The Stella Australis

What can I say about the Stella Australis?  Yes, it was built in Chile in 2010, is 89 metres long, 14.5 metres wide, has a draft of 3.45 metres and displaces about 4,500 tonnes.  62 crew look after a maximum of 210 passengers in 100 cabins.  There were only 160 on our trip so plenty of room.  It was designed and built to navigate the specific geography of Tierra del Fuego, being both shallow draft and capable of handling the severe storms that frequent the latitude.  For us it was four days of adventure and luxury living.

 

Boarding at six in the evening, we quickly settled into our cabin.  That’s us, the second large window behind the bridge, high up, just below the general social area (read bar) on the top deck.  A welcoming cocktail party and safety briefing set the scene that would be our life on board for the next few days - wine and lifejackets.  Each trip ashore in the Zodiacs required full scale dressing, layer upon layer of warm clothing, then waterproofs, finally the life jacket.  We didn’t need an evacuation drill, we did it twice a day as a matter of course.

Meals were varied and excellent, drinks were plentiful and the crew, all of them, were knowledgeable and eager to make our adventure something very special.  Each trip ashore was led by a guide and the different nationalities on board, fourteen of them, were catered for in three primary languages; Spanish, English and German.  We learned about the natural flora that grew low down in response to the winds that would otherwise rip them from the ground.  Trekking inland we entered forests of slow growing lenga trees (a variety of beech) that somehow stood up to the weather conditions and were draped with lichens.  We saw the beginnings of autumn colours and rocks draped with centuries old mosses.

At Tuckers Islet, the Magellanic penguins were in the process of their annual moult.  Many had left the rookery after raising their chick and the remaining few looked as though they were waiting for a bus to come along.  By comparison, cormorants filled every available nook with their nests and skuas flew overhead looking for any opportunity to steal eggs or chicks.  Nature even provided a rainbow.  Beautiful.

The choppy water flew into exhilarating spray as our Zodiac headed towards a landing spo,t where lifejackets were piled in heaps and we trekked to the Pia Glacier and then climbed higher to view it from above.  By the time we returned, pack ice had formed around the landing place and the Zodiacs had difficulty in finding a way though back to the ship.  But hot chocolate laced with a slug of scotch whiskey kept us warm until we were safely back on board.

 

   

Cruising through what is known as ‘Glacier Alley’, we passed the German, French, Italian and Holland glaciers, each named after the country that first identified them.  Each was celebrated with suitable canapes and drinks of the country.  The bar staff worked hard to keep up as we worked hard to consume the offerings before the next arrived.  Tough life!

As I said a few blogs back, sixty odd years ago, when I was a teenager, I had an aspiration to visit Cape Horn.  Don’t ask me why, I’ve long forgotten, but the aspiration remained and at long last that dream was fulfilled.  The weather was as perfect as it can be in these far south latitudes and we were able to go ashore on Cape Horn.  By the way, Cape Horn not a cape at all, but a small island with a population of four – the lighthouse keeper, his wife and two daughters, and it is part of Chile.  We tramped our way up hundreds of steps to visit the lighthouse and the beautiful albatross memorial to the many lives that have been lost at sea in the region.  It was a humbling experience.  However, we’d made it.  A highlight of the adventure and a great big tick on the bucket list.

   

On board, our dinner table of six included us two Aussies and four Americans, Ed, Patty, Bill and Sarah.  The conversation was varied, intelligent and great fun with lots of laughs.  Mainly thanks to Bill, our table won the voyage trivia quiz on the last night and were awarded with badges as prizes. 

We were privileged to visit the bridge, engine room, auxiliary machinery room and osmosis plant for creating potable water from sea water.  I was particularly taken with the engineer’s workshop that was immaculate in its layout. 

All too soon, in the middle of the night, and so gently we never woke, the ship berthed at Ushuaia, the most southerly city in the world, known as the World’s End.  Early morning, after a final breakfast we disembarked, bidding a fond farewell to the Stella Australis.