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Wojciech's Travel log

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You can lose everything, but nobody will take away what you saw and what you experienced...
............

Log entries 2141 - 2150 of 3148 Page: 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 219 220



Nov 27, 2010 07:00 PM Barbecue on the ocean

Warm and sunny Sunday. Today our hosts from TAAF offer special attraction: instead of the lunch in the restaurant we have a BBQ meal on the open deck: on the landing pad of the helicopter. But the sun on the open deck was so strong that they decided to move to the back of the ship (they poetically call this part of the ship "la poupe" ? ) La poupe was not cleaned up - but doesn't matter - I enjoyed anyway the vegetable salad and the ice-cream on the open air. It was also a chance to take a picture in front of the French flag, historical flag - we sailed under this flag all over the way through the "roaring forties". Due to the strong winds this flag is a little bit "fatigue" but for me is has a great value even if dirty. I asked the navigation officer if I can take this dirty flag as a valuable souvenir. No response so far. Perhaps they do not have a new one to put it on the mast. Great sunset today. We will cross the tropic of Capricorn tonight.



Nov 26, 2010 07:00 PM From passerelle to the hell.

Day at sea. They wanted me to be at 10 am at the passerelle. No announcements in English. Thanks God I know already that "passarelle" means the bridge. Charming Mary - the first engineer took us from the bridge some 8 decks down for the "machine tour". We were walking the stairs down and down. (they have elevator on this ship but at the beginning of our voyage they warned us: -Better do not use it at all! I wonder why?). And down there I felt like in the hell: cramp rooms without window, noise, heat, pumps, smells, motors, alarm beeps, kilometers of pipes, steel doors. That's like Mary's kingdom looks. By the way: second engineer on our ship is also a lady. Her name is Emily. Of course I took the opportunity to ask about the cabin heating system, regarding my sick in the cold cabin. Can you imagine? "Marion Dufresne" has 5 independent systems of heating. During our sailing through the cold south only one was working (the other ones need to be repaired or are too expensive to use because they charge extra portion of the fuel). -Second engineer is responsible for that! - said Mary. Those ladies-engineers! Thanks God we are back in the warm region - the ocean
is calm today and I can walk the open deck in the shirt only. The temperature in the cabin is acceptable now. What I am afraid: maybe those ladies from the "hell" will try to freeze us now, because tomorrow or the day after we possibly will enter again the tropical zone.



Nov 25, 2010 07:00 PM Urgent evacuation.

In the morning our ship was drifting few hours at the bottom of the high cliff - near Entrecousteau Point. Helicopter was taking to the coast people and the supply to the little shelter ashore. The top of the cliff they call Grand Balcony. Endemic albatrosses are nesting there. Access is restricted to the scientists so we only enjoyed the view of the high cliff and birds flying around. Every second day in the Martin de Vivies base they launch meteo transmitter attached to the balloon. It is flying 25 kms up and sending accurate data about the temperature, winds etc. We assisted such a ceremony. Then a visit in the post office is obligatory for the postcards and stamps, the shop for the souvenir T-shirts. On the outskirts of the base we found little chapel of the Our Lady of the Ocean - very quiet place. In the afternoon we were ready for the next walk along the shore when the guide received via walkie-talkie the bad news: we have a seriously sick member of the crew on board who needs to be in the hospital as soon as possible (that's what they say). Captain decided to shorten our stay in Amsterdam by one day and to depart immediately. Nearest hospital is four days and four nights of sailing away. "Miraculously" all the supply we brought to the Amsterdam Island Base is already delivered ashore. Before sunset we left Amsterdam Island behind.



Nov 24, 2010 07:00 PM Funny fur seals from Amsterdam

They are different from those fur seals I saw in Antarctica and much less aggressive. What we see here on the rocky beach are mostly youngsters, only 7-8 months old. Their parents are feeding themselves in the sea. They will come soon togive the birth to the new puppies. Those youngsters are playing in the shallow water, learning how to swim and haunt - now they will be on their own. Oh, oh, oh! - non-stop barking you can hear at any time of the day. Coming closer you will see them jumping on the stones and trying to bit each other. But you will see no blood during these exercises - it is just a play. Orca or killer whale is the main enemy of the young seals. So far I saw only one orca on approach to Amsterdam. It was probably already after lunch. We took a walk (about an hour) through the high grass to the air-control station. Amsterdam has a strategic position in the middle of the Indian Ocean. It is almost the same distance - about 5000 kms - from here to Africa, India and Australia. The air is free from the pollution, and that's why they can use values measured here as a reference. I left my rubber boots on the ship. Amsterdam is very dry island and they have a problem to collect enough unsalted water for those people who live here. They collect rain water from the all roofs to the special, plastic tanks. I wish them to have enough rain for their showers! So far strong sun is shining over Amsterdam and I have to protect my neck from the sunburn!..



Nov 23, 2010 07:00 PM Amsterdam: seals on the main street!

No, it is not that Amsterdam in the Nederlands - I am still on the Indian Ocean! Amsterdam island is much bigger then Saint Paul. It is rising from the 30-m cliffs on the east to the 700-m high Entrecousteau coast in the west. French base, where 40 people live in the summer (20 in the winter) lies on theeastern coast. Main street - Avenue Martin-de-Vivies goes from the little jetty up to the "Residence of the Chef de District". Fur seals living in the big number on the stony beach nearby do not care about the traffic - they walk the avenue
and often lay on the sun in the middle of the lane. On the beach there is limited space so they wonder up to the base. Near the hospital I saw a pair residing under the tree. It couldn't be a pleasure for the patients to listen their barking day and night! Yes, there are trees on Amsterdam Island! What a pleasure for the eyes to see them again after few weeks spent in the harsh, deserted south! The island is famous for the endemic phillica trees - they try to increase their number. TAAF guides offer overnight stay in the little cottages ashore: Ribault on the shore - 20-minutes walk from the baseand Antonelli - at the minicrater some 70-minutes walk from the base. We are enjoying lobsters for our lunches - there is plenty of them around the island andthey catch them to improve their diet.



Nov 22, 2010 07:00 PM Beautiful Saint Paul Island

Can you imagine a single volcanic cone rising from the dark-blue ocean in the middle of nowhere? That's how Saint Paul island looks like. But it is not brown or black like most of the volcanoes. It is green! Thousands years ago a part of the Saint Paul's volcano rim broke, opening the way to the caldera which is now filled with water. It is possible to sail by the little ship into the caldera. When I saw the island in the early morning in the sun I thought that little Saint Paul Island is one of the most picturesque places of this voyage. In the past French tried to colonize Saint Paul. I am proud to mention that is the middle of the19th century Polish captain Adam Mieroslawski on behalf of the French Governor of Reunion was here acting chief of the island. A little fishery and French garrison was on Saint Paul at that time. Now French authorities announced that Saint Paul is a Nature Reserve. For some reason (they always repeat: his is not a cruise ship!) we stayed at Saint Paul only about 3 hours. In the tourist program a 10-minutes helicopter flight was included. I saw that for the first time they are launching their only zodiac. -Can I sail also in a zodiac into caldera? The answer surprised me: yes, but then you have to pay for the helicopter flight: 48 euro per minute x 10 minutes. Sorry, I cannot pay anything extra! I saw the zodiac sailing many times to the caldera and back with wealthy tourists and crew members. How much cost the petrol for one round-trip sailing to thecaldera. 4 euro? I thought at this moment with a great sentiment about the crew from my Russian ships to Antarctica, it is hard to imagine that they can have about such an approach. They were happy to offer us additional opportunities to enjoy the voyage. But now I am on the French ship. Flight was nice but I was not lucky to have a front seat, so my air pictures are so-so.



Nov 21, 2010 07:00 PM Saint Paul and Amsterdam on the horizon!

We are getting the knowledge about the next islands on our route: Saint Paul and Amsterdam. They rise from the sea some 1500 kms from Kerguelen and 2880 kms from Reunion. The distance between two islands is only 85 kms. Saint Paul with its 8 square kms of surface looks like volcanic crater with abroken rim, full of water. Small boats can enter the crater from the ocean (this reminds me Deception Island in Antarctica). Amsterdam Island is bigger (58 sq. kms) and has the high cliff on the west coast and a big plateau descending to the east.
Do you remember my Lapu-Lapu story? When the tribe chief Lapu-Lapu killed Magellan on the Philippines his last boat "Victoria" under captain Sebastien Del Cano passed through Saint Paul already in 1522 on its way to Lisbon. Other Portuguese sailor named the island in 1559.
Amsterdam Island (named after the name of van Diemen's ship "Nieuw Amsterdam") was discovered by Dutch on their way to the West Indies in 1633. (There are also other versions of thediscovery of Saint Paul).In the past nobody wanted these two islands, now they are French. I hope to see them tomorrow.



Nov 20, 2010 07:00 PM To the north! To the warm north!

Day at sea: good time to make the laundry and to write. It is still cold in the cabins of "Marion Dufresne", and it is now not only me who is sneezing and coughing, so we are happy, that we are sailing north. We expect that every day it should be slightly warmer. The weather is foggy with moderate wind and swell of the sea. In the morning we were watching the movie from the 12th French Mission to Kerguelen in 1961. At that time military personnel guys wear army uniforms. Now they look like civilians and do not have any weapon with them. So why they are here? -To prove that those inhospitable islands belong to France! In the afternoon we had emergency evacuation alarm again. New people - mostly scientists - embarked our ship on Crozet and Kerguelen and they should know what to do just in case. But we were carrying our thermo-immersion suits two decks up already for the second time!



Nov 19, 2010 07:00 PM Kerguelen - Port Jeanne d'Arc

This is "the must" place if you are looking for the remains of the
history on the Kerguelen. At the end of 19th century two Bossiere brothers got from the French Government the concession for the colonization of Kerguelen. They brought 3 families and more than 200 sheep to the Port Covreux in the north of the island. People soon escaped to Europe and sheep to the wilderness - I saw them on the slopes from the ship. Then the brothers encouraged British-Norwegian company to establish onKerguelen the whaling station. They built it in the deep, inner bay and named Port Jeanne d'Arc. Remains of the station still exists, and this was our target for today. It was only 4.30 am, but already clear when "Marion Dufresne" began to cruise between the picturesque, rocky islands of the bay. One hour later we passed with a minimum speed through the dangerous narrows.
After another hour of sailing we reached PJDA - how the locals call the place. In the middle of nowhere I saw few old-style houses at the bottom of the slope. Also a piles of metal barrels and rusted tanks and other installations once used to process the grease. Nobody knows how many whales lost their lives here. Annual production of oil was 3000 tons. Maybe this is the reason why so far we cannot see any whale in the sea...We had a sunny day, but it is hard to say "lovely day" because of extremely strong, icy wind. After landing I visited a little exhibit in the building restored by TAAF. They try to restore the station as a museum. Workshops and the quarters are already reconstructed and few people can sleep there (if they are ready to survive the cold). We took the walk along the bay visiting the remains of the little cemetery (but most of thewhalers were buried on the Cemetery Island in the bay). I saw a dozen of rabbits and a little herd of reindeers introduced by Norwegians. Big skua bird tried to land on the head of my friend Patrick not to attack him but just to check who entered its territory. People appear here onlyfew days per year.



Nov 18, 2010 07:00 PM French Base on the Kerguelen

French tried to colonize this archipelago several times - with no success. Now, in the only settlement on the island - Port aux Francais limited number of scientist and technical staff live here: 73 people now - in the summer and only 50 in the winter. I had a chance to visit the base. They have satellite tracking station, meteo station important for the air and sea traffic, a big canteen, library, post office and the shop. It sounds ridiculously but today in the
shop they were accepting only payment by cheque of the French Bank. In the post you can pay also by cash euro. But nobody, (also the staff on the ship) accepts credit cards. Do they know that you can use "plastic money" to pay evenin Russia and China?
On the outskirts of the base, on the hill they built a big chapel dedicated to Our Lady of the Winds. The name is so right! - at any time strong and icy wind is blowing there and only fat elephant seals residing around do not care
about that. You will be surprised to find not too far from the church a little, well-fenced garden where they grow a local endemic plant - the Kerguelen cabbage. Why it is fenced? To protect them from the local plague - the rabbits,
introduced years ago by the people from Europe. If there will be no fence -there will be nothing to show to the visitors. Rabbits are everywhere! Not only the rabbits, also wild cats. And nobody knows how to fight with them!

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