I did it. It wasn’t all a dream. It was something I concocted on a sober month spent endlessly working on a broccoli farm in the Tasmanian wilderness during Spring 2010. Life had taken me to lonely Poatina for whatever reason, and while days on the farm were long and hard and I had no home, I randomly booked a trip to Antarctica for whatever reason, I’ll never know. 6 months later, having saved constantly from my busy jobs, I nonchalantly stepped foot on the actual continent of Antarctica. At Neko Harbour. Words cannot describe the feelings, but if you read on, I’ll do my best.
There are so many cliches you can listen to and decide for yourself if you want to believe in them or not. One such cliche that reared it’s head on my Antarctica trip was “you haven’t really been to Antarctica if you haven’t stepped foot on the Antarctic Continent.” This gave even more meaning to our venture to Neko Harbour, a magical winter wonderland on the Danco Coast in Antarctica. We had already been to a fair few locations in Antarctica, and had seen the continent itself from the boat, but the first steps there will live long in life’s better moments.
It was of course very cold, but I felt the need to display my work shirt to show my bosses where I was on my travels. Probably the furthest south anyone has worn a PJ Gallagher’s Irish Pub shirt. I was on a 15 week break from work on this trip, and when I returned the pub actually got re-branded and changed, though I worked there for a further 5 months.
Close ups in my PJ Gallagher’s Irish Pub Shirt. The pub I worked in was in Parramatta, Sydney, Australia. Though I also worked in PJ Gallagher’s in Drummoyne, which still exists under the same name and they still wear those shirts.
Again close ups reading Happy Days fanzine in Antarctica.
I can post as many photos as I like but still cannot do it justice. The landscape was breathtaking. Glaciers behind us formed a seemingly never ending continent of snow and ice. Penguins got on with their daily lives, and there was a world of white to explore. Simply phenomenal.
I’m by no means a great photographer, but I have to say I enjoyed looking back at some of my best shots of the white continent. Neko harbour is a paradise for photographers too. Here, 4 penguins straddled up the hill right in front of me in almost unique symmetry. Beautiful.
And here more waddling gentoo penguins enjoy their homeland of Antarctica, while us foreigners gain in awe. The penguin at the back is losing his head.
The locals mingle and linger in their favourite outdoor weather type.
Time for some shots with my fellow travellers – just great people. Here with Peter Dent of Canada.
With the shiny toothed Tracei, from the USA.
All alone in this wilderness with my Northern Ireland flag. Not the furthest south it has been though, as we made an earlier venture south on the Neumayer Channel the day before.
“The smiles”, like the Manic Street Preachers in their “beginnings” are “genuine”. The Everlasting, a song I hummed my way to as my feet traddled on the world’s southernmost continent.
We walked up to the top of the hill to check out the view and roll back down. Penguins passed us regularly, it got gradually colder as you neared the top, but nobody even cared.
My boot got lost a couple of times in the snow at Neko Harbour – here’s one of the marks I left as I had to drag my boot out of the snow. The snow is just so so deep, this happened to a few of us on the trip.
Penguins, in their infinite melancholy are wonderful to watch. A brace of Neko gentoos enjoy their afternoon stroll.
The second time I lost my boot deserved a photo, I was basically half body in the snow, another of life’s classic moments to savour.
With top man George Hibbard at the top of the nearest hill to Neko Harbour. George comes from California in the USA.
Stop and stare. Just take in all in and believe you are there. Immense.
I kneeled down as the snow got heavy and against a backdrop of falling glaciers, dancing penguins and pack ice, plus an ocean becoming iceberg, I got the perfect and best photos yet of my travelling Northern Ireland flag. I’m just a wee kid from Marlo in the dormitory town of Bangor living some kind of dream. Anyone can do it – you just have to make it happen. Sitting around doing nothing with your life gets you nowhere. We have ups and downs on this planet, and as I reflect this was a big up on my life cycle. As the snow fell faster and harder, the smiles became more and more genuine. This was all real.
I later lost these “sunglasses” somewhere on my trip (or left them in a hostel maybe), but they were perfect for shielding out the sun, snow and slete and the cool colour blue gives that Antarctica background that special tint. Of course I only wore them at intervals, what you see here with your real eyes matters most.
About to slide down the hill from the top. It has to be done. Most of the crew had already done their slide down the hill when I went to do it.
The hill I slid down, with the actual harbour in behind. The pack ice and snow was gradually increasing on the cold waters. The snow at Neko wasn’t actually too heavy, pretty enjoyable and very inconsistent, such is the nature of an Antarctic climate.
There was time to sit down and enjoy the landscape. It’s vast. It’s white. It’s natural. This is the Antarctica you get to love. In the middle of all the natural beauty, humans build snowmen.
A few shots of our MS Expedition Neko Snowman. It takes only a few minutes to build snowmen in Antarctica.
A close up of Neko the Snowman. Actually I don’t know if he had a name, but I’ll happily call him Neko. It is after all his home, and our first ever landing place on the actual continent.
Our ship the MS Expedition braved the dodgy waters of The Drake Passage, the Lemaire Channel and all along the Danco Coast. A true gem of a vessel and our home in Antarctica, where hotels and hostels are hardly advertised, or scattered along the coast of Barrientos…
These are all natural ice and snow formations.
Suman, from Melbourne and I took a few shots of each other down near the bottom, after coming down the hill. This is me with the wilderness behind. Keep walking and you will eventually reach the south pole (if your compass is up to scratch).
I took this one of Suman, which looks as if there is nothing behind him, just like the end of the world!
This photo appeared at the top of the article, but it’s OK to use it twice, when it’s a defining moment in Antarctica. This is my favourite photo of me taken in Antarctica. Just amazing.
More penguin play…
On leaving Neko Harbour there was an unmistakable buzz on board the ship. Over dinner and into the evening we enjoyed the amazing skyline from the deck of the ship. The sky was clear, the snow had stopped, and we had a drink in the onboard “Polar Bear Bar”, this photo taken by Monika, manages to skip the boat deck railings, giving me a real Antarctica background image.
Some excellent photos there on our evening sail alongside the Antarctic continent. Just an incredibly relaxing evening. Most of us spent the evening out on deck (or in the bar by the deck).
You don’t really need a certificate but they give you one anyone to say that you’ve actually been to the continent of Antarctica. Nice souvenir. Will frame it and one day display in, if and when I actually stay in the same flat for longer than 2 years.
Time for one last image of Neko Harbour. Sums it up. What an amazing journey. From a lonely broccoli field in Poatina, Tasmania to Neko Harbour in Antarctica, I was living a dream here. Thanks to everyone who made it possible. I’ll never forget my day on Neko Harbour, nor will life allow me to. “They’ll pass you by, glory days.”
Where Is It – Neko Harbour, Andvord Bay, Danco Peninsula, ANTARCTICA
Wikipedia Entry – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neko_Harbour
Strange Currencies – No shops
Transport Used – MS Expedition Ship and Zodiacs
How Many Went – About 130 I believe
Date – 11th November 2010
Time – 1.35 pm
Position – 64˚50’S, 62˚33’W
Location – Andvord Bay, Neko Harbour, Danco Peninsula, Antarctica Mainland
Weather – Snowy, cold, windy, blowy, icy
Temperature – Minus something
Wind – Not too bad, in fact I would say sheltered
Sky – Blurred, misty, foggy
Sights – Pack Ice, Snow, Glaciers, Rocks, Penguins, Icebergs, Ice shelves, birds
Souvenirs – My photos, my videos and my certificate to say I’ve stepped on mainland Antarctica
Key Songs (there will be an Antarctica Best of Album at some point, but in the meantime):
MADONNA – FROZEN:
MANIC STREET PREACHERS – (IT FEELS LIKE THE) ANTARCTIC:
LIGHTNING SEEDS – SUGAR COATED ICEBERG:
ICEHOUSE – THE GREAT SOUTHERN LAND:
VIDEOS:
1. SAILING DOWN ANDVORD BAY TO NEKO HARBOUR:
2. OUR ZODIAC ARRIVING AT NEKO HARBOUR:
3. FIRST VIDEO OF ME DIVING INTO THE SNOW AT NEKO HARBOUR:
4. NEKO HARBOUR IN ALL ITS GLORY:
5. SLIDING DOWN THE HILL AT NEKO HARBOUR:
6. THE BEACH AT NEKO HARBOUR, SAYING GOODBYE:
Don’t Stop Living is condemned to a lifestyle of travel and this article is just one of many from Jonny Blair’s journey to Antarctica. Read how he did Antarctica on a backpacker’s budget and how he lives a lifestyle of travel. He’s a travelling Northern Irishman and he loves it.
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Congrats on this momentous travel milestone, Jonny! Would you say Antarctica was the tipping point of your travel adventures (i.e. you became more determined more than ever to visit the rest of the world after having almost no dollars to your name to make this dream happen when you moved to Australia)?
Ray recently posted…How to Spend 24 Hour in Atlanta
Thanks for the comment Ray. There are too many of these turning points and I’d have to say this is one of them. When I moved to Australia, I didn’t expect the journey to still be going 6 years later. I assumed, I’d settle in a bar job there, or get married or eventually find a flat to live in for longer term. I guess the freedom from the Antarctica adventure gave me extra determination not to get tied down to job contracts in future. Safe travels. Jonny