Visits and Vistas

Last week was an incredible busy but very rewarding one. In the end it was right down to the line whether we got Pat and Sarah back in time for the Naval visits or not. We finally managed to head out to them on Tuesday morning, early and although the wind picked up slightly we managed to get them and bring them home to everyone’s relief. It had been weighing rather on my mind. Just after they arrived RFA Black Rover arrived and we started the long process of naval visits. Black Rover didn’t have any of their own boats so we ran them ashore. Since they are a merchant vessel they have much fewer people on board than a naval vessel (only 57 on board the Black Rover which is the same size as HMS Richmond which has 180 people on board). This meant that we could do ‘bus times’ and get people ashore and aboard pretty easily. Someone at the top of the ladder said “you’ll have a lot tomorrow morning” to which I asked “How many?” “Ten” she said at which point Daniel and I laughed and said that for us and a naval visit, 60 was a lot.

Charity shot. Note ridiculous snowshoes

On Wednesday we went from high winds and sea conditions to flat calm and a snow storm. The snow was so heavy that I had to use Radar to be able to find the Black Rover which was anchored only about 1 nautical mile off the jetty. It was very disorientating and with Rod at the helm we found ourselves heading out to sea rather than back into the bay but that was quickly rectified. We had been in the middle of our spring thaw and had been able to see the ground nearly everywhere but during this one day of snow everything was covered again and we even considered shutting the track again. It was remarkable.

On Thursday as soon as the Black Rover had left, the HMS Richmond came in hot on her heels. This was her second visit in a month and this time they had returned carrying Hugh, the postmaster and three new Museum staff: Chris and Josie, the new museum helpers and Suzane the new curatorial intern. They are all lovely and after leaving them in a little bit of a daze in biosecurity I had to run to return to the Richmond to collect Jo and Rod who I had taken on board for a briefing and with them collect Russell La Forte, the Commander of the British Forces in the South Atlantic, his wife Jillian and his ADC Tom. They all got a tour and then Jo gave them a hasty lunch in Shack Villa before we took them over to Grytviken to visit the museum and church.

That evening Rod and Sue were invited on board the Richmond along with Pat and Sarah for a VIP dinner. We had 6 chaps come ashore to us for dinner for us to say thank you for hosting us to Penguin racing when they were last in. It was a lovely dinner and they were massively appreciative of our “real mashed potato, made with real potatoes?” Apparently they get ‘Smash’ on board. It was lovely to be able to host a dinner as BAS, usually it is the government that host the dinner but this time it was all on us which was nerve-wracking for poor old Hazel who was on cook on Thursday (especially when we discovered that one of the guests was a leading chef) but very nice to be able to do.

Gentoos on nests

On Friday Hazel, Jo and I took 7 chaps from the ship to Maiviken. Unfortunately we didn’t have enough snowshoes so they had to use ‘tennis rackets’ from the military days which were ridiculous and their feet kept falling out of but it was better than them having to trudge through knee deep snow. We made it to Maivken in good time and went down to have a look at the Gentoo colony and then further down to have a look at the beach and give them a closer look at the Ellies. They were rather startled at the size of the males. Although the weather clagged in when we returned it was an excellent walk and they all said how much they had enjoyed it.

After that rather busy and very tiring week Hazel, Jo and I decided the best way to relax would be to pack up all we needed in rather large packs and walk across the peninsula, over the mountain range in the middle on the hunt for a cave that we had heard alot about. It is called Curlew Cave and can be found in Carr Valley. Tim and Pauline Carr sailed down here in their yacht ‘Curlew’ and stayed for 14 years running the museum etc. They used to kayak around the coast and Curlew Cave was where they would stash their kayaks as a base to explore the Western side of the peninsula.

Climbing No Name Col

Top of No Name Col

On top of the World

Luckily we emailed them and got detailed instructions of how to get there or I am not sure we ever would have found the cave. We headed up past the lakes over Maiviken to No Name Col. We were a little worried about this because we had done it earlier in the season with Rod and it had required ice axes and crampons and was altogether rather unpleasant, we were not sure we wanted to do that with large packs on our back but in the end with further investigation of the map and the Carr’s instructions we found that we had actually gone up the wrong col with Rod. It was a much easier and more enjoyable route up and the view down into Carr valley was definitely worth the slog with the large packs. We dropped down into the valley and dumped our gear.

Carr Valley

 

 We immediately started to look for the cave. This involved going down a rather steep and unpleasant tussock slope with a couple of dead ends, dropping off into cliffs. We eventually found our way down to a beach and from there we found the slit in the rock that is the landward entrance. It is an amazing cave and I can see why they used and loved it. We have had some remarkably high tides recently so the floor had recently been awash, that and the Carr’s warning that they weren’t sure about the roof meant that we decided to camp in the valley above but we were very pleased to have found it.

Entrance to Curlew Cave

Curlew Cave

 We then spent a happy hour or so watching the Sooty Albatrosses wheeling above our heads and landing on nesting ledges. They fly in pairs; formation flying in extremely graceful and beautiful turns and wheels. It was glorious. As we climbed the tussock slope to get back to the valley we were able to stop and watch a chap on his nest preening himself and calling. It is such a privilege to be able to get so close to them and for these magnificent birds to be so completely oblivious to our presence. It was really humbling actually. Hazel very nearly didn’t bring the big lens for her camera but luckily we persuaded her that it was worth it and she had a big grin on her face for the entire time we were over there (one of the things she most wanted to do was to manage to photograph Sooties on a nest and there we were meters from them).

So Beautiful (A Sooty Albatross)

Sooty Photo by Hazel Woodland

While the valley was extremely flat and green it was really rather damp everywhere so we had to try and find the flattest, driest patch we could to pitch our tent. The flattest we could find happened to be a slope of about 15-20’. Not the most comfortable. Jo had a ridge in her back which stopped her from sliding down, Hazel had an extremely non slip thermarest but I found myself curled up in the foetal position at the bottom of the slope most of the night. Hazel and Jo said that in the morning they turned to look at each other and realised that there was something missing in the middle: me. It was very funny.

Down in Carr Valley

The hike back up to the col was not the most pleasant with all our gear, including a now wet and therefore heavier tent but we were met at the top by Micky who had come bearing bacon sandwiches! A real knight in shinning armour. At the top the cloud came in and we couldn’t see anything but luckily we could just follow our footsteps back down the hill. We got home much earlier than anticipated and after a well deserved shower we took Rod and Nik to Sorling so that they could have an early start on their way over to St Andrews on Monday.

Tea on the way home Photo by Hazel Woodland

All in all it has been a very enjoyable week for a number of different reasons. Let’s see what next week brings us.