Access to Antarctica and the Antarctic Circle – Hand Baggage Only

After all the hoops we had to jump to get to Antarctica (in our previous article), here we are at last. Antarctica!

Like, this took a while to sink in.

I remember wanting to visit for about 10 years and then it took a lot of planning to finally get to this point and here we are in Antarctica.

I remember thinking of speeding myself up when I got up in the middle of the night to pee, but all of those popped out the pictorial window the moment we opened the literal window.

We saw ourselves surrounded by icebergs.

Suffice it to say, there was no need for caffeine that morning. The sun wasn’t shining but it just added to that drama.

Not to mention wild animal spotting which is becoming more frequent now that we are in Antarctica.

Penguins bobbing everywhere, more seals on icebergs around the ship and the occasional whale in the distance.

We had been bouncing off the walls pretty much all morning and then the captain decided to up the ante.

As it turns out, you can go to Antarctica but you can’t enter the Antarctic Circle.

The Antarctic Circle lies much lower, and very few ships reach it that far south because of the sea ice.

As you can imagine, the closer to the South Pole, the thicker the sea ice.

The Ocean Victory we took to Antarctica was built to traverse the ice here.

However, the sea ice on the voyage to the Antarctic Circle is too cramped and too thick for most ships to pass through, so not many make it as far south.

They just don’t bother trying.

However, our captain decided the weather conditions looked great and the sea ice didn’t look too bad, so we’d turn our entire itinerary upside down and venture south into the Antarctic Circle.

If we leave it for a few more days, there is a possibility that the weather could change or the sea ice could get thicker, so we just had to take advantage of it while conditions allowed.

Turns out he was right however, we were the first sailing of the season to reach the Antarctic Circle!

There were cheers and cheers all around with champagne everywhere to celebrate.

This was a milestone I didn’t even know we needed to meet before sailing, but it was amazing. haha!

To be honest, just going to Antarctica is a big enough win with or without the cherry on the cake cruising the Antarctic Circle.

It was an amazing and wonderful way to start the trip.

In addition we can now say that we have been to the Arctic Circle (we did this a few years ago in Norway) and now to the Antarctic Circle.

We spent the rest of the day in awe of everything we could see around us.

We’ve already come across humpback whales, leopard seals, Weddell seals, Adélie penguins (which are harder to spot than Gentoo or chinstrap penguins) and some incredibly huge icebergs.

Then the head of the expedition team gave us a surprising announcement by saying that we were going out on the first expedition to Antarctica.

I didn’t think we could have been any more excited than we already were, but it turns out that it’s actually very possible.

Remember, when you are in Antarctica, your plans are subject to change depending on the weather.

So having great weather to be able to take a zodiac boat tour was almost like the big deal that it was. This was especially true since this was not a sure plan of the day before.

And by the way, the water was pretty calm at this point.

It was quiet enough for us not to concern ourselves with seasickness pills. Plus, these things make you sleepy, so it wasn’t something we’d want to eat if we didn’t have to.

Although that said, I did take one at night. I thought sleepiness wouldn’t matter much and would keep any seasickness at bay while cruising at night.

It turned out to be a great plan as I found out after a few days when I didn’t take it and started to get a little seasick while we were sailing in Antarctica.

Soon after, we were called down to the mud room. Ready to get dressed and put on your boots and life jacket to board the boats of the zodiac.

You should also disinfect your regular clothes before you go so you don’t carry contaminants with you.

This is not really done for new clothes but for old clothes and shoes in particular.

They don’t want you bringing invasive species to Antarctica. So, to help with that, your shoes are disinfected before and after you get on the boat (even if you’re going on land).

Your clothes are finished before you head out to the boating and the easiest way to describe it is that it’s basically like vacuuming your clothes.

The zodiac boat trip was incredible.

You can tell just how awesome and huge some of these icebergs are from afar but it doesn’t compare when you get up close to them.

Its sheer size is just mind-boggling. And this color too!

It’s a shade of blue you’ve never seen elsewhere and won’t forget in a hurry.

And yes, that’s how we spent our first day in Antarctica.

We finished having dinner and wine under the midnight Antarctic sun and to be honest we were behind some clouds but never actually set so it was bright all night.

Remember, it’s summertime in Antarctica when you visit Antarctica, so the sun doesn’t set properly.

I watch you in the next blog post as we finally set foot on land in Antarctica.

Getting to Antarctica

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