The day started off with the ship being stuck - we had overnighted at Grytviken. Apparently the floor of the harbor is littered with jetsam from the whaling industry and the anchor had gotten caught on a cable.
The sky was clear but the wind was up. It wasn't looking promising for a landing but Laurie, the expedition leader, said we would go and check out the next planned landing sight as soon as we got the anchor untangled.
Luck was on our side. Up until we got really close to shore the swells and the wind were too strong but just rounding a corner made all the difference - the ammonia smell however, was overwhelming. The destination, Gold Harbour. The attraction, 25,000 pairs of King Penguins (with chicks!), elephant seal pups and very few fur seals (yeah!) It was interesting landing in the midst of so many creatures!
Just to give a bit of background on these landings, a scout is usually sent out a half and hour ahead to survey the shore and select the best landing site that will have minimim disruption to the wildlife. Next the guides get ferried to shore and set up a base where we can leave our lifejackets. Then, they set a series of flags to mark a path from the beach to more open area inland. Clear of the concentation at the beach we can make our way to where ever we want within the limits laid out in out briefing the night before.
Gold Harbour is a breathtaking site. There is a lovely black sand beach then tussacs criss crossed with braided creeks rising up into green slopes covered with more tussacs and moss then mountains covered with glacial ice.
The morning was sunny and clear and getting hot by the time we cleared the beach. The smell was gone, gone out to seas to where our boat was waiting - you have to love those katabatic winds! I waded south along a creek to the edge of the king penguin creche passing a single fur seal along the way. I was only slightly dissappointed as I was prepared for standing up to more pesky fur seals with my new found confidence of the day before!
I parked myself on a tussac next to an elephant seal pup expecting to spend an hour watching the chicks. The chicks were hilarious. They look like little blocks of light brown down with a little head on top and little feet below. There were hundreds and hundreds of them, all hungry many of them pestering the adults for food...or attention. Who knows?
The odd Gentoo penguin would rush through every now and then looking for all intents and purposed like she was late for a bus. The Adelies were nesting in the hills above the creche and were taking turns making forays for food - we'll see more of them in Antarctica.
The little elephant seal beside me was enchanting! They have BIG eyes and the cutest faces.
As always the CP's (camera people) caught up to me and I decided to head back to the beach away from the tripods. Steps down from the zodiac landing I parked myself on the sand in the sun with a dozen elephant seal pups on my right and a gaggle(?) of kings on my left and just watched the multi coloured pageantry. The time passed all too quickly.
We headed back to the ship quite reluctantly and headed down the coast. The sun shone but the wind blew so our afternoon landing at Cooper Bay wasn't possible, We did get out in the zodiacs for about an hour to cruise along the rocks where the macaroni penguins nest.
To end our stay at South Georgia, we did a turn down Drygalski Fjord with lovely low afternoon sun beaming down. They set up a table on the bow and had music and hot chocolate for us. It was a perfect ending to an a fabulous visit to the island. If I had to go home now, and not go to Antarctica, I would not be disappointed.
Shortly after leaving the fjord the sea got rougher and the temperature dropped. This morning at 8a they announced the first iceberg sighting. I can proudly say that I am the winner of the iceberg sighting contest with the time of 8:13a 27-Nov-2010 only 43 minutes from the spotting time of 7:30a. My prize: pengiun socks.
The iceberg was tabular - like a table. It was about 2 miles long, about 7 times the height of the ship and we got within 2 miles of it. One's sense of scale is quite off with no context except for waves. The motion of the ocean did me in for the rest of the day and I slept except for David's lecture on Antarctic seals and Wolfgang's lecture on tectonic plates. This is definitley not your typical cruise holiday!
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