Antarctica – A journey to remember

 

As you know I bought a ticket to Antarctica for myself for my birthday and it went amazing after many years. I had the best birthday in many years or I must say since I grew up. Last year was not bad either as I was diving deep with Manta Rays in the night in Hawaii but this year I celebrated it with so many people and that made it extra special. I threw my first house party as well in Australia for my birthday and it went well with almost a dozen attendees and I must say it was like Christmas for me last when I started from the last weekend in Antarctica and then till yesterday with a house party and dinners, lunches along the way. It was like a whole week celebration and I do feel like a celebrity now. And with so many wishes here from all of you my lovely friends. I couldn’t have asked for more.

But I know you must be eagerly waiting for the pictures from Antarctica now so here they are as I was so busy the whole week that didn’t get a chance to upload them. But it’s never too late anyways. It was one of the most amazing things one can do and I guess I might take the boat one day to get there even closer than this time.

It was not just the destination, but I felt it was the whole journey and various aspect of this trip that made it special. I went to Brisbane for this trip and it was funny as I didn’t know what to pack as I was flying there to fly again and most of the time I was about to spend in the plane and the airport. But anyways as always I did pack few extra clothes and some of my dresses just in case I go out in the night to see the night life in Brisbane. But I end up spending time in the hostel I was staying watching a movie and I only had three hours of sleep before my trip which was not ideal but sometimes you do loose time when you meet awesome people to talk. And there I was with my tag around my neck like a medal and walking all proud in the airport to get to my gate for the flight. I was a bit early and all excited to get on the plane. Then slowly people started pouring from nowhere and in an hour we had more than 100 people almost. And I preferred to be at the end almost as it’s saves you queuing up for so long. But then the moment we got comfortable in the plane we were told that one of the extra engine has failed and the team of engineers is fixing this. But it was not a fortunate start so we had to de-board the plane soon for few hours to get the engine fixed properly. Fortunately we were able to fly the same day although after 4 hours but it was worth the wait. We were served Champaign soon after we boarded and then comes a snack pack that I did finish quickly as I felt a bit hungry by this time. We then flew in this big jumbo jet and I started watching the movie – ‘Last Vegas’ after having a small conversation with my fellow travellers next to my seat. I thought I might have a nap but the environment was full of excitement so I couldn’t afford a sleep at all.

Then finally we were told that soon we would spot our first iceberg and then people started getting up from their seat and start queuing up next to the window to see the first sight of the ice berg. It was all white at first (of-course what else was I expecting). But the first sight was more of a water and ice mixer to be honest but not long after we were over the top of few really big ice bergs and considering the height we were at, they were really big I must say. Also then we started getting plane ice all over and then a stream of water among those big rocks of ice. The adventure had started and now it was time to spot various sights in the same colour. Good thing is now the water is blue so it was easy to tell the ice bergs apart from the water and also we did spot a ship on the so called harbour. People were co-operative and were giving others space to see if they had their share of sight seeing over some places. Almost everyone was out there with their cameras and glasses.

Note: Do not forget your sunglasses as the light reflected from the ice is quiet strong that may even hurt your eye.

So there it was my first trip to Antarctica and my birthday gift to myself. Let me know if you have ever been there or want to go in future or if even are fascinated by the whole fact. I am waiting for your comments and opinions about this whole adventure my friend.

Link to book the flight: http://www.antarcticaflights.com.au/

Regards,

Kavita (Sunshine and hugs from Sydney)