Ciao Chile, Aloha Antarctica!

Hello everyone!
Sorry for the delay, internet access has been sparce and brief when I have had it. I've finally downloaded some pictures from my trip too so i'm finally able to blog a bit.

We are now in Punta Arenas and tomorrow is a very big day. I've been here since the 6th staying at the erratic rock hostel and have been working on the ship and purchasing some chilean sundries in preparation for our departure. Rebecca and I arrived here on the 6th after paddling for 3 days on the Serrano River, one of the more popular Patagonian kayaking excursions. We came face to face with both the Tyndall and Serrano glacier, traversing up, down, and across stream currents, and had the absolute time of our lives. We had perfect weather and a view of the southern constellations that will be hard to rival (ship lights prevent the Antarctic view from being as glorious as one would think). We were truly in the wilderness, free (mostly) of contact from other kayakers, and it was worth every freakin penny.


But as I mentioned, tomorrow is a big day. Today the pier was shut down due to persistant 30 knot winds, gusting up to 50. This made onloading cargo virtually impossible. Luckily we got our ordered supplies on the ship yesterday, so with everyone from ncsu and hawaii finally in town, today was manly dedicated to inventory and organization. However, not even half of our things are on the ship. Tomorrow we will all check out of our hostels and move our personal items on to the ship. Our issue gear will be brought to the pier and loaded, and all our supplies we've used from the previous two cruises will be onloaded is well. Our departure date is the 11th at 12, and while we will spend approximately a day navigating the straights of magellan, by the time we hit the Drake passage, everything must be organized and secured for the rough journey to Antarctica. We have a lot to accopmlish in the next 36 hours.

I'm going to be the lead on the ncsu blog while we are at sea so I am not sure how much I will be able to keep this blog up to date. However, if you do not see updates coming to this blog, please check the address http://antarctica-ncsu.blogspot.com.

Ciao!