Bridge visit and Ladies Spa Day

I managed to capture the best time of day, 6am on the observation deck, when nobody is around. It’s just me and the view. I’ve realised that I’m very dependent on the internet, I miss it. I only had 20 minutes left of internet usage and the connection is so slow that I only managed to post a few blog posts today. I look forward to having 24/7 internet again. Our day started with a Bridge Tour with the Captain. It was really interesting, everything is electronic. The maps are drawn and then loaded into the navigation system, then the boat just follows the computer. One person was on lookout due to fog. We got to walk around the bridge, take photographs etc. The Captain told us that the weather that prevented us landing on Deception Island was hurricane force, over 30 meters per second winds. We felt it.

This morning we completed the feedback questionnaire, the age brackets started from 40! Everyone else was categorised as under 40. We felt rather young and spritely without an age bracket on the form.

The first lecture was titled ‘Animals what we have seen’. The count so far:

• Crabeater seal
• Fur seal
• Leopard seal
• Elephant seal
• Humpback whales
• Fin Whales
• Adelie penguins
• Gentoo penguins
• King penguins
• Chinstrap penguins
• Rockhopper penguins
• Magellenic penguins
• Black browed albatross
• Wandering albatross
• Cape petrels
• Giant petrels
• Snowy Sheathbill
• Dolphin
• Sea Lion
• Jellyfish
• Striated Caracara
• Orca
• Magellenic Oystercatcher
• Flightless Steamer duck
• Upland goose
• Ruddy headed goose
• Kelp goose
• Dolphin Gull
• Yellow billed teal
• Kelp gull
• Antarctic tern
• Rock shag
• Antarctic petrel
• Skua

Today we also invented Ladies Spa Day. We met in the sauna with our friends, then went for a Jacuzzi, the tea and sandwiches in the observation deck. It was great, and a lovely way to spend a sea day. A lecture on penguins and humans and then time for dinner again.