Yesterday was an absolutely stunning day on base. This was taken from the track looking back towards base. Last weekend the fur seal pup in the picture here with it’s mum was born. As their territory is right next to the track they are quite use to people coming and going and don’t get to upset.

I walked over to Myviken hut and read a book next to the lake until Rob, Kate, Jon and George joined me. We went down to the beach and were just in time to see the afterbirth of a fur seal. Since last weekend the beach is now heaving with pups, mums and large males all making a cacophony of noises.

Many of the seals were worshiping the sun with their noses pointed in the air.

There was a bit of brash ice on the beach from the glaciers at the end of Cumberland Bay west which was nice as the light glinted on the bergy bits in the sun.

After helping to putting a GPS transciever on a female fur seal we checked in at the penguin colony. Since last weekend the chicks have grown tremendously. Afterwards we went up into the ‘lake district’ with more stunning views.

This is Alastair he is the predator scientist on base studying the furl seals primarily – he will have his 30th birthday on base. He is from Wales and has worked for the RSPB and also in the Shetlands. Up until now he has specialised in seabirds. His great great uncle isEdward Wilson who died with Scott on the way back from the South Pole in 1912. This is what brought Alastair south and he will be here on the 100th anniversary of Edwards death.

Photo by Sam Crimmin

The team of Norwegian kayakers who arrived over two and half weeks ago on Pelagic from the Falklands successfully completed an unsupported circumnavigation of South Georgia. Yesterday morning after 20 days of paddling, (which has only been done on two other occasions) they came out of the low cloud and mist finishing at the beach next to the boatshed.

We greeted them by setting off flares and Jon had the sauna all warm and ready for them. The team, consisted of Simen Havig-Gjelseth, Sigrid Henjum, Tormod Austring, and Dag Marius Ammerud. After the sauna they got right to work washing and drying out all their equipment so the boatshed looked like a chinese laundry! In the evening they joined us in the bar for celebrations that went pretty late into the night.

Check out their website here.

We have all be taught not to eat yellow snow so why is Tommy?

The answer is simple! I was introducing him to the delights of ‘lemon sorbet’ while we were out walking the other weekend. We went over to Harpon to get there you climb up and over the ridge of mountains that divides the thatcher peninsula going through Echo pass to the other side.

There was quite a bit of snow on the pass which Tommy was determined he wanted to snow board on however, it melted away quickly in the recent warm temperatures we have been having.

Anyways back to the lemon sorbet. What it really is is lemonade powder I brought from the US mixed with snow and it really is pretty tasty.

The week has only just started but it has been very busy. Yesterday we took the government officer Kieron an his wife to board a new cruise ship at Stromness bay. It was meant to show up at 6pm but didn’t hove into site until 7:30pm. This meant that Pipit (Matt Holmes) had to do a transfer while it was still moving through the pilot door on the side. Getting Prion’s anchor up in the bay was interesting with 50m of warp/chain out.

Alastair and I pulled with all our might and found that we were hoisting about 200kg of kelp up with the anchor which we then cut free. We then put the pedal to the metal to get back to base before sunset at 8:30pm. For after dark operations we have to have three crew as one person is in charge of sweeping the area in front of the jet boat with the search light looking for ice. We had some small bergy bits at the enterance to the bay and it was a little windy with a light chop. The launches are built to deal with the conditions – so with the heaters on we were toasty and warm but it was still great to get back to base and quickly change for a BBQ aboard the cruise ship Polar Star.

The BBQ was tasty with some steak, pork and big prawns.

Afterwards Rob, Ali and Jon played their instruments with the onboard guitar player and everyone enjoyed a late night of dancing.

This morning we sorted out the jet boats after the late evening trip including refuelling and I was about to take off to the gym after a very late lunch when I got the call to go to the wharf and help bring a patient up to the surgery. Unfortunately a lady fell while walking on the tussock grass turning her ankle over. The Dr. asked if we could do some xrays. So Sam the base Dr and I did the xrays while I used my very bad GCSE French to try and talk to the patient as neither her nor her husband spoke English. After the xrays showed a broken bone we made up a back board out of plaster of paris to support her ankle while the swelling went down. This all took a while as we had to do 3 xrays and develop them one at a time which takes around 10 minutes for each one in the dark room. Then we put her back in the wheel chair and took her back to the ship on the zodiacs they provided. I did offer to take her out on the jet boat but they said they could take her on the zodiac without a problem.

The captain was very appreciative to Sam so he invited us along to see the ship and have cocktails. It was a fancy ship and we hadn’t changed out of our work cloths which were also covered in plaster of paris – oh well 🙂 So that has been my busy monday and tuesday so far. We shall see what the rest of the week has in store for us on base.

Oh finally the weather broke bringing lots of rain this afternoon and very low cloud cover.

Rob, myself and Tommy being silly in the hut….

The tent was covered in frost as was Tommy in his bivvy at 4am when I woke up. The moon was still high in the sky but it was getting light fast.

The waterfall next to our campsite on Saturday night that Rob bathed in the next morning – being a hardy scotsman!

Rob headed home but Tommy and I put our 16kg rucksacks on and headed for the hills. We went up to an unnamed peak that has the VHF repeater on it for a look at the equipment and seeing as it was such a beautiful day we had unlimited views of the Barff Peninsula and the never ending southern ocean beyond.

On Saturday Tommy and I went with Alastair and Jon to Myviken to count nesting penguins in the colony. There are new chicks hatching every day and the colony is a busy hive of activity with the partners sharing the chores of sitting on the nest/egg protecting the chicks and going out foraging for food. The ones that have been fishing all day come back to the colony through the tussock grass ‘tunnels’ in the late afternoon in groups of about 10. Literally you can spend hours just sitting and watching the activity and listening to the wonderful noises made. The smell is not that enjoyable but everything else makes up for that.

Afterwards we walked up on a hillock overlooking a lake with furry’s and the colony and watched the world go by in tussock armchairs. As we were sitting there a pair of sooty albatross kept on swooping around getting lower and lower until they dissappear from view over the side of the cliff.

We crept to the side of the cliff and looked over to see to our amazement that there were 4 beautiful birds perched on a ledge 20 foot below us.

When the clouds started getting lower and darker it was cold sitting there so we went back to the hut where we met up with Rob and pitched our tent next to a beautiful waterfall. Tommy bivvied out and didn’t get to sleep until 1am as the clouds cleared and it was a wonderful night for watching the stars.

On Friday night we had a birthday party/scottish dancing evening in the church. (above picture by Rob Webster)

The drinks were cooled in the nearby creek and the food cooked on the BBQ by Paula (boating officer). Everyone’s legs were stiff the next day after the gay gordon, strip the willow etc.

The band of Rob (BC), George (Boating Officer), Jon (Predator scientist) did an amazing job. As you can see two of them were dressed for the occasion.

The party continued till 3am. I left earlier of course 🙂 and made it through the gaunlet of sleeping fur seals in the pitch dark along the track back from Grytviken to base. This one is a juvenile pup…. more on furry’s later!

Unfortunately someone on base needed an xray done on their foot after a fight with a rock which they lost. This was the first xray I have ever taken and then developed in the dark room on base. It is made very easy for us with step by step instructions but also having the Dr. there to teach you means you can’t really get it wrong. The xray machine has been well worked in the last week as a cruise ship passenger was also in need on one today.

In 1902 there was a Swedish South Polar Expedition aboard a ship called Antarctica captained by Larsen. Six of the expedition stayed on the peninsula over winter. While the rest landed at South Georgia on 1st May 1902 in a cove which they called May Cove (Maiviken). This is a picture of that cove which is just up the valley from our base. This is where our beaker Alastair goes every two days to work with the fur seals. He picks up there fecal matter and studies what is in their diet (thinking about it I need to really ask what he is actually doing science wise!).

Maiviken is a beautiful place with a penguin colony and the whole area is covered with lakes. The hut by the largest lake is where we can go camping within an easy walk from base. As it is so close camping any night of the week is permitted it is a great way to get away from base for a while when required.