so we've just been called up to do the Polar Plunge which means we're going to be jumping in below freezing water right now now here we go to say that going to Antarctica is like a lifelong dream would be a lie because it's a place that growing up I never even considered you could actually go to you start realize exactly where we are what we're doing and it's so exciting so I'm going to be traveling there on the ocean Endeavor on an 11-day expedition how we doing welcome on board thank you this is cool we'll be setting off from missu at the tip of Argentina crossing the infamous Drake Passage and then we'll have 4 days to explore Antarctica and experience as much as possible before making the journey back yeah I genuinely don't know what to expect from this trip I think I think it's going to be mind-blowing I think it's going to be amazing I certainly hope it [Applause] [Music] is wow there he is [Music] we are standing on a sheet of sea ice in the middle of Antarctica this is insane joining me on this trip is a big group of some of my closest friends and loved ones and we're all super excited to be sharing this Unforgettable experience together look where we are [Music] my journey began 10 days ago as I flew out to Buenos SES with my best mate James and then head down to Patagonia to have a week exploring round there everything that I hoped and dreamed Patagonia would be is right here I was traveling is part of a bespoke tour I'd organized with Intrepid Travel and the majority of the group are now flying down to ASU where we'll be embarking on our Voyage to Antarctica in a couple of days time the flight was only like an hour long and the views were amazing but the Final Approach in was super sketchy I was actually expecting people to clap CU it was a very bumpy bumpy R in I'm glad they did we were then transported by bus up to our hotel above the town where all the passengers on the ocean Endeavor will be staying before the trip you know Patagonia was amazing but it was a very tiring full-on trip lot of hiking and so it's good to have a couple of days here just to rest and relax before we embark on this expedition to Antarctica um I'm excited I'm curious little nervous um especially about the crossing because to get to Antarctica from here we go across the Drake Passage which is supposed to be one of the roughest seas in the world and apparently the conditions could be one of two extremes you either get the Drake lake or the Drake shake so hopefully it's more the lake for our experience maybe have the Drake shake for an hour so we just get it on video and that look cool and then rest of the time yeah nice and simple and easy also on this trip it's going to be my 40th birthday thought what better way to get over that hump then go to Antarctica [Applause] y anyway Jamie's just flown in all the way down from Winnipeg so the two of us are going to go explore the town theu is nicknamed the end of the world as it's the Southernmost city on the planet with the Marshall mountains behind it and the Beagle Channel stretching out in front the city is the gateway to exploring Tierra del Fuego and of course for ships heading out to Antarctica it's a beautiful beautiful town it's a beautiful day here as well lots of fun little souvenir shops cafes really whole thing seter up for tourists but it's not tacky or anything like that it's just a good vibe to it should we explore yes cool we are stamping our passports getting the cool Antarctica stamp cuz of course we are I'm not one for counting country trees or anything like that I might prefer just about collecting as many great experiences as possible but having said that Antarctica is going to be the last continent that I've yet to visit so that's going to be pretty sweet [Music] nice they always say you have to have King they I don't know who they is but apparently you have to always have king crab when you're in N this is king crab in garlic and parsley sauce and this is the seafood mixed platter nice looks very exciting here we go that's great it's very soft very very soft not too cheery or anything great taste to it the ship we're traveling on the ocean Endeavor can carry up to 200 passengers and we've got a group of 28 people here on my tour and one of the questions I kept being asked on the ship was how the hell did you get 28 people people to come to Antarctica so let me give you a brief 90-second recap as to how we got here I've been working as a video editor in London since 2007 and right from the start of my career I began filming my travels as a fun little side hobby then in 2013 I quit my job and went traveling around the world with my best mate James we went through 20 countries in 9 months from Hong Kong to New York and we filmed it all just with a home video camera and then I cut it into an 11p part TV style series which I then put on YouTube with no expectations of anyone actually watching it it was just a way of sharing the videos with everyone we met on the trip but fortunately the series took off so over the next few years I filmed loads more Adventures some with James others just solo backpacking and gradually my YouTube channel grew and grew in 2019 with the help of my friends Darren and Bev I organized my first bespoke group tour with Intrepid Travel we went to Morocco and had the best time it was a great success then after the pandemic I organized my second tour in Iceland and on that tour is where I actually met my wife Jamie and then over the next 2 years did a few more tours all over the world and gradually built up this big community of Travelers now Antarctica is a once in a lifetime experience so if you're ever going to do it why not go with a group of friends and other like-minded Travelers and so today James is here Jamie's here Daren a bevera here fellow YouTuber Patty Doyle's booked on my tour and there's quite a few few familiar faces from the other tours as well as some we're meeting for the first time and we're all just absolutely buzzing to be going on this Unforgettable adventure to Antarctica all right so it's a night before we embark on the boat this is Don that's Don that's his tongue they were having an official welcome meeting at the hotel but it was going to be everyone on the ship in one bar with 184 people trying to order a drink and it takes 15 minutes to order drink in that hotel bar so I was like why don't we just go to the Irish pu instead hang out there there's no information that we need we know everything need to know so all of my group are here I want to face can't hear you what a dick ack well today is the day that we're setting off for Antarctica this morning everyone dumped their bags in the lobby and they've been transported down to the boat now and they'll be waiting in our rooms and then at 3:00 there'll be transport from the hotel down to the pier to get us on the boat so this afternoon is when we're boarding it's starting to sink in now that the ship's actually here it's starting to feel a bit real but we've been planning this for so long and waiting for so long that it still feels a bit surreal you know how you doing Mike I'm doing good I'm feeling very excited now that the moment is finally here I'm excited we're totally not going to die on the cross I'm good I'm offet drama in ready to go feel much better now hello oh my oh my it's 329 we're supposed to be for 3:30 James is not here James the last listen I left Chris with him so I guess oh good oh crap wait I just realized what I just said everyone's just hanging around waiting everyone's super excited to to Antartica going to Antartica not very often you can say that is [Music] [Music] it well this is it ocean Endeavor just waiting aboard it's like a queue of buses waiting aboard how on board ready my love let's do it how we doing wel my board thank you [Music] hello how doing there you go this is cool it's our home for the next 10 days everyone in our group was staying in the category 6 Comfort twin rooms which come with their own Lounge two TVs and two showers that's a nice little space happy with it but Jamie and I had received a last minute upgrade from Intrepid as a thank you for filling up a decent percentage of the ship and so we were in the category 10 owner [Music] Suite nice very nice that's like a normal bath we have art we have art in our room something Picasso so we have mini fridge bathrobes for the swimming pool and hot tub these are our complimentary jackets to wear outside our view is just we're right at the front of the PO so we're going to see everywhere we're going this is so cool so cool yes all right so it makes some sense to hang out with you basically it's the balcony outside our room from our room we get right out to the front of the ship that's PTY doy down there you do actually know that guy mate that's our room off yeah okay we're leaving get to the boiler room mate the ships not going to start itself come on [Music] oh there a p alcohol non-alcohol alcohol looks like something from a Star Wars lounge or something it's polar called a blue lagoon oh my God I'm so excited Che let's do this just for to record James is on the ship he is here he just took a seasickness medication too early and so now he's asleep have you ever been on a cruise before how many people think this is a cruise we just had the briefing about everything that's going to happen and stuff in terms of Drake Passage apparently we're getting the Drake shake from tonight so and this is some of the winds that we will come up against okay so noticing those colors Blues are lovely like up here looks looks really nice good up here the forecast is roughly 4 M C's so I think we'll get a bit of the Drake Shake it's not like you know foring a scale of 1 10 it's not a 10 this is this is okay it's going to be okay you'll definitely feel it I'm scared let's get the drugs now we got a whole bunch of drug dealing going on to see who's got what I'm in 4038 best price my friend after the briefing we did a quick safety drill and then it was finally time to [Music] [Music] leave by excited super excited finally finally Antartica we are [Music] leaving how we feeling now we're on our way very excited very very excited yes so finally set off H groups buzzing how excited are you this excited yay woo [Music] yay I'm a Cru and T is that way that way I can see the Statue liberty already very is small of course [Music] yes as the evening Drew in we went for our first dinner on board followed by some drinks in the lounge and then everyone went to bed as we cruised out of the beagle Channel towards the Drake [Music] Passage right now there's it's a bit of a calmer than forecast see however that's because we've had some shelter from the very tip of Ti Do wig well good morning morning from the direct passage we started feeling the waves during the night so I was like oh here we go we must be in the storm now and then I looked out the window and it's actually super calm um I think the forecast is better than it's going to be but later on we're going to really really get amongst at it so I went for breakfast that was nice got like big full English everything got a full buffet breakfast going just got to get it whil moving around on the boat how we doing again it takes two full days to cross the Drake Passage and then on the third morning we'll be waking up in Antarctica so each day on board the schedule is shown on the TV screens of the various activities on offer but you can really spend this first Crossing day however you like you can relax in a compass club and read a book from the library there's also a spar saer and a gym if you want to be more active don't if I'll be using it especially going across the Drake pass in the main Lounge there's talks on throughout the day from the various scientific experts on board so you can really educate yourself about what you're about to see in Antarctica and yeah some of the talks were slightly more engaging than others again you don't need to remember all this if you're fancy taking out a new mortgage there is Wi-Fi available on board or you can save your cash for the boutique shop with lots of lovely souvenirs and useful items you may have forgotten now if you want to see the captain in action you can head up up to the bridge this the bridge of the boat like a little rope off area about to come in and see how it all works I'm just trying to film and also stand up whil the ship's rocking which is quite hard slightly challenging but really the best way to spend your time is out on the deck and keeping an eye out for any Wildlife there all these like Albatross flying around lots of wildlife to see Mark spotted a whale first thing in the morning so I'll cut your photo now Mark [Music] then later on Chris got this amazing shot from the front of the [Music] [Applause] [Music] ship but feeling good all the seasick tablets are working so far we've taken tablets we got wristbands we got cratches L our ear so we're just going for all the above to make sure it works out all right but the boat's great super comfy most of the groups seem be doing all right hope it's [Music] considered so paty just did his joke and no one got it but can you guess the [Music] movie It's Jurassic Park I was thinking like um for Gump or something what up famous Jello scene in gum I got to get more jello [Music] Jenny and I were like jello and carrots again let's see what B can do a better take yeah we were like literally that's why we one of the Reas we make [Music] [Laughter] Landing that was better always got the for yeah the waves are started to pick up a little bit this afternoon going down these cdos can't be quite interesting and then we put it in a tu in Tu and then those [Music] as the evening Drew in there was the end of day briefing at 6:00 p.m. followed by dinner and then as the sun went down we started seeing some icebergs on the horizon then we spent the rest of the evening just enjoying some drinks together in the lounge you're still the one I kiss good good morning folks good morning swells arriving from some directions throughout the night have caused some significant rolls last night we got no sleep at all like uh ship is rocking so much these curtain see here but just like going back and forth all by himself like so the lights going on and off there one point about I know 2: a.m. where we hit a really big wave and like we're lying in a bed and Jamie just got thrown out the bed and I nearly got thrown on top of a cupbo door doors were opening chairs are moving around the room so very very very tired after that but it all be worth it once we're there I'm sure we have cross the polar front or the Antarctic convergence and this means that we are biologically now in Antarctica luckily as the morning progressed the waters began to calm down bit of a drake Lake today it's been pretty smooth so far we're getting closer and closer Antarctica so it should actually be all right from here on out got a lot of fast to do today sort of preparation briefing sorting out clothes all that kind of stuff just come down to the mud room to make sure everything fits had to get my boots switched do a one size two build yeah it's just all a prep for tomorrow now so when we got the Zodiac ready to go how we feeling awesome hey we're ready to go how's the crossing bit I didn't grow up too much I didn't sleep much last night the the room was all tossed around so yeah but we're here yeah oh there a whale that's a whale whale wow hello how are you good evening so we're just ordering dinner three massive icebergs right here they're so huge why is there even a big one over there bloody that's like an island that is an island oh God Is an Island that's cug apologize for the crappy quality Clips on my phone as we're sitting here more and more icebergs are appearing on the horizon so just get a sense that we're nearly there and I think everyone's getting more and more excited I am actually starting to sink in where we are where we're going tomorrow I'll be there anartica how the are we in Antarctica it's crazy yeah that evening just kept cruising on down further south and you know went to bed had a decent few hours sleep and then I woke up quite early like before 5:00 a.m. opened up the curtains and suddenly anara was there [Music] [Music] it's hard to find any words to do this Justice Just the sheer scale of it it's just so beautiful or inspiring [Music] [Music] I saying on all the Journey Down here it doesn't feel like we're at the sort of the bottom of the world it doesn't feel like that we traveled that far but now it's seeing just all the ice and just everything around you it's just you start to realize exactly where we are what we're doing and it's so [Music] exciting so we're going to be landing over here we going get the Zodiac across to there and just go walk around H hello this is a message for SE kayakers in true Expedition style so we're just waiting to get cold up we're going to head down there load up on the zodiacs going to land in [Music] anara we have been summoned heading down to the mud room now Anar go what's up ready the time has come ready I think so I'm justed I'm actually a little hot Joy I have the best time let's go go go go how you feeling good excited yeah oh sorry Chris is full very very exciting let's go goodbye you're losing already wow oh this is something before we were going to actually head onto the land we were going to have a bit of an Explorer and cruise around the bay my name is I'm going to be your first driver so it's my pleasure and honor to give you uh all the uh annoying commands of what you have to do and especially what you shouldn't be doing on board okay going to be bumpy but I mean it's not dangerous don't worry and if you start hearing that there's like a lot of noises underneath yeah it's just because we're going on top of the ice [Music] [Music] we were already blown away by everything we were seeing up close from the Zodiac but then just up the ante we spotted a humpback whale so right in front of us and you can see a tail been drifting around and we just spotted a pump back oil just going nearly caught it on camera hopefully he's St being shy come on buddy come and say hello don't be sh you'll be on YouTube there he is for the I'm not going for it and I'm going to tell you why because yeah because the of the trumpeting and it's usually a sign of not distress it's there there you are so if we want to see it you know the best thing is for us to try to keep it these things all right up again they're super super lucky to see one on our first the entire trip yeah it was off in a distance at first and then it went down for a while so we started moving towards the land and then suddenly it came up right beside [Music] us I was really join to on the area [Music] [Music] how was that Jamie that was amazing guys I think you're pretty happy with Good Start mate home [Laughter] [Music] now we' had all that excitement with the whale but of course we still hadn't done the main activity of this morning which is actually land on Antarctica I have to Ste foot on Antarctica very first [Music] time boom we're officially on Antarctica amazing first steps on Antarctica right seven continents we did it seven together then um yeah yeah yeah seven continents is in 11 months I'm killing it see 71 7 out of seven boom 7 out seven 7 out of seven six out of seven oh never mind eight out of seven seven out of seven hey well done it's not about counting a list but seven continents how you feeling buddy great surprisingly not that cold either no it's we two days of being sick I'll do it again recording I don't know what I'm going to say I think that's the best start but also look at the penguin penguin right there there's a penguin so folks behind us we have lots and lots of breeding Gen 2 Penguins so about 95 pairs at the last count and there's a couple different ways to view them so if you want a kind of vigorous walk i' recommend following the flag path that way um you're going to be able to gain some elevation always following the flags path and never going off the flags we're waiting to do a little walk up around there but the Penguin's blocking the path we have to keep our distance one single penguin one penguin blocking the a whole operation about 50 people I want to hug you back little [Music] dude didn't appreciate how much was behind that big iceberg that drove up to until now you yeah it's good having the ship there just for a sensor scale yeah you could think this Lagoon's quite small then like wait a [Music] minute it's like you're on another planet or something it's incredible it's the nearest thing to being an astronaut yeah that's and going into Stellar onto an alien planet so incredible did you guys did you see the whale yeah yeah yeah we got it seeing a kind of things you only see on like David out we ni right in front of us [Music] I'm making out she's like I'm not in the mood too slow got to buy me a drink first right here we [Music] go come on love [Music] they're all coming after us they all want to get on the Zodiac heard the boutique shops open there some [Music] souvenirs just got back from our first zodiac out into Antarctica and man that was incredible so incredible and we got so lucky as well for holy moly wow everyone was just kind of lost for words you know you see from Sunday going this is just it's just ridiculous so it's so beautiful yeah great first morning out in Antarctica and we're back out again this afternoon we're going to go around to a different Bay Paradise Bay head out there and explore and then tonight we should be camping camping in Paradise Bay so yeah loving it [Music] as we ate our lunch we began cruising round to Paradise Bay and we'd originally plan to do another Landing there this afternoon but the conditions weren't quite right for it so the crew decided to offer us an alternative activity uh so we just got the announcement that we're going to be doing the polar plunge this afternoon I thought we might be doing it like 2 or 3 days in maybe do on my birthday but apparently it's happening right now so um I've been looking forward to this I've really wanted to do this but it's going to it's going to hurt I just thought I'd have more time to mentally prepare for it but nope we're jumping in now you're not doing it go team go right we're going to do it I'm not going to go first that's sure in fact I think Carl should go first if I don't mind it means I'm first at the hot tub James how you feeling super excited find your power the tone of my body I was napping rep the water outside is about - 1.5° c or around 30 F and when you jump they attach you to a bungee rope just to make sure that they don't lose anybody [Applause] how was it [Music] ABS let go see you how was it he freezing we're watching the guys jumping in and we do we have fomo guys no no we do not have it all here goes Carl Watson the man the legend hell here we go wo Jesus Christ it's like it's like in Titanics a thousand daggers stepping your I have to say though that my jump was spe spectacularly like I went to do a cannonball and then ended up just sort of panicking and rushing it so my knees got nowhere near my body and I kind of just limped into the water like go [Applause] Watcher you know James did his big dive in and Jamie just stroll down and did this lovely jump and wave for the camera how was the polar punch amazing actually it was really cold but like you're only in for 10 seconds and then you're out and you feel amazing afterwards I it's freezing let's not get around the fact it's absolutely freezing but you get over it so quickly it's just jump in out dry shot of foger done so but hey we done it look guys it's lovely it's beautiful it's actually quite warm you'll be fine how was it amazing amazing yeah beer please for how was how was the jump it was good apparently I jumped really far out which is a bad move sured it was a Head Rush yeah Head Rush and then when you go out guessing for your air yeah a little bit disoriented and then you go out drink a shot and you're the happiest person so yes definitely do the polar punch congratulations [Laughter] so it's 8:00 p.m. at night we were supposed to be doing camping tonight camping out on the ice uh which I was going to drop out of cuz I was feeling well I am feeling a little bit under the weather just needed like a good night's rest rather than uh sleeping on ice but then I got canceled cuz there was too much ice around the island we're going to sleep on just we wouldn't have been able to get there and get back so they've decided to put on a evening zodiac for us we're going to go just cruise around for an hour in the Paradise Bay and it's a really nice evening good light out there so who knows what we'll see but it should be very beautiful do you agree I agree oh thank you everybody we're calling for minkies please minky W please make your way down to the mud we are minkies very good okay folks did you all p a plun yeah most tce so we're going to get close to this area to see if we can see any seals but we will not go closer than necessary to the glacier okay so we're in a place called can you see how huge the the chest is the Torso how strong it is and actually look at her she needs to drive those pectoral fins that's why the chest is so large as well we're going to turn around so you the others also get a good view chewy it's like an old man trying to get out of bed in the morning the light out here tonight is absolutely perfect I would surrounded by all these mountains and Glaciers and the scale of them just hard to comprehend you know there's an old guy which I admire a lot he's been doing this for so long that he goes beyond the specifications and this is what the Penguins do and that's that species of whale whatever he just Dives a lot into the experience and he goes into this concept of we are but nothing we are absolutely nothing when you look at the con at at the scale of time and the things that happen here how long they last and the years have been there then you realize that actually we are but nothing we're just a tiny tiny on the map on the map is very [Laughter] important yeah if we're done here such a short time might well just do a Polar Plunge eh the life is so short the cess is even shorter it's going to be a long week [Music] you got a colony of Gen 2 Penguins here that have taken over this research [Music] facility it's 9:31 it's still so light Zodiac's been craned up for the night thank you very much man that was a good we'd had an unbelievable first day in Antarctica and it's a good example of how flexible you have to be out here one minute you think you're doing a landing but instead you're jumping in freezing cold water then you think you're going camping but end up on a beautiful evening zodiac Cruise so you really just have to go with the flow depending on the conditions but the crazy thing is we've already experienced so much yet this is only day one of being in Antarctica we've still got another three to go so next up we're going to be going kaying this is insane we're going to be landing on sea ice we're going to see loads more Wildlife go go we'll explore a volcano island we'll have a sun set Barbecue on the ship we're at the bottom of the world having a barbecue and there's going to be a big surprise on my birthday [Music] [Music] [Music] oh [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music]