SOuth Georgia

16th:

Blue sky, calm seas, 6 deg and unbelievable wind as we sail along coast of Sth Georgia. Stunning craggy snow capped peaks with sheer sides covered in scree, fall straight to the water.

Easy Zodiac landing to the old cemetery and Shackleton's grave, surrounded by "juvenile" Elephant seals and fur seals with pups. Penguins and seals ignore us as we stroll past rusted out boilers and vats, windlasses and decaying old jetties. A rusty whaler, harpoon gun on the bow, lies beached  and silent, but somehow sinister. The old baltic pine church is beautiful; prefabricated in Norway, complete with library full of well worn books, wood heater. 3 crosses on the hillside are a memorial to young 22 yr old troops stationed here after the Falklands war. Bored, and after too much drink, they thought they could swim out to a buoy in the bay….

Way too little time in the museum, replete with a replica of the wooden lifeboat  "James Cairn" in which Shackleton and his men made the trip from Elephant Is to Fortuna Bay, east side of Sth Georgia. This afternoon we retrace their steps overland from this to Stromness, another whaling station. It's a 5.5k walk up over the peninsular's spine. They did it in winter……

Alas 40 kt winds prohibits our landing; we sail around instead, to a bay with 2 eerie deserted Norwegian whaling stations, Stromness and Leith, ghost towns of rust and ruin. The Falklands war apparently started here, when an Argentinian company was given rights to salvage metal……. 

We're not allowed within 200m of these old settlements, so great is the risk of flying iron. What a shame these places weren't preserved for their history… It's all part of the Antarctic story. 

We walk amongst the seals, penguins and introduced reindeer, back up the braided creek to the waterfall that Shackleton had to negotiate in winter. Terns are nesting in the exposed rocky creek bed…… clearly there are few predators. We walk back in the late evening gloom; a wonderful long soft light that seems to make the world glow pink. A few people fall in sink holes or seal wallows, shit up to their armpits. The smell is just awful!!

Back on board and up to the Polar Bear Bar - two great musicians among the crew, Jeff and Roger jam away on guitar and keyboard. They warn us that tomorrow will bring a strong north wind, and the landings may not be possible….

!7th:

We sailed NW overnight, and wake to find ourselves anchored in a millpond! No wind and 8 deg. This is the Salisbury Plain, square km's of wildlife as far as the eye can see. It's like walking into a Richard Attenborough documentary. This is the home and breeding grounds of the King Penguin, estimated 80,000 pairs. 

Words can not describe the wonder of this place…pairs dancing a courtship ritual; brooding birds giving us a peek now and then of their egg as they preen; year old young are balls of fluffy brown down; miserable moulters huddled in groups (they starve for 3 weeks while they moult); fledglings flapping their wings as exercise before they launch off in to the sea. Squabbles and fights break out, beaks clack, wings slap, and everywhere the constant trumpeting of adults, chirping of the young looking for food… How do they ever find each other? The smell and the noise is unforgetable..

Everywhere are fur seals; bulls protecting harems, nurseries of the cutest little black pup.  Adults are extremely defensive, and launch themselves at you if you get too close. Giant petrels fight with gannets over an unfortunate dead seal, a petrel chick sits unguarded in it's nest……. everywhere is a story of life and death, and a cacophony of sound, languages and instincts we will can only imagine…..

The temp drops suddenly to zero, and soft rain starts as we head back to the ship. Two hours sail takes us to Prion Is, the nesting ground of the wandering Albatross….

I'm in the second wave of groups to land - we've seen the others come back soaking wet from heavy rain, and very cold. There's a huge swell as we get into the zodiacs - you have to get the timing right. We skim and thump through a sea of giant kelp, seals porpoising around us; past craggy rocks awash with fur seals and slimy kelp. 

Scobie, a weathered Aussie with a Manchester accent , 40 something years is the Antarctic and man in charge of Zodiacs, designed and built the boardwalk here. Good job. Seals hop and flop in front of us as we climb the steps - there are hundreds, mainly pups, amongst the tussock grass. We're more fortunate with the rain.

Atop the hill giant wandering albatross nest, oblivious to our awe…. Almost supercilious.  They stretch and yawn occasionally, preen a little. A couple land (badly), one struggles to take off, awkwardly….. they need the height and the headwind…..

We're halfway home in the Zodiac when news comes that they have to reposition the boat. The weather is deteriorating rapidly…. we cruise around for a while, in freezing horizontal rain, then go back and wait on shore for the go ahead.

Metre swells on the way back. I'm in the front; we crash through waves, dumped with icy cold spray. It awesome fun, freezing fun (and I can think of another f word to put in front!!)….

And then….. we even saw a couple of (Southern Right ) whales, tails in the air as they dived. We're told in the debrief, that we're extraordinarily lucky to get into all these places, and I believe it. Very blessed…