My glorious summer holiday

On Saturday (5th Feb) as it was such a gloriously sunny day, and after working most of the morning in the office, I decided to walk over to Penguin River - around the coast in the opposite direction to King Edward Point. Anyone who knows me knows I am obsessed with beachcombing, so I walked most of the way looking at the ground, but did stop now and again to enjoy the wonderful scenery and the wildlife. One of my first stops was to talk to a yachtsman whose boat is tied up at Tijuca Jetty, just near the Museum - he is from Israel and is sailing single-handed - and was telling me how he had had a bit of a problem when in his small inflatable boat with leopard seals trying to bite it ... eek! He thought they were just investigating it ... yeah, right - investigating how to get him out of the boat so they could eat him!! Apparently he is a keen runner so is interested in going in for the South Georgia Half-Marathon on Wednesday - I wonder how he will get on, having been on a 42' boat for months? On a bit further till I met the little fur seal pup in the picture. While I was taking photos, he lumbered over to my rucksack and investigated it thoroughly, then when he realised it wasn't going to hurt him, he climbed on top and sat there smugly looking around! I had to wait until he got bored with doing this, and wandered off, before I could set off along the beach. I met lots of fur seals who all felt they had to growl at me, and lots of moulting elephant seals that I had to skirt around quietly so I didn't disturb them from their slumbers. The ones lying in heaps of rotting seaweed (i.e. a nice soft bed) smelt terrible, so I gave them a really wide berth. The beach was littered with old whalebones from the whaling days before they used every part of the whale, the odd fur seal skeleton from seals who didn't survive this year's breeding season, and lots of old wood washed up. Had I been on the beach at Spey Bay I would STILL be loading wood into the back of my van!

After a lovely walk along the stony beach I eventually got to Penguin River - a fairly wide and shallow river coming from the glacier high up in the mountains above. Lots of king penguins just standing around, moulting, with more elephant seals lying in smelly groups, and fur seals lurking in the tussock grass waiting to ambush me! I tried to walk across the river so I could walk over and look round the 'corner' into Moraine Fjord - I got halfway across and then the last bit of the river was too deep and I wasn't prepared to get wet feet so abandoned that. It was so lovely sitting on the grass just soaking in all the sights and sounds, eating my lump of cheese and an apple. I decided to climb up onto the hill and cut across back to Grytviken that way. It was very steep for me and I kept sliding, but I made myself do it and it was worth it for the scenery alone. (In the photo of the hill (above) I walked from bottom left to the exact centre of that picture.) I felt a million miles away from everyone and everything and it did me so much good. The sun was really hot (yes, I did have suntan lotion on!) and there was little wind - all I could hear was the tide on the beach way below me, and the birds calling. A pair of light-mantled sooty albatrosses flew low above me, checking me out - they are such beautiful birds.

Everyone had said to me that if I went along this ridge of land I should be sure to go and see the gun emplacement and the crashed helicopter .... why?!?! I am not interested in war - all it meant to me is people dying and families heartbroken - British and Argentinian, it doesn't matter what nationality. Why on earth would I want to go and gawp at the evidence?

I walked back across the high land beside King Edward Cove until I reached a point high above the cemetery where Sir Ernest Shackleton is buried, then slithered down beside the waterfall to where I took the photo of Grytviken and the cemetery. I didn't realise how weary I was and how stiff my knees were till I got on the track that goes through the whaling station, and I tried not to hobble in case anyone could see me! Then I had a quick shower and a lie-down before heading along the track to KEP for our regular Saturday night supper on base with everyone.

We started with fresh granary bread rolls with lovely homemade Greek dips - black olive, avocado and onion, and black bean, and a sort of cheesy custard (?!), followed by a lovely paella, and then a layered white chocolate mouse with raspberries. Yum!! A quick rest in the bar, then I set off in the almost dark on my own to brave the fur seals lurking along the track to get back to Grytviken. But I didn't sleep very well, my knees were sore from walking along the uneven beach, I was a bit sunburnt and I had a headache in my eyes from the fierce sun - apparently the ozone hole is just about gone from here at this time of year, but with absolutely no pollution to filter out the sun's rays they are incredibly strong and you do have to be careful. Poor me.

On Sunday morning I got another trip out on the jet boat to collect Ashley and Rob from Sorling and to drop Tony and Julia there for a three-day holiday. This time we did get some iceberg ice to go in our freezer to add to our drinks! I did a bit of work in the office and then had a quiet day recovering, a snooze in the afternoon to make up for my lack of sleep last night, then cooked myself a chicken breast wrapped in bacon and chips for supper, after which Hugh came back from KEP with our chocolate ration for the month so I now have 5 chocolate bars to last me till 1st March. That'll be right!

Old friends and new horizons

We have just finished a run of five ships in five days and are starting to enjoy a week of ship-free life here at the Museum. On Monday 31st Jan, the German ship 'Hanseatic' came in, and on board as Expedition Leader was a very special friend I knew when I worked for BAS in 1975 - Dave Fletcher! I had a really bad crush on Dave then and spent the whole time following him round, fluttering my eyelashes at him but to no avail, sigh, so I was looking forward to meeting him again after all this time (35 years!) We had a chance to talk for a while and yes, he was just the same lovely man that I knew all those years ago. He doesn't seem to have changed at all, but this time he let me near enough to give me a great big hug! This job is GREAT - not only have I been able to meet up with old friends from many years ago, but as I wander around the Museum I see photographs of others I either worked with or knew well - life here is just one big sentimental journey for me!

To balance things the other way, I am always meeting expedition staff from the ships who have worked with Chris, and all the women rave about how great he is, and ... "give him my love!!!" so I think this makes it even!!

On Tuesday 'Ocean Nova' came in and we were invited on board for dinner before they left to continue their cruise. After dinner we were invited up into the bar where Keiron, one of the Government Officers here, talked about the South Georgia fisheries, and then we were all asked to introduce ourselves and say what we do here. I said I was a Museum Assistant, and hope they had noticed the clean mopped floors and loos during their visit, and they gave me a big round of applause, which was funny! (By the way, that isn't ALL I do, we are all involved in the cleaning routine, and I am getting to do bits and pieces for the Museum Curator, which I really like doing. as well as general Museum stuff and admin.)

On Wednesday morning I was offered the chance to go out on one of the BAS jet boats to take some people across the bay to survey the hut at Sorling, which is needing some attention. The crew came across to Grytviken and we met them at Tijuca jetty, near the Museum, and put our boat suits on, before going on board and hanging on tight!! Once clear of King Edward Cove near the base we picked up speed and just about flew across the water - these boats can do up to 30 knots, but as we were accompanied by one of the RIBs (rigid inflatable boats) we had to travel slower so it could keep up. I'm not very good at getting photos in the right place on my blog, but all the icy ones are from this trip, together with the picture of Hugh and Ashley on the roof of the hut. We landed at Sorling via the RIB and while Hugh, Ashley and Rob inspected and measured the hut, I wandered round looking at lichens, and evidence of reindeer presence on the Barff Peninsula (antlers, skulls, poo etc!) and took photos. Then, leaving Ashley and Rob to walk over to St Andrews Bay where they were camping and taking some time off, Hugh and I got back onto the jet boat to set off home, diverting slightly to have a closer look at the Nordenskjold Glacier and take lots of pictures. It was stunning - we got to within about half a mile of the glacier front - any nearer and we risked being swamped should a large chunk of ice calve from the glacier while we were there. This trip was such a treat for me, and I hope I can get out on the jet boat again soon.

There are two other blogs well worth looking at:

www.southgeorgiajournal.blogspot.com - is from Matt, one of the Boating Officers. He explains more about the BAS base and work, and

www.racingyachtmanagement.com/blog/ - is from Ashley, the other Boating Officer.

Both these blogs make me look a bit of a wimp when you see what they get up to, but as they are just about half my age I'm not too embarrassed!!!

Poor seal!

The weekly Monday morning meeting was delayed until yesterday (Tuesday) because we had been busy with the Royal Naval ship in all day and most people were involved in various activities throughout the day. I walked over to KEP for the meeting at 0830 through light rain, and when it was all finished, Katie - the fish scientist - asked me if I would help her with their base Burns' Supper in the evening. She wanted to cook haggis, neeps and tatties, as we had MacSweens' haggis in the frozen food store, and I volunteered to make Cullen skink to start with, and Sarah, one of the Government Officers' wives, said she would make cranachan. With no other ships in till next Sunday I had time to get involved with the cooking, which included a vegetarian choice for a couple of people on base who wouldn't want to eat haggis. As we were getting on with the preparations I looked out of the window and saw a fur seal on the waters edge, scratching at its poor neck, and I could see that it had some sort of strap or rope tight around its neck, cutting into the skin. We radioed for the seal scientist, who was just about to set off in one of the boats so he had his boatsuit on, and he came with a couple of other people and they walked into the sea to drive the seal up onto the beach - if it had gone into the sea there would have been no chance of getting the 'noose' off it. I ran round the end of the building to try and photograph them removing it and as I turned the corner the seal raced past me - I was desperately wondering if I should rugby-tackle it, but they had in fact already caught it and removed what turned out to be the loop of rope and had set the seal free. This loop had inevitably come from fishermen discarding rubbish into the sea, the seal had played with it and got it round its neck, and as it grew the rope got tighter and tighter until it would eventually have, at worse, strangled it, and at least cut through its skin and set up a terrible infection which might still have killed it. You can see from the picture that the skin was badly damaged, and I just hope that the young seal will recover from its awful injuries.

I walked back to Grytviken for lunch and to put a couple of cakes into the oven (I'd had the fruit soaking in tea overnight already) - it had started to snow in the morning and carried on until well into the afternoon. On the way back I stood watching some young fur seals playing on a rock, with an elephant seal half-submerged in the water near them, so I paddled into the water to get a closer look and the furries started to swim around me - dear little things! Sometimes it takes me ages to walk the 1km between the two settlements as I stop to watch some seals, and talk to others (good job no-one can hear me!!)

I had a short snooze after lunch, then back along to KEP, two more fruit loaves into the oven there, and I made the soup. Katie wrapped the haggis up in foil and put them into a baking tin with some water, which was a really easy way of cooking them. Then she made two oatmeal loaves to go with the soup, and we put the veggies on to cook. She had asked everyone to wear tartan, but there is not much of that around. Alistair, the seal scientist, folded 2 white pillowcases up lengthways and safety-pinned them onto his navy shirt in a cross over his chest (a Saltyre!), Pat - one of the Government Officers wore an old BAS-issue tartan shirt as a kilt, with a wide paint-brush hanging from his waist as a sporran (!), Matt wore a large Saltyre as a skirt, and Sarah a tartan travel rug wrapped around her waist and pinned as a long skirt. I was wearing a purple polo shirt so went as a thistle, and there were a couple of other check shirts. Alistair brought out his bottle of Laphroaig and generously let us all have a tot to toast the haggis, and Pat did the address to the haggis after carrying it ceremoniously into the dining room along with Rob, playing the fiddle. It was a good meal, with Sarah's cranachan being a lot more successful than the awful one I made for Hogmanay!! Some of us then played Bananagrams in the bar, before the Museumies headed back 'home' in the near dark, along the track and through the remaining fur seals. I was exhausted!!

Lots of lovely men!

Chris has been telling me I don't post often enough on my blog and that it is getting boring, so here are some photos to liven it up. I look HUGE in my pinny, but it was just the way I was standing - honest!! The six nice young men in the picture on the left are part of a group with the Falkland Islands Defence Force and had been visiting South Georgia on HMS Gloucester to patrol the area around Cumberland Bay - I knew Geoff (second from the left) as he was at school with Ewan, and it was lovely to see him again. What a nice bunch of lads they all were. They had just come back from a long, long walk, so I made them tea and cake before they had to go back on the ship.

Some of the men on the right were Royal Marines and sailers from HMS Gloucester. The captain had 'kindly' volunteered them to carry some big sheets of plywood over the hills (probably around 2 miles) to the Maiviken hut as it is being repaired, and the least we could do was give them tea and cakes too afterwards!!! I also made a big tub of chocolate spread, and we put an out-of-date tin of jelly beans on the table, and one lad from Fiji had cake covered with chocolate spread and jelly beans stuck in it! What nice lads they all were too, and said how nice it was to get some real home cooking as a change to the food they had served up on the ship.

We had a lovely four days with that ship and also RFA Black Rover in, and even served up a nice soup lunch one day for the Commander of the British Forces in the Falklands, SG and the South Sandwich Islands and his wife, sitting outside at our picnic table in the sun. They were very complimentary about my lentil soup and shortbread.

It was sad to see the ships go, and get back to the peace and quiet of our lives here!

Correction!

Just a couple of random photos. One is the view from my office window, on a sunny day, not like today when it has been raining all the time!! You can just see King Edward Point, where the BAS base is, in the distance. The two ships to the left are Dias and Albatros. Drukken Villa where we now live is just to the left of this picture - you can't see it, but it is right next door to the Museum.

The other picture is of a lovely elephant seal weaner - I was beachcombing and went a little too close to him and woke him up, and he growled at me, but he isn't being aggressive like a furry.

Ewan has told me that the pale fur seal is not leucistic - but it is just a colouration, like I am blonde and Chris is dark (or was, before he went grey!!!!) - so it is just a blonde seal. Apparently it only happens in 1% of seals. I think you will agree, though, that it is a very gorgeous seal.

We had our drink to Captain Cook beside the flagpole, in the pouring rain, and the new flag was raised up the flagpole. Then a lovely supper with Pat and Sarah, followed by a long wet walk home. Now must go to my bed - if the weather is fine in the morning I want to go on another walk.

What a beautiful seal!

Today I had to walk around the track to go and see someone in BAS, and on the way passed this beautiful leucistic fur seal, so of course I had to take photos of him. The normal colouring is shown on the one in the background. Apparently about one percent of fur seals are born this creamy-honey colour. When he was working on Bird Island, SG, Ewan did a short film for the BBC about blondes having more fun during which he was cuddling a beautiful blonde fur seal puppy - I'm not sure if it is still on the BBC website, but you could google it just in case.

Today is Possession Day and we are invited over to the house of one of the Government Officers and his wife for drinkies at 6pm. I got this next bit from Bob Headland's book "The Island of South Georgia" ...

"On Tuesday 17 January 1775 (Captain) Cook continued sailing eastwards along the northern coast passing and naming the Bay of Isles. At 07:00, an inlet was seen and a boat was hoisted out to make a landing. The landing party consisted of Cook, the Forsters, Sparrman and a midshipman. ..... This was the first national claim to Antarctic territory and is an important basis for British sovereignty over the island. The bay was named Possession Bay."

So thank you, Captain Cook - I am sure we will raise a glass to you tonight. We were going to have drinks beneath the flag pole and a new flag was going to be raised, but it is bucketing down with rain so it will all happen in doors. No doubt we will get soaked walking there and back from Grytviken, but there will be plenty of hot water waiting for us when we get 'home'.

Our fresh water supply here at Grytviken comes straight down off the mountains behind and is collected from a dam just up behind the church. It is not treated in any way as it is so pure, but I think it might be filtered. It is the best tasting water EVER. We have an endless supply from rain and snow, but even so I can never just let the tap run and waste it. When we had a South African survey ship in a couple of weekends ago some of the scientists and crew on board took containers to collect some of the water from the dam, and then they got in and swam in it ... our drinking water supply!!! Euww! Eau de wildebeest-wrestler!!!

Must go and get along to KEP for our drinks party.

Out and About

Things seem to be settling down here after the busy Christmas rush and there is a little time for other adventures! I set off for my FIRST decent walk the other afternoon, up past the church and over towards Maiviken which is where the higher predator (seal) scientist does his monitoring of the fur seal and penguin populations from KEP. I think folk were doubting my walking abilities, as they had emphasised how 'up and down' it was, but in the event it was no worse than my daily walkies with Tess around the side of Bennachie at home. I left too late in the afternoon to go all the way over to Maiviken and back (we had all been invited for G&Ts with one of the Government Officers at 6pm!) so I just went to the highest point where I could see back down to where I had come from and forwards down to where I will eventually go. (See the photo with sea in it, and you can see the chunks of ice which have calved from a glacier hidden to the left of the photo.) It was gloriously sunny, there was no-one around, and I just sat and enjoyed the seclusion. There are only a few places we are allowed to walk alone, and this is one of them, but I had to take a radio and leave a note of where I was going and when I'd expect to be back. On the way back down to Grytviken I took the photo of the mountains and snow - the clouds over them are stunning, we get the most amazing cloud formations here, including lenticular clouds, which we also see coming over Bennachie too.
Then yesterday I had to walk back to KEP to sort out my laptop, and on the way I stopped to 'talk' to some of the fur seal puppies on the way. They are growing fast, and now that their mums go back to sea to find food and leave them alone for a couple of days at a time, they amuse themselves by playing in puddles on the track, or splash around in the shallow sea water, or sleep a lot. Their 'step-dads' (not their true fathers, but the big males their mums have chosen to breed with this next year) keep an eye on the puppies and can get aggressive if we get too close, but as the pups get braver 'dad' relaxes his supervision and they wander a little further afield. The two pups in the photo were having a great time in the puddle, and when I went and stood in it they came over to me to sniff my boots and legs. I did hold my hand out for them to sniff, but as these puppies are aggressive from birth, I had to watch they didn't bite as they have terrible bacteria in their mouths and it is very hard to treat with antibiotics. I would love to pick one up for a cuddle as Ewan used to, but without thick gloves it would be a bit foolhardy! Further along the track I went down onto the beach and sat whilst another pup sniffed at me and investigated this strange 'seal' when suddenly a big male came torpedoing out of the sea and charged at me, probably in defense of the pup. I managed to leap up and get out of his way in time, thank goodness! The fur seals are a great time-waster, they are great to watch (apart from when they are asleep!)
Last Saturday we had a visit from "The World" - if you haven't seen this ship before, google The World of ResidenSea - it is the world's first purpose-built residential condominium ship, a real floating palace. I was horrified when I saw it anchored way out in the bay, but still looming high above the buildings at KEP, and decided that I didn't want to go on board. But while the passengers were ashore and we got talking to them, I saw what a nice unpretentious bunch they were (I suppose they could afford to be!!) so I decided I would go on board with the others. All afternoon one funny king penguin left his usual haunt way along the beach to stand, facing the Museum front door right in front of the flag pole - people would come along and say "why, isn't that real-looking?!" and then the penguin would move slightly and make them jump!! They posed beside him to have their photos taken, and if they got too close he stretched his neck out and clapped his beak at them. What a poser - but when they all got back into the huge launch to go back on board, he wandered off again.
Whilst I was in the shop I met some of the lecturers who used to work for BAS in the 60s and 70s and it was so lovely to see them again. I also met Jonathan Shackleton who had worked and shared a cabin with Chris on another cruise, so I was glad to go on board, see the rat eradication talk (the woman who did them before is now back doing them, thank goodness), answer questions from the audience, and then have a drink in the very posh bar with those three nice men!! We weren't invited for dinner - probably too scruffy!! So we went back to KEP to the BAS base and had a lovely dinner with them. Much more relaxing!
Now we have got a ship most days, with an odd day free in between, which is a much easier way of working. It also means I can get out for more walks and away from the office, and go out and play with the puppies, which is all why I wanted to come and work here in the first place!