Peter Kinsella's Antarctic Voyage Diary
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Tuesday 6th February 2001, Dumont d'Urville Station
(66° 38.6' S 139° 59.8' E)We anchored last night at about 2300 hours in a great sunset since we were now further north and the sun sets for about 5 hours per day. In the morning we went cruising in the zodiacs around the icebergs just off Dumont d'Urville base, a fabulous photographic experience with penguins sitting on the icebergs and porposing in the water everywhere. Dumont d'Urville base is France's only permanent research station in Antarctica and was established during the International Geophysical Year (1957-1958). It is very different from other bases we have seen. As usual it is built above the ground to allow the winds and snowdrifts to pass underneath and is linked with elevated walkways. The penguin rookery is smack in the middle of the base so the birds, as usual are very tame. We observed the adelie's at close range in regular family life, mostly parents feeding chicks, while we were shown around the base. There were the ever alert skuas waiting for a feed of the chicks.
The base is situated on two islands a very short distance off the continent. The French have built a small harbour between the islands and started an airstrip on one island against international opinion in regard to the airstrip. It is perceived that anyone with a major airstrip on Antarctica would have some sort of military advantage. Severe wind and ice destroyed the new strip a couple of years ago and they have been in the process of rebuilding it, however one of the guys told me that it is very unlikely they will continue the construction as the international pressure to stop is getting heavier. The base commander informed us we could only have an hour per group of 15 as the station personnel were very busy with resupply work and return of expeditions from the Polar Plateau.
Whilst travelling to and from the ship we did some more zodiac cruising around the smaller, very blue icebergs which had lots of penguins (again) on them. Also cruised along the Astrolabe glacier, which like everything else, was just mind boggling. The penguins were fascinating and to watch them jump in and out of the water at such close range was just like being in a National Geographic film. At afternoon tea the Russian waitresses sung us a Russian song which was great. The weather stayed very good all day, maybe a bit cold at -5ºC and 10-15 knot winds, but much improved from Commonwealth Bay. At 1500 hours we weighed anchor and left the Antarctic continent and headed for the South Magnetic Pole. The captain put in a way point at the poles last reported position on 22nd December 2000 by Dick Smith. At the way point nothing happened to our compass so we concluded that it had significantly moved position since that day.
Wednesday 7th February, South Magnetic Pole & Leaving Antarctica
(64° 39.9' S 138° 10.5' E)We were now heading home via the South Magnetic Pole and then proceeding to Macquarie Island. We had over 1000 nautical miles to go before reaching Macquarie Island. We now entered the Southern Ocean again, so it was time to secure all personal items in our cabin. Everyone was starting to make preparations for the rolling seas by rigging belts and jamming bags and other things around bunks in an effort to keep from sliding up and down in the bunk at night. The crew stowed loose items lying around the ship. Apart from a four laps walk of the deck and a "men’s business" discussion on the bow and a lecture on seal blubber, very little else happened. We now had to be careful again getting around the ship, although most of us had our sea legs now and the sea was not that bad at that stage. We had slight seas, a gentle roll from the west, broken sunlight, -1ºC outside and all the Southern Ocean in front of us.
Thursday 8th February, Northbound - Southern Ocean
(58° 37.1' S 151° 24.6' E)Our good progress continued today as the weather was still fine and the sun was out and the outside temperature was about +6ºC with the sea "reasonable". Depending on conditions we hoped to arrive off Macquarie Island, a designated wildlife sanctuary, on the morning of Saturday 10th. Today, Louise Crossley gave her last lecture on the history of Antarctic exploration (Shackleton’s 1914-17 voyage) which I found very interesting since I am now able to relate to the place and the hardships they endured. We also had an open symposium on the future of Antarctica from which we concluded that the Treaty Nations need to address the issue of tourism to the Peninsular area off South America in order to avoid over use and exploitation of the area. Every day of the entire trip we had lectures, symposiums, videos and slide presentations on all aspects of Antarctica from the bird life to the sea creatures, legendary explorers, ecology, geology, biology and the environment. So during these quiet days at sea we had some "recaps" of our trip and a talk by the captain on the history of the ship and his achievements as its captain.
Today, "Thaddeus" my Russian bear (named after Thaddeus Von Bellingenshausen the first man to sight Antarctica) met Brian's penguin "Mawson" and we had a photo shoot on the bow deck.