Antarctica- Part 3 Cuverville and Neko Harbour

Aren't these penguins so cute!!! These are gentoo penguins. Most of the penguins we saw had babies that were about 1 month old. They were so cute. The first thing I noticed when we landed at Cuverville Island was that it really smelled. Penguins do not smell that good. But then I noticed how cute they were and I got over it!
If you want to get a good look at any of these pictures click on them to make them bigger.

Here is me with my family just after we landed. Notice all the penguins behind us.

Here are some more penguins. We saw hundreds if not thousands of penguins while we were in Antarctica. The penguins would all live in one area.

Isn't this sweet? These babies were born late. They were only about 2 weeks old. Unfortunately this means they probably won't make it during the winter. The mom was keeping them warm as the dad was building the nest. Notice him setting the little rock around the mother. Most of the mother penguins were cuddling or feeding the babies as the penguin fathers were building the nests. It was fascinating to watch this out in the open.

We left Cuverville Island and headed over to Neko Harbour. We were excited to reach Neko Harbour because we were finally making a stop on the mainland of Antarctica instead of just the islands.

When we arrived at Neko Harbour my family and I decided to hike through the snow up to the top of this hill to get a good view. This is where we were climbing to. We had to be very careful hiking and not leave the trail as the ice and snow could always cave in and someone could fall quite a ways down.

Here we are climbing.

Here we are at the top. Isn't it beautiful? It was definetly worth the hike!

While we were up there we next to a huge glacier. We were able to see lots of calving (when the snow drops). It would begin by a loud bang noise and then you would see the snow drop down. This one was cascading like a waterfall.

The next two pictures are one of my favorites. I had just climbed down the mountain and had my camera ready as I was looking at the glacier when this huge chunk fell into the sea.

This is the splash the glacier left.

This is a very typical site we saw on most of our landings. The beach was always covered with ice. Some small pieces like these and others were huge- bigger than me.

Here is a gentoo penguin feeding her babies.

The penguins love to swim. They loved to jump in to the water. They would also swim alongside the boat with you. They would jump in and out of the water wherever we went. I loved watching how playful they were.

The next couple of pictures are just of the scenery as we were in our little boat going back to our ship.

I know it is ridculous the amount of pictures I am posting on my blog but believe it or not I took over 2,000 pictures on this trip. So, I can't help but post quite a few. The only thing I can say is that unfortunately the pictures do not do it justice!

I love the light blue that surrounded every iceburg we saw. Tomorrow I will post again and I will post more iceburgs and finally my pictures of the humpback whales and seals. For now I am going to get warm with hot cocoa and remember all the amazing things I was able to witness in Antarctica!

Antarctica- Part 2- First Landing

I would like to begin by saying that I really believe Antarctica to be one of the most beautiful places on earth- that said- I would not put our first stop as one of the most beautiful places in Antarctica.

We crossed the Drake passage and lucked out. This is one of the stormiest places on earth. Luckily we didn't encounter a storm. The waves rolled the entire time we were crossing and because we were in a smaller boat we did feel every wave. We finally began to spot iceburgs. The day we arrived it was very overcast with a mixture of rain and snow. The iceburgs look very different in the sun.

Here is a picture of Deception Island from our ship. Deception Island is an active volcano which is why the island is all black.

Every morning we would begin the same ritual. We would get up put on all of our warm clothes and wait for them to call us ashore. Antarctica will only allow 100 people ashore in one place at one time. When we are called we go down to the bottom of the ship into a room where we put on our boots.

Here is a picture of all of us ready to go out for the first time. We were all so excited because we were finally finishing a goal of stepping on all 7 continents.

After we go outside we climb down some stairs onto these boats. These boats hold 8 people and they are running people back and forth to our ship. They can go pretty fast.

The first thing I noticed when we got to Deception Island is of course all of the garbage that has been left behind. When Antarctica was first being discovered many people were leaving behind all sorts of stuff. Each country has left behind their own garbage dumb. Some people are trying to clean it up but it is taking some time.

Deception Island used to be a a factory for the whalers remains. When people first were whaling their ships could not take care of the whales remains so they would drop off all the items they didn't need from the whale to these factories. They would then take care of the remains. It wasn't too long before they built whaler ships big enough to handle every part of the whale. When this happened the factory was abanded.


It was a joke the entire time we were at Deception Island that we were walking on the moon. There was an eerie quiet about the area. Even though I have been away from people before I have never been anywhere where there are no people or wildlife. The island is very dark covered in garbage and whale bones.

I can not imagine living here in this desolute area. The houses couldn't have kept the residents very warm. It would have been a very difficult life.

I can not imagine dying here either. We would find crosses all over Antarctica. Because of the harsh climate and no medical equipment many people would die.

But on a lighter note- I could have died after what we did next. Yes- I feel like I am part of the Polar Bear club! I did go swimming in Antarctica. It was freezing. Here is Emily (my sister-in-law) and I running out of the water. Spencer (my brother) had just come out of the water and was laughing at us. The worst part was that I couldn't breathe!!! It took every ounce of my strength to keep running into the water until I ducked under. The only way you could get the certificate from the ship for swimming in Antarctica was if the water went up to your neck- I went in twice and the second time I actually went under water. That was dumb! BRRRRR!!!!!!!!

Here is a picture of Lindsay and I right after our swim and before we left Deception Island. Let's just say that went I got back on the ship I had one of the best hot showers I have ever had!
Our next stop is where we first encounter penguins. I will try to post those tomorrow!

Antarctica- the beginning Argentina

I just got back from Antarctica and still can not get the amazing scenes of my voyage out of my head. I decided that the only way to blog this would be each day I would focus on a few days from my trip. I can not do the entire trip on one blog entry. I hope you don't mind. I am beginning with Argentina. The picture above is the balcony where Evita and then Madonna spoke (or sang) to the people of Argentina. I really like Buenos Aires. We had a great time walking around. The city is very European. We visited many cute little cities. The Tango is very popular here. You will see people either painting pictures of the tango or dancing the tango on the streets.

When we were finished with Buenos Aires we flew to Ushuaia (which is the southern most part of Argentina). This is where the Tierra del Fuego is. They call Ushuaia fin del mundo (or end of the world). We spent the rest of our time in Argentina in Ushuaia. Below are some pictures of the national park of Tierra del Fuego. The mountains were beautiful. We had excellent weather- we really lucked out. Actually we lucked out with weather the entire tour.


Here is me with my siblings. I went with my parents and siblings on this tour. Josh, my husband was so nice to stay home and help out with our 2 children. I am so grateful for him because if he didn't help out I would never have been able to go.






Here is a picture of our ship the Nordic Norge. This is the ship that we voyaged out to the great unknown!!! We boarded the ship in the evening. We left that night around 10:00 pm to begin our crossing of the Drake Passage. I will blog tomorrow about crossing the Drake and our first landing in Antarctica!

Antarctica

So, I am on the cruise through Antarctica. I am not able to download any pictures yet because the internet is incredibly slow on the ship. I will try to update them as soon as I get home. I just needed to say that this trip has been one of the most incredibly trips I have ever been on. I have seen thousands of penguins up close. I have watched humpback whales jump out of the water over and over again. I have been on the beach next to dozens of elephant seals. I have seen the calm waters filled with ice and iceburgs. It is beautiful here. I will try to post pictures and explain the different things that I have seen as soon as I get home. I just wanted everyone to know that I am well and we are having a wonderful time. I miss everyone! If anyone sees my boys- give them hugs and kisses from me! I will see you all soon!

Catching up on Holidays!

Can you believe it? I am finally writing in my blog!!!!
Well the holidays came and went and they were fabulous!!!! Except for the fact that I got pnemonia!!! Christmas Eve was so much fun. We went to dinner with my family and then we went to my house and opened our traditional pj's!! Yeah!!! Martin wouldn't take off the Santa hat- he loves hats!!

Cal was putting on his pj's and I told him I could see his belly buttom- of course he had to hide it from me!

We were so lucky this year because Aunt Jessica (Josh's sister from Massachusetts) came and stayed with us during the holidays! Calvin loves to pinch her like a lobster- so I am sure that she went home with lots of little pinchy bruises! The kids just love her! She is such an amazing Aunt.

Here is our Christmas tree in the morning- and yes- Santa did come. I wondered if he would as I am sure Calvin did as well, but luckily for Calvin he showed up!!

Oh- the famous coming down the stairs scene! Christmas night Jessica and Rebecca (josh's other sister) spent the night. I am sure they have never woken up so early for Christmas since they were little! Actually we did luck out. Calvins slept in until 7:20 (this is a world record for him on any morning not just Christmas!)

Martin saw that Santa's deer had nibbled on the carrots- he decided to do the same thing. He ate all that was rest for breakfast!

Martin got this cute little scooter from Santa. He won't leave Cal's alone so we were glad Santa brought him one to play with. One less fight I need to worry about (LOL!)

Josh's other sister Rachel (who lives back East as well) did the most amazing thing for Christmas. She made both of the boys quilts. Aren't they beautiful? I was so excited because this is something they can cherish and use forever! They like to walk around the house with them and they also like to sleep with them. Aren't they beautiful!!!!

Here is Martin with his quilt and an apple that he got from his stocking. When I was cleaning up I found every single apple that was in every persons stocking covered in little tiny Martin bite marks.

Ah yes- here I am with my new board. I am also wearing my beautiful apron made by my sister-in-law Brittany Soucy . Isn't she amazing? I love this apron. I still haven't been able to go snowboarding yet because I have been sick and it is sad because I leave for Antartica next week for 3 weeks so I won't be able to go for another month. But I am excited to go with my next door neighbor Dayna. We want to take both of our boys! YIPPEE!!!!

Isn't he soooo cute? Spencer and Emily gave him this cute truck that makes noises. And no- you aren't supposed to ride it, but he thought he was very funny! Well my parents and brothers and sisters came to our house and we had breakfast and opened presents. We got a Wii and Guitar Hero, so needless to say a lot of the day was spent playing guitar hero. What a fabulous game that is!

Right after Christmas we had a little Christmas party with my cousins and Aunts and Uncles on my dad's side. Here is Martin with a bunch of his cousins. They all have such fun. He especially loves all of the older girls. He will just follow them around and they are so sweet to him.
Christmas is such fun. I love this time of the year. Even though I was so sick everything just seems happier and better and more fun during this time!

Well enough for today. I will try to update again before I leave for Antartica. Also, I should be able to update pictures of my journey as I go. We'll see!

Don't you just love holidays? So sad to see them go, but the good news is there is another holiday just around the corner!

Good night!