South Georgia finale

Our final landing in South Georgia proved to be a fitting climax to the trip. Our target was Prion Island in the Bay of Isles, which is not often visited by vessels at this time of the year. The weather forecast was looking touch and go for a landing but we arrived at 5:30 in the morning and were all keen to make an attempt. There was some swell but it was within limits. Our zodiac did a circumnavigation of the island before we landed and the swell was quite noticeable and slightly worrying ! There was also some driving snow. By the time we got to landing it had turned to cold driving rain and it was getting quite unpleasant. Still I made it to the top of the island to see the main attraction here, which was the nesting Wandering Albatrosses. There were three juveniles practising flapping their three metre wings ready for launching themselves into their new airborne life in just a few day's time.

The weather was playing havoc with my lens and it got rather misted, so the photos weren't the best. However, here is a heavily processed photo of one of the Wanderers.

The other highlight here for a birder like me was finally seeing the South Georgia endemic the South Georgia Pipit. They were quite plentiful on this rat-free island and some were even singing, making quite a change from the wildlife soundtrack elsewhere.

Happy, we returned to the mother ship for a welcome breakfast, but not before we got soaked by the chill spray and had an interesting disembarkation from the zodiac.

From here we headed west and made a call at Elsehul and Bird Island, but by then the conditions were too rough. So these were our final moments on South Georgia. Before long we were heading west, accompanied by masses of Albatrosses, Petrels and Prions, as the island receded into the mist and we were left to face the increasingly rough waves of the Southern Ocean.