This morning
we woke up in beautiful, scenic Grytviken and after breakfast, went for an easy
stroll in the old whaling station. Of course, before starting the promenade, we
paid our respects at Shackleton’s grave, where he now is in the good company of
his inseparable friend and colleague, Frank Wilde, whose remains have been
recently put to rest right next to the great man himself.
The whale
station – better stated, the remains of the whaling station – are a rather
interesting and photogenic collection of decaying machines and rusty tanks,
that form a labyrinth that we successfully crossed to get to the simple wooden
church that was transplanted, 99 years ago almost right to the day, from Norway
to this island in the middle of the Southern Atlantic Ocean. It was in this
peaceful building that we held a little Christmas celebration, where we
actually turned a building into a living church.
Finally, we
ended our short visit to Grytviken with a visit to the small but very
interesting museum, where exhibits give one a very good overview of everything
related to this island: the history, the geology, the fauna both on land in its
rich waters, etc. Of course, we also paid a visit to the very well stocked gift
shop, where a wide variety of books, clothes and gifts were there to tempt us –
with a good purpose, as all the proceedings go towards the conservation of this
beautifully rugged place…
…whose
beauty we were able to appreciate all afternoon, as we gently sailed past its
mountainous coast en route to the Drygalski glacier, where we sailed into to
enjoy a Christmas eve in its sheltered waters.
