DECEPTION ISLAND
Finally On Shore
29th - 30th December | 2022
As soon as we left the protection of Admiralty Bay, the sea showed again its real face: the bumpy sea! Unfortunately, also the weather changed to cloudy and occasionally some snowflakes even came down.
The plan for today was to get to Maxwell Bay and go onshore for the first time at Half Moon Island. We were so much looking forward to stretching our legs and getting our feet on some land.
Arriving there it was still so bad weather that there was no chance to even get the Zodiacs down and out there. So our expedition manager Jan Bryde (www.brydegmbh.com) and our captain Igor Gaber have decided to go all the way back to Admiralty Bay for the night. The next day we would early leave for Deception Island, South Shetland Islands.
The next morning at 7am Jan Bryde's voice came through from the bridge - Good morning! We were about to drive through Neptune’s Bellows of Deception Island, and it was a sunny day! Hurray, finally going onshore and hopefully seeing penguins!
My mum and I had to get ready as our group for going onshore were starting to get onto the Zodiacs from 9am onwards. Man, how fantastic was it to put finally your feet on land! And there they are: Penguins (Chinstrap penguins)!
We went onshore at a place called Whalers Bay, which was during the last century an expedition station and also did they produce whale oil (the most southern production in the world). However, end of the 60s the place had been destroyed by severe volcanic eruptions. If you are interested, to know about the history of Whalers Bay and Biscop House please search the internet as I do not want to bore you here in my blog ;-)
I walked up the steep hill to Neptune’s window and then all the way back to the remains of the expedition station. You could somehow imagine how harsh life was out here in the last centuries.
After good 2 hours, it was time to go back to the boat via Zodiac, accompanied by some penguins. They swim/play with you like little dolphins!
Later in the afternoon, the boat went for a little tour through Port Foster before we went back onto the open sea, to our next destination: Paradise Bay. Let's see, what the weather has for us in the next days! Next week you will know if we got our feet onshore at Paradise Bay.
Places | Cities:
Deception Island (South Shetland Islands)
Health issues:
Still that itchy cough.
Special thanks to:
Mrs Sunshine to decide to show her face for a day.