Dispatch from The Subantarctic Islands
The giveaway is a copy of 'Antarctica: An Absent Presence' by Philip Samartzis (RRP $60) thanks to Thames & Hudson
Greetings from the coastal waters just off Macquarie Island. I can’t believe we’ve been at sea less than a week and have already seen as much as we have. Apparently my surprised delight is rather common: people book this huge trip to Antarctica from New Zealand, focusing on the ice, and don’t think much about the island hopping they will do on their way down to the South Pole. Well, I’ve basically had my head blown off with the vast awesomeness of these places. In just four days I have seen thousands of incredible new creatures.
I’ve also unfortunately had my head blown off by having to pay $50 USD for a single GB of Internet data. You don’t wanna know how many of those vouchers I’ve had to buy to get this dispatch out. Of all the videos I took I could only choose one to turn into a gif, and if you keep reading down to Enderby Island you’ll see why. The ship’s IT officer, Mikhail, tells me we will lose internet completely once we set off from Macquarie Island to head South into open waters and cross the threshold into the Antarctic. That’s happening at 9pm tonight, so I’m shooting this off now, and I don’t know for sure when you’ll hear from me next.
Something I’ve noticed on all these islands is how very wild they feel. I’ve done a fair few being-in-nature adventures before, but none have felt this untouched and remote and extreme. All three places have beaches and hills covered in bones and carcasses. Most of the penguins and mammals and birds we saw are in the juvenile stage of their breeding cycle. I.e. pups born and eggs hatched in Spring and now it’s Summer they’re losing their baby fluff and growing up. That means you’re seeing super cuteness and inquisitive behaviour right next to truly gnarly stuff. Because that’s nature! Nature is metal!
We are informed—with an appropriate level of strictness—not to go closer than five metres from any of the wildlife, but they are often so curious and not used to humans they approach you! When this happens you’re just supposed to stay absolutely still until they lose interest and move along. As you can see from the Enderby Island gif below… it doesn’t always work.
On the whole my fellow passengers are lovely. There is a clear and distinct age gap (three young-ish; the other 120-something significantly older) but it makes for excellent conversation. I’ve met a guy who works in science research getting pig organs to be accepted by the human body for those on long transplant waiting lists. I’ve met a woman who did wildlife rescue for years and is now a master cake decorator. I met a guy who is basically a modern-day cartographer. Lots of retirees have half a dozen diamond-grade anecdotes about their working life. Only one or two small awkward Boomer comments so far.
There are also about a dozen serious twitchers and another dozen serious wildlife photographers. It’s a ship full of nerds, and I feel deeply at home among them. If there is ever a quiet afternoon the organisers ramp up the ‘education program’ which is one of the reasons I booked this specific trip. I’ve now attended mini lectures about penguins and seals, and tomorrow we’re getting some lessons about Antarctic exploration history and probably whales. There are so many staff here with us to lead the expedition tours and answer all our questions, and most of them have decades of conservation experience too. It’s fantastic.
The minor hitch is, of course, seasickness. My GP prescribed me anti-nausea medication but it makes you drowsy so I’m trying to see how long I can last without taking it. She also told me about these little patches you can put behind your ear with Scopolamine in them that last three days. The only trouble? They don’t sell them in Australia because of a small risk that they catalyse psychosis. Cool cool. My anti-nausea stuff is apparently also sometimes used to treat anxiety and psychosis-like symptoms, so who the fuck knows? I’ve got the patch on and I’m no more unhinged than usual. If I start hearing people in my cabin I’ll just take the calming-drowsy one. Lol.
When I got back from Macquarie Island just now the ship’s crew had come into my room and screwed heavy metal covers over my portholes. It’s a sure sign we’re getting serious now. We’ve been warned that we’re heading into wide open water and it’s going to get rough. Wish me luck.
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to News & Reviews by Bri Lee to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.