SUB-ANTARCTIC ISLANDS

The Southern Ocean was a wild one. The kind where salt caked hair stood up on ends and seasickness remedies were made redundant… The Southern Ocean became my ocean with my eyes closed, leaning over the centre of the bow, I learned how to fly. Dipping and soaring like my ancestors and those yet to come…

Right there, in that moment, I was the point. The point that the 360-degree horizon line revolved around in a wavy and uncertain chaos whilst howling wind whipped my cheeks. Albatross fifty times strong surrounded me and, despite the isolation, I did not feel lonely. I often found myself wanting to stop time on our voyage south, and, for a split second, I realised I could, before a gentle rock from a wave would re-emphasise the transition from present to past. I will cherish the beautiful memories from this voyage for the rest of my life.