Thursday, February 08, 2007

5 February - Cape Royds/Cape Evans - -3 degrees Celcius - 77 degrees 38 minutes South

We came into Cape Royds on Ross Island first thing in the morning, cutting across an area where the ice had drifted away. Dad got giddy and was rustling in and out of the cabin at 3 am, gushing about it all. Soon enough, I was up and we boarded zodiacs to get onto the ice shelf. Mt Erebus rose in the background and across the bay, the dawn sun was hitting the Transantarctic Mountains.

We were greeted by penguins and then trekked across to the Cape. It was a walk of about 2 kilometres which was nice after so long confined on the boat. We crossed a small rise and looked down into Cape ROyds. There is an Adelie penguin rookery here as well as Shackleton's hut. We wandered off amongst the hills to get a view across the bay.

It was very windy but the view was amazing, especially back onto Mt Erebus.

After walking among the lava fields for a bit, we headed down to Shakleton's hut. It doesn't seem too small, but with a large group of people and spending all winter there, I am sure it would have been claustrophobic. A lot of the supplies are still in there, so the place is a real time capsule.

I wandered down to the penguin rookery and watched the Adelies. There were some younger ones down on the ice foot and watching them waddle along was loads of fun. They are so awkward.

On the walk back to the ship, a little penguin kept straying onto our path and attracting a lot of attention. I lay down and he came right past me. It was pretty exciting. A gang of his friends came up the other way and also passed by.

Just back from the launching spot, there were some seals lounging in the sun. They are my favourite, cause I like lounging in ths sun too. When they open their eyes, they are so cute, but most of the time, they are napping.


During lunch, we sailed down to Cape Evans, the site of the main hut for Scott's Last Expedition. Our group had to wait before we could into the area, which was protected. Dad and I walked through the hills nearby and scrambled and slipped our way through some snow to a ridge and had a breaktaking view across McMurdo Sound. It was absolutely amazing and the photos will not capture the breadth of the view. Behind us, Erebus rose right up with the clouds clearing, allowing a view right up to the top. Sometimes a puff of smoke from the crater could be seen.

We came down and found another lazy seal (a Weddell, I think) lying in the sun, so I lay down and hung out with him on the snow for a while.

By the time I made it back, I was the last person into the hut, so I got to look around all on my own. After reading "Worst Journey in the World", it was great to see their base for that trip. Like Shackleton's hut, it was littered with tins, London newspapers from the 1910s and various old scientific equipment. Of the side is a small stable where the ponies were housed, each stall marked with its name.

Dad and I then walked up Windvane Hill for more spectacular views before heading down to catch the last zodiac back. Before we turned around, we sailed into the mouth of the ice channel to McMurdo Base and Scott Base. This is kept open during the summer by an American icebreaker. It marked our furtherest south point; 77 degrees 43 minutes.

That evening while I was in the bar, someone appeared on the back deck and motioned me to come out. It was one of the Russian engineers and he had spotted a big pod of orcas off the port side. I raced back in to tell everyone and grab my camera. The photos didn't come out great, but it was fun watching them. Straight afterwards it started chucking down massive balls of snow, so we finished up with a snowball fight. Perfect end to a great day.



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