It is Christmas Eve in the Southern Ocean. The 
wind has been blowing a gale as it is wont to do in these parts and we have not made a landing this morning. The captain is keen to be on his way to Antarctica but Graham, our fearless leader is keen for us to make one more stop at South Georgia. He goes on a hunch that these winds will ease and persuades the Captain tos tay awhile and make one more attempt for a landing at Gold Harbour.
His hunch proves right and we are elated to 
discover we will be making land on Gold Harbour. This is the place described by Graham as his favourite spot on South Georgia, which his favourite place on the planet. We are anxious to see why. 
Gold Harbour has 25,000 pairs of breeding king 
penguins together with a beach full of giant elephant seals. Fortunately, for us the aggressive fur seals are absent. Numerous Antarctic birds are to be found here as well the southern giant petrels, Antarctic terns and the light mantled sooty albatross. Gold harbour is reputed to have earned its name for the ‘fools gold’ found here by a German Antarctic Expedition in the early 1900s.
It is impossible for me to capture the beauty 
of this place or to describe its grandeur. Gigantic snow capped mountains with hanging glaciers ring the beach. The noise of breeding king penguins are deafening but it is the smell of the elephant seals that drifts across the air, as we pile into the zodiacs in excitement, that greet us first.
packed to capacity with king penguins and their chicks. We are just glad to be here and amazed at the spectacle that nature has provided. We have been so very fortunate to be able to set foot on this beach. 
We enjoy the moment, taking time to just sit and 
observe penguin and elephant seal behaviour and know that once we are back in the big city lights, these will be the moments we will look back forever with a sigh of contentment!
We come back for a wonderful Christmas dinner, with all the usual trimmings, so thankful for the wonderful present we were given this year. A landing at Gold Harbour!
“..what can one see in the cold, inhospitable regions of the Antarctic? And confronted by a bold question such as that, it is hard to find an answer..” Sir Ernest Shakelton, 1913
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