Gentoo Penguin on an ice flow © Tony Redhead
“I had a dream when I was 22 that someday I would go to the region of ice and snow and go on and on till I came to one of the poles of the earth”
From the 15th of December until the 29th of December 2015 I had the opportunity to experience the Great Austral Loop, Ushuaia - Falkland Islands - South Georgia Island - South Shetland Islands - Antarctic Peninsula - Ushuaia. On the 26th of December I stepped ashore at Brown Bluff on the Antarctic Peninsula thus having stepped foot on all of the Earth's seven continents. This is the most remarkable place on Earth.
Approaching Deception Bay
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Antarctica is Earth's southernmost continent, containing the geographic South Pole. It is situated in the Antarctic region of the Southern Hemisphere, almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle, and is surrounded by the Southern Ocean. At 14,000,000 square kilometres (5,400,000 square miles), it is the fifth-largest continent in area after Asia, Africa, North America, and South America. For comparison, Antarctica is nearly twice the size of Australia. About 98% of Antarctica is covered by ice that averages 1.9 kilometres (1.2 mi) in thickness,[6] which extends to all but the northernmost reaches of the Antarctic Peninsula.