My Trip to Antarctica

[Xanda73]

Truely amazing post. I wish my company would send me on trips like this; I've just come back from South Africa with the tip of my right middle finger missing due to an accident.

Really appreciate the effort you've gone to, to write this post.

 

[Chili Red]

More amazing photos, thanks for posting the missing ones too, they were worth seeing.

 

[dk]

View attachment 74430

This is my iPad 3 wallpaper, looks awesome!

this is one of my favourites, going to get it done as a large canvas.

 

[Chili Red]

I hope you are going to finish this story David! This is one of the best threads on CS ever.

 

[Ronnie R]

I hope you are going to finish this story David! This is one of the best threads on CS ever.

+1 it's like a documentary.

 

[dk]

sure am, had a hell of a week with work, but have the weekend free so will do some more days.

also need to sort my pictures for the photo book i have ordered and decide on the 2 i am going to use for the canvases, so looking to get all this wrapped up.

oh and i'm glad people like it, each post takes me about an hour to do picking out the photos etc, i have around 500 photos for each day i was there.

 

[Ronnie R]

Better get cracking then ;-)

 

[bully]

Where are you using for the canvases and photo book David?

 

[dk]

Where are you using for the canvases and photo book David?

I always use photobox, the quality is great and the odd time there has been an issue, they send out a repeat order without question, which is good.

They have a much larger range now too, lower end and higher end products. I have gone for 2 large canvases and a 120 page A3 photobook, only ever had A4 books before.

I always wait until there's a sale on, I got 50-60% off my order, and they have started allowing y to buy during the sale period and they give you credits which you have 90 days to use.

 

[Munson]

Wow! Fair f**king play, dk. That looks like an amazing trip.

 

[Munson]

I was using my iPad earlier (dogshit non-retina) so couldn't fully appreciate all the photos.

Amazing pics. Amazing thread. I want to go there.

 

[dk]

so next on the list was Neko Harbour, this was another landing on the Antarctic mainland, and supplied some stunning shots.

so this landing provided us with a load of Gentoo penguins. The snow was pretty deep here and we had the opportunity to walk up a hill to see the island form a great height, but as i had twisted my ankle in the deep snow on the last island, i decided to go up so far but not hike up to the top.

not sure what this bird was, looked like a seagull to me, but it wasn't.....

hmmmm, mud bath!

i think this one was playing cricket

collecting stones for the nest, this one wasn't on the steal though...

this one was sitting on the toilet having a dump

this is where the guys carried on up the hill and i stuck around for the penguin sex.

 

[dk]

this one isn't finished, my broadband has gone down, and this took me ages to post so i have tethered with my iPhone to post it lol.

when my broadband is back up i will finish off this day!

 

[Ben]

Looks incredible, got many pictures from on-board the ship, the cabin etc?

 

[dk]

Looks incredible, got many pictures from on-board the ship, the cabin etc?

only a few really, there are some on the first page i think.

 

[dk]

continued.....

another glacier

poop hole?

this is that plankton i mentioned earlier in the thread.

a video of the landing area, bit windy, but you get the idea.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/david_knight/6955521985/

bit of penguin footage, just chilling

http://www.flickr.com/photos/david_knight/6809414882/

rock moving penguins and getting a bit vocal

http://www.flickr.com/photos/david_knight/6955531443/

and the bit you've all bee waiting for, the penguin sex mounting!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/david_knight/6955535961/

this went on for about 5-10 mins and when he/she did the dismount they got a big cheer lol.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/david_knight/6955539435/

then the one on the right got angry because they were having sex right next to his nest i think.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/david_knight/6809446248/

then we left to go back to the ship, but we had a surprise waiting for us...

now you see the large piece of ice in the water just to the right of the boat, we were moving very slowly towards there, but we didn't know why.

hmmm, lovely iceberg, they must be just taking us up close to have a better view, we've seen a lot of icebergs by this point though....

whats that on the zodiac?

its only a champagne reception! this was very cool, we really weren't expecting it and it was a nice surprise, especially as it was about 9 in the morning as we had had a 6 am start for this one!

this is a little vid of us in the zodiac with the champagne and seeing one of our group on their balcony as they hadn't bothered to get up, and they missed one of the best landings we did, idiots! I'm all for drinking and having a good time, but these guys were up until 6 every morning, which is fine until you miss a trip like this, you can get pissed anywhere, but you'll never see what we did again!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/david_knight/6809481566/

thats it for that day now, well, not quite as theres a second part to the day, but its late.

 

[172boost]

Epic trip is epic! A truely once in a lifetime experience.
And to think you may have missed this for a wedding, lol.

 

[172boost]

Oh and drakes passage.......I've seen some of the footage on Youtube, you must have been relieved there was no storm when you went through.

 

[dk]

Epic trip is epic! A truely once in a lifetime experience.
And to think you may have missed this for a wedding, lol.

For a wedding that got postponed in the end anyway!

 

[dk]

Oh and drakes passage.......I've seen some of the footage on Youtube, you must have been relieved there was no storm when you went through.

Kind of, but we all secretly wanted it to be bad at some point so that we could experience it.

 

[Munson]

Great update. Really enjoying these pics.

Something like this will definitely be my next adventure.

 

[dk]

next was on to the Errera Channel on the way back to Port Lockroy

http://www.flickr.com/photos/david_knight/6809507290/

chilling out in the observation deck drinking champagne

observation deck at the front of the ship

few little vids of the area

http://www.flickr.com/photos/david_knight/6810476792/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/david_knight/6956588195/

this one is a 360 on the front of the boat, and as i was panning this couple walked across the front of the boat at the exact pace of the pan.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/david_knight/6956599589/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/david_knight/6956612285/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/david_knight/6956621347/

if we hadn't have been moving it would be like a mirror.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/david_knight/6810524408/

these were where the zodiacs were stored on the top of the boat. Getting ready for another landing.

as nice as the pool looks, its fecking cold!

zodiacs making their way out to port lockroy

the area looks so different when the sun is out.

as you can tell, some 10-22 action going on with the shots in this section.

i was using this room every day.....

short video of us in the zodiac going back over to a sunny Port Lockroy for the second time.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/david_knight/6956664803/

 

[dk]

so back on port lockroy, but as you can see, the weather is perfect this time, the sky is something else!

although i am hoping that cloud isn't coming our way!

a few guys thought it would be funny to dress up as penguins, and got to be honest, it worked!

somebody suffering the same fate as me from the other day, deep soft snow, think she even managed to leave her wellie in there lol.

definitely looks a bit black over bills mothers, the cloud does look amazing in a few shots though, like a blanket.

these interiors were using the built in flash, so have a few shadows.

writing the postcards home

http://www.flickr.com/photos/david_knight/6957473621/

these are whale bones

1 last day to go then, which is deception island and aitcho island, two of my favourite landings, then its back over the drake and off to Buenos Aires again.

 

[mace¬]

Good work David.

Were you lucky with the weather or is it typical for the time of year?

Also, all that snow and I take it because of the protection you weren't allowed any tabogoning?

 

[Revels]

There's some incredible pictures on this page, Dave. Really brilliant. The scale of the landscapes is amazing.

Not sure if you've just pushed the saturation up on them but they look super blue. You have to get one of those printed.

*Thumbs up*

 

[dk]

Good work David.

Were you lucky with the weather or is it typical for the time of year?

Also, all that snow and I take it because of the protection you weren't allowed any tabogoning?

We went at the beginning of december which is their summer, so the weather is decent, hovering around zero degrees.

In the winter it is the folder place on earth! The coldest temperature ever recorded is in Antarctica I believe.

At that last location we could see Tracks coming down the mountain, which looked suspiciously like someone had boarded or slid down....

We thought maybe the guides had got up early.... But it could have been another boat the day before etc.

They used to do a dip in the water too, but it is too dangerous apparently so they don't any more.

 

[dk]

But then saying that mace, we had the day with the driving snow which was hard to get pics, then there was the first visit to port lockroy which ended with us abandoning the island because of weather.

Lithe weather is very changeable, and one minute it's lovely, the next it's stormy.

 

[dk]

There's some incredible pictures on this page, Dave. Really brilliant. The scale of the landscapes is amazing.

Not sure if you've just pushed the saturation up on them but they look super blue. You have to get one of those printed.

*Thumbs up*

Thanks dan, there's so many I could get printed, but I've only really room for 2 more canvases, so I'm getting the one with the two penguins looking the same way, and then of my yawning seal which is coming up last in here. I am getting the A3 photobook though which should be nice.

 

[mace¬]

You are correct. -89.2 at the soviet Vostock Station in 1983.

I would have been dying to just get a sled out. Would you have gone for a dip if you could?

 

[dk]

As far as the sky goes though, a lot of it depended on the angle I was in regards to the sun and also which lens I was using, I have a uv filter on a couple of them, and then the 70-200 f4L just has amazing colour reproduction anyway!

 

[dk]

You are correct. -89.2 at the soviet Vostock Station in 1983.

I would have been dying to just get a sled out. Would you have gone for a dip if you could?

I was thinking about this, and I think I would, they used to do it at my next location, deception island, as it is a live volcano and the water is being warmed from below, so cheating slightly lol.

Going through all these pics again is bringing back so many great memories, the scenes were too beautiful to describe and fully appreciate even from pictures, magical is the only way to describe them

Im keen to do the last day in here too, was my favourite one, but im also slightly holding back as I don't want the journey to end again

 

[mace¬]

Haha, you have got to do something that less than 99.9% of the earths population will.

I can see what you mean about the pictures. I can't imagine what it must sound like and just watching something as majestic as a iceberg drift past.

Problem is, you are going to struggle to find another holiday to top it! Hopefully next years bonus is a trip on Branson space plane lol.

 

[dk]

Lol, I don't even think we are that extravagant!

The guys have just got back from new York for st paddys day and the full year incentive is hawaii, I'm just glad I turned down the Monaco GP, that was hard to do, but it was sooooo worth it!

Id like to experience the north too (not Blackpool, but nearer the pole ) maybe Alaska or something. Fecking love snow!

 

[mace¬]

I'd love to go to Iceland or somewhere similar to see the Northern Lights and a few glaciers. Been dropping hints to the Mrs but she isn't into that sort of thing so Turkey it is... again lol!

 

[Adam.P]

Words cannot describe how jealous I am of you!

Have just sat here in awe for a good hour reading through everything, awesome pictures!

 

[Paul_G]

As Dan said, some really cracking shots on this page which warrant a place on the wall. Looks like a fantastic experience, and this thread in general is a great read - good job

 

[dk]

ok guys, here we go, the penultimate expedition! We are now entering Deception Island, which is an active volcano, which has flooded, so we sail into the middle of it. As I say, its still active and so the water is warm, and bubbling, and steam is coming up through the beach, smelling of sulphur. Its also an abandoned whaling station, so there are buildings and boats, and whale bones sitting around. The last eruption was in 1970 and the beach is full of volcanic rock, and it was the eruptions which moved out the whalers. just looked at the current status of the volcano and f**k me, its sitting at eruption possible in the next few weeks!

YELLOW - An eruption is possible in the next few weeks and may occur with little or no additional warning.
Volcano is restless; an eruption may occur. Increased levels of small earthquakes detected locally and/or increased volcanic gas emissions.

this is the gap you sail through, which is quite dangerous, as you can see theres lot of ice around, but also there are some submerged rocks around the middle so you have to try and miss those too!

i walked to the top of that U-shape, was quite a steep climb, and then you look over into the ocean the other side.

bottom left is a seal, think its a crabeater

this isn't me pissed, its the angle of the beach

better in colour?

or B&W?

nice bit of colour here.

i think the large tanks were for the fuel, that or the blubber.

then these smaller ones are the boilers

used the 10-22 extensively in these shots

again, better in colour?

or B&W (I'm not normally a fan of using B&W for the sake of it)

these things remind anyone else of Bioshock?

Yes, i might still have this rock

and i also did this in B&W, but i like the fact the background already looks bare of colour.

check out the colours of the volcanic beach

 

[dk]

you can just spot a few bubbles in the middle here

this looks like a baby whale skull to me

this was the bone yard

and it wouldn't be a landing without at least one penguin!

no idea what this is sorry.

little lighthouse in the centre there, this bay is considered to be the safest in antarctica (well apart from the possible erupting volcano lol)

you can see people on this hill, must be from the other boat we saw there.

this is the other side to where i climbed to

I personally think the shots in this update on Deception Island were some of my best work to date, i loved it there, i was first on and last off, fantastic landing, amazing structures, made for great pictures!

I hope you liked this one as much as i did.

Next up will be Aitcho Island, this is where the yawning seal was, save that one for another day though!

 

[SamP]

Looks like Lichen? Looks absolutely amazing! Glaciers are so amazing, no one cant understand the scale of them until you get up close. The mass of water/ice they move is just unreal.

 

[dk]

quite a short update this, this was our final landing before we took on the drake again. It was Aitcho island, and is home to more penguins and an elephant seal, this one is female, which means she doesn't have the massive square nose you would associate with one.

come here little boy.......

man this is hard work lying here having my picture taken

lets have a stretch, don't want a double chin...

hmmm, did i just s**t myself?

c**kadoodle doo

ok, i am really tired now, give me a break

i think the one above was my favourite pic from the trip, thats being made into a canvas.

the naturalists giving us our instructions on whats here.

can we be in focus please?

you're getting a bit close mate

i'm just going to slip past you like you aren't here

thought i was looking in a mirror here.

some strange coloured penguin poo here, and if you look at their nests, you can see, then spray it out, then move around a little and do some more, so its like sprayed out in the circle.

that has got to be the toilet!

tomato soup for lunch?

this one had got his foot stuck in some netting the poor thing, he broke free though.

this guy was friendly fresh from his bath

now on the zodiac back to the boat for the last time, we came across an iceberg with some seals on. now i pretty sure the one is possibly dead, seemed to have wounds all over it and I'm sure i saw blood on the ice.

this next one, doesn't look too healthy to me, didn't move, i reckon there had been a bare knuckle fight on this piece of ice!

well that was our final landing, and after this we set sail over the drake, and we were very lucky again to have very calm seas, so we didn't have to pay drakes tax. We were a little disappointed though, after seeing the youtube videos.

i can't even remember what i did on this crossing, nothing probably after the 10 days we had experienced, not much can match up to it. The food was of course excellent still, and we had an amazing dessert with meringue in the shape of an iceberg with a chocolate penguin and blue caracao flavoured jelly for the sea. only got an iPhone pic sorry

so the last update will be the port of Ushuaia, the southern most city in the world.