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Land at Last: Macquarie Island
After many days at sea we raised Macquarie Island around noon today. The last few days and nights we experienced high seas and lots of rocking and rolling. Going up the 5 flights of stairs separating us Deck 3 denizens from the Observatory Lounge on Deck 8, one tends to pause waiting for the ship…
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High Seas and Big Bergs
With winds steady at 50 or so the seas really built up last night. Down on the lowest deck in “steerage,” our cabin stewards swung the metal cover shut over our lone porthole. We were advised this step needed to be taken as a precaution against a powerful wave smashing the thick, and I mean…
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Heading back north; Shackelton’s Whiskey
Plan A was to continue along the Ross Ice Shelf for further exploration, but plans changed over night. Winds gusting to 70 have whipped up the seas and we spent the night rolling heavily from side to side. As before, when the rocking and rolling really kicks in, elevator service is discontinued and the staff…
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The Ross Ice Shelf
On January 28, 1841 James Clark Ross, mentioned in a few earlier posts, sited what we now call the Ross Ice Shelf, initially referred to as the Great Ice Barrier. Ross was trying to identify a water passage that would allow him to sail the Erebus and the Terror through to the Pole, but the…
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Cape Royds and Shackelton’s Hut
Last night the Mawson made its way well into McMurdo Sound and we awoke to spectacular scenery. The guides launched the Zodiacs and in we went, weaving our way through narrow passages in the ice. Once ashore we walked across a volcanic moonscape that reminded me of the lava fields on the Big Island of…
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Wading Ashore at the Cape Adare Penguin Colony
Late yesterday the Mawson hove to just off Cape Adare (which I misspelled “Adair” in an earlier post, and no wonder: Jerry Adair’s outstanding defensive play at second formed a key contribution to the astounding success of the 1967 Impossible Dream Red Sox). The Bird Lady we have on board delivered an outstanding lecture today…
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Through the Pack Ice at Almost Sunset
I know I said I would next be posting from Cape Adair, which is now hoving into view, but last evening’s foray through the pack ice after Leonard’s birthday party yielded a harvest of most interesting pics. As usual on these trips, women fling themselves at Leonard while the rest of us look on and…
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Into the Ross Sea
James Clark Ross, Rear Admiral of the Red of the Royal Navy, was the real McCoy. He warmed up (pardon the expression) for the Antarctic in a series of Arctic journeys, discovering the North magnetic pole in 1831. When it came time to send a British expedition to Antarctica he was the obvious choice. He…
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At Sea on the Douglas Mawson
We are in the midst of about 3 days at sea crossing the Southern Ocean towards the Ross Sea. Here the map is bisected by one of the numerous handrails helpfully placed around the ship to steady one as the ship gently pitches and rolls on our southward course. Today’s excitement: we spotted our first…
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Hiking Campbell Island
The ship upped anchor and headed for Campbell Island, another remote NZ possession about 400 miles south of the south end of New Zealand’s South Island. My sciatica had flared up so I skipped the morning Zodiac rides around the bend to see the Campbell Island albatrosses but was ready to go for the hike…
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Kenway Goes South 