Friday 11th March; 12th day at sea
We left the Bay of Isles in the early hours of the morning and anchored in Fortuna Bay around breakfast time, passing the Polar Pioneer who had just left the group their passengers who were doing the Shackleton Traverse from start to finish – we, by contrast, as well as most of their passengers, were only doing the last leg.
After the usual breakfast we all suited up and prepared to land – only this time there was a snag with the weather. The strong on-shore breeze made finding a safe landing beach difficult, and I was rather doubtful that we’d get ashore at all, which would have been a pity as it was very sunny. The ship eventually had to be moved across the bay to find a beach on the shore that was safe to land on – this took about 30 minutes.
The seals at the landing beach were for some reason quite placid, and didn’t cause us any particular problems as we wandered around looking at and taking photos of the large numbers of King Penguins.
After lunch we were due to do the hike over the hills to Stromness, so we got dressed up again and after a slightly tricky landing (the wind had died down a bit since the morning) we set off up the slope. From only a short distance up the hill we could see the whole of Fortuna Bay and the ship sailing off to go around the coast to pick us up on the other side. After a while the grass petered out and loose rock took over as we headed up to the pass. The wind also picked up a bit and eventually there was quite a stiff breeze blowing around the small lakes at the top. From the top of the pass we could see down to Stromness, and with perfect timing the ship sailed into Stromness bay and even the sun was still shining.
Stromness from the top of the hills looked like a small collection of rusty sheds, with oil tanks at the back of the settlement. The route down took us through loose shale and whilst the wellington’s were a bit useless here, by the time we got down to the bottom of the valley, they were invaluable as the ground got extremely wet – not boggy, just inundated with water. Close up to Stromness there were more fur seals, more vicious than the ones over at Fortuna Bay, and the station looked even more derelict. It wasn’t surprising that there were large signs warning you not to go within 200 metres of the buildings, and the cemetery, which at Grytviken was looked after, here wasn’t in a very good condition.
The zodiacs were ready at the beach and we were taken back as people arrived; we’d split up going over the hills, though Don McK, who had organised the thing, kept in the middle to make sure that everyone was OK. He pointed some of the reindeer, imported by the Norwegian whalers as a source of meat, out to us as we came down but they were too quick and far away to get a good photo. After dinner, the entertainment was from Don who gave a talk on Shackleton’s crossing of South Georgia with the help of John Peacock’s slides. He reckoned that fewer than 40 people had done this.
After the usual breakfast we all suited up and prepared to land – only this time there was a snag with the weather. The strong on-shore breeze made finding a safe landing beach difficult, and I was rather doubtful that we’d get ashore at all, which would have been a pity as it was very sunny. The ship eventually had to be moved across the bay to find a beach on the shore that was safe to land on – this took about 30 minutes.
The seals at the landing beach were for some reason quite placid, and didn’t cause us any particular problems as we wandered around looking at and taking photos of the large numbers of King Penguins.
After lunch we were due to do the hike over the hills to Stromness, so we got dressed up again and after a slightly tricky landing (the wind had died down a bit since the morning) we set off up the slope. From only a short distance up the hill we could see the whole of Fortuna Bay and the ship sailing off to go around the coast to pick us up on the other side. After a while the grass petered out and loose rock took over as we headed up to the pass. The wind also picked up a bit and eventually there was quite a stiff breeze blowing around the small lakes at the top. From the top of the pass we could see down to Stromness, and with perfect timing the ship sailed into Stromness bay and even the sun was still shining.
Stromness from the top of the hills looked like a small collection of rusty sheds, with oil tanks at the back of the settlement. The route down took us through loose shale and whilst the wellington’s were a bit useless here, by the time we got down to the bottom of the valley, they were invaluable as the ground got extremely wet – not boggy, just inundated with water. Close up to Stromness there were more fur seals, more vicious than the ones over at Fortuna Bay, and the station looked even more derelict. It wasn’t surprising that there were large signs warning you not to go within 200 metres of the buildings, and the cemetery, which at Grytviken was looked after, here wasn’t in a very good condition.
The zodiacs were ready at the beach and we were taken back as people arrived; we’d split up going over the hills, though Don McK, who had organised the thing, kept in the middle to make sure that everyone was OK. He pointed some of the reindeer, imported by the Norwegian whalers as a source of meat, out to us as we came down but they were too quick and far away to get a good photo. After dinner, the entertainment was from Don who gave a talk on Shackleton’s crossing of South Georgia with the help of John Peacock’s slides. He reckoned that fewer than 40 people had done this.
posted by Iain Burke at 30.1.06
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