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It's been a Big 24 hours on the Aurora Australis, I hardly know where to begin. The seas have settled and people we have only seen occasionally since our departure have re-surfaced to enjoy the great food. Yesterday afternoon kicked off with Sprunky's talk about Crop Circles. Shortly after this we were all called to the ship's restaurant for a meeting - King Neptune had arrived. No one felt inclined to point out to the King that due to our slower than planned progress we had not yet crossed 60 degrees south! After the prerequisite bowing and chanting to the King, proceedings began. King Neptune was so pleased to be here that he deemed that only crossings made on the Aurora Australis could be considered legitimate, so all aboard who had previously been welcomed on the Nella Dan, the Polar Bird or the Vasiliy Golovnin stepped forward. The excitement continued after Neptune's departure with the sighting of our first iceberg for the trip (59 25S, 120 14E, 388 metres long - congratulations Peter Corcoran on your correct guess in the sweep). We crossed the 60 degrees line late last night. Clocks went back another hour - so we are not on Casey time,UTC+8 (3 hours behind Hobart). This morning has seen many avid berg watchers on the bridge - but alas it appears that one was a loner. The recording of iceberg observations has commenced under DVL Rob's supervision. Satellite ice imagery suggests very favourable ice conditions for an easy transit into Casey tommorow night/Saturday morning. Briefings and planning now well underway as the ship has settled into calmer seas. The third and final CPR for this leg of the voyage is still following us, due to be hauled in tonight unless we reach ice before then. Cheers from Nicki, Rob and Peter.
Map
A map showing Australia and Antarctica. The map shows the journey of one voyage that has occured in the season, with each route highlighted in a distinct colour.