Throughout a magic evening with the icecap and snowfields of the mountainous Peninsula slowly changing hues as the sun was setting, and throughout the night we steamed north to find ourselves in Antarctic sound, at the very tip of the Peninsula, in the morning of today. We were greeted by smiling weather and, at the threshhold of the Weddell sea, by some of the mightiest ice we have encountered in the whole season: Where just days ago our ship could plough an open sea and find it's way to Paulet island, there was not even an open lead wide enough to drop a pencil into the water. We were offered a wonderful opportunity to gaze in awe at tabular bergs the size of tenement houses trapped between football field-sized sea ice floes.

Together they built up a wall of ice that quite efficiently stopped any further progress for the Caledonian Star. At the same time these huge solid floes invited us to pursue plan B: a walk on the sea ice. The Captain found a perfect floe trapped by a grounded ice berg, and by parking our ship nose to the berg and alongside the floe, it was possible to get the gangway right down onto the ice, to let us all pour out in the glistening environment! It provided a safe and comfortable way to enjoy a sun-drenched stay on the kind of solid water which in the past was the home to the marooned crews of ships like Shackelton's Endurance and Nordenskjold's Swedish expedition in 1901. In contrast to their "Ocean camp" and " Patience camp" we could enjoy a voluntary stay, warmed by the sun as well as hot wine served on the ice!

The solitary Adelie penguin which squirted out of the water, unaware that he would end up among a crowd of people when he (she?), did in no way disagree with the pretty solid attention his tobogganing and preening awoke among us. On the contrary - he acted as if we were not there! Calmly he pursued his everyday life, maybe not really aware of the fact that he doubtlessly was the most photographed penguin in all of Antarctica this wonderful day. And the crabbeater seal which was sleeping like a log right under the bow as our ship parked by the floe never even woke up to give a sleepy glance!