Antarctic Cruise – Days 3-5

Day 3 – At sea: A Day of Art

We had only ever experienced one sea day on a cruise before as we had always selected itineraries which maximised time on shore with most sailing done at night. When choosing to go to Antarctica from Buenos Aires, we knew that we would have to deal with lots of time on the ship and didn’t really know how we’d go. We decided we’d spend lots of time at the gym to get rid of excess energy and take it from there. Sadly for Glenda, being sick meant the gym was out of the question. But on our first of many sea days, Walter hopped out of bed soon after 7am (gym opening time) and headed for a run on the treadmill. This turned into a challenging feat given the ship has now hit the open sea and is starting to do a bit of rocking and rolling. He managed a run without injury and returned to Glenda still lazing in bed – although she had opened her eyes by then and was watching a National Geographic documentary on Antarctica.

Following a shower, relaxing breakfast and two coffees, we ventured to the Living Room to relax and read.

But soon it was time to go to one of the activities we’d chosen to attend. The Japanese artist-in-residence, Minor-I, was in the gallery doing a live painting. Her painting is very unusual as the medium used is coffee! The effect is monochromatic and resembles the very old sepia black and white photography – which in fact she told us was what she had tried to emulate. We got chatting to a Canadian that’s been living in the US for almost 30 years and spent the good part of an hour talking to him and Minor-I about a myriad of things.

After lunch – yes, cruises do focus a lot on the food – we were up for another bout of painting. This time we were the ones to be doing it. We had decided to attend a watercolour class, learning all about mingling and mixing colours (there’s a difference) and collecting the pools of water.

We ended up with a partially completed painting of the coloured walls of La Boca in Buenos Aires.
Unfortunately, we’ll miss the next class tomorrow as we will be heading off on an insider tour of the ship.

As we have done every evening thus far, we headed to Discoveries, the main restaurant for dinner. We were placed at a table we’d never sat at before – right in the middle at the stern of the ship looking back at the trail of white water we were leaving in our wake.

It was the nicest meal so far and, together with a fabulous tango show in the Cabaret Lounge, made for a fun night on board.
Just a pity Glenda is still coughing and spluttering!

Day 4 – Another day at sea: Another Day of Art

With the pitching and lurching having increased, Walter decided not to risk life and limb to run on the treadmill this morning. And Glenda was astounded to only wake up at 8am!! It must be as they say – the rocking motion feels just like being in the mother’s womb making for good rest.

After more food and coffee, we spent the rest of the morning at university – two lectures on Antarctica.

The first one was particularly entertaining, with a Scottish born professor, having lived in Canberra and now residing in Maryland, USA taking us through the history of expeditions. It was fascinating as he linked it to the historical and social times within which they took places, eluding to why some were successful and others such as Drake, failed dismally.

Sadly, our insider tour was cancelled, but the positive was that we could make it to the painting lesson. This time we walked away with a painting of seals, rocks and icebergs the rocks having been done using a room key card.

Painting takes focus and concentration and unfortunately this is not always a good thing when on a boat that is heaving and swaying.
Fortunately, we didn’t join many of those around us that have succumbed to seasickness, but a rest was in order to ensure we did not need to avail of the bags that are hanging on the stair rails.

On that note, the atmosphere on the ship was pretty subdued when we headed to dinner that night, with many people remaining in their stateroom or finding a place to relax without much desire to eat. We chose to have an informal night at the buffet in Windows Café – this time it was Spanish night.

We enjoyed a lovely, long quiet time there before going downstairs to Mosaic café for a mint tea. Even there it was serene, with anyone that wasn’t green having gone to the show.

Glenda spent some time chatting to Sabrina from Munich – with her stateroom being at the front of the ship and on level 4, near the waterline, she was finding the pitching a bit much and was seeking respite in the middle of the ship. We also met a couple from BC, Canada and had a great time sharing some of our trip to their country last year and hearing about their time spent in the area we didn’t get to, namely New Foundland.

Day 5 – Yet another day at sea: Yet another day of art?

After a less restful night due to Glenda’s coughing, we woke up to much calmer seas than we’d had for a day or so. The energy on board was starting to build once more as we headed up to breakfast. The buffet wasn’t as full as usual as many people must’ve chosen to sleep in and go to the special brunch starting at 10:30am. Fortunately said brunch went until 1pm, so around midday, we headed to the main restaurant to see what the fuss was about. The ship band was playing and a marvelous buffet spread was available – different to what was typically available. The prawns were enormous, the cheese cake was decadent and the banoffee pie was to die for!!

Walter didn’t feel like painting today, so Glenda went to the watercolour class alone – she was scared she’d miss something. She came out with an attempt at the lighthouse that we should be seeing when we dock at Ushuaia tomorrow.

The rest of the day was pretty uneventful. The highlight was our best dinner and wine to date, followed by a fun tango show.