'South Georgia is for those who grew up dreaming of a Garden of Eden, where you would walk unharmed among abundant and fearless wildlife in a beautiful wilderness - an oasis of serenity in a world increasingly out of step with nature'.
(Tim and Pauline Carr, Under the Spell of South Georgia)
A spectacular island in the South Sandwich group, South Georgia was first spotted (maybe) in 1675, though the first landing didn't take place until a hundred years later when someone else from Middlesbrough claimed British sovereignty.
Salisbury Plain and Fortuna Bay on the north coast. A heavy, early morning mist covering peaks towering almost three thousand metres above sea level, muting colours, muffling sounds. Colonies of magnificent King penguins in both locations. Penguins on the beach, in the sea, in glacial ponds, zig zagging in the far distance along rivulets down the mountainside. Large boulders turning into feisty fur seals. Inquisitive seal pups, one of which (let's call him Alan) became rather attached.
Oh, Alan...........