Satureday 3 March 2012 - Drygalski Fjord & Grytviken

Today everybody was up early to see the beautiful scenery of the Drygalski Fjord, South Georgia, before sailing on to Grytviken for a landing at the old whaling station.  Sir Ernest Shackelton is buried here as well as the graves of Thorvald Amundsen, and other sealers and whalers, and is probably one of those men that died from typhoid fever.  After viewing the neatly kept little cemetery Malcolm and I walked along the foreshore amongst the numerous seals and the rusty ruins of the whaling station, past the two hulks of beached whaling ships, to the little museum and shop where Malcolm went his own way and I continued onto the beautifully restored little white church which is still in use today by members of the British base.  I then doubled back along the foreshore to the track which took me up the hill to Gull Lake, perched high above Greytviken.  It was a hard steep climb and after too many lazy inactive days on my holiday required extra effort on my part.  At the top I met two Germans and the  Hurtigruten guide Andy Wenzel who took some photos for me before heading back down to the British Base at King Edward Point.  Along the way I joined the small Dutch contingent who had accepted me as one of their own.  Lovely easy going people.  At King Edward Point there were many good photo opportunities of elephant seals, fur seals and King penguins.  The mountain scenery across the water is magnificent and no photo will do justice to it, especially as the sun slowly sank behind the clouds and mountains changing the sky to orange and purple hues.  This evening after dinner I prepared for the Shackleton walk from Fortuna Bay to Stromness the next day.  An early but restless and sleepless night with intermittent coughs and sore throat.