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| The whaling station at Stromness |
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| Places we stopped in South Georgia |
Day 9 - March 7, 2020
Stromness
Stromness whaling station – no zodiac cruise today, only a land excursion as the winds were a bit strong for any cruising; there were white caps on the waves. I knew there were seals and penguins here but as there was a long walk, I knew I couldn’t carry both cameras. We couldn’t explore the whaling station because it wasn't safe but we could trek to the bottom of the waterfall that Ernest Shackleton had to tackle at the end of his South Georgia expedition. Calling it an expedition sounds like he planned it but it was actually a life or death mission to get help to rescue his men who were stranded on Elephant Island.
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| The waterfall that Shackleton had to climb around to get to the Stromness Whaling station to seek help to rescue his men |
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| Supposedly a 40 minute walk one way, but I'm sure it took us all longer |
It was another early morning and we had quite a few streams to cross, though none that were more than ankle deep. One of the reasons that we had to get up early was that as the day progresses, the ice melts and the streams that we crossed get larger and the current stronger which would have made it difficult if not impossible to get back to the ship after walking to the waterfall. Some people didn’t make it to the waterfall as they ran out of time.
I’m glad we were the first group to land as we just managed to walk to the waterfall and back again before it was time to go back to the ship. It was a long walk and I got extremely hot and had to strip off my layers including my life jacket which didn’t quite fit in my backpack. The yellow jacket has arm straps so that you can carry it without wearing it. Many of the people had to turn back before they reached the waterfall.
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| Looking back to the bay, from somewhere on the trip back |
Grytviken
The whaling station at Grytviken is the only one you can visit in the area. There is a post office and museum on the island and a research station a few kilometres away. We landed near the cemetery and visited Ernest Shackleton’s grave before navigating our way through the fur seals which kept running at us, to the museum. It’s a game of bluff and you have to stand your ground as they have very sharp teeth if they bite you. Grytviken is pronounced grit - vic - n, easy when you know how.
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| The town of Grytviken |
They are building a new port because the new research ship called the Attenborough is too large to dock at the current one. I guess they don't want to use zodiacs like we did...
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| The Whaling station buildings |
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| These huge chains were used to drag the whales onto shore |
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| Shackleton's Grave |
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| Lutheran church that was never used by the workers but they did use the library held at the rear |
Pat’s wife is the curator of the museum and gave us an interesting talk about the whaling station days. There were so many whales here at the time that for years they didn’t even need to go out of the bay. After decimating the whale populations of the Minke, Blue, Humpbacks and Right Whales, it finally closed down in 1966. The Norwegian men who worked here were not allowed alcohol so they would order perfume in large quantities which they would drink and also made their own in stills, hidden in their wardrobes. Spending a few years here could set you up for life financially. At first they just boiled down the blubber to make oil but then it was mandatory that they use every part of the whale.
(Pat is one of the Expedition Team who worked in South Georgia for many years)
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