12th November 2015. Grytviken, South Georgia.

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(Map of journey . . . (4. Grytviken)).

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We are now approaching the great metropolis of Grytviken, in fact the only place in South Georgia where the population is greater than zero, not counting seals and penguins.

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A closer view.  A small number of British scientists live here, though Argentina briefly captured the place in the early eighties.

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A king penguin was hanging around on shore, on the somewhat muddy ground.

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I was not the only person to photograph him (or her).

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These I believe are casings for the explosive heads of harpoons, fired from harpoon guns at the front of whaling ships.

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This place is probably a paradise for scrap metal dealers, were they allowed to remove anything.

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Grytviken was founded in 1904, initially as a Norwegian whaling station.  It closed in 1965 when virtually all the whales were gone and in the intervening period processed 53,800 slaughtered whales.

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Many relics of that period remain.

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I would think that the purpose of this huge pile of massive chains was to haul whale carcasses ashore.

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… though in this case, to anchor a ship.

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Ancient machinery whose purpose probably doesn’t bear too much thinking about.

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I went for a walk along the shore quite a way past the settlement.

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There are also remains of various wharves….

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I understand the road accident casualty rate is quite low on South Georgia, much lower than India for example (though actually they usually drive pretty slowly in India in my experience).  For all I know, this may be the only vehicle on the island.

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There are also a couple of old ships moored beside the bay.

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This one is an old whaling ship.

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You can see that the end of the harpoon does appear similar to the rusted sections we saw further above.

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And finally, here are a few shots of rust and paint on the side of the ship.

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