More pictures from King Edward Point

Here is a second batch of pictures from our trip to King Edward Point (because my computer wouldn’t let me upload them all at once!)

A Falklands conflict helicopter wreck…

Ernest Shackleton’s memorial cross…

And his grave…

South Georgia once the snow had melted a little…

And finally, a beautiful morning as we left Grytviken – it was such a calm day that ice pancakes were forming on the sea.

After two days at sea we are now just approaching Signy Island, in the South Orkney Islands.  Signy is a very special place to me, as I spent seven seasons there.  I am very much looking forward to seeing it again.  

King Edward Point

After leaving Bird Island last Monday, we headed east along the north coast of mainland South Georgia.  The ship is doing a round of all of the island stations, resupplying them for the winter and removing waste and cargo, and all of the summer staff.  It will then take us all back to the Falklands so we can fly home.  Although the ship does a lot of scientific work, on this journey it’s role is mostly logistics.

 

After a short detour to see the whaling stations last Monday we then continued along to Grytviken.  At Grytviken there is another BAS research station (King Edward Point), Grytviken whaling station, a museum, Shackleton’s grave and memorial cross.  It is a popular stop for the cruise ships that come down to South Georgia and two have popped in briefly to have a look around while we have been here.  We have been exceedingly privileged to spend a week moored here, and have been out and about each day exploring the mountains.  The scenery is spectacular and the weather has been dramatic and beautiful.  The bonus time here has come from the fact that spare time has to be built into the ships schedule to account for days lost to unpredictable weather or unforeseen issues- at present we are nicely on schedule as Bird Island took less time than planned.  Here are a few pictures of our adventures.

The SDA moored at King Edward Point with the whaling station behind…

A visiting cruise ship…

Grytviken whaling station…

A whaling ship…

The whalers church and library…

I’ll put a second batch of pictures from Grytviken on here shortly.  Yesterday we set sail for the South Orkney Islands, to shut down the research station at Signy Island for the winter, so we are now at sea.  We are due to arrive at Signy on 28^th March. 

Leaving Bird Island and adventures

On Monday morning the “big red taxi” arrived at Bird Island.  This is the new polar research ship, the RRS Sir David Attenborough (the SDA).  I’ve not seen her before as she was still being built last time I came South, so I am pretty excited to be travelling home on her. 

The day of the last ship before winter dawned grey and foggy…

…and the SDA appeared out of the gloom like a huge red shadow.  

  

Boats were soon sent ashore and we all set to work.  The last ship call of the season is always busy as all the cargo and waste from the summer season has to be dragged down to the end of the jetty by hand to be shipped away and supplies come in for the four people who are staying for the winter.  Additional people from the ship come ashore to help out.

After a long and busy day, the work was complete, and the nine of us that were departing, said our fond farewells to the winterers and headed onboard the SDA.  Some people have been at Bird Island for 18 months, and the Bird Island family of friends becomes torn apart so this is always a bit of an emotional time for everyone as people head back to the big wide world.

The new SDA ship is enormous, very new and very civilised, rather like a floating hotel!  We were given our cabins and soon settled in.  Overnight we set sail, heading east along the north coast of South Georgia, towards the research station there at King Edward Point.  The weather had also decided it was winter, and by the next morning, snow had started to fall, both back at Bird Island, and on the ship.

South Georgia is breathtakingly beautiful and the journey to King Edward point was filled with lovely icebergs.  The weather here is notably much sunnier than at Bird Island, despite only being approximately 50 miles along the coastline.    

As the ship was ahead of schedule we detoured round to get a glimpse of some of the disused whaling stations that are present at Leith, Stromness and Husvik from the ship along the way. 

These are protected sites (and very dangerous) so we were not allowed to land, but it was lovely to get a glimpse of them from onboard.  Afterwards we continued to King Edward Point, where we are staying for a few days.  We have been having some fun expeditions here, so I’ll put some pictures of our adventures there on the next blog.  Meanwhile the webcam is still up and running for those wanting to follow the journey. 

https://www.bas.ac.uk/data/our-data/images/webcams/rrs-sir-david-attenborough-webcam/

 

Homewards

Today our long journey home begins. 

The new polar research vessel, RRS Sir David Attenborough is due to arrive at Bird Island today for “last call”.  Last call is the final ship visit of the summer season and is when everyone except the wintering team of 4 people leave the island.  There will be 9 of us departing.  We have been preparing cargo and getting ready to leave for a while now and are now prepared and ready.

You can follow the ship webcam here:

https://www.bas.ac.uk/data/our-data/images/webcams/rrs-sir-david-attenborough-webcam/

Unlike the journey south, which took less than a week, our journey home is quite an adventure and it will be almost 4 weeks before we get back to the UK.  Once we leave Bird Island, we will be doing a round of the other BAS research stations- at King Edward Point, South Georgia, then onwards down to Signy Island in the South Orkney Islands (where I have also worked previously), before returning to the Falklands.  It should be a lot of fun!

 

Days out

We have had some lovely weather at Bird Island this summer, and as a result have been getting out and about across the island, both for work, and on our days off.

Bird Island is small and its peaks are more like hills than mountains in height, but the terrain can be dramatic and rocky and a day out can be quite exciting if you aren’t on the main paths.  One sunny day, a group of us decided to walk the Five Peaks, which are the five biggest on the island and form a ridge along its length.  The peaks at the eastern end are rocky, giving way to lower, greener peaks to the west.  These were our first two peaks, Tickell and La Roche.

This is the view from La Roche, the highest point on the island, looking west.  You can see the research station which is where we live, down in the bay, and the smaller peaks of Gazella, Tonk and Molly Hill beyond.  In the distance lies the Willis Islands, and beyond that, there is nothing at the same latitude until you’ve travelled right round the world and back to South Georgia again!

Looking east from La Roche you can see the rest of mainland South Georgia, separated from us by only 500m of water, but still too far away for us to get to.

And here is La Roche, which provides the backdrop to most of our views.  Again the research station can be seen in the bay.

We have had some nice sunsets recently…

And some very nice icebergs…

…which the penguins and seals love when they wash up on the beaches.

It is now only a couple of weeks til we leave Bird Island, so we have all started preparing for the end of the season.  When we depart, just the four wintering team will remain.  We are expecting an exciting three week journey home, travelling on the RRS Sir David Attenborough, via the research stations at King Edward Point on South Georgia, and my old haunts- Signy Island, in the South Orkney Islands.