South Georgia

An early start at 7 am for the zodiac ride to Gold Harbour. We had seen the Sun rising over the mountains from our balcony, and they were indeed gold. . It was a gorgeous sunny day for the zodiac from which we tried to view the penguins and the seals that were on the land here. 13 years previously we had been able to land here as we were on a less than 100 passenger boat but with our present 200 passenger boat this is not allowed. Nevertheless, we had a very pleasant cruise back and forth along the colonies of penguins and seals that inhabited this area. And it was pleasantly warm.

Once back aboard 90 minutes later, we enjoyed a breakfast in a nearly empty Terrassa restaurant. Then we sat out outside the Panorama lounge for an hour or so in the sunshine before Trivia at 11 am. This was followed by a briefing on the next day at 11:30 am


Gold Harbour at sunrise really is Gold	Even the glacier looks gold	Zodiacs circling for going ashore	Off to Gold Harbour

The Kelp is important for sustaining sea life	Our first penguins	And they kept on coming	Soon fur seals appeared too



The penguins got more numerous on the shoreline	The boys were very excited by the penguins

As the sun rose, the gold colour faded

Lunch in the restaurant at noon. After this siesta for an hour or so before the next outing at Saint Andrews Bay, the ship having repositioned itself to here during lunch.

We went ashore 2:30 pm. We had visited this area 13 years ago and Chris had fallen over here. So she remembered it vividly this time. It seemed to land in a slightly different place and we walked through grass with penguins and seals hopping around until we got to a ridge above the beach where we could survey the myriad of King Penguins. After having taken loads of photos we eventually made our way back and had a very wet start to our our Zodiac ride back to the ship as they tried to push the zodiac out against the income in rollers.

We were back on the ship just in time for afternoon tea and then at 6 pm we went to see the guest relations manager to see if we could get them to change the restriction on Chris only having one IT connection, which made life very difficult for her with her limited vision. We will see if we manage to get them to break their company rules that of guests should only have one machine connected.

At 7 pm, we met up with Kevin and Adrian in the Panorama lounge for a drink and then had dinner with them in the main restaurant. Unfortunately, the food was really bad this evening so it was not an overwhelming success. But we had a long chat to the chef about it. Not quite so early start in the morning.


Back for lunch on board		Then we set out again this time for St Andrew's Bay

			The iceberg looks like a warship encrusted in ice

	The boys are impressed by even more penguins	I like this photo



It was wet getting off the bay	and waves broke over the Zodiac, filling it with water	We dined with Adrian and Kevin	The head chef

Breakfast in the restaurant and then we were one of the last zodiac groups ashore at Stromness. This was the place Shackleton reached with two of his crew after a long sail in the James Caird from Elephant Island in. 1916. It was a whaling station and Shackleton’s boat had landed on the opposite side of South Georgia and the three men left behind were the three somewhat feeble members of the epic boat journey, and then Shackleton and the other two climbed up over the mountains. They heard the work siren of the Stromness wailing factory in the distance, and from that knew they were arriving at safety.

Here we set off on a walk to Shackleton‘s waterfall, but decided not to do the full walk after having seen the waterfall in good resolution through the binoculars. The route Shackleton used is explored on this page

So we then returned to Stromness, avoiding the numerous fur seal pups which were somewhat aggressive, to the beach and then crossed a river to see a number of elephant seals. The weather was truly miraculous and David had seen the most gorgeous golden suns rise from the front of the ship at 6:15 am. After this the ship repositioned to Grytviken, another of the old whaling stations. It has been partially restored and now receives at least 150 boats during the six months season. During this time we had a game of trivia and a recap and briefing from Clouds.


Stromness at dawn	A very beautiful sight	As we went ashore, the water was full of playful seals	..towards the mountain from which Shackleton descended

	And this is the waterfall that Shackleton scrambled own		The boys look out over Stromness

There is a lot of detritus from whaling days	But it is forbidden to enter the station for safety reasons	Megan was there to make sure no punters tried to enter

We go back to the ship		The seals see us off

In the afternoon we were again almost the last to set off for Grytviken. The weather is still absolutely splendid. It was quite a calm landing and we walked up to Shackleton‘s grave where Dimitri gave a talk and a toast to the boss: the toast was a dram of whiskey in a plastic mug - Silversea bean counters strike again. Beside Shackleton‘s grave was a plaque and the ashes of his second in command, Frank Wild, which had been placed there in 2011. From here we walked down to the other side of the beach, left our life jackets and then had a guided tour of the whaling station from one of the South Georgia Trust staff . We went to the church and then the various shops and the museum before being in the last zodiac back to the ship around 6 pm.

A cocktail and tapas in the panorama lounge, completely deserted as per normal, was followed by another mediocre dinner in the restaurant and then an Irish coffee to the sounds of the guitarist back in the Panorama lounge after dinner.


Grytviken			The old whaling station

Shackleton's grave	and that of an Argentine soldier	Two of the original whale catchers	The whalers expected to return the next year but never did

		Commensalis a costly sculpture of no known use	Museum

Post Office even has a post box	The church came as a flat pack from Norway	The interior has been restored	Full size replica of Shackleton's boat

An early morning and a very foggy morning. Before we went to shore at 7 am, I had to go down to reception to get my phone functioning and this took at least 10 minutes and the receptionist was very unwilling to give it back to me when I said I hadn’t got time to hang around. I also said I needed to speak to the guest relation manager but not at that moment as I needed to get my Parka on and life jacket ready for the call for our Zodiac group . When I eventually got back to the cabin alone and behold the telephone rag and there was a guest relation manager so I told her again that I had not got time to talk and would hear from her later.

So we set out in the mist to visit Salisbury Plain. Not too long journey by zodiac and there were penguins galore to greet us as we landed. Then a walk of at least a mile, not difficult at all but over a few very shallow rivers until we came to the end of the walk which seemed to be a glacier with lots of penguins, very scenic. Then a leisurely walk back again passing molting pups and a mother penguin who was standing on an egg. Obviously far too late in the season to successfully be hatched and survive.

Back aboard by soon after 8:30 am, the return journey having to be made on a compass setting as the mist was far too thick to reveal the ship's position. Eventually the ship emerged like the Mari Celeste out of the mist, and we made it back safely. We had breakfast in La Terrassa, a window table but without a view because of the mist, and I sampled my first almond croissants that Kevin had so highly recommended.

There was nothing scheduled in the morning except for a sail away party at 11:15 am but this was cancelled due to the weather. Chris was disappointed or shall we say annoyed by the fact that there was no Bridge scheduled on the daily schedule. She found Martin and asked him to announce that there would be a bridge at 1:30 pm and he agreed to this but obviously did not intend making any But he did apparently ring up a few people to tell them that there will be a bridge. However, at 1:30 pm that was just herself Kevin and Adrian but they still manage to have a happy hour or so before Adrian decided he needed to do some work. I ordered a café Roma whilst we were playing bridge but received a most peculiar cup of coffee with lime in it. I had had many apologies for this during the rest of the day

2 pm, there was team trivia. Then at 4 pm, although this was actually only 3 pm as the hour had again been lost on time change mid afternoon. David and Chris indulged in a scone at afternoon tea. 6 pm the recap and briefing which went on for 45 minutes. Then we got changed for dinner and went up to the Panorama lounge for our normal cocktail and canapés before eating in La Terrassa soon after eight and for once the food was really good. A nightcap in the panorama lounge of a Café Roma,

I was woken up at 10:20 pm by Tanya the guest relation manager, who seemed to be indicating that they would give me premium Wi-Fi but she sounded very sulky. I did not think it was necessary to wake me up to tell me this.


Salisbury Plain landing was in a sea fog	It did not worry the penguins

		This little fellow was half molted	This one had not molted at all

A late egg being carried here, probably doomed to die			This little fellow has nearly finished molting

A baby seal being suckled	We go back in an even thicker sea fog		Eventually the Cloud appears like a ghost out of the fog

At sea in the fog amid the growlers. A very foggy day with no views whatsoever after breakfast, we had a lecture by Jess on the history using Survivor Shackleton as her role model. It was not until the 1980s when someone discovered a secondhand book that he had remembered enjoying as a child that the legend of Shackleton as a role model of a leader to get one out of a hole was established and the notion of Scott as a British hero diminished. A really enjoyable lecture.

Later on Captain Freddie gave a 45 minute talk The discovery of Shackleton ship, the endurance, in 2022. We had heard him talk about this in 2023, but this talk was completely different and maybe a bit too technical for the majority of us. Lunch was a British pub lunch buffet in the restaurant where we had an excellent steak and mushroom pie and some roast lamb and also a portion of fish and three chips with mushy peas.

At 1:30, I had 90 minutes Bridge with Adrian, Kevin Jerry and Philip: very enjoyable as usual. Then team trivia at 3:30 pm before just reading in the cabin and having a siesta until 6 pm. This was the time for the Venetian Society so-called party. We were the second most travelled Silver Seas members on board with our 580 days being a long way behind the Loebs Then a painful dinner with the staff captain and the third officer and Vicky and Dennis Roberts. Adrian and Kevin were sitting at the next table and making a terrible amount of noise but in a way this alleviated the difficulty of making conversation with the staff captain.

At 9 am, we went to see The guest relation manager said that the hotel director had agreed to give me premium Wi-Fi which would enable me to use both my machines at the same time: this was said somewhat ungraciously that she did become human in the end by the time she had set the two machines up.

I enjoyed porridge for my breakfast and after this we went to a lecture on kelp. It actually make the kelp seem quite interesting. Then later on there was a talk by Philip Kellen, the administrator of Tristan Da Cunha on life on that island. He had been there just over two years after serving as a diplomat in North Korea, South Korea, Austria, Bulgaria, and Israel. This was quite interesting for me. Then there was an Asian buffet in the main restaurant where the crackling on the pork was particularly good.

Bridge at 1:15 was great but they stole another hour from us with the clocks going forward so we only had just over an hour before having to stop for team trivia: this I also greatly enjoyed. Soon after this, there was a presentation by Claudia on the Arctic: we felt she rather over egged the number of polar bears to be seen there but I enjoyed her photos. There was also a recap and briefing before having cocktails as usual in the panorama lounge, Chris really enjoying her newly found Amaretto sour, and then dinner in the in Terrassa. I then managed to do this diary before going back up to the panorama lounge to hear Martin singing.

A leisurely breakfast and then nothing until 11:15 am when Philip, the administrator of Tristan Da Cunha, held a questions and answers session in the theatre.

Then a Greek buffet which was not mentioned in the Chronicles at all, so did not get a large attendance in the restaurant. This was followed by 90 minutes bridge at 1:30 pm which was good fun as usual with just four of us. Then there was a mandatory bio security check on our outdoor clothes in readiness for landing at Tristan.

I then mugged up on Saint Patrick as it was Saint Patrick’s Day and I thought Martin would ask some questions about this at trivia 4 pm, but there were none. At recap and briefing we discovered that we were in fact going to have hopefully 2 1/2 days at Tristan and would not overlap with the Hellenic Diana ship which was also scheduled for 8 am on March 20.

Dinner in the restaurant was followed by an Irish liars club with Michael, John, Jolene and Janine being liars and Martin hosting it. David participated that in this and got three out of 4 right which was equal first.


	The boys check the buffet		The restaurant manager wanted a photo with the Boys

Looks good	Captain Freddie gives the standard Venetian Society speech	Our normal corner in the Panorama Lounge	.. and the view from it

Dining with the Staff Captain	100 year old eggs (they are not actually that old)		Liar's Club on St Patrick's Day

Martin in various roles

	The sommelier	The Bridge Group	Kevin & Adrian