Christmas in South Georgia

I guess, as promised in the introductory blog,

you are waiting for me to dish the dirt on a
few suspects, but before I do,

I need to set the scenes to give you an idea

of what I'm about and the environment

from where the 'dirt' originates.

South Atlantic Ocean

My first venture away from my tropical paradise,

is to one of the most spectacular beaches you will EVER see.

To get there you would firstly need to make your way

to the southern tip of South America,

to Ushuaia, Argentina, the most southerly city in the world.

Ushuaia, Argentina

From there you would need

to arrange a vessel with ice breaker capabilities

(just in case) and allow yourself

at least a week for the journey.

The journey will take you in an easterly direction,

crossing Drake Passage,

passing the Falkland Islands to the north,

and across the Scotia Sea,

passing the Northern Peninsula of Antarctica to the south.

The summer months in the southern hemisphere,

December, January, February,

are the optimum times to visit this remote outpost,

administered by the UK, but, as with the Falkland Islands,

claimed by Argentina.

Sir Ernest Shackleton

There are some 200 graves on the island of South Georgia

dating from 1820 onwards, including

that of the famous Antarctic explorer

Sir Ernest Shackleton (died in 1922) whose British

Antarctic Expedition (1908-09)

established the route to the South Pole

subsequently followed by Roald Amundsen

and Robert Scott.

In one of the most remarkable small boat journeys in

maritime history,

in 1916 Shackleton crossed the Scotia Sea in a 7 meter boat,

'James Caird' to reach South Georgia

and organize the successful rescue of his expedition team

stranded on Elephant Island following the loss

of their ship Endurance

In the process, Shackleton accompanied

by Frank Worsley and Tom Crean,

trekked the island's glaciated and rugged terrain

between King Haakon Bay and the Stromness whaling station.

Thousands of penguin chicks, just a few weeks old.
Following a rough crossing of the Scotia Sea,

no-one could believe the sights awaiting us,

with thousands of King Penguins, Elephant Seals

and Fur Seals basking in the morning sunshine.

And as far as the eye can see.
The mountainous, craggy back-drop and 'calving' glacier

was an even greater bonus than we ever expected.


And I do believe, the Belasconies are there!


South Georgia was just the start of an epic voyage

and little did we know what sights and sounds

we had in store as we headed even further south

to the northern peninsula of Antarctica.




the beachbum