What was so compelling to me about this particular outing, though, was the combination of the small formations we could paddle right by with feeling dwarfed by the giant icebergs which we were not allowed to paddle near because they often rock back and forth, and so much is hidden under the water and pieces could break off. I felt small and wondrous.

It was no idle warning to us that large icebergs and the glaciers on land could calve, as a chunk of ice fell off the glacier just as one of our crew was paddling near. My husband and I were sheltered behind an iceberg, but we heard our teammate yelling to her tandem partner, “Paddle! Paddle! Paddle!” as they turned and paddled as fast as they could to stay ahead of the wave the calving caused.

We were gifted with another whale encounter, a minke whale circled around our group of kayaks inside a small harbor. We watched in silence as it leisurely swam, surfacing regularly, as if it was taking a stroll in the park and we were the wildlife of interest, like squirrels in a tree.

Our last paddling adventure was at Half Moon Island, by this time we had moved back up north to the South Shetlands. There were no icebergs and we made our way around in slightly choppy waters. This made me all the more appreciative of the favor the weather gods had shown us with such still waters among the icebergs.

Making it to Antarctica completed my one lifelong goal of visiting all seven continents. So having been technically all around the world, the unique and glorious days kayaking in Antarctica have pretty well topped the list as the most magical of all my worldwide adventures.