Travels in the the Arctic with Sara Wheeler

Come and meet esteemed author Sara Wheeler at Stanfords bookstore in Bristol next Wednesday, 28th October, where she will be introducing her latest book: The Magnetic North – Notes from the Arctic Circle.

For those of you who have already been inspired by Sara's earlier adventures in Antarctica (Terra Incognita) and Chile (Travels in a Thin Country), this latest book continues in her inimitable style as she explores the other end of the world.  From adventures on board the Russian icebreaker, Kapitan Khlebnikov, to herding reindeer across the tundra and uncovering the effects of climate change, this book reveals the beautiful but brutal reality of the Arctic.

Date: Wednesday 28 October
Time: 7.30pm
Venue: Stanfords bookstore, Bristol

Tickets for this event are £6.50 and should be purchased in advance from Stanfords Bristol, or by phone: 0117 929 9966.

Wildlife Photographer of the Year

If you're thinking about attending Wildscreen's Wildphotos event at the RGS this weekend, then you might also be interested in visiting the Natural History Museum during the next few months.   

This Friday, 23rd October, sees the launch of their new exhibition, the Veolia Environnement Wildlife of the Photographer of the Year.  Now in its 45th year, Wildlife Photographer of the Year Competition is an international showcase for the very best nature photography. The competition is owned by two UK institutions that pride themselves on revealing and championing the diversity of life on Earth - the Natural History Museum and BBC Wildlife Magazine.

Open daily until April 2010, with tickets just £9 per adult, the exhibition showcases 95 incredible wining and highly-commended images. You can enjoy a sneak preview here - but our personal favourite is Robert Friel's King Penguin Chick taken in South Georgia, looking quizzically at a visitor's footprints... With so many entertaining and inspirational photos, this is the ideal way to while away a wet wintry afternoon in London!
 

Snow and Sunny Spells - Four months at Port Lockroy

Another note from Nikki, our pal from Port Lockroy, talking about the changeable weather down on the Antarctic Peninsula:

No doubt the snow and ice will be moving in imminently to Port Lockroy – upon arrival to Goudier Island we were faced with a front door half buried in a snowdrift, and spent the next few days digging out around the building – the bunkroom and museum windows were obscured by a blanket of white.  At least the shovelling warmed us up at the start of the day and burnt off a good few calories; we were often invited to join guests for dinner on the ships, and the food is fantastic – no comparison with the dried/tinned goods on base, although we managed to whip up some pretty good grub with just a few basic ingredients! 

I particularly loved the months of January and into December as we had a significant amount of snowfall and the island was kept lovely and clean with the snow on the ground.  Slowly as it melted away from the island, the smooth grey rocks and craggy crevices appeared, together with many other treasures – huge whale bones from the tragic time when the island had been used by the whalers, old dogsledges and the wooden skeletons of waterboats. 

After Christmas we were lucky enough to have some long spells of gorgeous sunny days with bright blue skies, however days like this were dotted throughout the whole of the season.  The landscape became particularly atmospheric in the low cloud and overcast skies, and during calm days the reflections of the ice in the silvery water were just spectacular.  Amidst this grey and white expanse the blue tones of the icebergs were even more vibrant and provided amazing photographic opportunities. The impressive storms and howling winds that occasionally came through often blew in rafts of bergy bits and brash ice.  Some of my most memorable walks down by the shoreline at low tide were after such storms; one day the weather blew in great sweeps of crushed ice, which, when the waterline fell, were unbelievably beautiful – they looked like handfuls of diamonds littering the rocks.  

Leopard seals would float on their iceberg beds just off the island, and often sitting on the rocks looking out into the Neumayer Channel I could hear whales blowing in the distance.  I could reminisce forever!  The narrow waterways, crumbling glaciers and looming mountain peaks, as well as the animals that call it their home, make this the most magical place in the world for me *sigh*.

Back from the Ice - A Note from Nikki

Nikki Rickett was our 'Polar Journeys' Product Manager up until October 2008, when she waved goodbye to the warmer climes of Banstead and set off south for a four-month stint in Antarctica.  We didn't need to ask her twice to share some of her unique experiences with us here at Discover the World! Read on....  

Having a love of mountains, snow, ice and wildlife, I was hopelessly hooked during my first expedition voyage to Antarctica, in December 2003. As anyone who has been privileged to visit the white continent will tell you, it is a place so completely unique and stunning, that you can hardly believe you have set foot on this outer-worldly landscape. Discover the World have worked with the UK Antarctic Heritage Trust on various fund-raising and promotional initiatives, and I had also visited UKAHT’s flagship fundraising project; a little wooden hut at ‘Port Lockroy’ during my voyage in 2003. So it was a dream come true to be given the opportunity to head south again, and to spend the entire austral summer on the ice - I could hardly contain myself!

Living and working for four months at historic Bransfield House - essentially a small ‘wooden hut’ without running water or mains electricity, and very little heating – was both challenging, invigorating and lots of fun! The house was built in 1944 on tiny Goudier Island, and was the first British base to be constructed on the Peninsula. Sadly it was abandoned in 1962 and lay in rack and ruin, until 1996 when a dedicated team (including our Base Leader, Rick Atkinson), set about clearing up the site. Thanks to the tender loving care of the UKAHT, it is now fully restored to its former glory and is open during the summer months (November to March). Our team of four welcomed the smaller expedition ships visiting this area of Antarctica, with over 14,500 passengers stepping inside the ‘living museum’, little gift shop and post office in just four months.

My primary role was to ‘keep shop’ on the base, as well as greeting visitors and ‘getting grubby’ with ongoing maintenance work to the base. One of the most enjoyable jobs was up on the roof with the snowy sheathbills, slathering on the bitumen paint in the glorious sunshine. It possibly took a bit longer than necessary, as I couldn’t help but be distracted by the sound of ice calving off the Thunder Bay glacier and the stunning sweep of the Fief Range! Another memorable ‘DIY moment’ was when some of our curious gentoo penguin chicks decided to ‘taste-test’ my boots and overalls whilst painting the old boatshed. A mischievous pair followed me around the whole perimeter of the building, keeping me company the entire time. The chicks were often very plucky and would look you straight in the eye if you stood still and crouched down to their level – I could sense them wanting to chirp out, ‘you’ve missed a bit’, at one point!  There were so many magical moments like this throughout the season....

Best polar wishes! Nikki

Watch out for more of Nikki's tales from the freezer in the next few days!

Come and meet our team at CRUISE this weekend

This weekend we will be exhibiting at the CRUISE Show at ExCel London, where we will be showcasing our expedition voyages to the Arctic, Antarctica and the Galapagos. Our enthusiastic team will be on hand to answer all your questions and to our share top tips and favourite memories from our own experiences in these intriguing destinations. 

Our very own Antarctic explorer, Nikki Rickett, will also be with us fresh from her 4-month stint working at Port Lockroy on the Antarctic Peninsula, and has countless stories to tell about what life is like amongst the penguins!  

The CRUISE Show is open from 10am-6pm on Saturday 21st and 10am-4pm on Sunday 22nd March, at ExCel London.  We look forward to seeing you there!

 

Polarising is best for polar photography!

In spite of the lack of sunshine here in the UK, I couldn't help but be tempted by a pair of very flash polarising sunglasses at the opticians the other day.  The (very adept) sales lady was more than encouraging when I told her about my love of polar cruising.   

It's important to take good sunglasses with you on a voyage to Antarctica or the Arctic; ideally a minimum of category level 3.  Snow reflection and the glare on the water can cause strain and damage to your eyes; a pair of wrap-around polarising sunglasses will save on headaches and mean that you make the most of your polar cruise. 

Polarising filters and lenses significantly cut out a lot of the light and glare - meaning that you can literally 'see into' the water - whether it be leopard seals darting around and under your zodiac, penguins slicing through the inky depths, or the looming mass of a submerged iceberg - you'll want to take in as much as possible both above and below the waterline!   Polarising lenses (whether in sunglasses or fixed to your camera) cut out much of the 'unuseful' light so that the colours 'pop out'.  An example of how polarising filters can help with polar photography can be seen in Seth White's images of Antarctica (see the link here) - where he has taken a picture through his polarised sunglasses (scroll down to the pictures of clouds at the bottom of the webpage).   

Remember, if you're wearing polarised sunglasses and have a polarising lens on your camera, then the two filters will cancel each other out and darken the viewfinder - perhaps invest in a sports strap for your sunglasses, so you can take them off and safely wear them around your neck when taking that breathtaking shot.

Extreme Tourists - The Richard & Judy Show

Antarctic tourism really is a hot topic at the moment (no pun intended on global warming - *groan*)!   Earlier this week Patrick Barkham from the Guardian quizzed Discover the World on how a desire for 'extreme adventures' draws polar travellers to the Antarctic continent. Read the article here. Then we were called by a researcher from the Richard & Judy Show,   looking to unlock the minds of so-called 'Extreme Tourists' (a bit media-speak for me to be honest!). 

We were only too pleased to assist with putting them in touch with our past passenger, the bubbly and friendly Dawn Collins, who is a true polar aficionado. Dawn, together with her husband Sean (a fantastic amateur photographer - see his pictures here), has travelled both to Spitsbergen in the Arctic, and the Antarctic Peninsula.  I'm sure Sean was delighted to see his pictures of a polar bear and penguin on national television, courtesy of the Richard & Judy Show!

It was Dawn however who took the limelight with her 15 minutes of fame 'on the box' last night (Channel 4, at 5pm), talking about her polar experiences and how it was possible to find her own space behind a piece of ice, and reflect on the reality of visiting the stunning Antarctic continent. 

Antarctica webcams

Although it's pretty dark and bleak at  present in Antarctica (being mid-June and all, and the middle of the winter!) I thought I'd share some handy webcams with you for when the daylight hours return again to this icy wonderland - only a few months to go until beginning of November when the austral summer begins, the ice begins its melt, the penguins start nesting, and the continent springs back to life!

O' Higgins base Antarctic Peninsula (penguin cam); South Georgia (across to Grytviken); Macquarie Island (AUS Sub-Antarctic Islands); Halley (UK); Rothera (UK); Scott base (NZ); Casey (AUS); Mawson (AUS); South Pole/Scott-Amundsen base (US); RRS James Clark Ross (UK Research Ship); RRS Ernest Shackleton (UK Research Ship).

The wonders of modern technology never cease to amaze!

A postmark from Port Lockroy - the UK's most Southerly Post Office!

There's nothing quite like sending a postcard from a far-flung corner of the world to let family, friends and loved-ones know you're thinking of them, even if you're thousands of miles away!   I've been lucky enough to send my folks post from various exotic locations, but my Dad still treasures the one I sent him from Antarctica with that all-important stamp and postmark, thanks to the second most southerly Post Office in World - Port Lockroy (just being pipped by the US-run one at the Scott-Amundsen station at the South Pole)!  The UK Antarctic Heritage Trust operates this tiny Post Office from Bransfield House on Goudier Island (on behalf of the Government of the British Antarctic Territory which donates a proportion of the Post Office revenue to the Trust).

Port Lockroy is a tiny speck on the map of the Antarctic Peninsula, located amidst a landscape covered in penguins, glaciers, mountains, with ice-berg choked waters - an astounding place!  Amazingly, over 70,000 cards and letters are hand-processed by the staff there each year to over 100 different countries!  Rick, Helen and Rachel (the intrepid trio who manned Port Lockroy for the 07/08 season) are now home and Port Lockroy is closed until November.  You can read about the team's everyday exploits in Antarctica via the UK Antarctic Heritage Trust's website.   Their 'Letters from Lockroy' are a great way of finding out what life is like down on the White Continent, and how the seasons and weather changes, together with the wildlife year-on-year.

Port Lockroy is not only an important natural and historic environment.  The UKAHT consistently monitors (through a long-term environmental study) the impact of visitors to the site.  This allows the Trust to regulate the number of visitors and ships visiting the area, as well as, in accordance with the Antarctic Treaty, imposing strict site guidelines to ensure the environment is properly cared for.

In true polar form, Discover the World also offer tours to the most northerly Post Office in the world, at Ny Alesund, Spitsbergen (the Norwegian High Arctic)!  Both Port Lockroy and Ny Alesund are reached by expedition vessel on one of our polar journeys.

Waterproof Camera Bags & other handy items....

When in Antarctica, it's vital that you keep your gear (especially your camera) safe and dry.  As you'll be transported from vessel to shore (what we call 'landings') by zodiac, sometimes you can't help but get a little wet from the spray or the weather in general.  Do not fear - a solution is nigh thanks to the beady eyes of my colleague Pam.  She spotted the Aquapac company at the Outdoor Show last weekend - here's the link. They stock a variety of waterproof bags to ensure your items are protected - ranging from specific items for cameras (SLR and compact), camcorders and even for your ipod!