• Two days of huge seas.
• Waves not just washing on the deck, but drenching the windows of the bridge two levels above! 
• My first sight of the Ross Ice Shelf; 6 am on 20 February.
• The sheer expanse of the Ross Sea.
• Sea ice – its various forms – and the sound the ship makes passing through it.
• First steps onto Antarctica at Cape Byrd to see the Adelie penguin rookery.
• Emperor Penguins just in front of the ship, on some hard sea ice, as we crept slowly up to them. We could hear them calling between each other.
• The sight of a pod of Orcas gradually approaching the ship as they cruised the edge of the sea ice. Distinctly scary!
• ENORMOUS icebergs. Hard to believe that they are not islands.
• Scott’s hut! (no words to describe)
• Mt Erebus and Mt Terror. Actually, the whole amazing spectacle of the range of mountains and glaciers which surround McMurdo Sound.

 

It’s all just remarkable.