Sunday, December 31, 2023
Our New Year’s Eve was a fantastic one! After coffee and a great breakfast, we headed to the Aula for this morning’s briefing. We learned that the Polaris was situated between Ronge Island and Danco Island at the south of the Errera Channel. Our presenters were also ecstatic about the weather for today for we had started seeing sunshine and blue skies, apparently a rarity here. We also learned about Happy Whale, a citizen science program that tracks whale distributions and movements from uploaded photos of the underside of tails, which apparently uniquely identifies individual whales.
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| Harriet and Jane enjoying a Beautiful View from the Bow |
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| Errera Channel |
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| Our Kayaks being Towed to their Mooring Site |
After lunch, Jane and I decked out in our gear, headed to Deck A, boarded our Zodiac, and were soon bopping along toward the Danco Island landing site to view a colony of Gentoo penguins. Thanks to the unobscured sun, our surroundings seemed less austere and more welcoming with waters reflecting the blue skies, such a contrast to the previous gray skies with brownish waters. As we approached Danco Island, we could see a rocky beach with penguins (and red-clad Viking guests) in the foreground and a white snowy slope with a trail marked for us leading to a rock outcrop where the penguin colony was nesting. A larger nesting area was also visible much higher up the slope, beyond where we were allowed to explore. Vertical penguin paths were etched in the snow and individual penguins were slowly ascending these trails.
Viking assistants pulled our Zodiac ashore at the landing and we stepped out onto the rocky shore. Jane asked a fellow Zodiacer to take a picture of us on our 7th continent! We observed the beach penguins standing around, waddling, swimming and generally being cute for awhile. Gentoos are about 2-3 feet tall and distinguished by a white band running across the tops of their head. Soon, we selected hiking sticks from a bunch stuck in the snow at the base of the trail, and began our ascent. This afternoon we had beautiful blue skies and the sun was brightly shining so that we were soon sweating and unzipping jackets. Atop the ridge we had a nice view of the channel and could observe (and smell) a nearby Gentoo colony on a rocky area. Although the flightless birds were adorably cute, their colony stunk badly. An ornithologist was stationed here to educate us about the ongoing activities. The Gentoos were sitting on their eggs but unfortunately, none had hatched yet. We walked a little further up the trail to observe a brown skua, a large predatory bird watchfully waiting for an opportunity to steal a penguin egg or hatchling. After sufficient gawking, we descended and caught a Zodiac back to the Polaris.
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| Our 7th Continent Landing |
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| Gentoo Penguins enjoying the Beach |
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| Gentoos Closeup |
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| Taking the Penguin Trail |
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| Beginning the Ridge Hike to the Colony Nesting Stie |
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| Gentoo Penguin Colony |
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| Along the Ridge Trail |
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| Brown Skua awaiting an Opportunity |
After a short break onboard, we headed back to Deck A for kayaking. We were provided drysuits and neoprene booties, then boarded a Zodiac and were transported to the moored kayaks. Two by two we manned the kayaks. Ray and Nina were part of our kayaking group. We paddled along the shore and through a maze of small icebergs stopping for pictures here and there. The rugged icy landscape certainly provided a uniquely wonderful paddling experience. Eventually, we reboarded the Zodiac and briefly tracked a couple of humpback whales on our way back to Polaris.
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| Kayak Man |
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| Waiting for our Fellow Kayakers to Launch |
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| Ray and Nina, two Determined Kayakers |
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| Kayaking Jane and John |
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| Kayak Selfie |
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| Tracking a couple of Humpbacks on the Zodiac Return Trip |
After a late dinner, we returned to our stateroom, relaxed until 11:30pm and then joined the New Year’s Eve party that had already commenced. A band was playing, the crowd was dancing, and champagne and other drinks were flowing. At midnight, everyone toasted. Jane refused to kiss me (presumably due to my sickness) and we all sang Auld Lang Syne. Then, the crowd migrated to the bow deck where we waved at and toasted the captain who blasted the Polaris horn to celebrate 2024, the new year. Later, the captain made it to the bow deck and posed with Jane (among others) for a picture. Eventually, we headed back to our stateroom ready to sleep off a great New Year’s Eve.
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| New Year’s Eve Party |
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| The Band Played Dance Favorites |
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| Lucky Number Seven |
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| Bye Bye 2023! |
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| Celebrating on the Bow after Midnight |
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| Jane with Captain Mignon |
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| Jane on the Bow Deck after Midnight |