Henry's Igloo

• January 15th - 23rd.
Hobart here we come (the last page).
Well after the so far "eventful trip home" things settle down to a full steam ahead back to Hobart. With the Polar Bird behind us in open water, and the weather forecasts looking reasonable it is estimated that we will be in Hobart by the 23rd or 24th of January, all going well. The trip to Hobart is quite smooth with only a few rolling swells here and there, and a minor interruption as one of the round trip scientists brought the ship to a halt in order to obtain a fine specimen of a floating Kelp raft. This specimen turned out to be quite large and too good to pass up. As the ship was brought to a stand still it rolled and pitched around with the sea swell, at times rolling up to 20 degrees bringing all sorts of gear crashing around including one stray box in a lab where many people had their gear and luggage stored, hit a lever which turned a tap on and flooded the floor of the lab, soaking boxes and luggage. Hooking the Kelp raft and bringing it onto the deck was yet another saga, with the first attempt failing the raft drifted past the stern on the starboard side, the ship was turned around and the raft located again, this time a hatch door half way up the hull was utilised and with the use of a grappling hook and hands the raft was hauled up onto the deck. The Kelp raft turned out to be a beauty and Steve assured us it was worth the trouble.
After that it was smooth sailing all the way back to Hobart with a BBQ on the night before docking to celebrate our long awaited arrival.

The huge Kelp raft - a fine specimen!	The crew try to hook the elusive Kelp
The ship rolls at the mercy of the sea while she is stationary.	John, Steve and Dave get to work right away in order to study the Kelp raft.
Numerous sea birds follow behind the ship using the  updrafts created by the ship to endlessly glide, this  Wandering Albatross is one of many and has a  wing span of approx. 3 metres	A Light Mantled Sooty Albatross joins in.
Ice bergs become far and few between as we get  further North	And bird numbers increase as we get closer to land
The last night on the ship, we celebrate with an  outdoor BBQ	We also celebrate Brian's birthday. Happy Birthday Brian!
The view of the southern tip of Tasmania is our first sight of land, and for some of us the first sight of land for over 12 months	Customs and other officials board the ship as we sail  down the Derwent.

Family and friends gather at the Hobart wharf to greet our somewhat delayed arrival!

Well that is the end of a year and a half that I won't forget quickly, thank you to all the people who helped contribute to this web page, basically that is everyone who was part of the 2000/2001 training at Kingston and Bronte Park, the 2001 winterer's, the 2000/2001/2002 summerer's at Casey, the ship's (Polar Bird and Aurora) crew and the round trippers.

A special thanks to:

Bernadette Hince - The Antarctic dictionary Tony Soper - Antarctica-a guide to the wildlife Dr Eric Woehler - Antarctic Division Peter Harrison - Sea Birds of the world

I will be compiling a CD with the complete Igloo, plus a few extras such as more full size photo's, extra VR's, and more!
If you are interested please email me at: banoncom@start.com.au
The cost will be AUS$20.00 (includes postage in Australia) AUS$25.00 (postage outside of Australia)
 

Thank you all for joining us on our Antarctic adventure!! Bye - (for now!)

 

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