The Falklands

MV Explorer finally left Ushuaia at 11.15 pm (4 hours late due to a flight delay for 21 people who were probably having a panic attack at the thought of being left behind.....)! The sea was very very rough, half the passengers ended up sick but D & I ok so far - gusts of winds up to 70mph! Looking out the window at grey sea as far as the eye can see.

Sailed through the night and next day, when the weather finally calmed down. During that time we had lectures on everything from seabirds, to geology and history - feel like I am back at school and, of course, Doug sits at the front and I sit at the back of the lecture hall!!!

The ship itself is great, good food, and our cabin has a big window (important here as most cabins seem to have portholes which are permanently shut against the weather) and we can watch all sorts of seabirds struggling to stay aloft.

Yesterday we arrived at West Point Island and got off for a couple of hours to wander through a colony of black browed albatrosses and rockhopper penguins (very cute and punky looking!). We then had tea (in bone china cups) and cake at the only farmhouse on the island - talk about being away from it all.....! In the afternoon we landed at Steeple Jason island and visited the largest colony of albatross in the world - 150,000 of them. Amazing sight - incredibly noisy and very smelly. The weather was hot and of course we were all dressed for freezing temperatures, I guess that is what to expect here - one minute warm, next freezing.

Today I am writing this from the back of a small post office in Stanley in the Falklands, have visited the war memorial and am off next to investigate the (very) few shops they have here. The Globe pub for lunch - all looks very English but boy is it cold again! Gotta spend some money!

We are having a brilliant time, sorry if this is short but I don't have much time and hope it all makes sense. The days are slipping by and I get confused (as ever) . Hope to get a few pictures up shortly from the ship, but it is a costly business so there won't be many and they will probably be of penguins! Next stop South Georgia.

Footnote from June (Annie's sister) as I 'm managing this Blog for her from Australia:
Annie says everyone can send emails to her hotmail account if you don't want to leave a comment on the Blog, but asks that you don't expect an early reply due to cost and time constraints of using the internet during this part of her trip. And for those curious to see & read a bit of info on the "little red ship" whilst waiting for the next update & photos from Annie, here's a web link: click here


Annie and Doug xx