The Voyage of M.S. Explorer to Antarctica 18/11/06 - Part 3

After our trip to Kinnes Cove, I was plagued a little by a sense of what I may have missed over the years, in the way of 'dangerous' activities. On reaching the top of a very high hill, I followed the suit of others, lay down and slid down part of the snowy hill face. I was left with a childish hunger to "do it again, do it again!". At that moment I wanted to snowboard, ski and rollercoaster, but no more sliding was allowed, what with penguins, rocks and stuff.

The Captain's Antarctic Welcome, was a glass of champagne and a few words from the Swedish captain. He is a broad, stuffed individual, with bright blue eyes, steely hair and a very red face. For someone whose first language is not English, he has a fine, dry wit. Having cradled my champagne without a sip in anticipation of a toast, I was surprised to find there was none. I ended up downing it fairly quickly.

A very pleasant dinner was spent with Penny and Jim, two American Democratic activists, and Robert, an old school Tory from Britain. Brian was also at the table, but left first. We discussed George Bush (obviously), the new Democratic hopefuls, etc., but Robert, who is a vet and has no real interest in politics, played dumb, but still came back at the last for more conversation. Jim's reading Ayn Rand's, "Atlas Shrugged", and he confirmed all the prejudices I had about that writer. A good night's chat.

There is something refreshing about Robert, who is in his sixties and has left his wife at home to mind their 4 dogs, few cats and 150 sheep. He was really the only other person to join me on the top deck in the midst of the storm and for the same reason I did; this was what it was all about! I was conscious of possibly offending him with some of my views (I'm no Tory!), so I kept as diplomatic as I could. We still agreed that Neil Kinnock wasn't a bad sort, despite his ill-judged victory conference.