Tristan da Cunha

After 4 days at sea , I finally got off the ship, onto land at Christan da Cunha, the 'most remote INHABITED island on earth'. I have exact figures: St. Helena (not exactly Hawaii) 1326 miles to the north, Cape Town 1519 miles to the east. Forgot milk, get your cow. The island rises 6,760 feet, and encompasses 38 square miles. Most of the terrain is steep, as apart from a few square miles of flat land, the rest rises at least 6500 feet to the top of the volcano. I can't say extinct volcano, since the entire island (all 264 people) was evacuated to England in 1961 ss the eruptions threatened to bury the only town of Edinburgh. Roughly 300 people live on the island, and although their pioneering ancestors were from widely varied ethnic and national backgrounds, most of today's inhabitants are related to one another.

England lay claim to the island in 1816 and had a garrison on Tristan to help insure the French did not liberate Napoleon was exile. When the garrison was pulled out a few years later, Corporal Glass and his fgamily opted to remain behind. Over the next century, numerous castaways, shipwreck victims, slaves and adventureres settled on the island and the gene pool became blended! Today modern economic enterprises include fishing (especially for crayfish, or lobsters, which I can report are very, very good), a fish factory (which is being rebuilt after a fire destroyed a couple of years ago (it ain't easy here), and postage stamps (very pretty ones), and most people own a couple of cows and sheep. They have dogs but only male ones. When the islanders left in 1961 the dogs were on their own, and it seems they bred like rabbits and killed the cows and sheep (had to have some food since their owners were gone for 2-3 year I believe). Kind of left a bad taste on the returning families.

The other thing Tristan is known for is their potato patches, which are located about 3 miles out of town. Eveyone has their own patch, which looks to be no larger than 50 feet by 80 feet. And on their plot it seems everyone has a house constructed out of lava rocks and metal sheets of some sort. Windows are added, and voila, a second home near the sea (everything is near the sea) is created. When the 'pressure' of town becomes too much, yuou can always retreat to the potato patch to till the soil and get away from it all.

Two other islands are nearby, Nightingale and Inaccessible. People on Tristan are all seafarers and are out on the ocean quite a bit.

Not that many ships come to Tristan da Cunha, but when they do the bar is open, and the local ladies ar ready to show you (no, get your mind out of the gutter!), their handnmade articles for sale.

I have a few pictures to show of the town, and the potato patches.














The town of Edinburgh. The slanted road in the center, leads to a very tiny 'port'. Only a dingy, zodiac or medium sized sailboat could tie up here. Everything from the larger ships that will be unloaded on Tristan needs to be ferried on smaller boats to the port, and brought up the road into town.














This is the view from on the volcanic flow from 1961 looking at the western end of town. Most of the town is off to the right and a few were destoyed in the lava flow.




















House by the potato patch. The walls dividing the patches are volcanic rock. You use what you've got, much as many walls in the fields of New England are rocks pulled from the fields. The terrain behind the patches gets very steep, very quickly, as it goes to the top of the volcano. The islands havew a temperate climate, but do occasionally get buffeted by the low pressure area which often find their way into the South Atlantic (and call I can say to that is, 'No S@#*'). As a result, the temperature ranges from 40 - 85 degrees and the island receives about 66 incles of rain a year, more than enough to support the population and their animals.














More potato patches and houses - just like any suburbuia in America! Except Tousand Oaks.




















Sheep and potato patch house













View from potato patch area looking back toward town, about 3 miles away














Looking toward potato patch area.

Anyone looking for more information regarding Tristan and its history, can read a book by Conrad Glass, a direct descendent of William Glass, the Corporal who decided to stay on the island. Conroad is also the constable and one of the headmen. He came on board on vessel and gave an abbreviated history of the people. He had also published a book, interesting as I read part of it in the ship's library on the way to Cape Town. It title is 'Rockhopper Copper', a reference to his job and the rockhopper penguins on Nightingale and Inaccessible Islands.

Day 4 at sea continued

Nothing new to see - continuation of Wandering Albatrosses following the ship as land approaches.




















































































Wingtips never touching the waves

Day 4 at Sea - tomorrow at Christan da Cuhna

More Wandering Albatross pictures off the stern of the National Geographic Explorer.












To show how close the albatross was to the rear of the ship, for the photographers, this was taken with me 100-400 mm lense at 220 mm. In other words close.

On the Open Sea to Tristan da Cunha - 3rd Day

Upon leaving South Georgia Island we had 4 days at sea before reaching Tristan da Cunha. The first day was spent in my room, including the bathroom, as I experience my second of being really, really seasick. The second day was recovering from the first day. The 3rd day got me out on the stern taking pictures of albatrosses. They would glide from side to side coming up to the ship from behind, then circle back around and repeat the process. Sometimes they came fairly close, and sometimes stayed away. But all was accomplished without flapping their wings, but just gliding with the wind.













Not sure kind of Albatross this is - it is not a Wandering Albatross - could be a 'Sooty'? The dark feathers extend all the way cross the top of the wings.














Wandering Albatross














Wandering Albatross














Wandering Albatross














Wandering Albatross














Wandering Albatross

Grytviken and Stromness, South Georgia

Grytviken was the first whaling station established on South Georgia in 1904, and the Whalers Cemetery is located here. Ernest Shackleton's grave is the headliner in the graveyard. Stromness was establish 8 year later.




















Shackleton's grave.














Norwegian church establish in 1904 at Grytviken. It was raining which accounts for the part of the image to the right of the steeple.














Inside the Norwegian church from the balcony which is about 5 feet wide.














This is a replica of the James Caird, the longboat used by 6 men (Shackleton, Frank Worsley (the skipper), Harry McNish, John Vincent, Time McCarthy and Tom Cream) to make the 800 miles trek from Elephant Island to South Georgia. The boat is really small, 23 feet, and it was doubted that they would survive the journey. But they did, and then Shackleton, Worsley and Cream made their way, with no maps, and anyway the region was unmapped, across South Georgia's interior mountains, glaciers, and icy crevasses, some 26 miles, on foot (and who knows what kind of footware - certainly not anything with GoreTex liners!), and did the trip in 36 HOURS. They had only 50 feet of rope, and a carpenter's adze to use as an ice-ax. They did put scres in their boots for crampons though. They gave up the rope after they rappelled down a waterfall near Stromness and emerged soaked and frozen. One final note: As part of a recent documentary on the ENDURANCE expedition, three world-class mountaineers, well-fed and completely equipped, retraced the journey to Stromness. It took them 3 DAYS. Granted, conditions have probably changed a great deal in the 90 years since, but it does point out what a remarkable feat was accomplished. I do regret that we did not have a chance to repeat the last 4 miles of that journey from Fortuna Bay to Stromness due to high winds - we are such sissies! The trip would have included the waterfall that gave the 3 men so much grief.




















I've included this picture of a mounted Wandering Albatross to show how wide the wingspan actually is. These are 8 foot ceilings, and to get the albatross to fit, the wings are not spread out fully - there is probably another foot to a foot and a half further to go. Both the James Caird and the mounted Albatross are in the musuem at Grytviken.












Stromness Whaling Center - abandoned and off limits to us because of safety reasons. The area is now enjoyed by fur seals and King penguins without fear of being killed by whalers.




















King Penguins - Stromness. The 'call of the wild'.














King penguins out for a stroll - Stromness.




















Fur Seal pup - Stromness. They are really very tiny.

Prion Island, South Georgia, and Husvik

Prion Island is located on the northwestern region of South Georgia in the Bay of Isles. What makes Prion Island, and some of the other islands here unique, is the fact that they are free of rats which allow the birds to nest here (especially the smaller birds, such as prions, terns and pipits). The island also provides nesting areas for dozens of wandering albatross. I was entertained by several albatrosses flying quite close by, something I haven't seen since Karon and I were in Dunedin, South Island, New Zealand.














Wandering Albatross on the Nest














Wandering Albatross in Flight (all the following pictures of the Albatrosses in flight are from Prion Island)















This image is included because the albatross was first flexing one leg, and then the other, and repeated this several times, like the bird was running in the air. Usually both legs are tucked underneath the body.


















In flight














Over a glacier














Over Prion Island














Skimming the water (and never, ever, getting a wingtip caught on the waves - even in the open ocean)













In the air














Rarely flapping the wings - the world's best gliders















Looking toward the landmass of South Georgia














Fur Seal on prion Island sharing the space with the birds




















Fur Seal pup coming up to my boot (Prion Island) on the beach














Husik area of Stromness Bay

As you may be able to tell, I loved watching the Wandering Albatross fly, or glide.

Godthul, South Georgia - abandoned whaling site

Reindeer were introduced by the whalers as a source of fresh meat. As new genetic material has not been introduced, there is a lot of inbreeding. The one obvious result is the antlers on the reindeer - some animals have been seen with 30 points on the rack (making hunters drool if they could get to South Georgia and kill the animals - which they can't).











We did a hike up to a lake and then to a waterfall. There were a few gentoos by the lake, which was probably a good 800-1000 feet above the ocean - quite a good walk for a penguin. That is where I saw the gentoo above and below.











Gentoo penguin by the lake














On the hike at Godthul.














Seal on tussock grass. This is what they do to the grass.