Antarctic odyssey

The ship has been “parked” in Antarctic ice and, on a breathlessly still, sunny morning, under an intense blue sky, we simply walk down a gangway and onto it.

Expedition leader Stefano Pozzi agrees that this “fast ice morning” is a highlight of our voyage to Antarctica … “just to be able to walk off the ship and see 25 nautical miles (46km) of fast ice ahead”.

Fast ice is sea ice that is fastened, in this case to the coast in Marguerite Bay, way south of the Antarctic Circle.

And the Lindblad National Geographic Resolution has been purposely driven into it and 100-or-so guests have walked straight onto the pure whiteness of its crunchy-soft snow topping. A crabeater seal sleeps on, just metres from where the bow stops, on its back and seemingly oblivious.

It feels bizarre. We expect ships to avoid ice, right?

But the Resolution is a Polar Class 5, Category A ship which eats this stuff for breakfast. In fact, it munched its way through seemingly endless sea ice just to get here. (PC5 is stronger than most Antarctic expedition ships’ PC6, and this classification dictates which ships avoid some ice conditions, or turn around, and which continue.)

The most visually obvious feature of this extraordinary ship is its Ulstein X-Bow — the nose of the ship which slopes “the other way”. This wave piercing bow eliminates the “slap” of waves in big seas, as the full stabilised ship has already proved. For we left Ushuaia, at the southern tip of South America, and crossed the 1000km of the Drake Passage to the Antarctic Peninsula very quickly. In swells of five or more metres, the ship still maintains a fast 15 knots. It is almost eerily quiet and vibration-free.

While two days are allowed for the crossing, the Resolution makes such good time that we are at the Lemaire Channel by the second afternoon. This is usually the grand finale and turn-around spot for Antarctic cruises — the furthest south that the ships will go.

But the ship is already at the most southerly point that it has been for the whole season, and (technically) we are not even on Day One of our Antarctic itinerary.

All this has not unfolded in secret. Quite the opposite. For the Resolution’s big bridge was designed to be easy for the ships’ officers, and for guests to spend time in. It is open night and day, all through the voyage, and guests spend a lot of time there, chatting with navigation officer Nicole Pickering, who first came to Antarctica as a guest, and has made it a career.

There is also pretty much all-round viewing from its Deck 8 bar, den, science hub and for’ard lounge, and even from the Two Seven Zero — the restaurant named for the degrees of horizon that can be seen.

The Resolution (like its sistership Lindblad National Geographic Endurance) has more outdoor spaces than any other expedition ship I’ve sailed on. Guests can lap the ship outside on Deck 8, and there are many other deck spaces on many other levels. For photography, I liked the protected decks in the for’ard quarters for Deck 5. I continually found spots where I was standing on my own, in Antarctica.

All of this combines to create a ship that connects travellers to environment. We are not just viewing Antarctica. We are in it.

And I am not alone on this 4000km voyage, with 177 hours at sea. With me are 18 readers, who have travelled from WA for this special voyage. The “Aussie group” certainly adds extra life to a ship that draws travellers from all over the world.

I am in one of the ship’s 12 solo cabins. It has a single bed, desk and chair, armchair, lots of storage, good bathroom, and a balcony with a table and chair.

The decor and finish of the ship are first rate, as is the food. Mostly a la carte, the excellent cuisine is a real talking point on the ship. All meals are in Two Seven Zero, with matched wines. Lighter meals are served on Deck 8. And this is where the evenings tend to continue into night, with drinks included in the fare, except “top shelf”.

Guests are invited, in small nightly groups, to a long table seven-course degustation “Chef’s Table” meal. Cauliflower is served nine different ways in one delicate dish, and the zero waste theme reflects Lindblad’s commitment to working thoughtfully and sustainably.

Deck 8 is also where I dip into the lounge’s library, reading about Heroic Age explorers, and occasionally wandering out into the cold, to walk a lap of the deck, passing the sauna and steaming outdoor hot pools, and the two domes, which can be booked to sleep the night in, but which are free to use all day. One afternoon I rest and muse for a dreamy hour in one.

There are talks by historians, naturalists and National Geographic photographer Sergio Pitamitz.

The ship is a world to be explored; full of beautiful and exciting looks and nooks. But it’s hard to compete with the experiences that unfold quickly off the Resolution. Gone are the days of anchoring ships and slinging Zodiacs off the top deck. The $US150 million Lindblad National Geographic Resolution has two Azipods at the stern — electric motors in pods, with propellers, that spin through 360 degrees. (They can turn the cruising ship through 180 degrees in two minutes.) The electric power for these is developed by a clever combination of two big and two small diesel generators, which can be used in combinations that run them at optimum outputs, reducing fuel use and emissions. There are two powerful bow thrusters — propellers in line with the ship, which push the front of the ship sideways. This all “talks to satellites” to give the ship dynamic positioning, keeping it in place without anchors.

Zodiacs and inflatable kayaks are kept in a “boat garage” inside the ship, with big doors that flap open. Ten Zodiacs can be launched in 14 minutes.

This means that, when the ship arrives at a spot where there will be an excursion, DP is activated, the Zodiacs are launched and we are ready to go very quickly.

That is certainly the case at the southern end of the Lemaire Channel for that first landing, to visit a gentoo penguin colony. Travellers are called down to Base Camp, already wearing the excellent orange expedition jackets and puffer liners that we will keep, and slipping into waterproof over-trousers and hired thermal boots.

In sunshine, under a cobalt sky, we walk in clean, crunchy snow and watch the birds making their nests. The timing is perfect for me. Being in Antarctica with the first penguin eggs being laid means there’s still lots of white snow and clean penguins. Being later in the November to March season means more snow has melted, and the nesting sites get pink and pongy with poop from baby penguins being stuffed full of shrimp-like krill.

I think Stefano is an expedition artist, constructing this voyage into a creative artwork. He reads weather forecasts and ice charts with a creative eye and vision, and then manifests it. And he sees the chance to take the ship further than any other ship has been so far this season, to Marguerite Bay.

“Antarctica is beautiful wherever you go,” he says, “but it is something special to be down there about 150 nautical miles (278km) from any other ship and just have the whole place to ourselves.” I watch all the other expedition ships at the northern end of the Antarctic Peninsula, and us, alone, deep south in Resolution. We are, indeed, nearly 300km from the nearest ship — on this completely extraordinary voyage where spectacular moments quickly follow one another.

Next there is a landing on Jenny Island, with more than 100 elephant seals. Only one member of the expedition team has even been here before. “This is somewhere that we almost never go,” says Stefano. “I personally had never been there.”

On all landings, extra precautions are taken because H5N1 bird flu is being seen in birds in Antarctica. Although the biggest threat are migrating birds, guests are not allowed to kneel, sit or put anything down. I’m glad to have my iPhone and Canon R7 camera with its 100-400mm lens, in my waterproof, four litre waist pack by OverBoard.

After that landing, Resolution heads to Horseshoe Island, where we catch Zodiacs to shore to walk through the British Base Y hut, which was as a base for sledging operations. It is likely that the signatories to the Antarctic Treaty will agree to preserve the island by closing it. “We are probably not going to be able to land there in future, so it was one of our very high priorities to get there and be one of the last people to go,” says Stefano.

Antarctic historian Gerard Baker, who is also a BBC presenter and documentary maker, gives insight into life in the huts as we wander through, past small bunks and shelves with tins of Oxo, Coleman’s Mustard and Lyle’s Golden Syrup.

Leading off Marguerite Bay, the Gullet is a narrow channel with high, rock-and-snow sides, and the ship heads into this for its landscapes and seascapes. But there is a surprise. For there, ahead on the port side, a tiny dot is spotted which (to the skilled eye) is a lone emperor penguin. The ship is turned around and approaches it so slowly and quietly, that it just stays there long enough for us to see this biggest penguin of them all.

Pourquoi Pas Island is named for the 31m iron schooner of French navigator Jean-Baptiste Charcot. He led the 1908-1910 French Antarctic Expedition, and named the island after his ship. We visit its Adelie penguin colony and, 131km south of the Antarctic Circle, 54 people jump into the frigid waters, taking the Polar Plunge.

Indeed, 67 degrees 48 minutes, is the most southerly point of our trip — 139km south of the Antarctic Circle. (And still I see the other ships driving around between bays along the north of the peninsula. We are a lone, rogue ship, way south.)

It is time to turn north, and the Resolution churns back through sea ice to Petermann Island. Our exploration in Zodiacs includes stopping for hot chocolate at a “pirate boat”.

We pass through the Lemaire Channel again on our way north and, just after dinner, have a close encounter with humpback whales, as we approach the Gerlache Strait. The bridge is crowded with guests, who stream out to the decks to take pictures.

But, for me, there’s even better to come. For early the next morning, killer whales are spotted. There are more than 15, arcing in two black-and-white patched pods. We get very close and track alongside for 45 minutes or so.

Can the day get better? Well, any day with a kayak is a good day for me. And any day kayaking between icebergs in Paradise Harbour in Antarctica has to be among the best. At a flick of that DP switch, the ship is positioned and 35 kayaks are slung out, along with Zodiacs for cruising and safety boats. Close to paradise, indeed.

But there is one big moment to come. The Resolution cruises on mirror-flat water, flanked by spectacular, snow-covered mountains, from Paradise Bay to Neko Harbour. The sun is warm. I’m outside shooting photo after photo in a T-shirt. Any clouds suddenly, totally disappear as the ship is positioned, and we are taken ashore to walk up a snowy hill. Some of us walk along a ridge to a rocky outcrop to look back over Neko Harbour, and the ship, to see our fellow travellers at the bottom … tiny, orange-jacketed figurines.

“The grand finale,” says Stefano. “What a way to end a trip. A truly spectacular trip.”

fact file

+ The West Travel Club trip was in partnership with Collette. collette.com.au

+ There will be more in-depth stories on aspects of the voyage and Antarctic cruising soon in editions of Saturday Travel and Sunday Travel.