NEKO HARBOR & ALMIRANTE BROWN

"FIRST YOU FALL IN LOVE WITH ANTARCTICA, AND THEN IT BREAKS YOUR HEART." - KIM STANLEY ROBINSON, the line of his book ANTARCTICA



ICEBERGS!!!!!! I AM IN ANTARCTICA....WOO HOOO....IT FINALLY HIT ME!!!!!



I woke up by my mum at 3am she yells, “MEL WAKE UP THERE ARE ICEBERGS!!!!!” OMG jumped out of my bed. The window is above us.  I just rolled over. WOW what a view of snow covered mountains. It was amazing. I went back to bed for another hour then I got ready to go outside to take photos. I just worn my boat pants, beanie, UGG boats, expedition jacket and my polar fleece. I made sure my battery is charged up. I brought my binoculars as well.                  `

 

What a beautiful morning. I went to deck 7 and I saw fresh snow as I opened the door. I see we had a nice layer of snow last night.  I took some photos of the lovely view. WOW what a magical view. I can even describe the view….I AM IN ANTARCTICA!!!!!!!

 

I walked past the pile of snow. I was tempted to make a snow angel or something. HAHAHAHAHA.  I just bend down in both knees and I started to build a snowman or 2 HEHEHEHE. I just needed some eyes and mouth. I ran downstairs to the dining area to grab some meatballs for the eyes and crackers for the mouth.  I ran upstairs to create my masterpiece. I built my first snowman. It has been awhile since I built a snowman.  While I was making my snowman, I hear people in the background saying “AWWWW how cute. ” And I hear giggles.

 

I made 2 snowmen. There was a group of Chinese about 16 of them in a group. One of them was taking photos of me making my snowman and also with it. I stayed around until to make sure the meatballs don’t fall off.  More people took photos of it and with it. so I took photos of them doing it HAHAHAHA.

 

I went downstairs to eat breakfast. Unfortunately while I was eating, Anja announced that we could not land at Neko harbor, which Is the mainland of Antarctica. I was looking forward to land there and slide there.  I was very bummed. I hope we try to land another day since we plan to go on the same route going back to Ushuaia.  The waves were too rough for the polar cirkels to have us land and it is very cloudy.  I saw them outside cruising around the boat to see if they can take us safely.

 

There are so many icebergs. It was so beautiful with the blue tint.  I just photos of Almirante Brown Antarctic Base (64 51' S, 62 54' W) is an Argentine Antarctic base named after Admiral Guillermo Brown, the father of the Argentine Navy. This Argentine station in Paradise Bay, which is considered to be one of the most beautiful settings in Antarctica, was burned down in 1984 by a disturbed member of the overwintering party just as the last supply ship was leaving for the season. He apparently wanted to avoid the overwintering, and figured that if the station burned down he could get home sooner. He did. The base has been partially rebuilt, but is occupied only in the summer season.

We could not land there as well. it was too icy and steep. I only to photos of the abandon building with a rookery of gentoos surrounding it, you can hear them sing.   I could only see them with my binoculars.  You can see penguin highways. It was beautiful. I wish I could land. I am dying to get out of this boat.

 

I just hung out around the boat to check out if there are any wildlife on the icebergs and if we are lucky whales and seals. There are plenty of petrels and gulls following us. They are too fast to take photos. I need  a DSLR for that. I was just able to admire them with my binoculars.

 

HISTORY OF NEKO HARBOR

 

Neko Harbour is a harbour in Antarctica on Andvord Bay, situated on the west coast of Graham Land. It is one of only two venues used for cruise ships to stop on the continent; the other is Paradise Bay.

 

Neko Harbour was discovered by Belgian explorer Adrien de Gerlache in the early 20th century. It was named for a Norwegian whaling boat, the Neko, which operated in the area between 1911 and 1924.

 

LOOKING FORWARD TO LEMAIRE CHANNEL, PETERMANN ISLAND, AND VERNADSKY!!!!