Antarctica, the Drake Passage
Day 8, the Drake Passage home
After lunch we sadly started the journey home. Dr Johannes handed out sea-sickness pills in preparation for our entry into the dreaded Drake Passage and everyone went off to catch up on sleep or reading. I stared at the computer screen until I started to feel sick and had to go and lie down but Niall managed to stay on his feet.
I'm reliably informed that the evening's lectures were very interesting, especially Chris's evocative talk on some of the early Antarctic explorers. About this time I began again to notice that the ventilation system for our cabin seemed to be connected directly to the kitchen. This had struck us during our cabin-bound days of the previous Drake crossing but had mercifully slipped my mind for the busy days in the middle of the trip when we spent most of our time being sociable out on deck or in the bar. The fact is that the smell of cooking is bad enough when one is feeling ill, but in this case the Russian crew took their own meals at separate times from us, and these meals (judging by smell at any rate) seemed to consist chiefly of boiled cabbage.
Day 9, the Drake Passage home
Conditions continued to be good for this full day at sea. Niall attended more lectures and spent a while on the bridge seeing if there was anything interesting to spot (there wasn't). I kept an eye on conditions in the cabin, occasionally checking out the bathroom. At each mealtime many people enquired after my health and Ellen kindly sent me up green apples and bowls of dry cornflakes.
Day 10, the Drake Passage & Beagle Channel to Ushuaia
Today saw some more lectures, a tour of the engine room and a few flying birds following the ship, but not much else of note. About 5.00 pm Niall finally coaxed me out of bed; the sea was completely calm again as we'd crossed into sheltered water. I'd been on deck for maybe ten minutes taking some fresh air when I spotted a splash in the distance - dusky dolphins had come to welcome us back into the Beagle Channel. By luck Niall had his camera with him and remembered from our encounters with these dolphins in New Zealand that they're not only quite acrobatic, but have a tendency to jump twice in a row from the same spot. He was quite chuffed to get some nice photos.
Once all the dolphins got bored of us and disappeared we headed inside for Arjen's lecture on digital photography, followed by dinner. Still not quite one hundred percent, I took a seat near the door of the dining room and prepared to try and force down a few mouthfuls of the meal. At this point, Kor come over and asked if I was feeling much better, yes? - pounding me heartily on the back as he did so. Unfortunately I was in rather a grumpy mood and replied snippily: "Fine, unless you keep doing that!" Poor Kor. I did appreciate the spirit of the enquiry, if not its execution! In fact, so many people went out of their way during the whole trip to ask how I was that I felt quite spoiled.
After dinner we were each given a copy of Chris's trip log and the evening concluded with Rolf's photo slideshow, both lovely reminders of an amazing trip.
