Pearls On Wheels

When we rode the bike into Ushuaia in December 2012 we hoped that one day we would board a ship and sail to the Antarctica and Complete the Ice to Ice Adventure. In January 2015 we set off on a cruise to Antarctica. The expedition crew comprised an exceptional group of experts in polar history, geology, birds and sea life. Their input ensured this cruise in unlike any other we have done. For example Tom Hart and Hila levy from Oxford university were on board and were conducting  penguin research on shore. The ship's destination each day was determined by weather and ice conditions. The maps at the end of this post show the zigzag direction of the ship.  We managed to make land fall at all possible locations apart from Marguerite Bay where there was too much ice.  Al fresco dining on deck-  long twilight and a very cold evening. Kayaking was an option, Stand up paddle boarding, too. One last shore landing.  These...

When we rode the bike into Ushuaia in December 2012 we hoped that one day we would board a ship and sail to the Antarctica and Complete the Ice to Ice Adventure. In January 2015 we set off on a cruise to Antarctica. Brown Research Station is staffed by Argentine researchers. We were closely monitored as we walked between the metal-clad buildings. The numbers of tourists allowed onshore at any time is restricted to 100 by a voluntary agreement among Antarctic tour operators  Since our ship had around 170 passengers we went ashore in two shifts. Whilst half our number were ashore the others spent an hour and a half zodiac cruising through icebergs observing bird and sea  life. There were strict requirements for decontamination  of our boots when we re-boarded Ocean Diamond. Brown Research Station  Dick took up the snow shoeing option.  I went for a walk. Ski poles were good substitutes for crutches. Note my Tilley hat which had trav...

When we rode the bike into Ushuaia in December 2012 we hoped that one day we would board a ship and sail to the Antarctica and Complete the Ice to Ice Adventure. In January 2015 we set off on a cruise to Antarctica. Here are images of the Antarctic Peninsula. My apologies for confusing folk who thought I was in the Antarctic now. It is too dark and too cold at this time of the year. It has been snowing in Queenstown and ice-clad roadside rock faces were perfect stimuli for me to go back and review our icy Antarctic journey in January. As we sailed through the Neumayer Channel (64degS) the cloud lifted and glaciated mountains surrounded us. The air was punctuated by the occasional bark of an iceberg calving off the glaciers.  Some folk are cruising among the icebergs in this yacht. Gentoos sit on their stony nests and tend their young.  The crew have marked our paths so that we are well clear of penguins.  We are walking along penguin routes that take t...

When we rode the bike into Ushuaia in December 2012 we hoped that one day we would board a ship and sail to the Antarctica and Complete the Ice to Ice Adventure. In January 2015 we set off on a cruise to Antarctica. Two years prior to the cruise we rode into Ushuaia on a motorcycle.  The end of a five month journey from the Arctic. Dick rode north to Buenos Aires with Ken and I flew back to New Zealand.  This time Dick and I left together on the Ocean Diamond on a  Quark cruise to Antarctica.  We chose this particular cruise because we are hoping to cross the Antarctic Circle and to complete the Ice to Ice adventure by walking on the ice in Antarctica. Words are inadequate to describe what we saw...  Magnificent scenes. Glaciers, Mountains, Icebergs, stormy seas, and eerily calm bays. Tenacious wildlife - penguins, whales, birds  Evidence of  historic explorers and present day researchers..   The scenes were often too big f...