Kayaking

Well, I fell in 30 seconds into my kayaking experience. And was pretty embarrassed about it. And went right back out again (without falling in again) and had something to talk about for the rest of the trip. And I paid almost $900 for it, which is a lot… but, once again, it may have actually been worth it. And not for the normal reasons either – it’s because kayaking always gave you a choice: land or kayak. In the end, I kayaked five times out of the possible eleven (?) they had offered. Missed out on a fun slide on one of the landings, but that wasn’t nearly enough to tip the scales.

They say kayaking gets you that much closer to the wildlife. I don’t how true that is – the zodiacs get you awfully, awfully close, and they buzz all over the place, whereas we are a bit limited by our paddle power. Then again, when you are sitting in a kayak, your butt probably water level, and a 900 pound leopard seal with its blood-thirsty reptile-like look dives under you, and you have no idea where he’ll come back up… well, you feel pretty damn close to nature! And when Lousie nonchalantly mentions that you just may want to keep your elbows away from the water (lest he should mistake them for something tasty), you tuck them in right fast.

The very last time out, I finally learned to appreciate silence too… There wasn’t much wildlife out there (a seal here, a whale there, a few penguins swimming everywhere), so the zodiacs weren’t usually near us, and it got quiet… The icebergs sat peacefully in the water. We made big noise when the kayaks would hit the ice we were paddling through. And the ice/snow would make huge noise when an occasional avalanche would come down up above, or an iceberg would calve down below… Did I mention it was sunny, there was no wind whatsoever, and we didn’t really paddle all that hard – on this day, Paradise Harbor was serenity.

I hear some woman actually swam across Paradise Harbor recently – she’s fucking insane, whether she had a wet/dry suit on or not, and no matter how freakishly better her blood circulation is that most of ours!

Zodiacs

It’s better than the zipline and the surfboard, right?

Actually, the zodiacs were quite amazing – they get us on land, they get us up close and personal with the seals, they let us see all sides of the amazing icebergs down here, and the whales occasionally get curious about them.

And we get to compare and contrast our different drivers in a sort of a mental competition. James and Rob win for most exciting. Scott wins for most knowledgeable and steady. The girls generally fare the worst in the speed drills. Sergey takes the cake for most Russian, including, apparently, regular encounters between the propeller and the rocks… But he’s calm, restrained, and, yet, quite funny about it all.

on to the continent!

Yalour Islands – morning: kayaking and a visit to Akademik Vernadskiy Ukrainian research station (formerly British ‘Faraday’ Station). Kayak through some narrow and shallow passages – pretty cool. Tour of station not terribly exciting, but speaking Russian results in extra shot of vodka at the bar and some good conversation. Sarah, from our boat, trades her bra for a shot…
Afternoon: too rough to land, so zodiac cruising around Waddington Bay. Lots of seals on ice floes – leopard, crabeater, fur. All mostly sleeping and lazily gazing at us. Penguins, cool icebergs, and a sei whale sighting at the very end. Downside: two hours on a zodiac gets rather cold!
Evening: camping right back near Vernadskiy (across the bay, at old Wordy hut) – not particularly cold, but not particularly comfortable either. Glad to say I’ve slept on Antarctic soil though!