Well - that's it for the Antarctic mainland as we sail away towards South Georgia after 8 astonishing days and 12 landings.

And I thought I'd prepared myself for the trip - I'd read the books, watched David Attenborough, scrutinised the Europa website. But there were so many things to surprise us. I didn't expect: The scenery to be so incredibly beautiful The penguin rookeries to be so smelly There to be so much history of exploration The food on board to be so damned good The Europa to have so many ropes The Weddell Sea to be so cold And I look forward enormously to other surprises to come in the next 5 weeks. Bring it on!!