Antarctica Ending
The title to this post rings slightly on the dramatic side of things. But it is an ending, an ending to a story that sees a life changed, one that hopefully reaches my small and meaningful circle of friends and family. The protagonist here has unfortunately been short-changed; I was and remain so stupefied by the enormity of this place that I have not done the great Continent justice in my story-telling. It is a challenging endeavour for the untrained writer to attempt, and I do wish to be as talented as the many story-tellers that have come this way, alas I am only giving an account of an adventure that was delivered sporadically in a sleep deprived week of hard work.
This entire trip was orchestrated as a way for the owner of Destination to experience a taste of Antarctica along with his wife and three friends. As crew, all of us are experienced in charters and understand what is required of us. Our unique job takes us around the world while working in the service industry for a wealthy portion of society, all the while living on someone else’s yacht that we try to make home. That means that there is a natural professional separation on yachts of this size that is consistantly maintained, which is a challenge in itself as even a forty metre behemoth shrinks once filled with guests and crew. Why am I touching on this? Well, there was something about Antarctica that I can only describe using different bits of context to define, a concept that I am not sure how to put into words otherwise.
The majesty of the place broke down these walls of separations as we were all on a journey of discovery that was far beyond human constructs. In a place that stripped us of our reflex to be desensitised by what we are presented with. It was some kind of magic. This magic is what drew so many adventurers to discover the continent. What folly it seemed at the time, but being here gives an insight into the driving force that brought so many to brave the torment of such harsh conditions. It was something that none of us had ever experienced before; constant and sustained awe in our surroundings. No matter where we were, every moment spent looking in any direction was profound and unique.
The landscape while sailing through the straits and canals was almost always snow covered mountain peaks, in between each peak was an ancient glacier radiating blue and pushing ice into the water. Each of these mountains was a beautiful giant, most of us know what majesty lies in mountainous landscape, but it is the infinite nature of our surroundings that leaves us so mesmerised. If you try to look past a mountain, there is more mountain and snowy desert as far as the eye can see, in every direction. All this and we are touching on the tiniest part of a continent that is three times the size of the US.
As for the fauna, I never thought I would say that I could become used to seeing these creatures in the wild, but we saw so many that it was the case. Hundreds of thousands of penguins in giant colonies that brought a most foul stench if observed from downwind, the little birds are like the stray cats of Malta, plentiful and playful, often approaching the boat or tender in groups jumping out of the water like bath toys. Seals were equally common, though varied in species, but the sight of a seal jumping along our wake also became normal to us. Someone on board kept a tally of our whale sightings, seeing a pod of Humpback whales was an expected daily occurrence, we saw something just shy of one hundred whales, though I never became desensitised to this. Every day we experienced the behemoths diving and flopping their tails into the air giving us a wave, it never got old. The moment I shared with the family of whales will remain close to my heart forever.
All of this and so much more, but some things must be left to the imagination. There is one thing I know for a fact, and that is that I will return to this place. The continent drove so many men mad in their feverish attempts at conquering her, the power of the South Pole is very real. My fortune in being here and being paid to be here is not lost on me, I thank my Mum for pushing me to trust my intuition and take chances in life, you taught me that fortune favours the brave, you brought me here and I feel you joined me on my endeavour, an experience of a lifetime.