by

Susan Ellis

When one begins to write an adventure story, does one start with the dramatic action or does one set the scene first? Perhaps it will be a bit of both.

Antarctica can be enjoyed from a luxury cruise ship where hot soup is served on deck to warm the observer. Antarctica can be enjoyed from a beach on Snow Hill Island with a blizzard blowing and ice bergs crunching, jostling for position. A Zodiac boat appears out of the white. Those ahead of you in Wellington boots walk into waves and climb aboard. Oh please let there be space for one more on this boat you pray, your freezing cold wet mitts offering no protection from the elements. Somewhere out there your ship is waiting, buffeted by winds gusting to Force 9. You trust you will get there on a flat bottomed rubber boat with an outboard motor which will dance with 9 ft waves. Little do you know that the motor of this Zodiac that you pray to board, will splutter to fuel-less silence in the merciless ocean swell.

It was late Sunday afternoon when I arrived in Buenos Aires. Locals picnicked in the parks which lined the highway from the airport to the down town. Parkland gave way to tall thin apartment buildings with external shutters rolled over or slid across windows. Then I'm being driven along the broad Avenue of the 9th July with huge green canopies of flowering trees. The Floss-Silk trees were in all their glory.    

Next morning as I returned to the airport in the Buenos Aires rush hour there was a serenity and order. I did not sense the frenzy I have in the past experienced in the Chilean capital of Santiago.

I boarded a plane for Ushuaia, the southerly port they call Fin del Mundo - The end of the world. Many on board are bound for ships, hiking and mountaineering. It is the end of the summer. Soon they will be coming for skiing. But today it is sunny and relatively warm, in the mid teens. I will walk in the town in shirt sleeves. Certainly it is warmer than Toronto.

I walk the promenade seeing cruise ships, tourist sight seeing boats, cargo ships and pleasure boats. The tall ship, the Europa is in port, soon to sail to Antarctica and on to South Africa. The bay flows into the Beagle Channel which will take me to Cape Horn. Ushuaia is located on Tierra del Fuego, an island belonging to both Argentina and Chile. This port is on the Argentinean side. The gardens are filled with lupins, poppies, shasta daisies, roses, broom and fuchsia bushes. The weeds (or wild flowers) are familiar - dandelions, burdock, yarrow and white clover. The public flower beds are filled with colourful marigolds, pansies and sweet william. There is a building boom. The shops are for the tourist - electronic goods, books, clothes, jewelry, crafts of the indigenous people and t-shirts.

Next morning I find my ship, the M/V Polar Star has arrived, preparations underway for my arrival. I shall be welcomed between 4-5pm that afternoon. In the meantime I walk the streets of the town, spend time at the Panorama Park and view a DVD at the Antarctica Unit on some of the sights I will see. Purposely having stayed at the Hotel Albatross which overlooks the harbour, I 'm able to wheel my suitcase from the hotel down the pier. I pass the Europa with her crew assembled and prepare to begin my adventure on the M/V Polar Star. My gang plank beckons, luggage is hoisted and I am welcomed aboard. It is Tuesday March 26th 2008. The sun shines as we sail away. The breeze is light. Something I will not experience often over the next 18 days.