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15.02.2016: Day 3 - Landings on Carcass and Saunders Island - Falkland Islands
We got woken up at 6-35am by the sound of the anchor dropping and a wake up call 10 minutes later which, by then we didn't need. I switched on the on board TV to check the camera - rain! Not what we want for our first landing.
We had breakfast but then there wasn't much time to get our wet weather gear on and get to the zodiac landing area. We turned our tags to show we were off the ship, walked through the water buckets to clean our boots and went down the gangplank and into the zodiac.
There was a short ride from the ship to the beach at Carcass Island - one of the islands on the north western side of the Falklands. We got off the zodiac into the sea and waded up onto the beach. Our life jackets have to be put into a large sack and we'll collect them on the way back. It doesn't matter which life jacket you use as long as you have one but we are thinner than most and so we always have to adjust the belts. It's easier to do that before you put on the jacket. But one of the crew always checks and then you get tightened up!
There were 3 options for the landings here - a 4km walk which we did, a shorter walk or just a ride to get onto land. We spent 4 hours on the island. We saw Magellanic penguins, Gentoo penguins and some juveniles who are shedding. The parents have already left and they need to wait on land 4 to 6 weeks without food until they have shed the outer feathers and have their water proof layer so they can go into the sea and feed. We needed to keep 5m away from them so that they don't use up more energy moving away from us.
We walked from the landing beach across a short stretch of land through tussock grass to another beach. There was mist and drizzle but it cleared up as we walked about 4 km along the bay. We had to be careful where we were walking as a lot of the penguin burrows were underneath the ground so we had to make sure we didn't collapse any of them. It was also quite boggy but we saw quite a few birds - skuas, caracaras, giant petrels, kelp geese and flightless steamer ducks.
We watched a group of Magellanic penguins trying to get through a wire fence and further uphill to their burrows. One had a real problem and didn't seem to know how to get through. He tried the direct route by running straight into the wire and bouncing off it backwards! Poor thing. Then he wandered up and down along the fence whilst the others were already waddling away. Eventually he worked out how to get through and we all applauded!!
At 11-30 am we got to a café with a huge table full of various cakes including scones with jam and clotted cream, Bakewell tarts, fruit cake, chocolate cake, cream cakes and biscuits. All typical English cakes and absolutely wonderful! You'd think I was being starved on the ship but it's been a while since I've had any typical English food so I really enjoyed it! Plus this time no one missed out as there was a huge amount!
Day 3: Landing on Carcass Island (Falkland Islands)
The sun came out and we got back into the zodiacs to return on board. We heard from the divers that during their first dive they touched whales and saved a penguin from the jaws of a leopard seal! They were joking of course - it was just a test dive to check equipment and work with their buddies, some of whom have never been paired up before.
The cost for the divers depended on what type of cabin they had but included equipment, tanks and oxygen refills for up to 28 dives on this trip. A number of the divers wanted to do all the dives and all of the landings aswell - we were wondering how that was going to work.
Once everyone was on board we set sail for Saunders Island and went for lunch - Red Borsch (Russian beetroot soup as a number of the sailing crew are Russian), Chili con Carne and cheese platter.
At 2-15pm we got into the zodiacs for our next landing. I spoke to a researcher from Idaho who was on the beach watching and observing the caracara birds. They eat anything including penguin chicks and there are 800 of them on the Falkland Islands and the population has been stable over the 10 years he has been coming here.
We went for a walk up along the coast and saw our first King penguins who were sitting on their chicks and a large amount of birds and wildlife all mixed together - Black browed albatross, Rockhopper and Gentoo penguins, imperial cormorants and sheep! We got the chance to roam and wander or just sit on a rock and observe. The last zodiac was at 5-45pm so we had 3 hours and plenty of time.
Day 3: Landing on Saunders Island (Falkland Islands)
I got very wet on the zodiac ride back from the waves and spray so we wiped down all our wet weather gear in our room to remove salt water and then hung it all up to dry. Numerous people forgot to turn their tags when they returned so people were called to turn them before we could set sail again!
We left at 6-45pm to head over to East Falklands and the capital, Stanley.
We had another instalment of Falklands history plus information about the schedule for tomorrow and then went down to deck 3 for dinner. I ordered the Pan-fried Plaice fillet served with bacon and cherry tomato and potatoes although it didn't seem like any plaice I've had before but it tasted very good. Kirsten had Thyme marinated veal loin served on herb Spaetzle (German pasta) and mushroom sauce and it was followed by hot fruit crumble with hazelnut ice cream. I got my extras again but Kirsten insisted on half!
We had fun talking to an Austrian couple, Gigi (76) and Peter (80), who were very entertaining and then returned to our cabin to write the diary and work on photos and the website report. We made the mistake of watching National Geographic programmes being shown on our TV and didn't get to bed until after midnight.
16.02.2016: Day 4 - Stanley - Falkland Islands
We didn't manage to sleep much overnight probably because we saw quite a lot yesterday and our on board programme is quite full every day. It's not hectic by any means but we're certainly not used to packing as much into 24 hours as we do on this cruise. So we had difficulty "switching off" to sleep. We're also still trying to get used to the boats movements along with all the creaks and noises. Somehow we managed to sleep through the anchor being lowered because when we got the wake up call at 7-45am we were already in the harbour at Stanley.
After breakfast we had to get straight to the zodiacs for the short trip to the jetty - the only dry landing on the trip. We left our boots and life jackets in a covered area on the pier and were given a visitors card which we would have to hand in when we returned. The last zodiac was at 1-30pm so we had just over 4 hours.
Our first stop was the visitor centre where we could pick up a map. Stanley might be a capital city but it's just a small village and most people just wanted a little walk around before heading to the pub to sample the locally brewed Rockhopper beer.
We set off along one of the main streets and had to remember that traffic drives on the left. There aren't many roads and virtually all the vehicles are land rovers and range rovers. You certainly need 4 wheel drive here. We walked past Victory Green and took photos of the very British phone boxes, past the police station and houses painted in various colours and headed for the museums.
We went to Falklands collectibles to look at Falklands money. They have pounds and pence just like in Britain but there notes and coins are different and can only be used here. We spoke to the owner Phil Middleton who is a very colourful character and he patiently answered all our questions. Apparently they run out of pennies because there is a penguin on them and all the tourists take them as souvenirs.
You can buy a set of mint condition coins from 1974 when the Falklands stopped using British currency and used their own, for 97-50. The set includes a commemorative coin which costs 60 pounds to buy separately. All their currency is produced by the Royal mint in the UK.
We found out that Michael Fallon, the Minister of Defence is visiting this morning so we chatted to Phil whilst we were waiting for the chance to get a photo. He made us laugh telling us various stories. Princess Anne was here three weeks ago and Prince William was stationed here for four months and visited the Victory pub one evening. His security staff went inside first and asked the owner if it was alright for the Prince to visit. Well, of course! But there were certain rules - no photos, no cell phone photos, no press. The bar tender was told that if people wanted to buy the Prince a drink then his choice was Drambuie and lemonade but he should only be given iced tea which looks the same colour. The Prince doesn't drink in public and with everyone buying him drinks he could get some serious alcohol poisoning!! The pub must have done a roaring trade that night!
The minister arrived at the museum along with an entourage of the important people from the Falklands. There are less than 3,000 inhabitants and in 2011 they had a vote asking whether the inhabitants wanted to stay under British sovereignty - Yes or No. 99% voted Yes, the other 3 votes wanted independence (2) and a mix of independence and UK government (1). We suspect Phil was the latter!
Then Phil told us that his wife was one of the people counting the ballots. Whilst watching the TV that evening the programme was interrupted for breaking news from the Falklands which was being broadcast throughout the UK. He saw his wife, live on TV, counting out the ballots into piles of ten. The next day his 6 year old niece went to school and proudly told her class that her aunt was very good at counting from 1 to 10 and she was so good at it that she was filmed on TV! Great story!
Once the minister had left, Phil got interviewed by the BBC which I videoed. Afterwards we went into the museum to take a photo of the visitors book that the British minister had just signed and couldn't resist adding our names for posterity. He signed it "Secretary of the Ministry for Defence" and I decided that writing Kirsten and Helen, secretaries of gossip on a cruise ship might seem a bit disrespectful - particularly as a great deal of people would probably be looking at that entry.
We'd spent almost two hours there so we had to rush around so we could see everything else we wanted to see which included a bust of Margaret Thatcher who freed the islanders from the Argentine invasion in 1982, Memorials for the Falklands War and first World War, and Government House.
Then we headed back towards the centre and found the supermarket where I bought lots of English goodies. We spent over $100 but it was like Christmas for me and I finally managed to get Galaxy chocolate, my favourite, which I can only get in England.
We went into the Cathedral and then headed for Victory pub. Phil had told us it was the best pub to go to and we had already past that particular information on to a group of Americans from our ship who were trying to find Rockhopper beer and hadn't managed it yet.
When we got there the group told us they had drunk the pub out of the local brew - no joke, they really had! There was no more left! Other passengers were having fish and chips and kindly allowed us to take photos.
Day 4: Landing at Stanley (Falkland Islands)
We rushed off to the cemetery and the Cross of Sacrifice - the memorial for the second World War and then it was time to get back. We quickly went to the public toilets on the jetty and both of us suddenly felt as if the ground was moving! We are obviously getting our sea legs because it wasn't an earthquake!
We got back to the pier to put our boots and life jackets on when one of the passengers had to ask the ships doctor to verify that he was a passenger to the police officer escorting him. He'd lost his visitor card! Kirsten said the doctor should deny knowing him and he joked that he'd have to spent the night in jail. The police officer said he wouldn't be alone!!!
It had just started raining as we got onto the zodiac and the ride back took a lot longer as the ship had moved out of the harbour to refuel. We got very wet from spray - at least we were sitting on the side where we got hit by the water on our backs, but the ones opposite got it right in their faces! The water was freezing!
We didn't get back until almost 2 pm, the end of the lunch hour so we had to dump our wet gear in the bathroom and head in for pasta and a salad. Shortly afterwards we had a presentation on the albatross who only lay one egg, mate for life but only see their partners during the breeding season so they have to find each other again and get reacquainted. The wingspan of the wandering albatross is 3.60 m long and therefore longer than the Condor.
The second presentation that afternoon was in German on the geology of the Falkland Islands and we found out there is gold on the islands! During the recap we got some more history of the Falklands from historian Carol, Ali told us about the "Jiggers" which are squid boats who have to pay for licences to fish in Falklands waters and provide the main income for the islands, and Catherine told us about the Lady Elizabeth shipwreck near Stanley that we saw on the zodiac ride back to the boat - her great, great grandfather had worked on the boat for two years at the beginning of the 20th century. Ab showed us photos of the birds we had seen on the two islands yesterday and Jim told us about the day the Argentinians invaded the island in 1982 - the Governor Sir Rex Hunt was taken prisoner and flown to Comodoro Rivadavia and the surrender flag was an umbrella fitted with a white pillowcase!
Straight afterwards we went for dinner which was Falkland Island greens with pancetta, followed by cod with saffron potatoes for me and lamb with stir fried vegetables for Kirsten. The dessert was Crème Brulee. I had three and was offered a fourth but I couldn't manage it!
Kirsten had a bit of a migraine so I fetched her some ice in a bag from the bar so she could lie down in bed. Fortunately it helped a lot and I sat and wrote the diary which took me over an hour.
