The Beginning of Departures

And so starts the beginning of the end. Yesterday Jo and Nik left. They both return to the Falklands and from there to the UK through different routes. Nik will return to Bangor and start work there, Jo starts her leave by heading almost immediately off to Spain. She will however return here in March for 8 months.

On Monday Erny and I had finished everything we could in the boatshed on the engine so we put it back into Pipit. It was a slightly nervewracking experience, especially since the wind meant that the JCB couldn’t be exactly square onto the boat. We managed it in the end and started the process of reattaching everything. On Tuesday this was complete and we fired her up. She started at the first push of the button which was very reassuring. We did discover a leak in the fuel stop solenoid which had been badly fitted at the factory. Slightly worrying since they had run it in in the factory but Erny soon fixed it. 

              Micky has a new workmate    Photo: M. Sutcliffe

 As soon as we had finished on Tuesday I headed after Hazel and Jo to Maiviken. They had gone ahead since I didn’t know how long I would be. I managed to make it over to the hut in 45 mins form the church, including putting on and taking off snowshoes. I was pretty impressed with myself actually. Coming up to Deadman’s Pass I was puffing, panting and generally feeling terribly unfit but then I looked at my watch and realised that I was probably allowed to feel a little tired. I was greeted by a nice pewter mug of gin and tonic and we had a lovely ‘sundowner’ outside the hut. This was our last night away together and it was a lovely one. We even managed to have poppadoms on the menu in the hut, which is probably a first for South Georgia,  and they were delicious. 

The next day was such a lovely day that we decided to go down to Maiviken and see what we wanted to do from there. We first devoured a couple of bacon sandwiches since the curry the night before obviously wasn’t enough. We even made one for Daniel who had arrived over for his penguin egg count. This is the season in which he has the most work; from now on he has to come over to Maiviken every other day, whether to check on the Gentoo colony or to do a seal count.

While it was a beautiful day it was incredibly windy so in the morning we stayed low. We sat on the top of a small cliff and watched some wonderful Sooty Albatrosses on their nests. Suddenly there was a swoop above us and there was one coming in to land. It was very gusty so he had to make several attempts, spending all in all about 10/15 mins banking and wheeling and trying to land. He did most of this with his ‘landing gear’ flapping in the wind. It was  incredible to have this majestic bird swooping so close to our heads that if we had put our hands out we would have touched him. Eventually he landed and, looking exceptionally pleased with himself, settled down for the day.  

                                               Sooty soaring                    Photo: H. Woodland

 

                                             Landing gear down               Photo: H. Woodland

At that point none of us were ready to return to base yet so we decided to go back up to Spencer Ridge, where Hazel and I had gone last weekend. This time we decided to go up via the tussock rather than the scree and it was much nicer. We spent a very windy hour or so on the top and then reluctantly decided it was probably time to head for home. It was so windy that I could lean with pretty much all of my weight into the wind and still stay on my feet. It was quite a broad ridge so it was safe. I jumped off one bit of rock and found myself landing much further along than normal due to flying in the wind. We returned home to a delicious dinner at Carse House cooked by Sarah to say goodbye to Jo and Nik. It was lovely and I enjoyed conversation with new people (the museumees).

Thursday and Friday were a blur of tidying up the boatshed etc. On Friday Jo, Hazel and I wandered up to Sooty Bluff for a last walk together. The time has finally come when enough Fur Seals have returned that one needs a bodger to walk to Sooty Bluff, just to tickle them under the chin if they start to look a little aggressive. I seem to have found my niche in the Hazel/Jo/Ella friendship: I bring laughter as people laugh at me falling over and I am the shield for the other two to wander along the beach with. We were prevented from getting all the way to Sooty Bluff by one large male with ‘crazy eyes’, we decided it was not worth trying to get past him. It was a really lovely walk though. That night we had a BBQ. It was unfortunately distinctly cold but good none the less.

It was with a heavy heart on Saturday that I wandered down to the jetty with Jo to say goodbye. I know that I will see her again (if only because she has invited me to spend some time with her in Spain) but it really did feel like the beginning of the end of my time here. We have had so many adventures together, had such great times and become such firm friends that it was a real wrench to say goodbye.

The rest of the Saturday was beset by a snow storm. This was very fitting since whenever Jo went on holiday the sun always shone and it seemed as if South Georgia was crying for her departure. I spent most of the day in the kitchen, helping Hazel with her Saturday cook. I also managed to clean and rearrange my room and bath room in preparation for Hazel moving in for a couple of days at the end of this week to make room for the new lot coming in and then for Julie (the new Doc) with whom I will be sharing till I leave. Dinner was a real success: black pudding on a bed of grated carrot and beetroot with melted brie and salami slices on top served with onion chutney. Then a chicken pie with mash, green beans and broad beans. To top it all off we had rhubarb crumble with custard. Perfect.

Today (Sunday) Hazel, Micky and I got out of the house early to make the most of the weather and headed up Hodges. This is a peak directly behind Grytviken, hovering over the whole cove like a benevolent giant. There are three possible routes and we decided to go straight up the front face. It was fine until we hit a snow slope which we needed to traverse. Luckily we had brought ice axes because without them we wouldn’t have been able to go up that route. Now,  I don’t like heights at all and we had to kick steps into the slope traversing it. It was pretty steep and at the bottom of this slope are cliffs and air. I have to admit that I kept my head down, looking at my steps and tried to keep my breathing level. I was very pleased when that section was over. The only other ‘bad’ bit was a bit of a scrambly climb over a step to move onto another slope. This would have been fine in normal circumstances but this is South Georgia and you can put your hand onto what looks like solid rock for it to crumble at your finger tips. I did not want that to happen while climbing. Again all was fine and we made it to the very windy summit after a couple of hours from starting. 

                                      The base from half-way up           Photo: H. Woodland

                                            Scree is unpleasant                    Photo: M. Sutcliffe

At the top

We had lunch tucked under the peak and then returned down the other side of the peak into Boulder Pass and then down Deadman’s. It was as usual a lovely day and I thoroughly enjoyed myself (except when slightly scared). Going up Hodges was the last thing that I had on my list of things to do so I was very pleased I managed it. The only thing marring the day was the fact that Jo wasn’t there with us.

By this time next week the new folk will have arrived, we will have started handover and the countdown to coming home, a rather sobering thought. I am looking forward to this week though and am waiting to see what it will bring.

In honour of it being Remembrance Sunday as I write this:

“We will remember them”