A very late night — Tim & Paulene Carr, the caretakers of the Grytviken Museum, invited us in for drinks, and afterwards the British Antarctic Survey team asked us to come have drinks. All of the British folks we’ve met here have been really nice, really fun people who are passionate about being in South Georgia. Jerome seems to be a major attraction at each base; tonight the Brits managed to get him to fall into one of their practical jokes and he returned to the boat with a face covered in talcum powder, the result of some goofy party gadget they had at their bar.
The day’s main activity was meeting Ted and company in the morning near Fortuna Glacier in order to complete the Shackleton Crossing with them. Apparently they crossed the island in near record time, and since the final traverse to the Stromness Whaling Station didn’t require skis Christine and I tagged along. The backcountry of South Georgia is beautiful, and the weather was amazing — warm enough for a t-shirt, and the sky was a perfect blue. We later found out that the ozone hole is exceptionally bad today, so we also returned with harsh sunburns, but it was worthwhile for the views over the glaciers and of the icebergs off the shore. Tonight the sky is clear and the stars are shining as brightly as I’ve ever seen, although aside from the Southern Cross the constellations are all unfamiliar.