Saturday 24 November 2012

What a glorious day.

The sun was gleaming, the wind stayed away and the scenery was fantastic.
Overnight MV Fram sailed south from the South Shetland Islands across Bransfield Strait and into the Gerlache Strait. Lots of us could not contain our excitement and spent the early part of the morning taking in the fantastic scenery. As we were eating breakfast we entered Andvord Bay.


We landed at Neko Harbour and were treated to views of the surrounding mountains, bays and icebergs. Closer to the landing we watched the Gentoo Penguins as they went back and for, in and out of the sea and the fascinating nest building and courtship rituals. The views from up the hill into the crevasses and ice falls of the nearby glacier were just breathtaking. Going down was a lot easier and quicker than going up with gravity and sliding down the steeper sections of the slope was great fun. How could we beat this?

During lunch the Captain repositioned the Ship to the Base Brown, the weather held and we climbed the hill above the base. Giving incredible views of Paradise Bay – very aptly named (even if it was because of the easy picking made by the early whalers) it is still very beautiful.

The evening got even better with the incredible light almost at sunset in the Lemaire channel – WOW! We dropped our campers at Peterman Island. What will tomorrow bring?