My Love Affair

6 Mar 2009

My Love Affair

By Blog.Admin

5 March 2009

My love affair with South Georgia continues unabated. I can only imagine what Captain James Cook and his crew on the Resolution must have thought when they first laid eyes on South Georgia. I can imagine why Sir Ernest Shackleton’s wife gave instructions to have her husband laid to rest at South Georgia. I can imagine returning to South Georgia again and again.

Last night we tied up at King Edward Point opposite Grytviken after a lovely afternoon hiking and beachcombing at Godthul. Earlier in the day strong winds had prevented us from landing at Moltke Harbour and St. Andrews Bay.

South Georgia’s first land-based whaling operation was established at Grytivken in 1904 by Swedish captain Carl Larsen. Grytviken is one of a number of largely intact rusting whaling stations that dot the east coast of the island. Grytviken was also the scene of the first skirmish between Britain and Argentina in 1982 and it is the final resting place of Sir Ernest Shackleton. In fact, I believe that on this day 87 years ago the Boss was finally laid to rest.

A museum and church lie adjacent to the remains of the whaling station. All of these structures lie at the end of a picturesque bay. To the East the giant snow and ice clad peaks of the Allardyce Range dominate the skyline. To the West, a large bluff provides protection and a vantage point, the very same vantage point of the famous Australian photographer, Frank Hurley.

After toasting the Boss we enjoyed a visit to the museum. The museum houses some remarkable artefacts form the whaling days and some remarkable wildlife exhibits including a humpback whale foetus.

After throwing the lines at Grytiken we sailed for Husavik, another picturesque bay north of Grytviken. Husavik is one of three adjacent harbours, all home to whaling stations. The other two are Leith Harbour and the more well known Stromness where Shackleton and his two companions arrived after crossing the rugged interior of South Georgia following their harrowing boat journey from Elephant Island in the James Caird.

At Husavik we picked up three seal biologists and an oceanographer headed for the Falklands. They’ve been studying Elephant Seals and we look forward to a first hand account of the results of their work in the coming days. Shortly thereafter we decided to abort an attempt to retrace in reverse the final leg of Shackleton’s journey from Fortuna Bay to Stromness, once again due to strong winds. Well every cloud does have a silver lining. We sailed around the corner into Fortuna Bay and found a protected cove rich in wildlife and gorgeous scenery. Beautifully lit mountain tops, glaciers, Reindeer, King Penguins, Fur Seals, Light-Mantled Sooty Albatross all against a lush green shoreline made for a beautiful afternoon. I cant wait to review today's images.

I’m ready for a kip now as I am a wee bit tired after enjoying the hospitality of the good folks that call the British Antarctic Survey base at King Edward Point home and tomorrow morning the first zodiac leaves for Prion Island, home to nesting Wandering Albatross at 5.15am!

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