Like many other people, I considered Antarctica as an “off the beaten track” holiday that one day I’d like to take. Unlike many others though I actually did go. My mind was made up when I discovered that Antarctica itself offers an off the beaten track tour; it just came with the risk of not actually getting ashore. I never thought that risk would eventuate until our first shore excursion was cancelled, leaving only one other opportunity to get ashore at a different location the next day; however for completely different reasons that risk surfaced again.
It was 6.00am on the day we were going to attempt to get ashore for the second time. I expected to see land when I looked out of my stateroom window but what I saw in its place was something completely unexpected; large, towering ice cliffs and whilst they took my breath away, I knew something was not right.
We had arrived at Commonwealth Bay and were face to face with the massive ice cliffs of the continental ice shelf, where they reach the sea and literally carve off to form icebergs. The immensity of the cliffs was amplified by the sea which was officially recorded in our voyage log as “rather rough” and a dark grey sky that made the whole scene ominous and alien.
It also meant a shore excursion would be too dangerous and that was the risk on this trip; the weather. Prior to booking, the sales staff made it very clear that the itinerary was flexible depending on the weather and the expedition crew reminded us of this fact at our daily briefings. I just didn’t think it would actually eventuate, twice.
Our first major itinerary change was one day earlier when we were supposed to go ashore at Dumont D’Urville to visit the French research station and also see an Emperor Penguin rookery. Unfortunately the sea ice was too thick to get through so the first of our only two planned shore excursions was cancelled.
In its place we sailed to Port Martin where we saw Adelie penguins and seals on tiny outcrops of exposed land and floating sea ice. Some of the more inquisitive penguins porpoised about us as we cruised the massive ice cliffs in 12 person rubber zodiacs. This was called “Expedition Mode”, which effectively meant the need to be flexible depending on the prevailing conditions.
Despite the calmness of the sea that day, I did know that this wasn’t always the case. In fact, the stillness of the air at sea level was partly to blame for Dumont D’Urville remaining iced in. The katabatic winds that regularly rush down from deep within the higher altitudes of the ice cap are needed to help shift the melting winter sea ice. I knew however they were blowing in the distance as they caused the clouds to form into long streaks that stretched out from the continent.
The katabatic winds were however, as I saw from my stateroom window, now blowing right where we didn’t want them to be. After breakfast, I attended the morning briefing where it was confirmed that the conditions were too rough for a landing. It was also our last day and chance to get ashore as we needed to start our 3,000km (1,864mi) journey back to Hobart, Australia. I fell silent and was sickly disappointed at the thought of coming all this way and not going ashore. Given the inclement weather the expedition crew decided to remain where we were in the hope that the winds died down. Lunchtime simply came and went…and we waited some more.
Mid afternoon we were told a crew had been dispatched to see if it was possible to get ashore and soon after we were told to gear up; we were going! The journey from the ship, MV Orion, in Commonwealth Bay to our landing point of Boat Harbour to the west at Cape Denison was a very wet and wild ride. The strong winds and the rough swell of the sea saw us huddled over and leaning in towards the middle of the zodiac to try and protect ourselves from the constant spray of freezing sea water.
Getting up onto the continent itself was by way of a few steps the earlier scouting party had cut into the ice that extended out over the water. It was a precarious few steps from the bobbing zodiac onto the slippery make-shift steps and after making my way up them with the aid of the landing party, I was finally on the continent.
The ice underfoot was rock hard and rippled with sastrugi formed by the wind that rushes down from the ice cap on a daily basis. The katabatic winds create an annual average daily maximum wind speed of 71 kph (44 mph) and it is the windiest place on earth at sea level. Today I guess was just another windy day at Cape Denison.
The cape is also home to Mawson’s Huts, the base of the 1911-1914 Australian Antarctic Expedition, led by Sir Douglas Mawson. Fewer people have visited the interior of these huts than have reached the summit Mount Everest and the hut’s interior is as in tact and preserved as when they were last used by Mawson and his team.
Given the poor weather I knew our visit might get cut short at any time so I headed for the Huts and then up to Memorial Hill to see the Adelie penguin rookeries.
Mawson’s Huts have survived on the continent for almost 100 years and evidence of snow and wind erosion is clearly visible on the exterior as the nails protrude out from the eroded timber. Only a couple of expeditioners were allowed to go inside but I was not disappointed not to be one of them; entering them was not a priority for me as I wanted to explore outside for as long as possible.
Groups of Adelie penguins were everywhere, trekking up the moraines that line both sides of the ice covered land that comes down to meet Boat Harbour. To me they looked most unnatural as they painstakingly hopped from rock to rock up the steep and cumbersome slope to their breeding grounds. To them however this arduous and frequent journey from feeding in the sea to rookery is instinct as their chicks have the best chance of survival on the higher and drier ground.
After carefully climbing the moraine to Memorial Hill I realised just how far we had come in our zodiac; our ship seemed so far away and was dwarfed by the ice cliffs. Before me however, was a large rookery and watching the antics of the penguins was captivating. We saw tiny chicks nestled under warm bellies and cheeky males causing chaos as they tried to steal precious pebbles from the nests of others.
It is not all a picture post card scene. Underfoot there were the frozen carcasses of penguins (and chicks) who for some reason had not managed to either return to the rookery or make their way down to the sea. Beside them were the remains of those longer perished, and whose bones were now all that was left after years of blowing snow drift had eventually eroded the frozen flesh away. One day the bones too will be eroded and carried out to sea making me think that even those that never made it on their first journey to sea will one day still end up there. I also think to myself that it must be a very grim sight for a young penguin on its maiden journey down to the sea.
Whilst the little Adelies could seek some shelter from the wind amongst the low rocks, for us it was just us against the freezing wind. Whilst the air temperature was at -2°C (28°F), the wind chill temperature was estimated at -14°C (6°F) and with practically no moisture in the air bit sharply at any exposed flesh. Oddly enough Antarctica is the driest place on earth and is therefore a desert, even though it stores 70% of the world’s fresh water.
After only about two hours, we were told to prepare for the journey back to Orion. The weather was visibly darkening and the wind once more picking up speed. The Weddell seals had come in from the sea and lazed on the ice close to the water. They did not show much interest in us as I am sure they knew visitors never stayed very long.
The journey back was unexpectedly much calmer than the inward journey owing to the fact that the wind was now behind us. This gave us the opportunity to sit upright and for the first time I realised just how high the ocean swell was as we could not see the horizon when we reached the trough of the swell.
Although the total time off the ship was only a few hours all up, it was however everything I had wished for. I also got some amazing photographs and experienced a side of Antarctica very few tourists get to experience; the risk in the end was worth it.
At the time of writing, only a couple of tour companies offer itineraries to Commonwealth Bay, being the Australian company of Orion Expeditions and the New Zealand company, Heritage Expeditions. Expeditions run during the summer months of Dec-Mar and typically run for 12-28 days and often include the wildlife rich sub-Antarctic islands in the Southern Ocean.