The Last Day of Antarctica

Maybe it was because I was tired. Or maybe it was because of the weather. Or maybe it was truly the "crappiest" (pun intended) excursion ever, but yesterday's visit to the research center was my least favorite excursion of the entire trip. I can say that because today's also the last day we are in Antarctica. It's bittersweet really. We are heading north as we speak, heading back to the infamous Drake Passage.

Today was my favorite day, hands down. The reason today was the crown jewel? I loved both landing sites. This morning was a visit to Whalers' Bay. Whaler's bay happens to be an active volcanoes crater, filled in with sea water. Within this bay, there are no penguin rookeries, and the beach is a soft gravel. The landscape is different than every other place we've seen. No jagged cliffs, just boulders of volcanic rock... To one side of the crater, an opening overlooks the outer waters. This vantage point is known as Neptune's Window. In the opposite direction, the remains of buildings, metal silos, and whaling boats slowly deteriorate into the beach. It whispers of times past, when man hunted the largest mammals of the sea.

All in all, I really enjoyed it. While walking the beach, I found the peace and quiet I had wanted in the crater of this volcano. It was simply a nice change of scenery that the previous three days.

Ok, ok... there is one other reason that I will always remember Whalers' Bay. It's the site where I froze, then boiled, my body. What am I talking about? The Polar Plunge is what I'm talking about. Me and 40 something other people voluntarily stripped down to swimming suits, and dashed into the frigid waters. (Even Rupert did it.) After standing up in shock, we rushed back to the water's edge, which held a little surprise for us. The water was hot. Yes, hot. Due to the geothermal energy in the volcano's crater, it heated the water's edge, providing a natural hot spring for the polar plungers. Then as quick as we could, we got dressed again, and rushed off in the zodiacs to the ship, where a warm, adult beverage awaited us.

I don't have any pictures of my dip... However, I do have video. If I can figure out to embed it into this blog, I will. Otherwise, you'll have to go to my picasa site to view it. I also have a friend who took some pictures, so I will try to get copies from him. I have to warn you though -- it may look like I'm wearing a flesh colored inner tube around my waste, but it's actually me. Livin' the life of leisure has been a little too good to me. ;-)

After defrosting from our dip with warm clothes and hot food, we moved onto our final destination, Half Moon Island. It was fitting that we ended at a chinstrap rookery since the first penguins I had seen were chinstraps. But as an added surprise, I also got to three seals (two weddells and one elephant I think) up close and personal. It was just a joy to sit and watch the wildlife. Once again, the beach was different... at this site, there were rounded stones rather than hard edged boulders. These stones poised a different type of terrain to the chinstraps... much hopping was required. Plus, it seemed the chinstraps seem to have more of an energetic personality than the gentoos. They would wander the beach, play follow the leader, and take their own polar plunges. They just seemed to be more light hearted I guess.

Although I'm sad to leave, I am very glad to have come, and to have my last excursions of visiting Antarctica be two of my favorites (camping is in there too). I'm sure that as I begin to go through my pictures and process the entire experience in the next couple days, I'll have some additional things to add. But for now, I'll just cherish in the gladness of being able to visit, and dwell in the sadness of having to leave.

Updated: Here's a video clip of the penguins "hoppin' and a skippin'". I apologize for the shakiness -- this video recording in a new thing for me.