The night dawned a bit damp, and the Fox team had some issues with missing hunt documentation at the last moment, but it didn’t damped the spirits of the 4 teams who rocked up to Clayton Railway Station for the May foxhunt.
The Fox VK3CI team would like to apologise for the slightly late start as we got ourselves organised.

All legs were single leg.

Hunt 1 [145.7] was meant to be where Bruce had once ended up trying to sniff in on a recent foxhunt (near Westall Road), which had turned out not to near there at all, but ‘what a good spot !  We’ll have to use that in our foxhunt’. Turns out that it was now a construction site, so the fox was placed nearby.
1st in was BLN, followed by FAST then FOX.

Hunt 2 [145.3]was near Kostas’ work unit near Keys Rd. The high up wall placement of the antenna caused some confusion in the alleyway with Adam from BLN who was first in the alleyway nearly forgo 1st place. Luckily he slipped in just ahead of FAST and OW who had both already arrived at the scene. A short while later the FOX team nearly drove up the alley.

Hunt 3 [439] was in a very muddy location behind the baffles of the new part of the Westall extension as it crosses Cheltenham Rd. FAST slopped into first place ahead of BLN then FOX. This placing will start to sound familiar.

Hunt 4 [145.3]was back in Braeside Park South. We were hoping some teams woukd drop runners in the North major entrance of the park, especially approaching from the east, but they weren’t to be fooled, with all teams choosing the more appropriate West entrance. FAST a big margin this time ahead of BLN with FOX right on their heels. OW just scraped in.

Hunt 5 [439] was back to Westall station, this time in the brand new overpass, with 1000′s of security cameras and guards. None took much interest in the suspicious package left behind from fleeing hoodie attired Fox team members and again FAST first with BLN and FOX in right behind and OW a little later. Apologies for announcing the wrong 70cm frequency (that was what we’d meant to have on the previous leg but didn’t due to loss of a fox antenna).

Hunt 6 [145.3] took teams to a wet grassy area between the Monash freeway and some new units. FAST were again well first in the area, but overshot the fox, letting Marta from BLN sneak in and spot the fox sitting in the tree. OW not too long after. This location had to be used as the surveying of this area earlier in the week (when it was also raining, incidentally) caused the demise of some carbon fibre bike forks and a very long trip home.

The final Hunt 7 [145.7] was back south of the Monash freeway near the ex Monash Seecondary college grounds. FAST again got the honours followed by BLN, then OW, with FOX getting in on the somewhat elongated 9th minute.

Supper was magnificently catered by Olga, and the hot soup and mulled wine just perfect for the conditions.
Thanks to all teams who came along.

Scores

We had everything out in short order and had adjourned back at the northern Koomba car park at around 9:10 AM for a quick listen of the ARDF transmitters. For those non-RadiO people, these are five quite high-powered transmitters which are on for one minute, then off for four minutes. If you turn them all on at the same time, they are supposed to nicely cycle through so one and only one is on at any given minute. Well, all was going swimmingly until #4 failed to transmit. Uh oh… We definitely turned them on in unison (give or take a second). We hustled down towards it, noting a double set of transmission during #5s cycle. When we got there, we turned it off, then waited an endless few minutes for the next five minute mark to roll around. Then on again, and another 3 minute wait to make sure it actually came on when it was supposed to. It did – all good, and the oddity filed away for our club tech geniuses to think about. Even better, we kept the sniffer on and the rest of them turned on when they were supposed to.

The two course setters then separated to their respective starting areas (the walk between these was probably closer to 700m than 500m, despite what I told you guys – but I didn’t want you to get discouraged before you’d even started J). And then the turnout happened! Very rare for any ARDF run events to attract such crowds, even if they have orienteering components. Last year’s Hageby certainly wasn’t that popular, and on Mother’s Day, besides! Anyway, we had sufficient maps and the two orienteering legs seemed to proceed with minimal complaints – good to see a lot of familiar faces but also a few newer families, as well!

The RadiO legs proved to be a little more exciting… Tim Hatley was one of the earliest runners to attempt the 80m ARDF leg, and he came home having found them all (and without further destroying his already injured arm). All good… But not afterwards. Reports came filtering in – Fox-Oring transmitter G couldn’t be found. ARDF TX #1 had also gone silent. Even more interestingly, those two transmitters were pretty close together, either side of the same major path. Hmmm… Well, batteries do go flat (but Bruce had charged the big ARDF ones, and the ‘faulty’ one had just received a new battery, beside; he had also tested and replaced any failing Fox-Or batteries). We had sniffers to check the Fox-Ors as we put them out and are pretty sure all had ended up ON, on the right frequency and on high power… But I guess it’s possible one got missed and left off/on low power/off frequency. Bit odd, though.

We persevered, and despite the blackberries and thorny bushes and recalcitrant transmitters, people seemed to enjoy themselves.

Then control collection time came around. Thanks to everyone who helped pick up street O plates – much appreciated! And to Lara for having to do her sprint leg with a course setter and the dog following behind and picking up each control that she found J. The course setters then headed out to get the RadiO controls. We left the two dodgy ones till last. First attempt was the 2m Fox-Or, with the rest of them safely in the car and turned off (or so we thought). We actually caught a sniff of signal and got a bit excited… But when we got to the track where the transmitter was put out (and I distinctly remember the track, reaching a dead end and thinking ‘no point bush-bashing there – the squashed wandering jew will give it away), turning around and wandering a short distance in the other direction and hanging it reasonably high in a tree), the signals made no sense. In fact, they seemed to be pointing back to the cars… Hmmm… We wandered around for a little bit, with increasingly shrill assertions that the control HAD to be in this clump of trees, and perhaps it had fallen, because surely the flag had been visible from the track (if you knew where to look)… But nothing, so we headed off to get the 80m ARDF transmitter instead. No sniffer, because if it was flat, it was flat. And the flags for those are big anyway, and though it was off in a reasonably deserted area of the park, the flag had, as per convention, not been hidden at all.

It took longer to find the flag than expected. We were getting a little worried, I do admit. But then there it was. Except it was on the ground. And there were no wires running out in all directions… We looked more closely. Squid pole (used to sling one of the antennas high in the air, as this transmitter needs) still where it was, but no wire attached. A bit further away, a few metres of grey wire. No sign of the transmitter or the blue and black wire, though. We looked more closely. Blue and black wire eventually found in a tangle some metres away. Transmitter box also found after some searching, slung into the bushes somewhere. Wires clearly ripped out of it. Still turned on (who knows what that did to the circuitry…).

We turned it off, put it back in the car, turned off the stray 2m Fox-Or still on in there (d’oh!) and headed back for another go at the Fox-Or. But it didn’t turn up. We checked a few frequencies, wandered further away than it should have been, and no trace of it. We gave up and returned to the car and had a look at the start list. At about the time that Tim Hatley got into ARDF #1 (and he was the only one that found it, so presumably there were people loitering around who followed him in and broke it), a pair of newcomers might have been attempting to find Fox-Or G on the other side of the track. It wasn’t the easiest location for a newbie, so they might have had some trouble and wandered back out. But someone watching could have easily followed the track in and if they were observant, spotted the flag hanging in the scrub. It wasn’t THAT overgrown.

So there you have it. A disappointing end to what had looked like a good turn out and enjoyable day. We hope people enjoyed the courses nonetheless, and a special welcome to all the newcomers who graced us with their presence!

The results follow (bearing in mind on the RadiO legs that many people lost a lot of time looking for transmitters that weren’t there! Sorry!). Please post a comment here if we’ve got the number of controls you found or whether you were walking or running wrong.

Thanks for coming! Marta and Pierre

2m Fox-or loop

80m ARDF loop

Sprint loop

Scatter loop

Please may I start by thanking Ian Stirling, Jack Bramham, John Van Bree, Mark Diggins and Dennis Haustorfer for their help with planning and execution, and for all the assistance with food and equipment preparation that ensured a successful event.

Cool and inclement weather greeted the six teams as they assembled at Thorpe St Newport, just in time to realise that setting up their equipment required more than the available time.  The first hunt started a bit later than planned, and events ran later than expected during the afternoon, but by dinner time we were back on schedule.  Dinner was a barbecue of chicken, lamb and beef, with salads and desserts provided by wifey and members of the fox team.

Scoring:

Fixed order hunts:    One point for first place through to six points for last, points awarded for each leg.  Scores based on leg time, so that if a given team did poorly on one leg it would not ruin the entire hunt.

Any order hunt: like ARDF – number of foxes found then time taken.  Three points per fox (ie first team for hunt scores 3 points, last team 18 points – to give Hunt 3 appropriate weighting vs the other hunts)

Sniffer hunt: individual winner, no contribution to championship aggregate.

Hunt 1        Foxhunt 3.585 MHz, 1296.1 MHz, sniff 1296 MHz.  Fixed order.

Jack VK3WWW on 80m at 40G4 near Buckingham Reserve, then Ian VK3MZ with the Driftmaster 23cm hand-held near Altona Gate 41A12 and John VK3TVB a short sniff away.

Hunt 2        Foxhunt 28.450 MHz, 438.850 MHz, 52.100 MHz, Fixed order

Dennis VK3BQZ found a good nook in a Williamstown laneway for a tricky 10m leg (56E11 area), followed by Roger VK3HRL on 70cm near the Italian Social Club at 41C11, and John VK3TVB on 6m near The Pines (ugh!)

Afternoon Tea / repairs

VK3CI required a tubular mast to be straightened after a collision with a tree; VK3OW needed the services of a soldering iron.  The Assorted Creams disappeared in short order.

Hunt 3   Foxhunt 3.585 MHz, 1296 MHz, 28.450 MH z, 145.700 MHz, 438.850 MHz, hunt in any order. The foxes were turned off at 18:10.

Jack VK3WWW on 80m was in a small dead-end near the Brooklyn abattoir, 41B8.  Ian VK3MZ with 23cm between the Spotswood football oval and the railway line, 41K11.  Mark VK3MD ran 10m from a laneway near the Nosh coffee shop at 55K4 (good coffee!).  Dennis VK3BQZ on 2m found a small vehicle track into the Newport Lakes golf course off Ross Rd Altona North, 55D7.  John VK3TVB put 70cm up near Seaworks in Williamstown.

Dinner at Thorpe St

While everyone was out hunting, Roger (with the help of family + Eleisha and Sue Diggins) fired up the barbecue and cooked for the army.  The brazier was lit and provided some warmth for those who needed it.  All seemed well fed and the wine  and beer supplies dipped dramatically (fortunately there was plenty on hand).  Thanks to the fox team members for the variety of salads and desserts, there was certainly no lack of choice.   Scarlett the Koolie and Otto the Greyhound got plenty of  attention and scraps, although Otto felt additional pats would have been nice.  I found the forgotten veggie burgers in the fridge this morning – I guess there were no vegetarians because no one complained.

Hunt 4   Sniffer Hunt, 145.700 MHz.

Mark VK3MD placed three ARDF-style TXs in the neighbourhood and hounds tested their intestinal fortitude by sprinting on a full stomach.  Well done to Darian and Gary, and commiserations to Ewen’s nose (which met its sorry fate on the playground equipment at the Loft Reserve, 55F4).  Mars Bars to the victors, and Suzanne who just wanted Mars Bars.

Hunt 5   Foxhunt 145.700 MHz, 438.850 MHz, 28.450 MHz, 52.100 MHz, 144.250MHz, hunt in fixed order

Ian VK3MZ put 2m up from an industrial estate in Truganina, 360H10.  This was a bit of a procession but thankfully the following legs were more challenging.  Then Mark VK3MD put up 70cm from Ralph Ct Pt Cook, 208F4.  Jack VK3WWW ran 10m from Law Crt Sunshine West, 40D6, followed John VK3TVB on 6m in a paddock near Fulton Dve Derrimut 39E7 (proved a challenge for some).  Finally Dennis VK3BQZ and Eleisha ran 2m from a cleanfill pile in Altona North 54J2, which required some deal of sniffing.

Supper

All teams returned to base for debrief and cocktails.  More beer and wine was consumed, along with cakes and hot food (traditional foxhunt supper).  Tall tales became taller while Roger tallied the scores.  Announcements were made, then following a protest the scores and times were checked and re-calculated.  The VK3FAST team was pronounced the winner (confirmed), and after re-checking the scores the placings were confirmed as shown in the table below.

Well done to the VK3FAST team!  Good luck to all for Mt Gambier in only five weeks’ time.

Thanks to Geoff for setting an interesting 2m ARDF in Westerfolds Park. Here are the results:

The cadets are based at Hampton Park Secondary college. Adam put a lot of effort into making a map suitable for detailed navigation. The idea was to hold the exercise in just part of the school grounds, so emphasis was on fine detail and navigating by features, rather than distance and compass work.

We arrived in time to efficiently put out all of the controls ahead of a 4:30pm start. First was a quick briefing on map reading and identifying some of the features on the map, then cadets were paired up, and 3 groups were sent off every 2 minutes, with a different compulsory 1st control to spread them out a bit.

Here’s today’s map, run as a simple 30 minute score event. All controls had equal score, unlike the more complicated street-O ‘row’scoring.

As you can see from the very large scale of 1:1000, things appeared remarkably quickly, even at walking pace. The quite complex area amongst the school buildings still presented a challenge though, with some teams, including the winning team, the Giant Killers, stumbling upon some of the controls more by accident than good navigation. A line course would have made the navigation more critical, but it also would have got more crowded in such a small area.

The range of finish times showed that the event time was set about right, with the winning team blitzing it in 12 minutes and a couple of the teams not finding all of the 20 controls before the 30 minutes was up. Besides, they had to get back for some last minute marching practice for the Anzac service early tomorrow morning !

22 cadets took part in 8 teams or 2 or more. The 2 leaders, Lieutenant Silesteam and Petty Officer Hine, plus club members Dianne and Pierre, roamed the grounds making sure all was well, and just as well, because the school caretakers started to shut the gates to the Southern Oval area, which would have stranded cadets both sides of the boundary.

The rain held off for the event, despite the earlier heavy rain showers that threatened us on the way there, and most of the cadets seemed to really enjoy the exercise.

Petty Officer Hine had first contacted the club last year through this website about the possibility of some basic navigational training, followed by some Radio orienteering training, which could be useful in general for Navy cadet exercises. We therefore plan to run a RadiO event with them sometime in the near future. This will probably be a FoxOr style event, so the navigational exercise today will be a helpful skill for that.  For descriptions of the different styles of RadiO events (FoxOr, Sprint, ARDF and 5-in-5), have a poke around this website.

However, cadets who really enjoyed themselves today don’t have to wait for the cadet event next month, but can take themselves (even drag parents along too) to any of this club’s events shown on the calender of this website, throughout the year. If you contact us before the event to let us you might be coming we can make sure someone is on hand for instruction/training.

A huge thanks to club members Adam (for the great map on short notice), Pierre and Dianne for managing to get there during normal working hours to help stage the event. We’d have been hard pressed to do in in the time with fewer than the four.

Here are the results: (apologies in advance for name mis-spellings or incomplete data). Feedback welcome.

Hunt 1:

The Tx was set up adjacent to a railway bridge – on one pylon, while the fox sat on the other. The fox and Tx were both below the level of the train, and both fox members had an excellent view of the sunset as we waited for the first team to show up. It took a while, but eventually TXO pulled up with teh screech of gravel, on the wrong side of the creek. They spotted the fox straight away and got across without even getting their feet wet. MZ joined the fox shortly afterwards and Roger crossed the creek and found the Tx without incident. FOX approached from the same side as the fox had driven in, but Greg opted to send Kristian out for exercise so he ran in to find us. It wouldn’t be the last time he’d be out hiking tonight…

 Hunt 2:

The Tx was set high up on a hill, near a transmission tower. Too near. After complaints from the previous leg that the signal couldn’t be heard, the fox made rapid adjustments and put the beam in a tree, instead. First in was Kristian. On foot. (Do we see a theme?) His car arrived shortly after. Ryordan from TXO powered in shortly after and then MZ; a line of torches spread evenly across the hillside. They all found it within a short time of each other.

Hunt 3:

The fox made his way to a small reserve. As he skulked his way through the bushes, he thought ‘Gee, I look suspicious.’ And the dog he’d brought along for cover didn’t really help much. And indeed, neighbours accosted him soon after to ask what he was doing. With neighbours pacified and Tx finally placed, wedged in a tree not too far in with beam pointing west, the fox settled down to wait amongst razor grass and mosquitoes. Teams needed directions to get on the fox’s scent, but then MZ and FOX arrived very close together and TXO a few minutes later.

Hunt 4:

The fox had quite a long drive from the first leg but despite that, they had a long wait. After driving up a very overgrown, dry and rutty bush-track, the fox negotiated at 137-point-turn (but who’s counting? Anyway, the gender of the fox makes the fact that any 4WD happened at all worthy of general praise), plonked the fox up on a gate with the beam pointing west and settled down. There was lots of fox activities – car engines on the road, stopping, reversing, u-turning; and then disappearing. Torch light from adjacent hills. Many complaints on the radio. The fox calmly advised all teams that it was possible to drive in. Despite that, no-one seemed convinced. After what seemed like centuries, Kristian for the FOX team continued his exercise routine, strolled up to bid the fox goodnight, and then strolled back out the other direction. About ten minutes later, TXO finally deigned to join the FOX team and drove up with many complaints about the use of a beam. The fox nodded sympathetically. They didn’t snigger at all. Well, not much. MZ drove in not long afterwards. Cue much synchronised u-turning, and everyone finally got back out onto the road and gathered for the supper hunt.

Hunt 5 (supper hunt):

Plan A was aborted (after the discontent of hounds following Hunt 4, we decided the poor little mites really couldn’t handle what the fox had planned for Hunt 5; but don’t worry, boys – maybe next time!) and Plan B began a mobile hunt towards supper in Monbulk. Driving 10-20kph below the speed limit, the fox expected to be caught quickly, but as Monbulk approached, they realised they’d better go to ground instead. Frantic searching of Google Maps revealed a small park off David Hill Road. TXO was first and found it quickly. MZ conducted a thorough inspection of the fox’s tail shaft and undercarriage. They found the Tx eventually. And declared the vehicle roadworthy at the same time. The fox would like to thank them for their free service. FOX came shortly afterwards and found it without any trouble.

Everyone then adjourned for supper (MZ with a flat tyre which was reinflated with some good ol’ Monbulk air).

And the results are:

Well done, TXO and FOX! Equal first.

At sea. Conditions deteriorating. Lots of napping. Some eating and meds.

If you bought a ticket to support the eradication of the rats on South Georgia island you were entered in a raffle for a beautifully illustrated chart of our Spirit of Shackleton trip. No such luck. But I did managed to outbid Ian from Qld for a book on Whaling in South Georgia which Ewen really wanted.  Last second bid but managed to secure it. Must have been all that practice on Ebay.

Another dinner holding onto the table as we sailed down the Bransfield Strait.

Tuesday 29 January

Very rough overnight. No early morning wake up call, but now confined to cabins.

Report at 9,45am. Winds 60 knots. Gusting to 89 knots.  Waves 8-9 metres.

Breakfast in bed. Yoghurt, apple, bun and cake. Delivered by Kirsten the assistant Expedition leader

A little later Sam dropped by with water bottles. Good left hand catch pitched from the door way.

We had a visit from Dmitri and Josephine , the most visitors we have had all trip. Lunch duly arrived about 12.30, wait for it, meat pattie in bun with lettuce and cucumber, cheese sandwich, and cold chips plus a can of drink. We were lucky to be on the third level which meant at least we could watch the waves as they rose and then sprayed against the side of the ship. More entertainment for us than those on the deck below who had their metal covers placed on their port holes. All in all a very relaxing day, and about 3pm when we eventually got in the lee of the Cape of Horn we could venture out and relieve the symptoms of cabin fever.

Wednesday 30 January

Disembarkment today. We spent most of the morning saying goodbye to new friends, at breakfast, on the bus to the airport, at the coffee shop, in the departure lounge, even on the flight back to Buenos Aires. We were hoping to meet up with a couple from London for dinner, but Ewen succumbed to a migraine. I expect it was the result of another case of inflight food of chocolate biscuits and apple juice.

We actually met up with the “Odd Man In” team downtown in Buenos Aires when we eventually stepped out for a quick bite to eat later that night. We were quite hungry by then.

PS Need to call it a night. Early morning flight to Lima

J

Fabulous sunny afternoon onboard. Checked out the sundeck and the sun lounges and as it was Australia day we did our Aussie thing and donned the bathers to sunbake. Yes we have photos to prove it.

This chart is included for fellow meteorologists – just conditions for  sunning yourself.

Visit to  Port Lockroy. Museum with lots is f quaint old stuff, from workshop, kitchen, comms room, met room, bedroom and gift shop.

Headed for our camping spot at Damoy Bay. Perfect weather for setting up tent and radio, photo with flag (note the wind is starting to pick up). It took a good 20 minutes to  walk through the snow  to top of hill (good exercise). The snow was soft around edge of cravass (only a narrow one), (Ewen checked this out accidently) Seem to have lost this photo.

Glad to make it back down in one piece. Checked out the loo with a view.

Probably should have checked out the penguin colony, but opted for the sleeping bag instead, -12 deg c rating so the cold not a problem. Floor just rather hard, and then the wind really picked up and the tent flapping started in earnest! About 3 hours sleep

Sunday 27 January

Really windy breaking camp. Managed to get the tent back in the bag without it blowing away, trip back in zodiac was more adrenalin rush than Space Mountain, glad to be back on the board, not so happy about the water in places it shouldn’t be. Exit my old Ricoh camera. Don’t have the final outcome on Ewen’s  new radio but the brown smell is not a good sign.

Headed to the calmer waters of Paradise Bay for a short landing followed by a zodiac cruise. We again challenged ourselves aerobically with climb through the snow to the top of the nearest hill for the mandatory photo on the Antarctic mainland. We took the quick route down – tobogganing most of the way down. Cool Runnings eat your heart out. We were rather reluctant to leave to the take Zodiac back to the boat as our time had been cut short due to the additional time taken to wend our way down the Lumiere Channel avoiding the icebergs.

Tango lessons with the Captain. The less said about this the better, needless to say if there was a test for this I would have failed. Rather interesting though trying to do the steps and stay balanced as they ship moved.

Dinner with girls. Ewen had mobile phone with roll and pitch application. Recorded  a total roll of 30 degrees (18 degrees one way+12 degrees the other way), 2 people fell off chairs, soup spilt.

Half Moon Bay

We were still searching for Macaroni penguins, but managed to find more chin strap penguins and some feeding their baby chicks.

Deception Island

There is a very sheltered bay in the middle of this island, called Whalers Bay where there are the remains of an old whaling station and a research base that had been destroyed by a volcano in the early 1960s. The old buildings were filled with mud from the ash. The sand on the beach was black and you could actually see steam coming off the beach. This was the site for the Polar Plunge. The water on the edge here was positively warm (abt 3 deg) compared to the ocean, we chickened out and left it to the more foolhardy to brave the water.

We walked to one of the high points for the view and checked out the melting glacier on the return to the zodiac. If no one believes that the glaciers are melting they would after they see the continuous drops of water coming off them.

The sea started to become much rougher as we entered the Gerlache strait.

Robbie burns night, just as the bagpipes started to pipe in the haggis the ship began to lurch violently. The wait staff were amazing as they balanced all the trays and the haggis was saved.

Saturday 26 January

Early start today –

View of sunrise, then for Petermann island ( the furtherest south that we went  nearly 66 degrees, not quite to the Antarctic Circle) We needed to climb up a rocky hill before descending to the bay on the other side to the landing site. This high spot was a good vantage point to watch the albatroses soaring on the updrafts near the cliff. Further along there was a Gentoo penguin nursery. Here there were more baby penguins. Lot of the Gentoo penguins had two chicks and it was rather special seeing them at such close range. Also Adelie penguins as well.

We took to the zodiacs once more and nothing could have prepared us for what happened   next. There were humpback whales about 2-3 metres away from zodiac, breathtaking. Ozzie cut the motor on the zodiac and the whales came to us, some breaching others spouting.  (Could have spent a lot more time here too). Eventually found a solitary penguin on an iceberg. Even managed to collect some ice for the bar. On our returning to boat I managed to get a photo of the tails of two whales as they made their dive.

More ice for the bar for today’s celebrations !!

Wild seas at Cooper Bay SE tip South Georgia

Today started quite calm, but during breakfast the wind really picked up and at one point was gusting up to 60 knots. Susan our expedition leader kept making announcements for us to standby for further information about the landing at Cooper Bay in the morning and Drygalsky Sound in the afternoon. We spent the morning drinking tea and venturing out onto the bow of the ship to view the wild life. The wind was fairly howling, at one point the wind just about blew me across the deck. Found a spot to wedge myself in and lasted about 20 minutes outside. We saw a light mantel sooty albatross and a few macaroni penguins, also lots of unidentifiable little birds.

Scobie gave a talk about his time in South Georgia and Antarctica. This gave us some time to wait out the wind but this was to no avail and we had to cut our losses and head for the Antarctic Peninsula. Ewen headed out to the rear deck, but it was nice and cosy in the cabin. The sea was looking pretty rough.

Good view of some of the glaciers along the south eastern end of South Georgia.

By late afternoon, the sea was still fairly rough. Abandoned listening to one talk and headed for the cabin to find the ”travel calm”. Enjoyed dinner and the conversation, Lee and Wren(nicknamed “bird man” from Seattle, Scobie (a seasoned expeditioner) and Kathryn (geologist turned singer with a passion for boats and the outdoors. Resorted to more heavy duty meds at bedtime and slept like a top.

Tuesday 22 January

No call from Susan the expedition leader this morning, apparently there is none on sea days. The only way I can keep track of the days is by writing the diary.

This morning’s lectures, one by Alex on the geology of the region and the movement of the tectonic plates, the second on Cetaceans by John. Both were very good but again started to doze off in the middle of the second one. We have been trying to walk after meals; there are several levels on the boat, so we are convincing ourselves if the climb as many steps as we can find and investigate all the corridors we can claim to have done some exercise. Ewen has now taken a nap.

Movie after dinner and then down to the Polar Bear Bar

Wednesday 23 January

Another day at sea. Lectures, more movies and food, and lots of fog and ice

Geology lecture by Alex, Movie contrasting Scott and Shackleton.

Mid expedition test.  We named our team “Odd man in”, Ewen and his female dinner companions from our night in Ushuaia. We were quite pleased with our win and the 2 bottles of champagne,( not everyone was happy with our result.)

Thursday 24 January

It was good to get off the boat today. Zodiac cruise around the end of Elephant Island (Point Wild) where Shackleton’s men spent 4 months waiting for him to return to rescue them.

Had to rug up well today -1 deg C and snowing. Three layers of wool, a polar fleece and heavy duty waterproof. It was quite an exercise boarding the zodiacs due to a heavy swell. Alex took us out the island, chin strap penguins, macaronis, fur seals and Weddell seals. Broken ice on top of the water, steep rock escarpment and glacier with cracks, blue iceberg.

Lunch was most welcome, needed hot food to warm up. Lunched with the engineers from Queensland. They belonged to the slide rule generation too.

Tabular iceberg  competition (guess the weight of the iceberg) – Ewen just missed out on another bottle of champagne.