Another great day of cruising with the usual morning of Qi Gong, Tai Chi, Lecture (South Georgia, Land of Kings) in the morning and then another in the early afternoon (The Life of a Whaler at Grytviken) - both excellent. Then is was time for some scenic cruising as we reached South Georgia and made an attempt to get into Drygalsk Fjord. Attempt because we were heading into an gusting 81 mile an hour headwind, the Prinsendam and the Captain tried but after about 45 minutes it was not letting up and became a situation where we had to turn around due it potentially being a dangerous situation. Now we were up front and felt the full force of this incredible wind and lets just say turning around was no easy task either, in total it probably took about 30 minutes to turn the Prinsendam around. This ship is fitted with two props and bow thrusters, so when she was broadside to the wind, the wind kept trying to push the stern back, so it took a bit of time and patience to get her fully around - amazing to watch and witness. From here we continued on to some glacier scenic cruising before heading into a beautiful harbour, Gold Harbour. Named Gold Harbour because of the way the sun shines on the tundra covered hillside - and beautiful sun we did get. This harbour also is home to the largest King Penguin Colony on the island as well a Macaroni Penguins and Fur Seals.
I will need to finish and post this tomorrow as we have an early start with our tender time assignment of 7:40. It is now midnight and we did have another one of those expedition type day - and no I am not complaining, this is an incredible ride. I don’t want to rush this one as we had invited two of the guest speakers to our table tonight, so more on them tomorrow.
Noel Miller’s bio states that he is an artist and writer from Brisbane and runs his own art school, Noel has been lecturing on cruise ships in the Antartica over the past 12 years, spending the last 5 years lecturing on the Prinsendam. This is his 35th trip to the Antartica Peninsula. His areas of interest and storytelling include the work done by other artists visiting this ice, the stories of Scott and Shackleton told through the photographers who accompanied them, as well as the harrowing tale of Douglas Mawson, an Australian polar explorer.
Professor Craig E. Franklin, Phd - Craig to a zoologist, a conservation biologist and a professor in Biological Sciences at The University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia. He has a strong interest in highlighting the threats to the conservation of wildlife in Antartica, which is covered in the book we were all given, “Antartica Cruising Guide” 4th edition. Craig has undertaken ten research expeditions to Antartica and more than 30 trips to the Antarctic Peninsula as a naturist on cruise ships.
To round out our table guests tonight were Noel’s son, Dominic and soon to be Daughter in law, Steph.
We had some lively dinner conversation and they are happy to hear than we were going to be one of the first off the ship in the morning. They stated that in the past ships have had to leave early on occasion due to incoming weather, so you must always have one ear out for the ship’s horn. Looking forward to an excellent day here in South Georgia.
A few pic from today, hope you enjoy…
Quote of the day: “Travel makes one modest. You see what a tiny place you occupy in the world” - Gustauve Flaubert
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