Sea Day – Amalia Glacier

Well, at 4.30pm approximately. Until then, it’s just more lovely scenery, Sudoku and lunch.

And random announcements from the Bridge, such as the fact that, near where we are passing by now, there is a settlement of around 1500 Welsh-speakers, in three towns. The Welsh came over to help settle this area, at the request of the Chilean government. Well, there you go then. Apparently, their Welsh is still intelligible by those from Wales ‘proper’, unlike Brazilian Portuguese, which is utterly incomprehensible to Portuguese people from Portugal. I have witnessed this myself. When I lived in Caen, I had a Brazilian boy and a Portuguese girl in my class, and their common languages were English and French. They couldn’t understand each other when they tried in Portuguese. So huzzah for the Chilean Welsh people (or are they Welsh Chileans?).

After dinner, we had our photo taken in front of the glacier, out on the open deck at the back of Deck 9, at 8pm at night, in sunshine so bright we were squinting (sunset is 9.30pm-ish around here), standing in our shirt sleeves, as we did in Alaska. Allegedly, the Chilean pilots have said this is the best weather they have ever done this tour in for over ten years. I don’t believe a word of it. This is glacier weather. We always have beautiful weather when we visit glaciers. It’s something about the conditions necessary to make the darn things – it can’t be too wet, or they will flow too smoothly and quickly to become glaciers, and the snow will just rinse away. So the air here is always dry and clear. One of us does not understand how glaciers work, and I’m starting to think it’s not me that’s getting it wrong. Glaciers form when the snow moves too slowly and so it stays at cold altitudes long enough to accumulate. If it’s wet, it won’t stick. Stands to reason. It’s hardly rocket science. I’m not an expert in fluid dynamics, but I think even I get this.

Sea Day – Pio X Glacier

Although for some reason, the Bridge crew and some of the staff have decided it was named after Pope Pius the Eleventh, not Pope Pius the Tenth. Seriously, how hard are Roman numerals, really?

This glacier is MUCH bigger than the Amalia of yesterday. Proper sized. And, allegedly, the only glacier in the world that is growing, rather than retreating. Well, we are in the world’s second biggest non-polar ice field, so I suppose we shouldn’t be surprised.

The weather is so glorious today, it’s actually quite warm out in the sun. Very pleasant indeed. ‘Officially’, the outside air temperature is 11 degrees in the shade, but I reckon you can add maybe five or six more out in the sun. So, like I say, very pleasant indeed.

We have been in very calm channels while visiting these glaciers, so it has been possible to have lovely long soaks in the shower without fear of the ground moving from under you.  We should enter the Pacific at just about dinner time. Could get bumpy.

Happy Friday, everyone. Have a nice weekend.

P.S. Noticed something on the credits of a film the other day. What the blazes is a Biscuit Rig?!