Salisbury Plain (Take 2)

16th November 2015. Salisbury Plain, South Georgia.

(Map of journey . . . . . . . . (14. Salisbury Plain)).

We had had an unusual run of perfect weather but this was compromised somewhat this day. It was raining and grey in the early morning so we slept in and ventured ashore after breakfast. Here is a glimpse of the multitudes on shore.

Incredibly, there was a yacht here too. They must have been very experienced (hopefully not foolhardy) to venture to a zone where the weather can be so wild.

King penguins and a fur seal.

Male fur seal. Don’t venture too close. Though actually, if you keep very low they’re less likely to take offence.

King penguin portrait session.

Perhaps the penguins are from the yacht and have just landed.

Most of the king penguins are firmly on land while one gazes out in the distance to the ocean. Looking for signs of fish? Orcas? Leopard seals? Nuclear submarines?

The Polar Pioneer in the distance now, rather than the yacht.

You can fly, you say?

I’m really not convinced.

A view of the shoreline with fur seals and king penguins and somewhat dubious weather.

A line of king penguins is a little cautious, preparing to walk through the fur seals.

Penguins surfing in and walking past a fur seal on the beach.

(Anthropomorphic warning): All dressed up and nowhere to go?

Almost got this right but unfortunately, the front penguins are in focus but not the central one at the back.

This is almost certainly after a territorial conflict with another male fur seal (this one appears to have won).

And finally, a trio to bid us farewell for the day.

After an hour or so, we were reminded where we were. Katabatic winds sprung up and reached 60 knots off shore. The zodiacs had taken several groups back but were unable to return for those still on shore. I had omitted to bring an extra layer of clothing with me and was feeling a touch cold so I lay down in the partial shelter of a ridge of stones created by the tide along an edge of the beach. Ole Jørgen Liodden was revelling in the deteriorating conditions and photographing returning penguins while in the water himself. As well as lacking a layer of clothing, I did not have his waders. Fortunately, after about half an hour, a zodiac was able to head off from the ship in a tangential direction and work its way around the shore to us.

We reconnoitred for a landing at Prince Olav Harbour in the afternoon but weather conditions prevented it. This was our second to last day on South Georgia.

Ocean Harbour Dreaming

Jul30

15th November 2015. Ocean Harbour, South Georgia.

(Map of journey . . . . . . . . (13. Ocean Harbour)).

In the afternoon of the 15th we visited Ocean Harbour, which seemed like a different world.

In the distance is the Great Dancing Hall and Parliament of the Shaker community who settled here many years ago. You can see some of their surviving sheep in the foreground.

The colony was founded by Ethel Mercaptan, who had become somewhat on the nose to many other members of her community so she led a splinter group to South Georgia.

Her mighty ship, the Wedgetail Beagle, still sits there waiting her command.

Though you can’t see the ghosts, you can see their chains.

The geese she kept to ward off any barbarian invasions of the ship remain on board and have made their nests there.

Meanwhile, the settlers created an abstract tapestry on the side of the ship, intended to depict either the future success of their new colony or their descent into hellfire.

The geese still watch out for potential barbarian invaders.

Unfortunately though, the captain of the ship, one Arbuthnot Queeg, had a secret heated compartment in the hold near the engine room that he had filled with giant pirañas, intending to either sell them in Peking or hold the city to ransom. The pirañas thwarted this plan when they ate through the hull and caused the ship to sink. They then perished in the cold waters of the bay.

This did not stop the colonists from painting an abstract tapestry on the rudder.

While the geese remain on board, the ship is contemplating turning into land

… and eventually into a forest.

Meanwhile the sheep have very little to do and spend their time lounging around, or since there is not much good grass, plunging into the sea to fish.

The giant spinning wheel remains, mute testimony to the plans to found a mighty clothing industry, had they just been more astute and chosen a kind of sheep that has wool.

So we gaze out across the pasture land to the empty spaces that might have been so much more.

The community itself has faded away as Shaker communities are inclined to do.

Travellers from space visit occasionally though.

The geese still hang around though there is no longer any crew to sail away in the ship.

And though the whole community has faded away, …

… a couple of chickens still hang around in front of one of the sheep.

Attention now, this is Mahommed Engels-Trump of the Pedantry Terrorism Squad of MI6. We have seized this post for dissemination of Fake Nudes (did I get that right?).

The ship is the Bayard, a sailing ship built in Liverpool in 1864 and was here being used as a coaling ship for the whaling station. It is 67 metres long and weighed 1200 tonnes. A gale in 1911 blew her across the bay where she sank in three metres of water and remains to this day. There was probably nothing romantic about the daily activities of the whaling station and the workers would have led hard lives in a spectacular setting and a cruel climate. MI6 deplores the misrepresentation here of fur seals, South Georgia cormorants and giant petrels. The “duck” on the water that was not mentioned is maybe a skua.

St Andrew’s Bay (Take 2)

Jul22

15th November 2015. St Andrew’s Bay, South Georgia.

(Map of journey . . . . . . . (12. St Andrew’s Bay)).

Chorus line passing the elephant seal.

Another landing before dawn, to St Andrew’s Bay again, that we had visited three days before. This time I managed to get onshore well before the dawn.

Dramatic pre-dawn cloud on a remote beach on a fine morning.

The sun has risen on the mountains but not where we are, down near the beach.

A bull elephant seal rises up and roars as the sun peeks over the headland.

Another bull elephant seal crtawls into view in the foreground. Close inspection reveals the scars of battle.

Vista up the river. Elephant seals in the foreground, king penguins along the river, glacier in the distance.

One of the elephant seals is now catching the morning light.

A bull roars…

Further on, the sides of the glacial river are packed with penguins.

All are king penguins.

A view of a wildlife metropolis, with conga lines going out to the sea for fishing. Perhaps they think there is safety in numbers, because there could be leopard seals or orcas lurking.

Now what do you think this is? Donald Trump on the wall of his building perhaps?

Not drowning, waving…

A whole city of infant king penguins in front of the mountains and glacier and a kelp gull flying overhead.

More the adults visible here.

Once again, the vast throngs on the banks of the river and further inland.

A reindeer antler lying on the beach.

Reindeer were introduced in the early 20th century to provide a food resource for the whalers. Numbers greatly increased after the whalers left and it was deemed that they were causing to much damage to the fragile ecosystem. Consequently they have all been killed, though some calves were previously relocated to the Falkland Islands.

Trudging across the river…

Down now at the edge of the sea, there were many king penguins swimming around in dense rafts, perhaps hunting shoals of fish.

…And some emerge from the water.

The Chinstrap Iceberg

Jul15

14th November 2015. Far south end of South Georgia.

(Map of journey . . . . . . . . . (11. Icebergs)).

An hour after sailing around the Acropolis iceberg, we encountered an iceberg with siz chinstrap penguins along for the ride. There are two of them here, and six snow petrels in the background.

Here are the other four, not far from the first two.

And from another angle, as the ship sails by.

Frank Zappa warned “Don’t you eat the yellow snow” (Apostrophe, 1972), though here it’s ice and there are no huskies (or eskimos) to be seen.

Snow petrels and chinstrap penguins.

Here the are from a bit further back. Hard to tell whether this is the bow or the stern of their ship.

An overall view from the back. So no penguins visible now.

Its shape looks quite different from different angles.

Here they are again. After they calve from an ice shelf, icebergs can melt in the sun, become unstable and turn over. You don’t want to go too close to an iceberg because you never know when that will happen (though the penguins probably don’t greatly care). That diagonal; grey strip is probably a previous water line.

Here they are again. They’ve shuffled their order since first encountered.

Maybe the two on top have moved.

Blue lines on icebergs can be caused by fresh water that is quickly frozen. The brown lines.are probably from a layer of dust, perhaps when the ice was part of a glacier.

Those two penguins are certainly well away from the waves.

Here are some cape petrels beside the iceberg. Perhaps looking for some fish thrown up in the turbulence.

All six of them in the one image.

And they’re not as close together as they seemed in the preceding image.

Those big diagonal bands could be relics of rolling events.

The Acropolis Iceberg

Jul8

14th November 2015. Far south end of South Georgia.

(Map of journey . . . . . . . . (11. Icebergs)).

From Cooper Bay, we continued on towards Drygalski Fjord, near the southernmost point of South Georgia. The clear weather of Cooper Bay continued, at least for a while.

I thought we turned back from Drygaslski Fjord because of weather conditions but other accounts indicate we decided to study some icebergs instead. In any event, we turned around and returned along the north-east coast the way we had come. You might think it would be desirable to circumnavigate the island but the south-west coast offers no protection for the ship from the frequent storms so in the interests of safety we did not venture that way.

Visibility was starting to decrease.

The majestic mountains of South Georgia are retreating into the mist and fog.

The varied shapes of several icebergs provide a contrast with the murky mountain background.

Not a place out there where you’re likely to meet many people.

Our first glimpse of part of the Acropolis Iceberg. I’ll explain why I call it that soon.

Another iceberg nearby. These are all massive blocks of ice.

Long and low and in front of the coast. Most of it is of course under water.

I’ll name this one soon for its appearance from another angle.

Back with the Acropolis iceberg. It is late afternoon, nearing sunset.

Acropolis iceberg in the front (we’ve only seen a small part of it previously) and the Sphinx iceberg in the distance (as seen previously from a different angle).

This is why I call it the Acropolis iceberg. the face of the big foreground block is like a frieze from the Parthenon. Carved by penguins perhaps. Click on the image to see greater detail.

A view from round the corner. The frieze is now facing out to the left.

So is it the Acropolis or perhaps the Parthenon or maybe the British Museum where Elgin lost his marbles?

A section from the massive side. The penguins have only just started carving out a frieze here.

The sea breaking against the iceberg and the background is clearing a bit. You can see the smooth band at the bottom of the visible part of the iceberg where it rides up and down against the sea.

A convoy of icebergs including the Sphinx in the middle and the Acropolis at the right.

A last glimpse of the Acropolis.

Sydney Winterfest 2017

Jul3

I was asked to cover the first Sydney Winterfest, a mini Blues Festival over three days but all acts on the same semi-outside stage. Usually I have to chase around to cover a Festival but in this one, and particularly since I was staying at the venue, I was able to reserve a table at the front of the stage and operate from there.

The first band was The New South, talented and very young. This is Harry Tompsett.

This is a guitarist from the Mescaltones, a Tex/Mex Blues Band with a flair for performance and costume changes.

The climax for Friday night was the Pat Powell Super Blues Band, playing the Muddy Waters “Hard Again” album. This is Pat Powell, formerly of England and earlier Jamaica.

There were many eminent musicians in Pat’s band. One was Clayton Doley on keyboards.

This is Beau Lloyd in the Keith Hall Band, the first band on Saturday morning.

Bill Kervin, bass player with Cristina Crofts.

Christina Crofts’ band, Christina and Bill out front, playing vibrant blues rock originals.

Christina’s drummer, Mick O’Shea.

Lizard: Matthew Charnley on the left and Roy Ruckman on drums.

Jason Dowse, bass player for Lizard.

Starting a mini-series of drummers: Roy Ruckman of Lizard.

Apparently this youngster expressed an interest in playing the drums so Peter Fricker (one of the organisers) placed him briefly on stage during an intermission.

Tony, Boyd, playing for the Simon Kinny-Lewis Band.

Simon Kinny-Lewis.

The keyboard player in the same band, whose name I do not know.

Simon Kinny-Lewis Band, playing Blues in blue light.

Emma and Gary in the kitchen.

Steve Bennett of Ghost Road, a band that has been playing for 25 years.

Stan Mobbs, playing with Chris Cain.

American guitar maestro Chris Cain, the headline act for the festival.

Dancing for Chris Cain…

The first band on Sunday was the Imogen Clark Band. This is her father, playing bass.

Jason Garwood with the Imogen Clark Band.

Imogen Clark, only 21 and highly accomplished as both a guitarist and a singer.

Lloyd Spiegel, an amazing performer of clever lyrics and stunning acoustic guitar solos.

19 Twenty was the next band, as always playing very tight with amazing energy and compelling engagement with the crowd. Kane Denelly and John Gwilliam.

Young and old up and dancing.

Kane undertaking a soaring riff, hiding drummer Syd Green.

19 Twenty dancefloor again.

Mal Eastick and Milena Barrett. Milena is English and a wonderful singer.

Maestro Australian guitarist Mal Eastick.

…

There are many more images. On the Sydney Blues Festival Page . you will find links to images from the 2017 Winterfest, as well the previous festivals from 2009 . For the 2017 Winterfest there is Top 75 Images and links for each of 13 bands.

Alternatively, there is also a direct overall link to all Sydney Winterfest 2017 images in JAlbum (with overview images and images by band organised by folder).

For other images of a particular band I may have taken since 2006, see the Musicians and Bands Page, which lists links alphabetically by band.

Macaroni Penguins at Cooper Bay

Jul1

14th November 2015. Cooper Bay, South Georgia.

(Map of journey . . . . . . . (9. Cooper Bay)).

From Gold Harbour we continued south to Cooper Bay, with a landing for a Macaroni Penguin colony. This was to be our most southern landing in South Georgia.

This is Cooper Bay, taken on shore after we had landed. A wild and beautiful location though it would be not a good place to be shipwrecked. (Click on the image to see it much larger).