.png)
Christie: It was foggy that day. The cold grey blanket was thick, hiding us from the world. But as quickly as they appeared, the fogs parted to reveal land. Could it be that Antarctica had chosen to sneak up on us overnight? Big and small masses of ice stoically watched us, undisturbed by the humans peering over the rails of their big ship. Finally, Antarctica.
The speedboats, or "Zodiacs", were black inflatables with enough space for 14 people to pack together on their floating platform. We coasted among islands of sea ice towards the sound of penguins and seals as the distant call of whales brought comfort to the cold fragile air.
One thing I didn't rely on was rain - in a place so far from the heat of the equator. Yet it rained. Eventually, however, the clouds parted to reveal a startlingly beautiful sunset, shocking even the veteran expeditionist Robert Swan, who had come to Antarctica countless times. In its way, Antarctica was welcoming us to its shores.
那日，大霧漫天。灰冷霧毯籠罩天地，隱藏著我們的身影。迷霧形成得快，卻也消散得快。不久，陸地重現眼前。莫非這一夜間，南極已悄悄接近我們？人類在萬噸巨輪上窺視著這方世界，大小各異的冰塊靜靜凝視，絲毫不懼。南極，我們來了！
寒風凜冽之時，海豚遠方的呼喚帶來一絲慰藉。我們坐上足以容納約14人的Zodiac黑色橡皮艇在冰島之間巡航，朝著南極和海豹的叫聲駛去。
在這遠離炎熱赤道的世界中，我從不預計會下雨。然而，一場雨淅瀝而至。最終，雲層散開。眼前所見，是驚人的美麗日落。美景如畫，更震驚了探索南極多次的探險家羅伯特·斯旺。南極，正以其獨特方式歡迎著遠方的客人到來。