First full day with zero excursions and no 5-something-a.m. wake-up call trying to assassinate us in our sleep. We treated it like the national holiday it deserved to be.
We kicked things off pretending to be responsible photographers by attending a two-hour workshop on landscape and wildlife photography. Translation: we now have exactly zero excuses when every penguin picture comes out looking like Bigfoot took it. The instructor was fantastic—we scribbled notes like we were cramming for finals and swore we’d actually read them later. (Spoiler: the notebook is already buried under a pile of laundry.)
Then we went full Downton Abbey and showed up for high tea. Tiny crustless sandwiches, scones the size of hockey pucks absolutely drowning in clotted cream and jam, and pastries so pretty it felt wrong to eat them… until we did. We circled the table like polite vultures and lost count somewhere around plate three. The British Empire clearly never met a portion they couldn’t make adorable and irresistible. Manners went out the window; calories went straight to our hips. Zero regrets.
And then came the biggest surprise of the day—the captain came over the loudspeaker and announced we were making a little detour for a very special sighting: the world-famous iceberg A23a! This massive chunk calved from Antarctica’s Filchner-Ronne Ice Shelf back in 1986, got stuck on the seafloor for decades, and finally broke free and started drifting in 2020. It spent years as the planet’s largest iceberg, making headlines as it slowly wandered north toward South Georgia.
Earlier this year (2025) it was still enormous—around 3,500 square kilometers, bigger than Rhode Island! But by now, late December 2025, it’s been melting and fragmenting in these warmer waters northwest of the island. The main piece is down to roughly 630 square kilometers (about 344 square nautical miles), with bits calving off regularly. Seeing those towering walls of ancient, electric-blue ice up close—older than our kids and grandkids—was absolutely unreal. Talk about a bucket-list celebrity encounter in the middle of the ocean!
The rest of the day was 100% horizontal: napping, reading, and staring at the endless sea (and that incredible iceberg for as long as we could see it) through salt-streaked windows. Total calories burned: maybe seven (from walking to the dessert table). It felt so good to just rest and recharge after all the early mornings.
South Georgia day after tomorrow so we are in inspection mode tomorrow so early wake up call again. Oh well, no rest for the weary!
May God bless you always,
Chuck & Lea Ann
WorldTravelReynolds 