1-20-09 success at last

One photo was posted and then we lost service! At least you can see we really are here!

Monday Jan. 20th, 2009 Mickkelson Island

This is a small island full of rookeries and thousands of Gentoo penguins! The smell was something else! The snow you have to climb through is full of guano and penguin urine! The snow has a nice pink and yellow tint!! The views were spectactular. It is an island that was a popular site back in the whaling days and there are hundreds of giant whale bones from Blue whales that have been there since Napoleon was still shining his coat sleeve buttons! Blue whales it seems can get to 50-70,000 pounds!!
I still cannot upload but the cruise company has a site that has some pictures of our cruise that you can go to. It is www.swanhellenic.com

I will keep trying.

Monday Jan. 19th Looks like we made it!!

Today we woke up to see continent number 6 on the list of 7! Antarctica!! Never thought we'd really come here and at one point, in Drake's Passage I thought we might not! HOWEVER, it was worth the effort for sure. This morning we went to Penguin Island. There we hit the trifecta of seals! What a glorious sight! Elephant seals, BIG ones weighing 600-1,000 pounds each and they were girls! They were just laying there molting. It seems it is 3 weeks of anguish while they get their new coats. There were the Weddell Seals that are the southern most able to live mammal. They too were a bit out of sorts, as the weather was a bit warm today for them. They like extreme cold and it was 34 degrees! Nice for us though and the sun was out. Lastly, the Fur Seals. Very cute but mean critters. You certainly have to keep your distance from those guys!! AND the penguins!! There was a rookery of over a thousand chinstrap penguins. They were all over the place. Swimming, diving, nesting, hollering...they had it going on for sure. Whale bones littered the beach. Crazy big bones. Reminded me of Fred Flintstone!!
Hoping to post some pictures sometime soon. The captain said we might have good luck from here as right now I am looking our the window at a Polish Research Center. They were very nice to us and let us tour their facilities. We were able to buy shirts here! Also, a fw postcards and a map. We are writing postcards fast and furiously to try to get the Antarctica stamp on them!! We are all doing well. We have met some very interesting people and Nicky made a Steeler friend yesterday and they were both happy with the game yesterday! Nicky will be sporting his Steelers shirt after he knocks off the guano, it is everywhere!!

Sunday Jan. 18th 2009

We are not able to get photos to upload. Still trying. We have a lecture on volcanoes in Antarctica and other places in a few minutes, a mandatory drill on how to get on and off the zodiacs, and a lecture on "ice" today! We will be in Antarctica tomorrow! Learned last night that a whale in the south pole can call out and a whale in the north pole can hear it!! The scientist said there would be no reason why they would do that but their sound capicity they produce would allow it!! Crazy! Maybe they could say I'll meet you half way and meet at the equator!
The seas have calmed down and everyone is better. Some better than others!

Friday Jan. 16th 2009 Idle in the Falklands Jan. 17th at Sea

We arrived in Stanley at 4:30a.m. The weather getting there was like being on one of those small to the ground pigs, ponies or the like in a city park on a short heavy spring that rocks you either grntly at age 3 or wildly at age 10. We were like 12 year olds on those springs, pitching backwards and forwards to where you would lose the sight of the horizon each time! We all did fine sleeping through the worst of it. Our ship needed fuel to be able to make it to Antarctica and back. This was the gas station. We were not able to port in Stanley. Instead the captain thought it best to go ahead and get our fuel situation squared away. The fuel tanker (Russian) pulled aside us in 65 mile an hour wind. They waited until the wind got down to a 50 mile an hour rate before they tried pumping the gas as not to have any of the cables break way and cause an environmental problem. We stayed hooked up to these guys until 10:00p.m. as the weather did not die down enough to remove the lines for fueling. Around 10:15p.m. we pulled out of the Falklands as only with a drive by experience! We were warned to put any breakables on the floor, inour sinks or tubs with towels. The weather last night was about 50 times worse than the previous night! Remarkably, we are all fine. The ship is solid, it is just the people on it that have problems! Our family unit on the whole is great. Due to the weather it is hard to make the kids read as that magnifies the problems with sea sickness. They have attended all lectures, some on sea life, some on birds, some on rocks, some on the first explorers of Antarctica. It has been very educational and quite fun. The scientists sit among you and are very interesting to talk to after the sessions. We are off to a penguin lesson soon. The internet service has been spotty at best. I di have many pictures to upload but have not had the internet time to get it done. With extremely high seas today, many people will not be using computers and I may have my chance! We are Rocking Right Along for now. One more sea day and we will be in the Antarctic to see the last continent. We are all very excited. Being around these people on the ship even makes you more excited to get there. If you have a chance Google Drake"s Passage. That is what we are crossing. Our Oceanography class yesterday explained the whole thing to us. Very interesting but VERY rough!!! The call it "The Dreaded Drake".

Rough Sea Day and Nicky's Birthday 1-15-09

The sea is rough today. We have not seen any whales or seals yet. The captain told us we should expect the sea to get even more rough around midnight tonight! The temperature outside is about 50 degrees but with the wind it feels much colder. VERY pleasant though. The sun is out and shining very brightly. A gorgeous day really. We arrive in the Falklands tomorrow and then head south to Antarctica the next day. That is when the parkas they gave us will come in handy! We got to meet all the guides/naturalists/scientists yesterday. They are all very excited about what they do. We have bird experts, rock experts, whale experts, ice experts (who knew) should be fantastic!
There are 198 passengers. Canadians, Brits, Russians, Turks, Italians, Japanese, Swiss, Germans, Americans..a real mix of individuals! The captain came on the loud speaker and announced that it was NIcky"s birthday today, all on the ship stop and wish him a happy birthday! Very nice.
A man on the charter flight asked Kathleen where she got her Auburn shirt, she said "in Auburn". He said "War Eagle", I graduated from Auburn!! He is a retired helicopter pilot. Very cool!

Buenos Aires, Argentina 1-13-2009

WOW!!
We made it here! Buenos Tardes!
Summer in Buenos Aires. Not a bad gig! It is sunny and hot. Looking around it looks like Mardrid, Paris and New Orleans! They win on best cemetary hands down! Eva Peron's resting place is something else. We are all very exhausted from the flight, 10 hours, an hour bus ride to the hotel, took a 2 hour nap and then hit the streets to site see! We have come in for a quick shower and are off to try some of the beef that Argentina is so famous for. Everywhere you look there is a leather shop here. I guess PETA does not have a local group. If we still are awake after our meal, we will post some pictures of what it has been like for us thus far. We have to have our bags out by our door by 11:00p.m. tonight and we have breakfast at 3:15a.m.!!!! Our bus is at 4:15a.m. to the airport to catch our 5 hour flight to Ushaia and then board the Minerva to head toward a new continent for us! Tomorrow will be another long day but very exciting. We are all happy and well, a good night's sleep, although short will do us all some good too!!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY MARY ALLISON!!!!