The last three days have flown by, so I am going to put them together.

Friday was a warm, sunny day. I decided I would like to cook for the base before I leave, so most of today I have been up in the kitchen preparing curries for 17 people. Whilst doing that I was still ploughing through paperwork on the computer making arrangements for the trip. I have a flight now from Punta, and  bus trip from Ushuaia to Punta, a 12 hour journey!!! I have also booked the hotel in Ushuaia, so I will have somewhere to stay when I arrive.

The evening went well, and I was glad to have a chance to show my appreciation to all those on the base for making me feel so welcome.

After the meal I went inot the bar and there were 3 people there from the Northanger Yacht which had sailed in that day. On board is Hayley who is going to do a solo kayak around South Georgia , and her support team. I met Hayley and Bethan, and then turned to the man and had such a suprise since it was Brian, who used to be in the next classroom to me in FICS when I was teaching in Stanley!! He had answered an ad. in the Penguin News for crew, after one of the original crewe had had an accident.

Saturday.

Not such a nice day, I spent the morning trying to scan and send yet more forms to the travel company. I only hope it is going to be worth it after all this. Then, after lunch,I thought I would walk round to Grytviken,I feel as though time is running out now. I called in at the boat shed where the yacht crew were working on repairing one of the kayaks to be used by Hayley. They agreed that they would like to look around the museum, so packed up for the day and walked round with Tony and myself. We called in at Ainslies to collect some scotch, to toast Shackleton up at the cemetery.We then wandered up to see him, and then back through the whaling station. I went into the shop kitchen as it was getting cold, and after they had seen the museum they all came into the kitchen and we had cups of tea. I think they all enjoyed their visit, and so did we.

Saturday evening was the more formal dinner at base. Three courses, cevice,( pickled fish), lasagne, and fruit strudel. It was very tasty, Luke had worked hard all day getting it ready. After an evening drink in the bar I went to bed. I was going to get up fairly early next day as I had put my name down for a boat trip over the bay to drop off three people from KEP who were off on a camping holiday.

Sunday.

That was today. I was up by half eight as I was due to leave at half nine. Hayley was also going to set out on her kayak today. If you want to see how she is getting on go to www.kayakingtosavealbatross.com you should find a blog there somewhere.

It took a little longer than at first thought to get everything together and Hayley eventually set off at about 10.30. I changed plans from going with the campers to going out on the yacht, Northanger to set Hayley on her way. Ainslie, Pat Lurcock and myself climbed aboard and sailed out towards the open sea. There were some large glaciers about, and lots of small pieces, which made funny fizzing noises as we sailed by. We were given coffee and cake, and sat on deck enjoying the ride.

Hayley seemed to be making good progress as we followed her out. Then the BAS boats joined us after dropping off the campers, and then we saw todays cruise ship sailing towards us so we had to turn and set off back to Grytviken to open the museum and shop. We said goodbye to Hayley, who seemed such a small dot on the surface of a very large sea.

Once we were alongside the jetty we had time to have lunch on board and then headed for the shop. Thank you Northanger for a lovely trip and meal. Good luck Hayley!

This evening I am trying to catch up, because as from tomorrow night I will not have my computer with me, so the blog will have to wait until I am reunited with my belongings in Stanley in 3 weeks time. I will try and put some of the pictures up from the last few days, if I have time, but I have to pack and clean the room. We also have a ship in tomorrow afternoon so I am off to bed now and try and get it all done tomorrow.

If I dont have time to add any more, I will say thank you for following me up to now and I will continue in 3 weeks with some of the highlights of my next adventure.

Saturday

Today was a day of trying to get things sorted for my trip. I will leave the ship in Ushuaia on the 13th March. I then will have a week to get over to Punta Arenas to fly back to Stanley. I contacted the Falklands to try and get the flights sorted, and a bus trip from Ushuaia to Punta. The internet was very slow so it took ages. There were also contacts to be made with the travel company, questions to answer and details to find. In the afternoon I went back to the museum to finish off some of the lists I was making for the boxes of information that I had sorted out. That evening we watched Slumdog Millionaire on DVD. day was a day of trying to get things sorted for my trip. I will leave the ship in Ushuaia on the 13th March. I then will have a week to get over to Punta Arenas to fly back to Stanley. I contacted the Falklands to try and get the flights sorted, and a bus trip from Ushuaia to Punta. The internet was very slow so it took ages. There were also contacts to be made with the travel company, questions to answer and details to find. In the afternoon I went back to the museum to finish off some of the lists I was making for the boxes of information that I had sorted out. That evening we watched Slumdog Millionaire on DVD.

A bright blue sky and wonderful reflections in the water today. I wandered down to the Museum after breakfast and took lots of photos on the way. When I arrived Ainslie had been inspecting artefacts outside the museum. There was a bit of maintenance to do and the new benches needed painting. I put on a boiler suit and we all went outside to do the fair weather jobs while it was warm and dry. There are three wooden benches outside the museum, so my job was to paint them with preservative. They were all covered, good and sticky when the call came through that the ship wanted to come in early, and would be arriving that afternoon! So we downed tools, tidied up and prepared for another session in the shop.

 As we were stocking the shelves, Ainslie called me down to say that she had just had an email to say I had a place on a ship next week to go south if I wanted it. Well, I was in a bit of a tizz, I wanted to grasp the chance to see Antarctica, but very sad to leave South Georgia. But the chance to go south may not come again, and so I said I’d take the place.

The rest of the day was a bit of a blur as I began to realise what I was letting myself in for!!!!

Day of rest, or so I thought.

As we were having breakfast a call came in from the ship due on Monday, to say they were on the way in and would be with us by around 1pm. So my relaxed catching up day became another day at work. We set off down to the shop around 11.30. It was certainly colder than it had been, and was overcast. We got the shop and museum ready. My job this week is the shop and kitchen, so I filled up a few shelves and we waited for the passengers to arrive. They were with us about 1pm and were not due to leave until 6pm. The weather was turning colder and it started to snow. Eventually Ainslie said we should set off home, there were few tourists about and I am sure they had had enough of the weather by then.

Film night and then late duty rounds about 11pm. It was very quiet and still going round the base checking everything was switched off, doors closed etc. It was still snowing and it felt a bit like Christmas!

Then back to the block and bed! Still no ships tomorrow now!

Monday 22^nd Feb.

Because I was late last night I didn’t rush out of bed today. I wandered over for breakfast just after 9. I was planning to do my blog and sort out a few pictures. As I was having my toast the radio crackled into life to announce yet another ship was coming in early, tomorrows ship, the NG Explorer was on its way. So yet again plans go adrift. It was still cold, with snow on the ground as I set off to Grytviken. We loaded up the shelves again and waited. The ship hadn’t appeared by early afternoon so we had a go helping Bridget with her scrimshaw model seals. Hugh, Tony and I sat round the table and painted the seals, then rubbed the paint off, leaving it in the cracks and crevices of the models to emphasis their shapes. We then polished them up ready for the shelves.

Eventually the ship arrived and sent the passengers ashore. They were very keen shoppers and we did a roaring trade. Much of the stock is getting reduced now towards the end of the season, but we had enough to satisfy our shoppers.

There was a dinner invitation offered again, and since we had missed out on he lunch aboard yesterday’s ship, the museum staff took the opportunity to go aboard this time. It was a very comfortable ship, and I was told it had a very good shop on board. As soon as the shop was clear we put on out waterproofs and lifejackets and jumped onto the last zodiac leaving the jetty. Once on board we made our way up to the lounge and bar. We sat and talked to some of the passengers, then joined them for dinner. We were spread out, each at a different table. I sat with some very interesting people from the US who told me about their travels. Then I made my way to the shop, meeting the rest of the museum staff browsing round the shelves. I bought a necklace and a fleece, in their sale!

Then it was back into the zodiacs and to the base. At least we now have a ship free day tomorrow.

An early morning for some as the Pharos sailed with several people who had been staying at base. We said good bye to Tom from BAS, Sue and Mark from BAS fisheries and Jon the ozone man. We will miss them on base, no more personal weatherforecasts. Saturday looked like it could be a nice day. I had been meaning to get out of the base and explore a little, so I decided that today would be the day. I got up, made a couple of sandwiches and thought I would head up the back of Grytviken to Gull Lake and the hydro dam. Hugh was in the kitchen and said he would come with me. I was glad of company, especially as he knows the area well, so off we set. The sun shone and the colours of the water and the mountains were stunning. Photos didn’t really do it justice. We walked down to Grytviken and then up a wide, but steep track left by the builders when they put in the new hydro system. I had to stop several times as we climbed up the slope up to about 400ft asl. Then we headed off round Gull Lake across scree and then deep green mosses. The waters of the lake looked very inviting, crystal clear, but I bet they were decidedly chilly. Above us rose craggy mountains with snow lying in patches. Then, suddenly, a katabatic wind would rise up and roar down the mountain. They were cold and some very strong, almost blowing me over. Then they were gone again. We walked halfway round then sat on a rock to enjoy a rest and the sandwiches. We had crossed fast running mountain streams, mosses and bogs and were away from any sign of human activity at all. It was a wonderful place, on a beautiful day. I was glad I had seen it like that because in damp, cold conditions it would have been far less enjoyable! 

The whole walk took about 3 hours, and then we headed back to Grytviken to a cup of tea in the Museum. I then headed back while Hugh stayed on to finish painting the cemetery fence. Such a good day for painting. The rest of the day was a quiet one for everyone. I was tired after a day in the fresh air, and the others were tired after a busy week.

This is Hugh at the side of Gull Lake. In the baack ground you can see the mountains rising up in the distance.

I am going to try another photo now…. I suppose one day I may be able to get them in the right place on the blog, but as for now, I will just have to put them at the end!

This is the view from the hydro dam looking down on King Edward Point. You can see the spit of land where the base is situated.

Happy Birthday Paula, a BAS boat person here on base.

 Today was the day of the Art exhibition down on the whaling station, It is a bright morning but I hope it stays fair. Jon our personal weatherman doesn’t think it will. This morning I was frantically writing postcards to get in the post by midday, as that is when the post closes. It is going out on the ship tomorrow. If I don’t get it posted soon I will be back before it!

After a morning writing cards it was as I feared, coming into drizzle as I walked down to the museum. The boat had been delayed, so wasn’t in until the Art Exhibition was underway, which was a shame for the shop people, but good for the tourists. I did manage to gallop over for a quick look round, but couldn’t stay that long. Then we suddenly had a shop full! The tourists were mainly British, which made a change. We could talk to them more easily and we didn’t have to convert to other currencies. We were expecting about 50 passengers, but there were 100 onboard. I think they all called in to see us. We had a minor panic running low on change since this was one of the few ships which dealt in nearly all sterling. But we managed to please everyone and we did a good trade. We thought we had finished about 6pm then we had another flurry of shoppers, mainly crew, and eventually we made our way back up the track to a buffet meal and celebration for Paula’s birthday, and visiting guests at the base.

Inside the whaling station looking at the art work we produced bases on the South Georgia Map. these pictures were stuck on some old pressure boilers in the meat processing area.

 Monday 15th Feb dawned, not too good a day.

I wandered down to the shop and the little furries were a bit restless. It is as if they don’t like the drizzle either. I met Ainslie on the track, walking up to the base. She was going to be ‘ the body’ in the search and rescue training today. She had been hoping it would be cancelled, but no such luck for her. There were three of us down in Grytviken, Tony and Hugh were in the workshop and I tidied the museum up and then set to sorting and labelling a collection of photos of the various forces detachments who manned the garrison in SG after 1982. Nearly every detachment was here for around 5 months, and the majority of photos were what you would expect for a regimental photo, neatly and smartly lined up. But there was one particular garrison who decided to show off their best ‘assets’ literally, which lightened my task. I wonder what happened to them when they returned to the regiment, did they ever let on? I suppose, unless you knew them well, they would not be recognisable!!

Anyway, back at base, we had to change and go to dinner to celebrate Shackleton’s Birthday. We had Grog, Sealblood soup ( borsch), penguin stew ( beef casserole, and birthday cake. Thank you Ernest Henry, we had a good night, hope you did too.

 Tuesday 16th Feb

Today we had Corinthian 2 in. She is a really classy looking ship, though a bit low at the stern. She managed to berth alongside KEP. We were invited aboard for dinner in the evening. That was great, especially as it didn’t involve the glamorous boatsuit and a zodiac trip. We were greeted by members of staff and directed to the cocktail lounge. I was given a pink cocktail, it was very pretty and tasted very fruity. There were nibbles of cheese, melon and palma ham. We then headed to the dining room to be seated at table. The tables had white tablecloths, silver cutlery, wine and water glasses. There were attentive waiters and a 5 course dinner menu. A floating 5 star hotel. The meal was delicious and the service was great, especially as the staff remembered us from the shop. Then we had coffee and liqueurs. I must say I was tempted to stay late, but I had an important job to do the next day, so left around 11pm.

Wednesday 17th Feb Half Marathon Day.

The day dawned bright and dry. It was just ideal for the half marathon being run today. I would have run it if I hadn’t been told by the surgeon that I couldn’t run on my new knee!!!!!! (Thank Goodness) So I was support, marshalling in at the start, finish and at the halfway stage. There were 3 groups of competitors, walkers, runklers ( half running, half walking ) and runners. The course was round the beach to Grytviken, up and over Brown Mountain, down back through Grytviken to KEP, then out again over the mountain to the next bay Myviken, and back again. It was a very busy time, because we set off the walkers and runklers, then we had to set out the drinks and refreshments, then some runklers were on the way back in as the runners set off. The fast runners came back along with slower runklers, walkers came through then fast runners completed the course and then the rest gradually came home. The fastest time 1 hr 37 minutes!!! It was just exhausting trying to keep up with all the comings and goings, but we did it and I think a good day was had by all.

Thursday 18th Feb.

A few aching bones were in evidence today at breakfast, but all in all everyone was feeling OK after yesterdays exertion. We were back to work with another ship in today. This was Hanseatic again. This was their last visit this season. The weather was good, but cold. But luckily they set up their usual station to give out gluwein to passengers, just outside the museum, so we joined the queue! They didn’t mind. The it was goodbyes all round from the Hanseatic staff and off they sailed… At 6.30 we closed the shop and headed home. The wind is picking up this evening and it looks as though the weather may change tomorrow.

Here I am hard at work in the shop.

This is a Wandering Albatross, one of the exhibits in the Museum. It is a real bird that has been stuffed.

Sorry for the delay, what a busy last few days!

Thursday  11^th

We had a ship in early. It was the Delphin, with about 300 passengers on board. We had an early start, up and down at the museum by 8.45. The shop had been stocked up, floors cleaned and all systems go. The passengers gradually began to arrive, in waves. It was quite hectic for about 4 hrs. People were trying on T shirts, sorting through postcards, books, jewellery, etc. They were paying by card, in dollars, in euros, and to make life complicated some paid in dollars and wanted change in euros, or the other way round! I was very glad when the last boatload went back to the ship and I could have a sit down.

But there was not long before we had another ship in the afternoon, so we had to restock. I had to get out the mop and do the floors of the museum again and remove a few finger marks. Ainslie cashed up and prepared the floats again and we had about 2 hours before the next ship hove to.

The usual procedure is to take the tourists to Shackleton’s grave to toast his health with a whiskey. They then walk through the whaling station and over to the museum. Eventually we hear the footsteps and know that the shopping is about to restart. This was another large ship, 300 passengers again, and it was another hectic session, going on until about 8pm! Well after that I was quite tired and not feeling like doing a clear up at that time of night. We decided to walk home, but we all knew that the next ship was due in 8am the next day, so another early start for us!

Friday  12^th.

I was down at the museum at 8am and got out the mop and bucket to get ready for the new boatload of tourists. Tony arrived soon afterwards, with Hugh and Bridget not far behind. The ship was in the bay. Ainslie had been up since about 5.30am getting ready. We stood by and waited!!! We were told they would be coming ashore by 8am. We waited, and waited it was 9am, then 10am and no sign of a Zodiac ferrying people ashore. Then eventually we saw them begin to head over to the Cemetery. At last they arrived with us. One of the problems we have here is that the ships have their own time scale which is not always local time. In this case our 10am was their 9am, and they were having breakfast before they came ashore.

They left us at about 1 pm ( our time), then we had to stand by for the second ship that day. But this one, Plancius, wasn’t due to be with us until 5.30 pm. I decided to tackle the floor and clean up before setting off back to base for a couple of hours. It had been a fine morning, but now the clouds were settling over the mountains and it began to drizzle. We had been invited aboard for a barbeque that evening, and was feeling very tired. I was in two minds whether to go, but in the end I decided to take the chance.

Placius eventually sailed into view at about 6pm. We walked quickly back to Grytviken, but knew that it would be at least another hour before they would be with us at the shop. The weather was clearing up, and maybe a barbeque would be on the cards after all. I was thinking that I would go, I have said to myself don’t turn down chances, they may not come around again, so, even though I didn’t really feel up to it I was going to go.

Eventually our customers arrived, and they were a very pleasant crowd. They shopped well, in fact one lady nearly bought the whole shop! They were loading up to go at 7pm, but their 7pm was our 8pm, so this was going to be a late night.

The last of the zodiacs came in and Tony and I joined the last of the passengers and crew returning to the ship. Once on board we were directed to the stern where the barbeque was in full swing. It was a bit breezy, but the tables were set out with wine and beer. We helped ourselves to meat, chicken, sausages and fish, then potatoes, salads, breads, sauces and pickles. It was all very tasty. I sat next to a lady from Tiverton!!! But then it started to get very cold, so we went inside. I joined some of the people from the Base, at their table and chatted to a man from the Whale and Dolphin society, who was part of the organising side of the trip. He showed me round the ship which was so much more comfortable than the last one I was on. I visited the bridge, upstairs lounges, then saw a cabin. I was very tempted to stay aboard, it wasn’t full !

Plancius is a Dutch Ship, named after a Dutch scientist, I must do some research to find out more about him. When I returned to my friends the dancing had started on the deck. Tables and barbeque had been cleared away and, even though it was starting to snow, people were out there dancing. Well I had to join in, dressed very smartly in waterproof anorak and waterproof trousers!

It was getting late when we boarded the inflatable back to base. We decided to have a night cap in the bar, and I got to bed really quite late ( or early depending on how you look at it).

Saturday 13^th

Today was a bit of a blur after last night!

We had cleaning duties to do up at the base and the map competition to finish. The day started fine but very soon the drizzle returned, so I stayed around the base. We had a very nice roast evening meal and I went to bed early since I was on early duty in the morning.

Sunday 14^th.

My job to check the base this morning. It means getting up at about 6am to do the rounds, checking all the rooms and buildings for any leaks, breaks, fires etc. Usually you have to get the bread baked too for the day, but luckily for me, Tony, who was on Earlies on Saturday, mixed up the quantities and made 6 loaves of bread instead of 3!

It was a dry morning, with lots of ‘growlers’, little bits from icebergs floating in the bay. I checked the base and all was well so had an early breakfast.

I had intended to go back for a snooze, but it is now 8pm and haven’t managed it yet!!! I carried on with my seal picture on the map for the art competition, and got so carried away that I decided to do an albatross one as well. That took a large part of the day. The rain returned and so it was a good way to pass the time. We then had a visit from a chinstrap penguin on the beach by the base. I tried to get a photo, but he was off very quickly. He has been around before so hopefully we will see him again.

It is now time for the evening film so I am going to watch that and then get to bed. A very busy 4 days.

It was a really sunny morning and I took photos all the way down to Grytviken. Then I met Hugh who suggested that I walk over to the cemetery. That is scary as the way is littered with fur seals and large elephant seals. The ellies are OK, just loud and smelly. But all seals cleared out of our way at the sight of Hugh and  his wheelbarrow. Inside the white wooden painted fence are the graves old Norwegian whalers and sailors, some unknown graves and of course Shackleton, very imposing with his monument there. it was a beautiful morning, peaceful and the only sounds that of seals playing, snorting and far away the penguins on the beach.

The rest of the day I cleaned the floors in the museum and boat house for the cruise ship tomorrow, but the day was too nice to waste inside.

However, John the met. man said it would change in the afternoon and it did. It was drizzling as I walked back and now it is heavy rain. I am so glad I took time to appreciate the morning!

Now I will try again with the photo……..

view of KEP as I walked down to Grytviken

I think it worked, hurrah! More photos may follow tomorrow.

Just must say that it is great to hear that you are reading the blog. Thank you so much, it will encourage me to continue!

Today is a grey day, it has drizzled all day, the clouds hang low over the mountain tops. We were told not to bother going down to the Museum too early since it was too wet, and the Boss, Ainslie has gone off for the night to climb down into a glacier as some kind of Field training. I am glad I am here with central heating, hot water and a glass of wine! So I ventured passed the growling furries late morning and began my work by cleaning the toilet block ready for the next cruise ship next Thursday.

 The other workers at the Museum are Tony and Hugh the two handymen and Bridget who is an artist in residence, making models etc for the Museum shop. Then there’s me! After my cleaning I had to take a hygrometer reading as we are testing the humidity in all the areas of the Museum. Then we had lunch, down in the Museum kitchen. My next job was restocking the shelves with goodies for the next load of tourists. I was collecting tins of sweets, pens, wooden block jigsaws, postcards, jewellery, book marks, books, calendars etc. It is really well stocked considering where the shop is, at the far end of the world. Then I went back to looking at the archive boxes, but the weather was no better and by 3.30 we had all decided that it was probably time to head for home.

 I walked back with Hugh and Bridget, and when we got back to KEP Hugh and I decided to call in on the Pharos, the Fisheries ship that had brought me over to South Georgia. She had come in last night. But when we got to the set of steps which led down from the ship we discovered that the tide was so high that the steps were too high for me to reach!! We looked about for a box but there wasn’t anything to hand. Then one of the geologist team working here just happened to walk by and said, ‘Hold on a sec.’ And off he went, started up the JCB and drove to the steps, I climbed onto the forks at the front and he lifted me onto the ship, I bet that is a first!! I hasten to add it was because of the height and nothing to do with my weight!!!!!!!!!! Talking of which, it is fish pie tonight so I am away for dinner…..more as soon as I can my friends.