Stanley, The Falkland Islands

It took two full days at sea to get from South Georgia to the Falklands. The time was spent, as before, with TV movies and a series of lectures, this time from the scientific staff that have been picked up over the last couple of days.

Despite fog being almost ever present, the ship made good speed - presumably with the risk of icebergs out the way it is acceptable to plough along at 15 knots. The sea is not quite a millpond, in fact there is quite a bit of rolling and splooshing of water over the brow of the ship - as a result there are quite a few passengers who spent non-lecture time horizontal in their cabin.

One of the evenings after dinner was an Antarctic quiz night. The quiz consisted of questions about the wildlife we had seen, the ship and its crew and some other Antarctica questions, the answers to which we had been told during the course of the last couple of weeks. The scientists won - however, the passenger team that came top was the team we were in - our prize was dinner with the Captain the following evening.

Port Stanley

Delayed only about an hour and a half, we followed some Korean fishing vessels (squid jiggers) into the harbour. The zodiac ride to shore was a little bumpy - ideally the ship would have liked to have docked but couldn't, possibly a function of available space and cost.

On shore, a bus ride had been arranged for those who wanted a short guided tour of Stanley and environs. Some others had made alternative arrangements and got taxis to either Goose Green or to a bird watching beach, Gypsy Cove. We wanted to see Stanley, so opted for the bus trip which took us...

1. Ross Road - the promenade of Stanley with prominent building along the way - Post Office, Government House, The Upland Goose Hotel, to name but a few. All viewed from the bus.
2. The museum - A nice small museum of life on the Falklands.
3. Whale bones in the garden - some guy who collects whale bones and keeps them in his garden.
4. Totem pole - shows distances to various locations around the world and not necessarily major places.
5. Countryside outing - Passed a few wrecks in the harbour which initially were ships that were damaged at sea, turned up here for repair and weren't.
6. Minefield - only the perimeter fence. There are still many land mines on the Falklands and it has proved virtually impossible to clear them all, so the areas are clearly signposted and fenced off.
7. Town - tour around the streets.

After the tour was lunch, which we took at one of the pubs, The Globe, and had fish and chips. Nice to have something really basic. After lunch we had a walk round the souvenir shops - they all have basically the same things, with some slight variation. Also, we spent a bit more time having a gentle stroll round the locations we saw only from the bus.

After returning on the last zodiac, we dress for dinner with the Captain. After dinner Val does a bit of star gazing before returning to the cabin to watch a silent movie of Richard Byrd's flight over the South Pole. The problem with with silent films is that you have to keep your eyes open to see what people are saying and to read what is happening, which we both, in the main, failed to do. 

Continue to West Point and New Island
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