It is too hard to figure out how to write my holidays blog so I am just dividing it into topics! Starting with our beautiful campsite near to the Harker and Hamberg Glaciers on the shore of the Morraine Fjord (west side of the Greene Peninsula an inlet 3.5 miles long). The reef at the entrance is a terminal moraine.

Greene Peninsula is a mountainous cove between Moraine Fjord and Cumberland East Bay. It was named in 1979 after Stanley Wilson Greene, British bryologist working in South Georgia from 1960; with British Antarctic Survey (BAS), 1969-74, and the Institute of Terrestrial Ecology, Penicuik, from 1974.

We were dropped off with all our equipment including some dry wood to burn for our first nights campfire, Tommy’s snowboard (he is ever hopeful) and two tents. We were dropped off on Sudan beach which is a small shingle beach 0.3 nautical miles (0.6 km) south of Dartmouth Point, on the east side of Moraine Fjord, South Georgia. It was named in 1951 after the chemical stain used in the preparation of histological specimans collected by FIDS.

Tommy wanted to bivy so Rob and I each had a tent (luxury). After a first night being chilly Tommy made a mattress out of tussock grass in am attempt to make a flat surface and insulate himself from the snow!

We collected firewood from the beach that had come from the wrecks at enterance of the fjord. Much needed warmth as it was -7C at night.

We dried our gloves, boots, socks etc by the fire unfortunately a few things got a bit close and were worse for wear afterwards!

Maybe I should have taken my winter boots as my leather ones were well and truly frozen when I went to put them on in the morning. Thanks to heat pads life was a little more comfortable once I got them on!

As humans create about 1 litre of condensation whilst sleeping the inside of the tent was covered in ice crystals which had to be carefully avoided when trying to get out of the tent otherwise a wet sleeping bag was the result!

The view from my tent as the sun rose of the Harker and Hamberg Glacier was stunning.

This was a great exercise for me learning how everything fits in my rucksack – snow shoes, crampons, ski poles, avalanche probe and shovel, ice axe, expedition down bag etc. My winter kit weighs 30kg (66lbs) in total which is what I need to be able to carry at high altitude come January everyday so this is all good practice.

We cook on an optimus primus parrafin stove which on chilly mornings takes a lot of meths to get going. The water was from a stream that was freezing over and within 5 minutes the nalgene bottles lids were frozen on. There were ice crystals forming in the bottle indeed even a stopper of ice so the water couldn’t be poured out if left in for a while. I taught Tommy about using Nalgene bottles as hot water bottles which also means you have water that is not frozen for that first morning drink. Also about using snow to clean the pans out as it is abrasive. The water in the pot was taking 3 minutes to form a 2mm complete crust on top while it was in the queue to be boiled and leaving the pot handle on the lid was necessary to stop it from freezing shut.