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.