I have done a quite comprehensive job of documenting 2024. As I write this on January 17 I expect 2025 to include visits to many of the same locations - especially while guiding. Each visit is unique and I continue look forward to each and every one. Having said that, many of the potential photos would be repeats. So, my intention is to include only the more special and unique images - and not so many documentary types. If you are interested in a more complete story about these places, then please look at Twenty Twenty Four.
Most images will give a higher resolution version when clicked. I have split the year into quarters as the pages were too big, so here are links to various chapters of the year:
February March April May
June
July August September October November December
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January -
aboard Heritage Adventurer
January 17 - approaching Cape
Adare at the northern end of the Ross Sea, Antarctica. At the
completion of my pre-Christmas Sub-Antarctic voyages I had a
lovely couple of weeks catching up with old friends and
celebrating the holidays. Then, it was back to "work". I will
again be aboard for both the the Heritage Expeditions voyages to
the Ross Sea. These are one of the highlights of my "working" year
- both because Antarctica is a truly unique wild place, and
because I have the pleasure and responsibility of communicating to
the guests the remarkable histories of Scott, Shackleton, Amundsen
and all the other explorers of the Heroic Age and beyond. In
Expedition cruising we have Plan A, but that is only a starting
point and the actual voyage is determined along the way based on
weather and many other factors. The January voyage was a case in
point as we made an unscheduled stop at Rakiura/Stewart Island to
wait out a storm ahead of us. This meant that our Zodiac cruise at
the Snares was delayed a day as the storm cleared. And clear it
did with the most beautiful conditions I have ever seen there -
light winds, minor swell and sunny skies. What a start. The good
luck with conditions continued for our day at Macquarie Island - a
bit of rain, but no issues with making the landings. The landing
at Sandy Bay was a highlight with the Royal and King penguins, the
Elephant Seals, and the flying birds all as engaging and beautiful
as ever. In a first for me, and many others, we had a 3 operations
day with 2 landings plus a Zodiac cruise before heading into the
Southern Ocean. Our 4 sea days we as gentle as you possibly wish -
no swell over 4 metres and light winds. I was gave 4 talks about
the history - all of which were well received by the guests. So,
here we are, only a few hours from attempting a landing at Cape
Adare. Stay tuned.Some scenes from this period: Ulva Island/Rakiura: The southern rata was in full bloom with scattered needles on the ground, fern fiddlehead, Stewart Island Robin. Snares: Zodiac cruising, Snares Crested Penguins. At Sea: Antarctic Petrel in flight
Our landing at Cape Adare was made in near perfect conditions - as is becoming standard for this voyage. I spent most of my time in and around the historic hut helping PAX - but we had landed early enough that I had plenty of time to explore in the Adelie colony. As we cruised back out to sea on a beautiful calm evening, the penguins were everywhere.
Some scenes from this landing: Approaching Cape Adare, Adelie penguins x 2, Adelie with chick, a "flying" porposing Adelie
January 24 - In the Ross Sea headed north toward Franklin Island - We cruised south and made a landing at the empty German Gondwana station, again in ideal conditions. Our Zodiac cruise at the Drygalski Ice Tongue also started in ideal conditions but the fog rolled in as we left the ship, making for interesting visual effects. We carried on south into McMurdo Sound as the sea ice had moved out from Ross Island leaving us access to the historic huts. Our first visit was to Scott's hut at Cape Evans. I left my camera behind but again spent a long time in the hut with PAX. Mostly we guides just keep silent and let them try to put themselves back into that era with those men. During our time in McMurdo Sound we managed visits to the other 2 historic huts - Cape Royds and Hut Point - meaning that these PAX had made all 4 of the huts in the Ross Sea, which is remarkable for any voyage, but truly exceptional for January. Throughout this voyage they/we have enjoyed exceptional weather and sea conditions. It is very striking to me how little snow is around at the landings and how fast the sea ice has disappeared. These are huge changes from my previous visits, including those of the previous 2 seasons. I can't help thinking that this is related to climate change. We also spent quite a lot of time cruising the sea ice edge as this is where the wildlife congregates. We were rewarded with exceptional encounters with Emperor Penguins, which were present in much larger numbers than any previous January voyage, and especially with Orcas, with huge pods swimming in close formation. Astounding.
Some scenes from this period: Gondwana: The small base with Heritage Adventurer, South Polar Skua. Drygalski Ice Tongue: Zodiac cruise start, view from the top deck, fog rolls in - monochrome, Zodiac silhouette in the low sunlight.
Use these links for the January Ross Sea Log and Slideshow
February - aboard Heritage Adventurer
February 2 - at sea enroute to Bluff. The remainder of this voyage enjoyed the same exceptional weather and sea conditions as the start. We made the landing at Franklin Island. Even with the Adelie colony and the beach full of Weddell Seals, the highlight for me was the landscape. The beach is backed by a steep glacier front with cliffs behind. The interplay of the black and grey rock, white and grey ice, and black and white birds makes monochrome photography irresistible. It was an almost completely colorless place except for one striking blue iceberg in the bay. Sublime. We investigated a couple of landing spots on our way north. Neither was suitable but we did get nice views of the Admiralty Range of the Trans-Antarctic mountains. Our last Antarctic operation was a Zodiac cruise at the rugged Balleny Islands. On the night that we crossed the Circle, back to the land of sunsets, the expedition team produced a version of the play Ticket-Of-Leave, last produced in the Antarctic (or maybe anywhere) in 1902 by Scott's Discovery Expedition. It was a roaring success and a great deal of fun. We had 2 Sub-Antarctic Islands to visit on the way north - Campbell and Auckland Islands. Both days were almost sub-tropical as this voyage's luck continued. At Campbell one highlight was a visit to the cliffs at Bull Rock with the world's only Campbell Albatross colony. Enderby Island in the Auckland group provided a couple of real highlights. I love rata blossoms (as you might have guessed by now) and this was a super year for rata. In the rata forest a New Zealand Falcon gave us a long visit while the nearby Bellbird sounded the alarm continuously.
Every Ross Sea trip is uniquely special, but the combination of people and conditions made this one more than usually memorable.
Some scenes from this period: Franklin Island: Adelies and Weddells Seals, Monochrome landscape, Blue iceberg; Ross Sea: Mount Hershel and the Admiralty Range; Balleny Islands: iceberg, Antarctic Petrel in flight; Ticket of Leave cast photo; Campbell Island: Colony cliffs, Campbell Albatross in flight x 2; Enderby Island: Female NZ Seal Lions, Rata blossom, Rata on megaherb leaf, Bellbird calling, NZ Falcon x 2
February 11 -
At sea enroute
to Cape Adare.
The February
Ross Sea
voyage picked
up where the
January voyage
had left off -
with excellent
weather and
moderate seas
for our visits
to the Snares,
Auckand
Islands and
Macquarie
Island. The
Bullers
Albatross were
nesting at the
Snares and the
kelp caught my
eye. We called
into Enderby
Island only 4
days after the
previous
visit. The
rata was still
beautiful but
this time it
was the NZ Sea
Lion pups, the
Southern Royal
Albatross and
the Yellow
Eyed Penguins
that stood out
for me. At
Macquarie
Island we made
our normal
itinerary,
being landings
at Sandy Bay
and The
Isthmus, and a
Zodiac cruise
Lusitania Bay.
Normally Sandy
Bay is the
standout, but
this time I
focused on the
other 2. The
night of the
first sea day
headed south
featured an
impressive
Aurora
Australis. We
had a bit of a
wild
celebration
for crossing
the Antarctic
Circle in the
snow.
Some scenes
from the
period:
Snares:
Bullers
Albatross on
the nest, NZ
Fur Seal in
the kelp, Kelp
on the rocks x
2, Snares
Crested
Penguins,
Penguin in the
kelp; Enderby
Island: NZ Sea
Lion pup,
Southern Royal
Albatross in
flight, Yellow
Eyed Penguin;
Macquarie
Island-The
Isthmus: Giant
Petrel, Gentoo
Penguin,
Sub-Antarctic
Fur Seals pups
x 2, Water
droplets on
King Penguin
plummage;
Macquarie
Island-
Lusitania Bay
Zodiac cruise:
King Penguins
in the water x
3, King
Colony, Colony
with
digesters;
Aurora x 2;
Circle
crossing:
Crazy
expedition
teammates,
crew with
snowman
February
22 - At sea
headed north -
As usual our
first
destination on
the continent
was Cape
Adare. We
arrived in a
blizzard with
gusts up to 60
knots. We ship
cruised the
hut - giving a
remarkable
first-hand
experience of
what they
faced in 1899.
As the
forecast
looked good we
ducked into
Robertson Bay
which was
spectacular in
the dusting of
new snow. The
conditions
never allowed
a landing
there so we
headed south
and did a
Zodiac cruise
in the pancake
ice off
Coulman
Island. We
called into
the Ross Ice
Shelf and then
the remainder
of our time in
the Ross Sea
was very busy
- especially
for me as we
managed to
visit all 4 of
the historic
huts on Ross
Island -
including my
first visit as
a guide to the
hut used by
the
Trans-Antarctic
Expedition
(TAE) in 1958.
I didn't take
many photos,
but the PAX
luck with
weather and
ice conditions
continued and
we did lots.
We called into
Cape Adare for
a second try,
and were able
to make the
landing after
a second
wonderful
Zodiac cruise
in Robertson
Bay. We thus
visited all 5
of the huts in
the Ross Sea -
a first for
any single
voyage for me
- and likely
for any
voyage. This
was made
possible by
the very early
breakout of
the sea ice -
a double edged
sword for
sure.
Some scenes
from the
period:
Robertson Bay:
Mountains and
glaciers x 3;
Coulman
Island: In the
pancake ice x
4; Ross Ice
shelf: the
shelf, sea and
sky, the
-1.5°C sea
steaming in
the -20°C
air; Our
ice landing at
Drygalski;
Erebus;
Adelie;
Emperor; TAE
hut artefacts
x 2; Robertson
Bay
March
- in Christchurch
I disembarked in Bluff on March 1 after a truly fantastic southern season. Our final sea day was filled with perhaps the best mollymock display of the entire season. Two pictures from that event - a Bullers and a White-capped in flight
Monday March 3
was a
momentous day
as I signed
the papers for
my new house -
Villa 4. By
midday on
Wednesday the
movers had
transferred
the contents
of my storage
locker and
started to get
to terms with
possessions
that I hadn't
seen in over 3
years.