Tag: quark expeditions

The worst part of our comfortable ride came between midnight and 3 am last night. Waves slapped the side of the boat while the ship rocked above the water in a clockwise, circular fashion which made for an interesting night’s sleep, if any. But at least our items stayed in our cabinets on deck 2. Cathy and Greg had a crazy night. The lock that held their closet door closed broke open, so the doors swung freely. All the DVDs in the owner’s suite flew out of the TV cabinet and across the sitting room. I think they managed to stay in their bed, but I’m certain daylight could be seen between their bodies and mattress. And to think we had an easy crossing! We were hearing of reports of ships getting the windows of the captains bridge knocked out and of passengers being sequestered to their cabins. We dodged all of this…awesome captain!

We made up for an adventurous night, with another another slow day. We opted for a few presentations and then watched a short film about rounding Cape Horn that was very funny. Later we got hear about some of the trips to the Arctic…I’m sold on seeing the polar bears…that will have to be an adventure in the next few years.

We made it to the Beagle Channel early, so we have throttled back as we don’t disembark until tomorrow. While we have been putzing around, the Quark Team put on a live auction to raise money for penguins. There were a variety of items, but the two big tickets items were the map with our itinerary which also included some pencil sketchings by one of the team members, Colin, and the ability to captain the ship with supervision of course. Our Arkansas friends, Greg and Cathy, won the bidding. At the hands of our friends, the Sea Spirit pulled a 360 in the Beagle Channel! Not even Cheli had done that!

We earned several certificates on our trip…..including a certificate for crossing the circle, kayaking, climbing the hill and riding a snow slide on the Antarctic Continent, and the polar plunge. The polar plunge certificate was my favorite…”In Paradise Bay on a sunny, blue sky day, a puzzled penguin audience observed Beth of questionable sanity and near to nude plunge into 2 degree Celsius Antarctic waters.”

I’m sad to be disembarking tomorrow! We made some great new friends from around the world and enjoyed some incredible experiences, including watching dolphins jump during the captain cocktail hour and a farewell night of dancing with the expedition team. Our team leader left us with an appropriate quote, “Life is not measured by the number of breaths you take, but by the moments that take your breath away.” Antarctica is breathtaking! The end…ETB

PS…Stay tuned for Colorado hikes, a weekend in Hilton Head, and a warm climate trip to Palau and some more weekly photo challenges.

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Check out the photographic note cards and key chains at my shop.  Each card has a travel story associated with it.  20% of proceeds are donated to charity.