South Pole but as his ship, the Terra Nova, sailed south, he learnt that Norwegian explorer…

Jan 17: Cape Bird Just as we were all going to bed last night, the captain announced that the US icebreaker Polar Star was in the area and that we should give them a wave as they pass by!! Of course, it wasn’t just a chance encounter…..Our captain had contacted them to help us get…

Jan 16: McMurdo Sound Sammy, you asked about the 7 marathons across 7 continents in 7 days….not only can I tell you where they are run, but I can introduce you to the chef on the first marathon, Gerard Baker, who happens to be one of the lecturers on this ship. This years marathon is…

Jan 15: Ross Ice Shelf Today our position is roughly 73 deg S and 179 deg W – that’s getting pretty close to the South Pole at 90 deg S Today we had our first zodiac outing, to experience the enormity of the Ross Ice shelf. The mountain in the background is Mt Terror Ross…

Jan 14: Seaday Jen, you were right …the first royal to get the order of the red nose was the Duke of Edinburgh, and Sammy, I have no idea why it is so called but your suggestion that noses go red when cold, sounds good enough for me. We made our way through the sea…

Jan 11, Seaday Ok, firstly a weather report…..it has been as calm as anything. We have been really lucky because the cruise immediately before this one faced 7 metre waves. It’s also not that cold yet …we haven’t reached a minus temperature but expect it will be minus in a couple of days. Currently our…

Jan 10, sea day James, in answer to your question, I reckon age range is between 60-80. And guess what…while the submersible is on board, it may not be able to operate if there’s too much ice. Also the ice may mean that the polar plunge may not be possible (you can imagine how devastated…