Over lunch we motored northward to Wiencke Island, where we came ashore at Dorian Bay (S 64°49′ W 63°30′), just below the two relatively small huts — one Argentinian, the other British — perched on the hillside. The British one is no longer used but is a designated historic site; the Argentinian refuge is older and was only used as a short term or emergency shelter (a part of me wonders if they were both occupied during the Falklands/Malvinas conflict; such a scenario may have been a little awkward).
Many of us headed up the snowy hill on an extended snow shoe hike, which gave us extensive views across to the much larger Anvers Island, some 3km away.
At the top of the ridge line — the area around which was used by the British in the 1970s-1990s as an airstrip for resupplying a station further to the south — we had a good view into the channel and the next bay where, in addition to a Russian flagged cruise ship, there was a small yacht. I hate to think what a crossing of the Drake Passage must be like in such a vessel.
We continued down the ridge-line towards the point to complete a large circuit route. The rounded slope of the snow-covered hill on which we were snow-shoeing was a contrast to the crags of the mountains behind.
It had to be done at some point, and so here it is: The picture of Dorian Bay.
While the majority of people were snow-shoeing, one of the mountaineering guides took someone up a nice little nearby ice-cliff (you might just be able to match the photo below with the triangular ice-wall above a gentler snowy slope in the centre of the photo above; there are two pixel-sized black specks at the boundary between the wall and the slope).
Having completed the circuit we wandered around the shore, enjoying the views, and finding yet another colony of cute Gentoo penguins.
The moody sky of the morning continued into the afternoon creating some interesting cloud and light effects, and the fact that the walking route followed the snowy ridge-line allowed for some nice shots of distant hikers against the sky.
The British structure is Damoy Hut and it is possible to go inside, where some relics from its work in the 1970s can still be seen.
It was late in the afternoon when we returned to Plancius and after dinner I enjoyed a view from the deck and completely failed, yet again, to get a really good shot of penguins leaping out of the water.
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