Unplanned visit to the South Orkneys...

The Orion was not scheduled to visit the South Orkney Islands, they are not even mentioned in our reference book on Antarctic cruising, but they decided to call in there after we escaped Antarctica early to avoid an oncoming storm. The passage there was, as usual, strewn with icebergs big and small, and the ship was pursued by elusive sea birds, so difficult to photograph as they soar around. At least the icebergs stand still and pose for you!

From the Antarctic Pensinsula to Coronation Island in the South Orkney Islands.

The South Orkneys are another British Protectorate, basically uninhabited, and are part of what is called the Scotia Arc which is a vaguely semi-circular chain of islands including the South Shetlands and the South Sandwich Islands, and joins the Antarctic Peninsula to Tierra del Fuego. The relationship between all these locations is manifestly obvious by looking at the map!

As we pulled up in a bay on the south west of Coronation Island, the biggest South Orkney, the masses of penguins and their stench was immediately evident. We quickly closed our cabin door! But we could easily see hundreds of penguins porpoising towards land, or away from it, according to their own timetables. The penguins jump from the water to breathe, and then swim rapidly towards their destination underwater.

Deeply stained and foul smelling, the chinstrap colony on Coronation Island.

A perilous climb up the slopes for these chinstrap penguins.

Chinstrap penguins porposing to breathe as they swim home.

There were to be no landings on the South Orkneys, but we did enjoy a fabulous zodiac cruise after 8:00pm in failing light. Frankly, we did not see anywhere we could have reasonably landed! Just rocks and snow coming down to the very choppy sea. The wind was strong and the conditions rough. Our zodiac's skipper Marieke Egan (a Dutch lass who lives with her husband Steve in Broome) had a hard time of it, trying to control the zodiac, minimise the amount of spray and wash we suffered, hold it steady up against the rocks for bird and seal watching and for photography.

The wildlife was prolific. We could now see that the penguins here are the chinstrap variety. Apparently, the Scotia Loop is their main haunt. Whole hillsides were covered in the blighters. They clamber up the rocks and go a long way inland. Naturally, krill is their main diet. We also saw dozens of fur seals, presumably the Antarctic type. These guys are characterised by their small ears (instead of no ears) and apparently have sharp eyesight. The juvenile males we saw appeared to be putting on a testosterone-fuelled display for us, hopping in and out of the water, flapping their flippers etc.

Fur seals were totally unimpressed with our visit.

Juvenile fur seals frolicking, would have been born in November or December.

Portrait of a chinstrap penguin.

Is that a gentoo penguin out of place in this colony of chinstraps?

While the wildlife was amazing, photographically, it was a disappointment. The light was very poor, the zodiacs were bobbing about like corks, and it was impossible to hold the camera still or use fast shutter speeds, even at ISO6400. Our 400mm Canon lens was quite unmanageable in these conditions. These were the most difficult photography conditions we have encountered so far. Our photos are both blurred and noisy, but still worth a look.

Guess what? We found two British scientists on this bleak, uninhabited desolate island! They eagerly came down to see us unexpected visitors. They are researching wildlife - what else would you be doing here in the middle of this intense, smelly and noisy population? They have been here alone for 6 weeks. The couple were asked what they needed, and they asked for wine - the Orion donated a dozen. Delivering it was challenging.

Two British reseachers unexpectedly found camped in the chinstrap colony.

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We're just that little bit further north now, and the night time is now fully dark after 10:00pm. It's amazing what a difference a little distance makes. As we steamed away from the South Orkneys in the dark, a visit to the bridge revealed the challenges of navigating at night in icebergy waters. Extraordinary care and discipline is evident. Captain Martin Graser was there (does he ever rest?) with a steady stream of calm, considered instructions and advice to his officers. He's already explained that ice navigation in the dark is particularly difficult, and so the troublesome times are now, after mid-summer. Two spotlights illuminate the impenetrable gloom. One officer constantly views the intersection of the two beams through powerful binoculars.

With South Georgia our next destination (some sea distance away), we become subject to a new and even stricter biosecurity regime. All of us are required to undergo training, given as a splendidly produced video, and to have all our external clothing and apparatus thoroughly inspected and cleaned again. Camera bags are vacuumed inside and out. Coats and pants are gone over with particular emphasis on velcro and pockets. Boots and tripod legs are dipped and scrubbed. And then we individually sign off a form, for advance transmission to the South Georgia authorities, that we have done all this.

Boots are dipped in pink stuff and scrubbed to meet South Georgia's strict requirements.

Erin checks everyone's external clothing thoroughly.

Internet access via satellite is available for a fee abord the Orion, but the bandwidth is quite limited, transmission rates are slow, and service unreliable. Having had past experience with satellite subscriptions, we didn't bother. All these blog posts are written in real time but will be uploaded later, probably back in Australia. We have way too many photos in our blog!

But we are still well connected to the rest of the world, in a one-way fashion at least. Our cabin has a TV which not only has channels for the "view from the bridge" and the chart-plotter screen, but receives a number of news feeds like Sky, BBC, CNBC as well as some movie and entertainment channels. Daily, we also get email transmitted summaries of newspapers from USA and Australia. Daily Orion expedition reports get sent out to the email addresses we nominated previously, and we can see them posted on the notice board.

Every day, extracts from newspapers kept us in touch with the world.

The passage over the Scotia Sea to South Georgia was quite rough, with big swells buffeting us. Pronounced whitecaps were testament to strong winds. We didn't get such roughness when going south on the Drake Passage, but this route, further east and a week later has given us a better feel for the conditions endured by Shackleton and his small crew in the James Caird exactly 100 years ago. We're following much the same route too. And, to entertain us and inform us, we have been watching in the lounge and in our cabins the expedition to re-create Shackleton's epic journey in one of the Endurance's wooden life boats, led by Tim Jarvis and produced by PBS.

Looking for icebergs in the dark!

This Southern Giant Petrel, a vulnerable species, conveniently soared by our cabin door.

The bow area awash as the Orion plunges into a swell in the Scotia Sea.