Heading south!

The Astrolabe!

A 65m long icebreaker, in lively red and blue, docked at the end of the Hobart port. Leaving for the 3rd rotation this year, the ship is full of food and scientific material bound for both Dumont d'Urville and the inland stations of Concordia and Dome C. And we are also up to full passenger capacity, with scientists comming for the cruise I will be on, scientific missions in Dumont d'Urville, and people who will be spending the winter in the different bases around this side of Antarctica. Mainly french, there are also a few italians on board, heading for the italian Mario Zucchelli station. The crew are an interesting mix of french, ukrainians and indonesians.

Known as a ship that 'rolls', it's with a bit of anxiety that we all set out towards Antarctica. This anxiety was quickly put off to later, as we learned it would take nearly all day to get out of the estuary South of Hobart... So we spent the time enjoying the view, and encouraging the last of the Sydney-Hobart yachts that were just comming into Hobart as we left.

The next few days were spent in bed, 'getting used to the movement' as it were. On the 31st of December, the weather changed to a calm, clear and sunny, a weather forecast we were to have for most of the trip. The New Year was celebrated, twice, due to the date line crossing, and the first iceberg was greeted at 53° South with great photographic exhuberance.

We spent the next day looking for more, but then had to retire to the cabins as we crossed the Polar Front at 65° South. The boat acquired a movement which was .... You know the boats they have in attraction parks, that swing and make you feel weightless at both ends? Well you take that movement, and then add the rolling of the boat perpendicular to that. You end up with a movement that doesn't really give you sea sickness, but certainly makes you think twice about attempting to walk down the corridors, as you already need all the concentration you can muster to just stop from flying out of bed!

From then on, icebergs were the common sight, and penguin sightings became more and more common.

A bit South of 66°, we hit the pack ice. You truely feel dependant of the elements, sailing through an oil sea, the continent clear on the horizon, and yet the distance between the 2 completely obscured by ice sheets and small icebergs. We managed to get through a bit of pack, but then had to radio ahead to the base and get the helicopter out to guide us through the main part of the pack.

The sea was quite clear on the other side, and we had a nice sail up to Dumont d'Urville. The base is located on an island called the Île des Pétrels. Next to it used to be 4 little islands, which were blasted and connected to make a runway (a plan which never actually made it), now called the Lion. This is where the Astrolabe docks, and we access the main island by zodiac, where our welcome party was waiting.

5 days out of Hobart, just over a week out of Japan... and now at 66° 40 South, in a paradise of snow, ice, rock and penguins! How things can change fast!