Monday Jan 5 - The Scotia Sea
A day at sea as we make our way from Elephant Island to South Georgia - following Shackleton’s rescue route. The day started with a late brekkie at 8am followed by a lecture at 9:30 on Ice then lunch - the ship slowed to a near stop when 3 fin whales were spotted close by - they even lowered a zodiac with Justin & Erin (the undersea team) who made a number of ‘failed’ attempts to swim with these elusive creatures. On we steamed - with a lecture at 2:30pm on photo editing.
Late in the afternoon there was a biosecurity film and talk followed by cleaning of gear for South Georgia.
For dinner there was a special Antarctica themed dinner - we were invited to a hosted table with Cotton & Sisse (onboard photographers) - all served with a digestuion menu and free wine.
Tuesday Jan 6 - Approaching South Georgia
Up at 8am which seemed early as the clocks went ahead 1 hour during the night as South Georgia is +1 hour from Antarctica, The Falklands and Argentina. Another day at sea as we continued our journey to SG. We spent the day attending lectures (Penguin Passion, Whale Diving, Whaling and Sealing History) and of course eating and drinking. It was a fine day so we had a German version of morning tea on the deck (Fruhschoppen).
We all retired right after dinner as we were expecting to make landfall at Gold Harbour in the early hours of the morning and conditions permitting there would be a 3:15am wake up with a landing at Gold Harbour in time to see the sunrise at 4:00am.
Wednesday Jan 7 - Gold Harbour & Cooper Bay (South Georgia)
As it came to pass the night’s trip was very rough due to the ship having to navigate around an iceberg - as a result we arrived in Gold Harbour too late for the sunrise landing at Gold Harbour. First announcement was at 6:30am - the rough journey had left all passengers a bit bleary eyed but all still set out for a landing at Gold Harbour with very fine conditions - an unusual situation (even the day prior 2 other ships were not able to land at all or even launch zodiacs). The wildlife was very plentiful - King and Gentoo penguins, many Elephant seals with some Fur seals. After a 2+ hours it was back to the ship for lunch.
We then steamed a short distance to Cooper Bay for a zodiac tour and optional landing. Cooper Bay is the home to large colony of Macaroni penguins as well as Gentoos and Fur seals. On landing we made a steep and slippery climb through trussock (grasses growing on muddy clumps) to the top of a hill were we could overlook the large nesting area of the macaronis who only nest on steep hill sides. Our climb was somewhat hampered by fur seals who had made their way up the hill and were concealed in the long grasses - they seemed very aggressive when approached or even when not approached - fortunately they were females and not all that dangerous. (We were told that earlier in the season when the males are still ashore it is too dangerous to even land).
Thursday Jan 8 - Elsehul & Prion Island (South Georgia) - Dieter's Birthday
We had a smooth overnight passage to Elsehul Island and the day started with another early breakfast at 6:30am then zodiac tours or a landing with a very steep climb. I elected for the zodiac tour while Dieter opted for the steep climb up the trussock slopes (long grasses on muddy clumps) with aggressive fur seals along the way. The walk was so muddy and silppery that many turned back; of course Dieter persisted with a hardy few. This tour became known as “the mud-walk”, I was ever so glad I had decided not to go along. The bay is home to the nesting area for several types of albatrosses.
Later in the afternoon we had another landing at Prion Island where there is a boardwalk to view the nesting wandering albatross - one had made it’s nest just a meter from the walk - there were no chicks as yet.
We had a gala dinner at the head table with 8 of our new found friends - John & Moe, Susie and Denis, Leslie & Bruce and Tom and Diane. John & Denis generously offered to shout the wine for the table.
Friday Jan 9 - Salisbury Plain, Fortuna Bay & Stromness - the Shackleton Walk
Our first landing was at Salisbury Plain, home to 200,000 King Penguins - there was a very brisk and cold breeze, as a result the excursion was shortened by an hour; however, there was still plenty of time to see the penguins and 1000’s of new born fur seals.
After lunch the Orion moved around to Fortuna Bay where we undertook the “long” walk - tracing the footsteps of Shackleton and 3 of his men on the very final stage of their epic journey to the Stromness whaling station to seek rescue for their crew who remained on Elephant Island some 800 nautical miles away. The walk took about 3 hours rising to 300m - the downward trek to Stromness was the most difficult part due to the very steep scree track. While we were walking the ship moved around the cove to pick us up and give non-walkers a chance to stroll on the beach or at least up to the final waterfall where Shackleton and his men had to jump down on a rope in freezing conditions. We were more fortunate as the day had cleared to sunny and mild - above 0C.
Then like other nights it was back to the ship for showers, sixes, wrap up and dinner.
Saturday Jan 10 - St Andrew’s Bay & Grytviken
First landing was at St Andrew’s Bay - home to 500,000 (literally) King penguins. It was an amazing day - sunny and mild with snow covered mountains rising in the background. The site of so many penguins was amazing - there were 10’s of 1000’s of young chicks - aka 'brown boys' due to their funky brown coat which eventually gives way to real penguin feathers.
After lunch we headed to Grytviken, the only settlement on South Georgia where there is a museum and a research station as well as a small cemetery where both Shackleton and his right hand man, Frank Wilde are buried. Our landing started with a visit to this cemetery and a toast (with Shackleton whiskey) to “the Boss” (Shackleton’s nickname). We then had a tour of the defunct whaling factory (only closed in the sixties) and a visit to the museum where we were able to hand over a card to one of the curators, Deirdre Mitchell, who is a friend of our newest Walsh Bay neighbours, Greg and Nancy Incoll.
Then it was back to the ship for showers etc - at wrap up we were advised that we would be cutting short our South Georgia visit by one day and heading immediately for the Falklands as one of the passengers had suffered a (presumably minor) heart attach (Jim & Lois). So off we steamed with arrival in Port Stanley scheduled for the morning of Jan 13.