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Ushuaia, Tierra del Fuego Province, Argentina
Tuesday, January 15, 2013

I suppose I'd better introduce the team a bit. There's thirteen of them, and some have popped up more than others for various reasons.

Cheli is the expedition leader. Named after her father's favourite Playboy centrefold, Cheli is from New Zealand, a natural leader highly respected by her team, and a deft comedian.

Pam pam (a play on her radio call sign) is from South Africa and the assistant EL.

John is from Melbourne, married to Mette, and is the photographer and historian amongst the crew. Does a lot of the on shore explaining, and history presentations on board.

Mette is from Norway, the Nobel Peace Prize laureate, married to John, drives a zodiac and could run the show if needed.

Colin is the Scot who loves ice, Adrian is the ornithologist from South Australia, and Natalie is the expert of whales and seals from Vancouver. Like John they do lots of explaining on shore and presentations on the ship.

Krystal is from Queensland, and is a professional photographer and artist who makes natural documentaries most of the year.

Doctor Christie is from Charleston US and a trauma specialist.

Val is the kayak leader and resident extraverted Duracell bunny. As she says, she doesn't sleep, she just lies there waiting to get up. She also runs all the parties, quizes and social events. She's from Canada but lives in New Zealand.

Yukie is the try-anything imp on the team from Japan who drives a zodiac.

Karin from Sweden and Nicola from Canada are the other guides cum zodiac drivers.

Didn't wake till 9am. The team came to breakfast in their pyjamas looking like they had finally got a decent night's sleep, which was pretty true. A morning of cleaning, charging and sorting while avoiding wildlife lectures. Great weather again. 15 knot winds and 2 meter swells with no white caps. The seasickness pills have come out again, so there's some sleepy people wandering about, and I slept for a couple of hours after lunch.

We had to hand in our boots and life jackets, share our photos and email addresses, finalise our purchases and were given various forms and certificates, so it's all drawing to a close. The afternoon debrief session was centered around the slideshow of the polar plunge, and the evening was the fancy dress party and quiz.

Pictures & Video

     
Wildlife Lectures
Wildlife Lectures
The Lounge The Restaurant
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