Overnight we moved to the south part of the South Shetlands archipelago. Another glorious day with bright sunshine illuminating the cloud sheathed mountains towering over the crystal clear waters. First stop today was at Half moon Island. The island stands in the shadow of the magnificent Livingston Island, It’s the home to a wonderful colony of Chinstrap Penguins. Getting to them was quite a challenge as the snow was quite deep. You could walk on it for a while but would find you leg suddenly disappearing as the snow gave way. The Penguins were worth it though as were the fantastic views down the channel. In the afternoon we steamed into the large Caldera of Deception Island. The entrance is a narrow channel named Neptune’s Bellows, which leads to a massive bay inside a collapsed Volcano. The area is still active as indicated by the steam drifting up from the water. It’s all a bit spooky. There was a British Antarctic base on the Island until it was wiped out by a mudslide a few years ago. The buildings are still there, albeit a bit worse for wear. Some of the group did a swim in the hot springs emanating from the ground around the base. I declined as a biting wind was blowing down over the bay.