Yeoman was one of a 22-man, ship-based team to spend two weeks in South Georgia to honour the 100th anniversary of Ernest Shackleton’s final expedition to the inhospitable region.
There was a cacophony of sound everywhere, he said.
"It’s just stunning. [It’s] really hard to describe with words, but such a beautiful place to try capture on a camera."
As he witnessed aggressive birds feeding among the stunning beauty, he was harshly reminded it was a land of both life and death where only the strong survived.
South Georgia has an estimated 30million breeding birds, including 7m penguins, 2m fur seals and 50% of the world’s southern elephant seals.
But Yeoman was surprised by the numerous icebergs. It was unusual for them to be seen in the area.
"We saw the icebergs before we saw the island.
"It was kind of everything we had anticipated and more ... Seeing the island for the first time was just incredible.
Bad weather delayed the ship’s departure. Then the 2.5-hour sailing across the choppy Scotia Sea had all on board reaching for seasickness cures.
Living at sea was a new experience for Yeoman and the rough seas proved a challenge for a decent sleep.
"The first night we were all pretty queasy just adjusting to the boat, especially because they set off at full pace out of the harbour straight away," he said.
The combination of constant rolling motion, sea-sickness tablets and adapting to ship life sapped his energy, which made his bunk a welcome sight at the end of each day.
But there was no escaping the constant motion.
"You’re lying in your bed and then suddenly it’ll hit a wave and pitch sideways at the same time and you’re just like — ‘This is it, this is how it ends. We’re going over’."
Reflecting on Shackleton’s hardships made him appreciate the luxury of the cruise ship he was on.
"We were pitching and tossing around in the swells. But we were in a beautiful big fancy cruise boat and they were in a little tiny wooden lifeboat — they were strung together to get across the ocean to the island in the same weather or worse."
On board, evenings were filled with topical talks from an abundance of conservationists, security specialists, geologists, ecologists and history professors assembled.
"We had people on board who are just absolute bird nerds ... you learn so much from them," Yeoman said.
"It was definitely intense and full-on ... a load of fascinating knowledge and experiences. But full-on in the best kind of way.
Yeoman also shared ship life with former New Zealand prime minister and Antarctic Heritage Trust patron Helen Clark.
"Which was an absolute pleasure to get to kind of chat and meet with her as well," he said.
The planned documentary he was filming included capturing footage of the crew members and the expedition.
"So you’re kind of trying to get all those shots of people enjoying the island.
"We got to visit Shackleton’s grave at Grytviken; everyone had a wee toast around his grave."
An expedition team substituted a preplanned climb for an alternative. For about eight hours, ship-mates watched progress from the safety of the ship.
"We could all see them at the top as little wee specks. I think for a lot of the passengers, we were living vicariously through those guys doing their mountain attempt ... it was pretty special ... it apparently had people out in their underwear cheering on the balcony as the expedition team returned."
Close to his departure, he heard a family member had died.
"You’ve kind of got this constant, non-stop overstimulation and then suddenly it’s over and you’re back in New Zealand.
‘You go from this beautiful experience where you’re off the grid, out of touch with everything and then back into the messy and quite broken world.
"It’s just an odd thing to kind of try reconcile after just seeing all this all this wonder and beauty," he said.
- By Toni McDonald
