On the ice - A never-to-be forgotten wilderness adventure

30 October 23

By RW Bro Ted Simmons OAM

It is the highest, driest, windiest and coldest continent in the world – it’s nearly all ice and snow and is probably the least populated country of planet Earth.

It’s called Antarctica, where the silence is almost absolute and the only regular inhabitants are penguins, seals and birds.

A decade or more ago, tourists could take a one day flight over the Australian base, select a small ship or head for the Argentine town of Ushuaia for a sea journey which would allow passengers to set foot on-shore.

But as times change, so do practices and resources and the opportunity to visit Antarctica has seen remarkable progress. In recent years, the continent has seen an increase in tourists, mostly in cruise ships and there are now a larger number of vessels that can negotiate the wild waters, wind, snow and the unrelenting cold temperatures.

In those earlier days with only a few ships operating, my choice was the Quark company’s 2,000-tonne ice­breaker called the Sarpik Itik, slightly bigger than a Sydney Manly ferry which carried 60 passengers and definitely not a luxury vessel.

On these smaller ships, most cabins had two bunks, an upper and a lower, restricted deck walking, no deck games but the food was good and the nightly lectures prior to landing were informa­tive and entertaining. Although they only carried 60 or so passengers, it was fortunate that there were some masons on board which led to interesting and informal talks to wind away the time.

In those earlier days with only a few ships operating, my choice was the Quark company’s 2,000-tonne ice­breaker called the Sarpik Itik, slightly bigger than a Sydney Manly ferry which carried 60 passengers and definitely not a luxury vessel.

On these smaller ships, most cabins had two bunks, an upper and a lower, restricted deck walking, no deck games but the food was good and the nightly lectures prior to landing were informa­tive and entertaining. Although they only carried 60 or so passengers, it was fortunate that there were some masons on board which led to interesting and informal talks to wind away the time.

A land of mystery and majestic beauty

After leaving Ushuaia and negotiating the wild waters of the Drake Passage, our vessel headed for the South Shetland Islands and an introduction to a new and wonderful world where we would mix with humpback and minke whales and adélie, gentoo, chinstrap and king penguins in their natural world.

A colony of penguins on Half Moon Island gathered around a derelict Norwegian whaling boat. Photo by Joseph W Holliday

Three days of sailing brought the ship to Barrientos Island, our first land stop and an introduction to the Zodiacs, small and tough water craft which take up to ten passengers from the ship to the shore. Antarctica does not have wharves so at that time tourists had to splash through the water on to the beach or cautiously negotiate a parade of rocks.

We had strict instructions from our guide to carefully follow his footsteps because to venture away from the single file could land a tourist up to his/her hips in snow. Our curiosity to see the penguins was matched by their interest in us and their noisy, welcoming cries as they paraded in single file from the snow to the water.

Getting up-close and personal with majestic icebergs.Photo courtesy of Quark Expeditions

After a visit to Half Moon Island, the ship sailed to Neko Harbour and Paradise Bay where the Alpine glaciers surrounded the Bay with the beautiful snow-capped mountains reflected in the water.

Our visit was not restricted to the snow as over the next few days the Zodiacs zoomed to different beaches, around icebergs, into the Lemaire Channel and even stopped to allow those brave enough to have a quick splash in the icy waters.

Our group was also fortunate to see one of the cliffs overlooking the water break up and crash into the sea with our guide swiftly moving the Zodiac away to a safer distance to ride out the resultant big wave.

Did you know?

Antarctica, a land of 13.7 million square kilometres, has always been a land of mystery and remained undiscovered until 1820. Among the early explorers
were Shackleton, Scott, Mawson and Amundsen while Sir Frances Drake made note of the area in 1577 during his circumnavigation voyage and James Cook sailed by in 1773.
The Antarctic continent is almost completely covered by an ice sheet.

At its thickest, the ice is over 4km deep. Beneath the ice sheet is a hidden landscape of mountains, valleys and plains. The highest point is around 4km above sea level. There is little exposed rock. Millions of years ago Antarctica had heavy vegetation, but today the only plants that grow are very small mosses and lichens.

Elevation

Antarctica’s average elevation is 2,500m. In contrast, Australia’s average elevation is only 330m. The height of the South Pole is 2,830m. The highest point on the icecap is 4,093m. It is in Australian Antarctic Territory at 80°22’ S, 77°21’ E.

Water

The Antarctic ice sheet holds about 90% of Earth’s fresh water in 30 million cubic kilometres of ice, but there’s not a drop to drink. Antarctica is the driest continent on earth. The amount of moisture that falls on the polar plateau is similar to the amount that falls on the world’s hot deserts.

Size

Including all its islands and ice shelves, Antarctica is nearly twice the size of Australia. It covers 13,661,000 km2. The Australian Antarctic Territory is 5,896,500km2 (42% of Antarctica).

Reference: Australian Antarctic Program (antarctica.gov.au)

 

The guides had good technical knowledge of the area and were pas­sionate about Antarctica.

The addition of kayaks has made a big difference for tourists who previ­ously had to rely on the Zodiacs for any off-ship exploring either on land or amongst the icebergs.

Overall, there were so many other sights to see – magnificent glaciers, crushed ice in the water and the con­stant parade of hundreds of penguins, basking seals and foraging birds.

 

 

Below-  Esperanza Station: An Antarctic seal taking the chance to enjoy the mild weather

 

 

The group managed to make many landings on shore because we were favoured with five days of sunshine and clear skies which also tempted most of the tourists into sliding (without a tobog­gan) down the smaller snowy slopes.

The tour was not without human resi­dents. There was a warm welcome from the English post of Port Lockroy which is a weather station and part museum with fascinating items on display about early explorers and travellers.

Next stops, Mikkelsen Harbour and Esperanza Station, the Argentine base, is more notable for its colonies of gentoo and adélie penguins with the occasional macaroni and emperor pen­guins adding to the local gathering. It was a much bigger base with many more staff who arranged a tour of the area and a welcoming reception. It was also our last land stop before beginning the three days return to Ushuaia.

In contrast to our departure from Ushuaia where the Drake Passage had greeted us with raging seas, the return was mostly calm and peaceful. It brought to an end a fascinating and informative experience where we travelled more than 1,700 nautical miles in 11 days.

It was a voyage into the unknown which presented us with a fascinating journey where beauty defies description and memories which will never be forgotten.  

Quark Expeditions is now one of the leading wilderness adventure tour oper­ators in the region, providing rare wild­life experiences, adventures via charter plane journeys, helicopter trips and sea kayaking through channels dotted with icebergs.

Kayaks provide visitors with an opportunity to explore deep amongst the icebergs.
Photo courtesy of Quark Expeditions

‘We recognised the deficits of earlier times and created a blueprint to respond to visitor expectations and the priorities of environmental awareness of the current world,’ said Quark Expeditions spokesman Rob Halfpenny.

‘We now operate several stabilized ships that are a major advancement to the type of vessel previously visiting Antarctica. Quark Expeditions is proud to offer the largest fleet of polar-class vessels in the industry; purpose built polar expedition small ships, each carry­ing less than 200 passengers with luxury comforts that were just not avail­able even a decade ago.’

‘The newest ship in our fleet, Ultramarine, can carry 199 passengers on its eight decks and has twin-engine helicopters that fly passengers to view these amazing polar landscapes from an aerial perspective and also allow us to venture into the interior of the magical destinations. It is designed to go beyond the familiar in polar exploration, to discover new places, and to immerse passengers in the best the region has to offer. The helicopters are not just for viewing but can land people on beaches, take them to explore mountains and opened up sites where previously we could only take a few tourists.’

 

Sustainability

‘Rubbish has always been a challenge when travelling to remote isolated desti­nations like Antarctica. In older days, it was packed into bags and taken to remote ports like Ushuaia, dozens of bags that filled whole rooms on those early vessels. But with the introduction of the MAGs* system on Quark’s new ships we can reduce our waste by up to 95%, heating the ship and the residue can be used as fertiliser on land. ‘We do all we can to keep Antarctica and the destinations we visit pristine for future generations and the wildlife to enjoy – we are founding members of IAATO and AECO’ said Halfpenny. ‘It has become much more comfortable to explore these destinations, but we stay true to our expedition commitment with the entertainment still being expe­dition team briefing talks before and after onshore visits. The talks are held in the briefing room at night on what we saw that day and what to expect tomor­row, as well as being spontaneous to see whale pods and go kayaking.’

‘We have even started a Quark Academy passing on the knowledge of our experienced and well-travelled expedition team to share their decades of knowledge to our growing team of new recruits. Our guests glean this knowledge and share in the expedition like a family, with open bridge access and sharing meals with our team.’

‘Anticipating that Quark expeditioners may return as ambassadors, we strive to minimise the environmental impact of tourism and work in harmony with this unique destination,’ he added.

*Micro Auto Gasification System (MAGs) is the industry-leading system that converts waste into energy at the site that it’s generated, eliminating the environmental impact of waste transportation.

   

                 Whale-watching from a Zodiac runabout. Photo courtesy of Quark Expeditions