Farewell, Icy Continent!

The ship was rocking quite a bit last night.

I looked out the window into gloomy light and zero visibility making it look like we'd left the snowy shores of the Antarctic and were headed back to sea. 

I felt such disappointment thinking we were no longer surrounded by icebergs and glaciers, snow packed mountains, the most exquisite ice blue, floes and unimaginable beauty we've enjoyed the past five days. 

By morning, the skies had cleared and we were still encompassed in this icy land.

What relief! I'm not ready to say goodbye.

 We've heard kayaking is super special here in Antarctica, 

but the kayaking spots are very limited (only 16 per excursion) so you need to sign up for every opportunity and hope your name is drawn in the lottery. (If you get a chance, then you're moved to the bottom of the list so generally everyone gets a turn.) 

We were chosen for kayaking today, but it was cancelled due to rough seas.

We all agreed that while it would be fun and I'm sure special, 

we've kayaked close to whales in Hawaii a number of times and we feel okay about not going.

What we don't know doesn't hurt us.

The zodiac and hiking excursions are also special, so its not like you're missing out on

having these adventures because you're also seeing great things. 

The zodiac excursions weren't cancelled, just delayed thirty minutes.

So we enjoyed sleeping in and then out to tour Enterprise Island.

A shipwreck, (on the last day of whaling in 1915, this ship was celebrating their productive season before sailing home to Norway. In the festivities, someone knocked over an oil-burning lamp, setting fire to the ship. The captain ran it aground to get all 85 men off. The men were saved,

but their whale oil from the entire season was gone.

Who knew caves and crevasses could be so blue and so beautiful!

Back at the ship it was time for a highlight that everyone has been waiting for... 

The Polar Plunge!

I'd filled out the medical questionnaire, but in the end, didn't feel like I needed to prove anything to anyone else and opted to skip!

But Dan and Chris were so brave and made the leap!!

Eating lunch outside on the pool deck while icebergs as big as the ship float by is pretty special.

In the afternoon we landed at our last stop, Portal Point,

with a hike up a hill overlooking hundreds of massive icebergs surrounded by

snowpacked mountains. And a few Gentoo penguins. Not as many as other places, however,

with so much snow pack.

We did see a few seals way off in the distance on icepack. 

You could tell they were seals and not rocks because of their tracks

 in the snow from the ocean to their resting place.

Blue skies everywhere was a wonderful sendoff!

Boots on the ground on the Antarctican continent mainland! 

(And yesterday too.)

We hiked up the two hills and decided to head back.

Then Chris said, "Say goodbye to Antarctica," and we realized we weren't ready.

So we hiked up the first hill again to enjoy our last day here as long as possible.

One of the guides offered to take our picture and he was very detailed in 

composing the shot taking in shadowing and crops and vistas! 

While he was taking pictures, he got a radio from the crew that it was time for everyone to head back to the ship because the captain was worried about the proximity of several large icebergs!

(Yesterday, while we were anchored for excursions, a couple of zodiacs worked non-stop pushing any ice away that was floating too close. The doors for embarking/disembarking have to be watertight, obviously, and if the ice ran into it moving it off even one millimeter, the doors wouldn't close! 

And we all know the damage a huge iceberg can do. 

(Cue 2nd grade Courtney playing her piano recital song.)

When we arrived back on the ship, we took a last look from the top deck and said goodbye.

We had dinner reservations for La Terrazzo (one of three reservation-only restaurants on board).

(The times we ate at these restaurants, they had plenty of available seating, so even if someone didn't get reservations ahead of time, it looked like you could still make them on the spot.)

After dinner we made one last stop on the top deck, but it was freezing, we only stayed 

two seconds then hurried back to our rooms to watch a movie,

"Eight Below" which was sweet and featured cute, amazingly trained Huskies,

Paul Walker and the Antarctic.

By the time we went to bed at midnight, the ship was rocking and preparations for Drake Passage

were already under way--sick bags placed every three feet in all the hallways.