Goodbye and the Long Journey home

This will be a blog in two parts, I will write the first bit while on the Pharos making way to the Falklands and the second part will be just before I leave with details of my time in Stanley.

 

I am writing this, sitting in my cabin on the 4^th day of our journey home. Well, when I say sitting, I more mean trying to balance on a rickety chair that every so often slides across the carpeted floor due to a larger wave than normal while trying to stop my laptop following me onto the floor. It is a force 8 (on the Beaufort scale) which is a gale. The movement of the Pharos is notoriously bad (she is too small for stabilisers to be worthwhile) but this trip we have been lucky and while we are ploughing into a gale it is on the nose so the roll is minimal (only 15-20° rather than the more normal 20-25° that she can roll), well it was but then last night I woke up a couple of times wondering if she was just going to continue to roll or whether she would right herself. We haven’t had to heave to and we are making good progress. However the force 8 does every so often make itself felt. As you walk along the corridors you have to first walk on one side leaning into the roll and then calculate when your next step has to change sides of the corridor and you have to lean over the other way. Every so often a shudder rolls through the ship as she shoulders her way through the sea rather than riding over it. Every cup of tea has to be only half full to ensure no spillages and even then you have to hold onto it. I am really rather enjoying it. I am wearing an anti seasickness patch which seems to be working, it makes my mouth feel like the inside of a boot but that is a normal side effect and so far I haven’t experienced the hallucinations or vision problems that can also come with the dry mouth. 

A force 8

Last week was one of limbo. I handed over to the new chaps on the Friday before (29^th November) and so I was taking a step back to let them find their own way. I still had the annual report and training certificates to do but that was it workwise. The majority of my time last week was spent packing, writing BOLs (Bills of Lading), securing my P box with acres of duck tape and generally wandering around collecting my stuff and trying to absorb the feel of the base.

It was a glorious, dingle day on Monday so I decided that I was not going to spend my last sunny day on South Georgia in an office. That decided, Jerry (the penguin chap from Bird Island who is coming out for a mandatory 6 weeks before his second winter at BI), Kris from the museum and I packed our daysacks, I pulled on my old friends (my boots) and headed up to Deadmans. We climbed Boulder Pass (tricky since I had only ever come down it and the route is not easy to pick out) and walked across the Hodges Lakes area. It really was a beautiful day with not a cloud in the sky and a small breeze to cool us off. After a bit of a false start finding the other side of Boulder Pass we slithered down the scree slope trying not to dislodge too many rocks on the person below and made our way to the lake above Papua beach where Hazel and I had snoozed away a couple of hours a couple of months ago. There we had lunch and decided instead of going down to the beach and returning via Boulder Pass again we would climb and traverse our way round to No Name Col above Carr Valley. As we climbed to the top of the ridge we were circled by a Snow Petrel, a brilliant white flash against the deep blue of the sky. Whenever I have been in the passes on the Thatcher I have nearly always seen a Snow Petrel and so to see such a beautiful one on my last trip over a pass was very special.

Busen seen from No Name Col

We traversed to where I thought No Name Col was but I got disorientated due to the lack of snow and I brought us across a nasty scree slope to the top of a cliff. It would have been a long way back over nasty terrain so we decided to give downclimbing this slope a go. I went first since I was more used to the conditions than the other two and also I was the one that cocked up so I would be the one to have to climb further back up if we couldn’t get down here.

After a section of slippery, crumbly cliff when both Kris and I realised that Jerry was in wellies rather than walking boots we resolved to try a snow slope rather than rock. To reach the snow slope we had to cross a short piece of snow that had an angle of about 70°. I kicked steps into it and stabbed my fingers into the snow to act as anchors. Mainly I was yelling at myself in my head not to look down because it would have been a distinctly nasty fall and I really don’t like heights! It was only after Kris (who is a climber and a summer mountain leader) followed me and said “well you have bigger balls than me going first on this” that I thought about how unpleasant it could have been. After a well earned fruit gum or two at the bottom, giving everyone’s legs time to stop shaking we headed home. Kris left us at Deadmans to meet the rest of the museum guys at Maiviken and spend the night in the hut there with Josie. It was a truly wonderful day and a wonderful way to end my walking career on South Georgia. The only thing that could have made it any better was if Hazel was there but she had to make do with some photos. Apparently I need to learn to straighten my horizons, I always think I have but apparently not.

We may have down climbed that

As I said, the rest of the week was spent packing and attempting to sort my life out. On Wednesday afternoon I went to say goodbye to Shackleton in the cemetery and to wander among the seals for a last time. There was a weaner learning to swim with the grace of a bulldog doing ballet, with his head stuck in the water like a kid learning to swim. I watched as a furry streaked towards this weaner like quicksilver. So agile and graceful. The furry bumped the weaner, ‘kissed’ him on the nose and shot off again with the weaner, now completely in love and bemused, looking after him with longing. It was incredibly sweet.

Why on earth did climbing onto that wall seem like a good idea?

We heard that the JCR was in Stromness Bay calibrating scientific equipment and that they would be coming in on Thursday to drop Hugh off. Actually very annoying that they couldn’t have decided to pick Hazel up this week rather than taking her the week before but at least this way she didn’t have to sort food and she managed to see Wandering Albatrosses and an Adelie colony at Signy.

Thursday had been forecast to be raining or snowing but it became another beautiful day, if rather windy. I therefore headed up to Deadmans for a last look at what must be one of my favourite views on the island, if not ever. I sat up there watching a Sooty Albatross try to land in the cliffs of Boulder Pass, calling to its mate, and just soaking up the view. I will admit to a small cry but mostly I came away with a strong resolve to try and find my way back here one day.

Last view of Maiviken

When we realised that the JCR was coming in Hazel sent a list of things that would be good if she could have: sterile instruments, dressing packs, deep heat etc. I therefore spent a part of the afternoon wandering around collecting all the bits and bobs. She (JCR) went to DP (dynamic positioning) at Hope Point and I was about to cox the jetboat out there when Pat called them up and asked if he could come aboard. Since they said yes I jumped at the chance to accompany him. It was a really lovely and unexpected surprise to be able to go on board to see Hazel. We even had enough time for a scalding cup of tea and a chat. It was only 10/15 minutes but it was lovely. I even got to see my friend Anna Belcher who is aboard doing science for her PHD. It was a great last trip out on the jet boats and very satisfactory to be able to hand deliver a Christmas present to Hazel.

JCR and Shackleton's Cross at Hope Point

Once the JCR had gone off to the other side of the bay to do science I walked up to Hope Point with Julie. Unusually we walked along the beach and to my delight we found a blondie widge (a blonde 1 year old fur seal). From the markings it had I am pretty sure that it is the one that was so friendly last year. I really do hope it was. I spent my last night on base listening to the Fur seals barking and ‘ouffff chuuuuffffing’ right outside my window and a huge (for KEP) swell break on the beach. How can listening to the sounds of a city ever compare to that?  I am looking forward to hearing owls though. And trees. I am really looking forward to seeing trees. 

Blondie's back!

Base from Hope Point

We boarded the ship after a few tearful goodbyes, a solid handshake or two and my telling my new guys to email me whenever they had a question and ‘Good Luck’. She slipped her lines at 0700, the remaining winterers did the traditional Mexican Wave and that was it. I stayed on deck for a good while saying silent goodbyes to the different peninsulas and landmarks that I have grown to know and love during my 13 months.

Duse, a landmark I have lived under for 14 months

The wintering team giving the traditional Mexican wave goodbye

Last view of Base

Now we are just in limbo. I think this is the hardest part of leaving South Georgia. The four/five days on the ship and then the 2.5 days in Stanley I am urging time to spin faster, now that I have left KEP I just want to be home and every moment I am in neither place is tricky. As a passenger all my day consists of really is sorting photos (boy do I have a lot, not as many as Rod though who has a ridiculous number, in the 1000’s), writing bits and bobs, eating (a lot of eating, unsurprising for me really), reading, watching films and standing on the bridge watching the waves. On Saturday I ventured to the gym. The rowing machine oscillates between ridiculously easy to massively difficult. And as for pull ups, half the time you feel as if you are made of lead and the other half you are flying.

Standing on the bridge one can see the myriads of birds swirling around the ship. I really want to know why they follow ships. I have my heart in my mouth some of the time as they skim the sea’s surface with a wingtip and then have to swerve rapidly when a wave nearly swamps them. They always recover though. We have also been incredibly lucky to see dozens of whales, well, more their blows. However yesterday two Humpbacks came straight for the ship. We very nearly had to take evasive action but they both dived 10/20 yards from the ship. It was a truly magical sight. So even though I would prefer to be at home (only 5 sleeps till I am in my own little bed) I have seen many wonderful things on this trip to the Falklands.And I am looking forward to seeing more amazing things in the Falklands waiting for the flight home.

Goodbye South Georgia