The return of the Traverse team kicked off an almighty party that went
on well into the next morning. Suffering the effects of clearing out
the cooler of every bottle of Guinness and resorting to Argentinian
stout, I skipped the first landing on Tuesday morning, and instead did
my best to gather my senses for the landing at Gritvyken.

As well as the historic whaling station and British Antarctic Survey
base, here was the holy grail for many on board.. Shackleton’s grave
and memorial. It was our first stop ashore and for many an emotional
part of the journey. Group photos taken and I head up the mountain
behind the graveyard where there are memorials in scenic spots to
sailors and whalers of various nationalites. Once the main crowd had
walked off to the museum and whaling station I went back to grave to pay
my respects in relative peace. A steady stream of British Navy sailors
which were on patrol in the area came and went, and I was taken aback at
how young these guy were. Later I checked out some photos of the British
forces which retook South Geogia in ’ The Conflict’ and they were
definitely men.. the guys I met weren’t long out of school !

The hangover was slowly lifting as I walked around the old station in
the most incredible setting imaginable. The huge rusting tanks could
easily be mistaken for fuel depots, but were in fact used for storing
the harvested oil from whales, which gives you some idea of the scale of
the operation here. Huge machines for hauling whales on to the shore
and ovens for ’ cooking ’ are strewn all over the inlet, left to the
mercy of the element here but leave you with an uneasy feeling about the
reason this place exhisted.

Everyone pays a visit to the surprisingly good museum staffed by a Kiwi,
Scots girl, and an English man.. all remarkably cheery for people who
work at the bottom of nowhere for six months of the year. The next and
last stop of the day was a quick spin by zodiac to the memorial erected
to Shackleton by his men, at the most scenic spot of Gritvyken harbour.
As is now customary on South Georgia, we all had to run the gauntlet of
aggressive fur seals, in order to reach the simple white cross and
plaque that was placed here, before his body was actually returned to
South Georgia to be buried in the Norwegian sailors graveyard.

As we made our way back to our ship the sun was slipping behind the huge
peaks at the back of the inlet and station, out in the bay the naval
ship readied itself to leave, and we were treated to an on deck
barbecue with the stunning mountains surrounding us now glowing in the
evening sun. On a day like today, Gritvyken seems to be an idyllic
place, so you really have to think hard and imagine the conditions that
those who set up and manned the station year round had to endure.