Shackleton, Whaling and Christmas Carols

Monday 18 December
We anchored at the first of our two stops for the day - Fortuna Bay. This was the day I got to follow in my hero's footsteps (one of the highlights of this trip for me) and Doug went in a different direction to look at his first colony of King Penguins! Quick bit of potted history (sorry to bore you but there is a reason for this coming shortly). After Shackleton's ship (Endurance) went down, he and his crew headed across the Weddell sea and ended up on Elephant Island, South Shetland with no hope of rescue (not smart but it was dry land) and Shackleton then set out with 5 others to get help. They spent 16 days (and crossed 800 miles) on the stormiest waters in the world (and yep I can verify that they ARE rough and it is summer here now) finally landing at the head of King Haakon Bay, South Georgia - be patient I am getting there, it just takes time as my brain is slowly freezing up). Unfortunately for him, help (in the form of a whaling station) was on the other side of the island at Stromness. Soooooo, he decided to walk across the mountains (as you do in times of need!) to the other side and that is exactly what I did - only I didn't do the full 22 miles, I only did 8 and it was one of the most amazing things I have done (and seen) so far on this trip - and there are plenty of amazing sights that's for sure! A group of 20 of us scrabbled up a mountain from the beach, crossed glaciers, visited the frozen Crean Lake before dropping down the other side by sledging down on our backs - you drop down hundreds of feet very quickly this way I can tell you. We then found the waterfall that Shackleton walked down (remember it was mid-winter and frozen when he did it) and across the plain to the whaling station where he finally got help and rescued the rest of his crew. He was one tough man; we were totally kn....ed just doing 8 miles! This is the most desolate place, inhabited now only by fur seals and penguins - very cold, windy and bleak. Nothing I can write can do justice to what I saw so I won't try but it was an incredible few hours that I will never forget. Temp at top was in region of -15 in the wind I was told - a bit nippy even by Norfolk standards. In the afternoon we headed into King Edward Sound to the town of Grytviken where there is a community of 30 or so people (most carrying out research of one kind or another) a church, post office/museum and Shackleton's grave (along with a fair few others) in the cemetery. Weather sunny and cold but we are in a sheltered bay. In the evening we went to the church and sang carols before having peppermint schnapps on the beach in the dark before returning to the ship. This (apparently) is the most southerly consecrated church in the world and is used for everything from worship to storing potatoes in winter! Penguins as far as the eye can see...

Photos:
* Explorer off Cooper Island (South Georgia)
* Iceberg from Zodiac

Tuesday 19 December
Another cold one! During the night we arrived at St Andrews Bay and were loaded into the zodiacs to visit half a million breeding King Penguins. I kid you not, the smell was truly awful but the scene was wondrous - penguins for as far as the eye could see, all along the beach in both directions. Had to fight our way through the usual (you get blase very quickly here!) seal colony who were not as keen on seeing us as we were on seeing them - and boy can they bite (I am told). You also would not want to have a headache here for obvious reasons.... That afternoon we visited Royal Bay where we saw the Ross Glacier - huge, magnificent etc - am fast running out of adjectives on this trip - sorry.

Photos:
* Doug & Baby King Penguin
* Blobby Elephant Seal

Iceberg Alley Wednesday 20 December
Christmas dekkies have gone up in the dining room, Doug is doing his washing in the bathroom and I am writing this to you and occasionally glancing out of the window at icebergs - bizarre really. The weather forecast is not good - you know that when the crew start battening down everything, closing portholes on the lower decks and suggesting sea sickness pills for those in need! This morning we went out in zodiacs to have a closer look at icebergs, chinstrap and macaroni penguins and Douglas Crag (I kid you not). It was absolutely freezing, the katabatic winds coming down from the polar plateau whipped the water to a frenzy and we got soaked - trying to take photos was
a nightmare but of course we managed it! For the birders, we saw blue-eyed or imperial shags, cape petrels, snow petrels and Antarctic terns. We now have 2 days of sailing down towards the Antarctic peninsula, passing
Elephant Island along the way. This is where we really start to see icebergs - iceberg alley I have heard it called...
Sad to leave South Georgia, it really is a beautiful and very special place (but damned cold) but more to come!

Photos:
* King Penguins
* Gentoo Penguin

Love Annie & Doug xx

ps from sister June - anyone who would like to send Christmas greetings to Annie & Doug - please email them to me at dansey@internode.on.net by 24 December UK time and I will collate and send thru to the radio room on the ship in one message (they have to pay to receive messages so if I collate into one message, this will be quite cost effective). Cheers & Merry Christmas everyone. June