This morning we dropped anchor at Trinity Island and caught the Zodiacs to an abandoned whaling station at Mikkelson Harbour on a smaller, unnamed island. Trussed up like seasonal poultry, we waddled onto the boats. It was a great relief to shed the life-jackets on shore which at least permitted one to see one’s feet, which was just as well, because we were also making our maiden voyage on snow shoes. Falling over was a breeze, but getting up was trickier, since the snow collapsed under the pressure of a hand. The Gentoo penguins were more adept, having created toboggan runs down from their rookeries. Took unreasonable quantity of penguin shots, but these doughty little creatures make me laugh and admire. Weddell seals and leopard seals flopped languidly about the place and whale bones and a jaw bone 2.5 metres across were grim reminders of the flenser trade. An abandoned Argentine refuge/base rotted slowly and forlornly, surrounded by the pebble cones of the penguin nests. The icebergs are infinitely various, and in the afternoon, we cruised for three hours inspecting their features – bubble rills, arches, historical orientations, undercutting, calving, meltwater-filled crevasses, golf-balling, we Zodiaced through brash ice into the mouth of a glacier in Cierva Cove, going much further than any but the expedition leader would have dared. The water is fabulously clear and almost oily/greasy in its movement, and on every 10th iceberg, there’s a basking seal. The bird life is present, but not abundant – cormorants, gulls, pintada and petrels. Wilson’s Storm Petrel is the most common in the region, but I spotted only one! We got some classic shots of icebergs losing great chunks off their more precipitous and unstable parts, and of the after-effects of the waves. From the ship, we saw two pods of orca (killer whales) with two very large males. Tonight, we plan to camp on the ice of the Antarctic continent. Is this wise? My great fear is using the ‘Mr Yum-Yum’ plastic drum that serves as a loo. Ah well, it’s only the one time…