Saturday, 24 March 2018

Grytviken - St Georgia

We next doubled back to Grytviken, an ex Norweigan whaling station and the site of the only settlement on Sth Georgia. 



This was the view comin in.


We landed near the cemetery, famously the spot where Earnest Shakleton is buried. He is buried here as after his ship was destroyed in the ice he made his famous small boat crossing to Sth Georgia, on the west coast, then walked 36 hrs straight over the mountains to raise the alarm at Stromness, which is now uninhabited.


The Captain had arranged a briefing and toast to the man known as "The Boss"



There were several old whaling boats around the harbour...




...some birds of course, Antarctic terns and cormorants...


..an excellent museum, with lots of info on Sth Georgia and whaling and Shackleton. One surprising piece of data was that in one year alone the whaling stations on Sth Georgia caught 22,000 blue whales. Today there are estimated to be only 1,000 in existence and the recovery is slow. 



...a replica of Skakletons boat...


...whaling station ruins..


...a church...



...and great views over the site from behind.

















No comments:

Post a Comment