Pia Glacier - up close and personal

OK, I officially love, LOVE, LOOOOOOOOVVVEEEE this trip!

Due to the continued rocking and rolling during the night - so much so that my glass of water slid off the night table, but I woke up at the sliding sound and caught it just before it toppled - we got up somewhat refreshed if a little sleep-deprived. Since we had a long way to go to the disembarkation point for the day at Pia Glacier, we first played our one (and as it turns out ONLY) game of UNO. Roger dragged the cards with him all the way from London. I quickly ended up with my fair share (80% of the total?) of cards, which had my mother and brother chortling. However, fate is fickle, and they both soon felt the cruelty of "no green card because Marisa's holding them all in her hands" and had to draw, and draw, and draw... Who's laughing now?! After an hour, "we" decided to give up and pack up to be ready for the main attraction of the morning - a tour of the Engine Room! Yeah! yeah. Apparently their disenfranchisement did not go unnoticed as two other passengers commented on how "easily your mother and brother gave up. Boy, that game really got to them, huh?" End quote. Har har har.


I got to the tour meeting point in time to snag some of the scarce headphones - my mum close behind. Seeing as they were going fast, I asked for another for Roger. Patrizio (he of the "catwalk show with many models") promptly asked "where is your husband?" Husband? Ewwwwww. Yes, BINGO, the lack of resemblance strikes again. Unfortunately, I patiently explained that he is not my husband, neither of us are married, and - believe it or not - Roger is my brother. This had its repercussions later that day... But anyhoo. On with the tour.

Not much to tell, or maybe just not much that stuck :) 3 engines, 2 main ones, one back-up for inside the harbour area. 850 horse power each. They recycle and treat all the water before chucking it overboard and have a massive tank to store much and waste. Lots of important looking switches and signs and a bit LOUD. I took some pics and then made a hasty retreat to the bridge where I soon made myself comfortable in the Captain's chair. Much more my area of expertise, non?

In the afternoon we finally arrive at our destination. Pia Glacier. Pia Glacier. Yes, Pia Glacier! Pia Glacier makes everything better. It makes sleep uneccessary, cold showers fun, and breakfast buffet scrums an activity to enjoy and delight in. Seriously - NOTHING compares to laying anchor in front of a huge wall of ice, then hopping in a Zodiac to go WALKING on rocks just 20 metres away from said wall of ice... hearing it crackle and pop. Nothing! Well, maybe driving a tank, swimming with whale sharks, walking the wall of China, and sitting on an elephant. But Pia Glacier definitely ROCKS...also. :)

Oh yes, and Roger showed me how to use the Panoramic picture setting on my camera, so you will see that newfound knowledge being abused from here on!

Once again, they were a person short on an earlier Zodiac and I quickly volunteered to get that space. I ended up in a boat almost filled with a German group who were all very friendly and concerned that I was without family! For about 10 minutes. :) The "landing" was onto an outcropping of rock about 30 metres in front of the main wall of the glacier. Being in an earlier boat also meant I could get a prime shot of my mother making a rather dignified descent from the boat with my brother gallantly helping her (ehmmm, or is he taking a picture or me taking a picture...shame on you!) The pictures speak for themselves, so I'm just going to plaster the post with pics rather than words! Enjoy!

(Picture below on the left is by my brother - Roger Peek - newly contributing photographer to the blog!)

After some gawking at the ice wall, we then clambered up onto the nearby hill to a look-out point. Not even Patrizio-the-expedition-leader-and-entertainment-director's chatter could ruin it. I suffered an exhausting 2 hours of "Holland, are you single?", "Holland, why don't you come work on the ship for a year?", "Holland! Happy Single!", "Holland, I was once in finance and a stock trader, I wasn't always a guide" (accompanied by much chest-puffing), and "Holland, you left without me!" after I walked back down off the hill-top viewpoint back to see the glacier up close and personal. It appears that I have been renamed “Holland”. Great. Due to the frequent and loud use of that monicker by Patricio both on board and off, now even other guests are starting to call me “Holland”. As in, "Did you take any more pictures of seals, Holland?". AAARRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH.

Pia glacier was awesome, but the pictures cannot do it justice. The crew brought whisky and hot chocolate onto the shore for us to enjoy - whisky on the rocks, courtesy of Ice by Pia! (That's the Brazilian bartender pouring Scotch into my mother's hot chocolate by the way!) After a cup of delicious hot chocolate (without additives), the sugar shot to my head and I spent the next 10 minutes jumping in the air while my brother tried to capture it on Megabytes. My wild escapades got me noticed by someone else though... There was a professional photographer on board the cruise, as a guest, and after seeing my blonde hair flapping up and down in front of the glacier, he asked me to pose in front of the glacier, though thankfully standing still! I was Chosen...because I was the only one with blonde hair, and he needed something in perspective that wasn't dark. Yeay, whatever! I might end up gracing the cover of the BBC nature magazine!