Description
It was as daring an adventure as has been made in modern times. For the first time, three men were going to kayak the 800-kilometer length of the Antarctic Peninsula.
The peninsula is a finger of land jutting north from the northwestern corner of the ice shelf. It is there that the swells of the Southern Ocean, with a world to gain speed, meet the ice and rock of the coldest continent. Temperatures reach zero at their highest. Icebergs bigger than ships lie in wait. Brash ice-smaller chunks-can fill a bay and completely cut off access to shore. The Antarctic wind-the katabatic-is notoriously brutal, and can go from zero to gale force in an hour.
Here is the tale of the journey-undertaken by three New Zealanders-and what they found on the edge of 14 million kilometers of ice and rock. They were paddling within sight of the epic landings of the sealing captains of the nineteenth century, and their story is here, too, along with notes on many of the greatest explorers of the frozen south.
From the first day, when they attempt to make a midnight camp in the middle of a penguin rookery, to the grueling final hours, this is a rare adventure, told with wit and perception-a new classic of the genre.
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