A memorable day in many ways — we started out at Port Lockroy with penguins and ended with many empty wine bottles and Rod uttering the now famous words “Follow your dreams. When I was a kid people said I’d never be able to fit four quarters up my ass, but look at me now.” Rod & Marlene, Margi & Chris, Ted, Carter, Tim, Kaiyote, Dave & Ann, Rocky and Hugh were all involved in the festivities, but you really had to be there to understand the madness as we sat in the snow on the stern eating and drinking, and then spent nearly an hour playing the southernmost-ever game of butt darts. Between Rocky’s Canadian longjohns, the USA vs. Canada grudge match, and a dozen other shenanigans we should all be committed, but it was a heck of a time nonetheless.
Even without the evening’s insanity today was still a fun day, despite the snow and clouds. Port Lockroy had a ton of penguins and shags, and the snow let up somewhat during our landing. The Lemaire Channel is supposedly one of the most scenic spots on the planet, but it was mostly shrouded by clouds and snow as we passed through. Peterman Island was my favorite island thus far on the Antarctic Peninsula despite the fact that the weather was uncooperative. While there I climbed a big hill in the center of the island, causing far too much concern amongst some of the other passengers. The view from the top was great, and watching the adelies toboggan across the snow as I descended was an added bonus. Two more days here, and they should be good ones.