Our ships captain sumed up our week ahead. A journalist on the previous expedition cruise admitted to him that she found it difficult to put the experience down in words. We are facing a similar dilema! Still, here goes.... Our 8 day adventure started at the port town of Ushuaia, on the Argentinian side of Tierra Del Fuego. This some 13400km south of the UK. We managed to smuggle two and a half litres of gin aboard, together with 8 cans of tonic and a bottle of Malbec consealed in Phill's left welly. After a 24 hour war of attrition, we won a complimentary upgrade to an outside cabin. The 'ambassador for the travel industry' line has served us well, thus far! Take a look at the album. Two large windows and a bucket of ice. Wonderful. The first 2 days were spent at sea, traversing the notorious Drake Passage. We were thankful of being aboard a relatively large ship as we swayed toward the White Continent. We awoke to the expedition leaders commentry at 7.20am. We tore back the curtains to see a monsterous ice berg drifting past. We had arrived. After an initial shoreline excursion on a zodiac to view penguin colonies, we arrived at our southern most point on day three. Latitude S 65.10.19' to be precise. We turned on our axis and enjoyed occasional sightings of Hump Back and Orca whales, Fur Seals and inumerous penguins. The Lemaire Channel behind us, we excitedly awaited our turn for a zodiac to our first landing, Port Lockroy. Rotating 500 passengers for these landings was a mission. We were fortunate with our Blue C group. We won the best weather and most civilised of timings. The landing was an emotional moment. Phill completed his set of 7 continents, Sue closed in on the same tally. Only Australia is absent from her portfolio. The stench of guano (penguin sh*t) hits you way before you land. The odour actually stays in your clothes when back onboard. Quite pungent. We had to purchase compulsory wellington boots (which were disinfected after each trip) and waterproof strides. The red coats were supplied by the ship. Panic not! We had four zodiac trips. One each day. Three of them landings. The second, the Chilean military base at Paradise Harbour, by far our favorite. Here we had our passports stamped and we took our best photos of the Gentoo Penguin population. This was also the venue for a salvo of run-ins with the Penguin Police (aka the Expedition Team). In Phill's determination to fill his viewfinder with the perfect pengy pose, he stepped inside the 5 meter minimum once too often. The final excursion was to Half Moon Island. Chinstrap Penguins hang out here and look a little like policemen. These highlights were punctuated by formal dinners, cheeky closet spirit mixers, pleasant company, hot tubs and too much food to mention - let alone digest! We rode our luck on the return crossing. Other ships were less fortunate, running into low pressures and the rough seas that resulted. Our last thrill was rounding Cape Horn on our return to the port. 65 knot winds battered us as we ignored the captains vein tannoy attempt to keep everyone inside. We arrived back to a wet and cold Tierra Del Fuego with lumps in our throats. We are left in little doubt that we may never again travel so far south. We are also left in no doubt that we are very fortunate indeed to have experienced this beautiful, wonderous and majestic continent. PaS