Antarctica

We rang in the new year in Antarctica on board the National Geographic Explorer. Our trip began in December 2018. The explanations for each day below are excerpts from National Geographic daily expedition reports. Note - To make links to National Geographic daily expedition reports for each day below work. Click here and return.

Antarctica - Flandres Bay

January 1. The New Year began in the middle of our celebrations to ring in Baby 2019 and dancing that lasted into the early hours. Our southernmost sunset and the year’s first sunrise both occurred within those first three hours. It looks like a busy and surprising year ahead.

We woke to stunning views of Flandres Bay and, nudged into nearby fast sea ice, our sister ship National Geographic Orion.

National Geographic Daily Expedition Report* and RizbeeOnTheRoad blog post.

Antarctica - Paulet Island and Tay Point

January 2. We awoke to a thick layer of snow covering the decks. The view outside was everything we imagined Antarctica to be—and snowy weather didn’t dampen our enthusiasm. After breakfast, we headed to Paulet Island.

Once ashore, we were mesmerized by the 200,000 Adélie penguins that inhabit this small island in the Weddell Sea.

National Geographic Daily Expedition Report* and RizbeeOnThe Road blog post.

Antarctica - Snow Hill Island and Devils Island

January 3. Today, National Geographic Explorerbrought us to Snow Hill Island in the Weddell Sea, which was named after James Weddell, an 18th century British explorer who journeyed to 74°S. This island is seldom accessible because of the multiyear ice floes that block entry, and we were very lucky to make a landing. In fact, we were the first to visit this island for the season; the previous visit was in December 2017.

Our first sight was a wintering cabin used by Nordenskjöld during the Swedish Antarctic Expedition of 1901-04 on the ship Antarctic.

National Geographic Daily Expedition Report* and RizbeeOnTheRoad blog post.

Antarctica - Deception Island and Prat Base

January 4. We got a wakeup call early as we approached Deception Island and were greeted by several humpback whales and groups of pintado (Cape) petrels. Entering Port Foster via Neptune’s Bellows, we found ourselves in the middle of a caldera—a large crater formed by a cataclysmic volcanic eruption similar to the one that formed Crater Lake in Oregon.

In Whaler’s Bay, a kilometer-wide crater on the side of the caldera, we could see steam rising from the beaches as well as layers of ash trapped within layers of ice.

National Geographic Daily Expedition Report* and RizbeeonTheRoad blog post.

Antarctica - At Sea - Drake Passage

January 5. Leaving a place at the end of a trip is always bittersweet, especially when leaving a place as amazing as Antarctica. Our first full day at sea, heading back to civilization, brought a bit more wind than our journey south. It wasn’t too bad though, considering what the Drake Passage can produce. There were many seabirds out enjoying the breeze, which allowed us great views of albatross and petrels. With lectures by the onboard naturalists, we all learned just a little bit more about the special place through which we had just traveled.

National Geographic Daily Expedition Report* and RizbeeonTheRoad blog post.

Antarctica - Beagle Channel and Ushuaia

January 6. On the final day of our journey, we woke from our well-earned rest with the Drake Passage behind us. After a nourishing breakfast, we headed up to the bridge to take in the view as we approached Cape Horn, a significant location in maritime history. All ships traveling between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans had to round the horn in conditions that could be difficult and treacherous before the construction of the Panama Canal eased the pressure.

A busy day awaited us as we began the packing process and prepared to return home.

National Geographic Daily Expedition Report*.

Meadowood

Mid-January, Jon went to the Autodesk Business Strategy and Markeing Team offsite at the Meadowood resort in Napa. We were joined for part of the meeting by the Territory Sales Team. We had a really nice dinner at the Hall Winery and the event culminated with a Mixology and Croquet tournament.

Portland Team Offsite.

the last week in January, Jon's team held our offsite at the Autodesk Portland office. While there we celebated Kerry Ann and Jeremy's birthdays. Lisa dialed in from London for part of it as did Andrew and Scott Borduin. The first evening we held a social event and mini workshop with members of Intel's research and corporate strategy teams from Portland. Lisa accepted our offer to rejoin the team full-time so we toasted her in absentia.