The Falkland Islands – we have arrived!

The Falkland Islands – we have arrived!
So we have been on the Falkland
islands a few days now. We arrived on the night of the 7th in Stanley and got
through customs and immigration on Sunday. Sunday was a special day here –
Battle day, a remembrance of the war between England and Argentina. So Monday
was a Bank Holiday. Which meant that most of the shops in the village where
open, except for the Bank.

So we had a look around, walked along the
waterfront, did some shopping ,stretched our legs on steady ground. This meant
for most of us muscle pain at the end of the day! It was strange to feel land
under your feet after more than a month at sea and try to make your legs work
the way you were used to them working… and they just wouldn’t. Heading up one of
the many hills, was a big job! So over the next few days we do short walks to
work our way back into shape and hopefully do one long beautiful nature walk in
a few days time.

The night we arrived in Stanley we got a nice big send
off with arctic weather. As we were trying to keep the leading lights in line
hail was coming down on us hard. The temperature was below 10 degrees and
packing the sails away was cold business. It made our first beer taste all the
better though! We dropped anchor close to the Europa and were docked alongside a
jetty the next day.

Yesterday we set sail again. We did our shopping, we
will have more time to discover the pubs of Stanley next week, first it was time
to go out and explore a bit more. Where are all the penguins at! We sailed the
first bit in the early afternoon and straight away we spotted two swimming King
Penguins. Then came the groups of Magellanic Penguin and all sorts of shags and
cormorants. And sailing into Port Harriet we were accompanied by a group of
Commorsons Dolphins. They are quite small dolphins, shaped like porpoises but
collared black and white. They were playing in front of the ship, jumping,
slapping their tail and playing with the bow wave.

The nature here is
amazing. We have not seen a lot yet, but already we are taken by the rough looks
off the cliffs and rocky mountains which change into green grass hills with soft
shapes and small houses with colourful rooftops. The wild life is amazing, not
only yesterday out sailing, but also in port, we have seen birds of prey, birds
with bright red chests (who might be pray), a vulture, gees with chicks, seals,
albatrosses and more. We have started a new photo competition – best Penguin
picture!

Today we will set sail early for Kidney Island – Kidney cove.
The wind has increased to a near gale again and the weather for the next week
does not look especially good, so we will have to see where we can find the best
anchor spots. Hopefully near some penguin
colony!The Falkland Islands – we have arrived!
So we have been on the Falkland
islands a few days now. We arrived on the night of the 7th in Stanley and got
through customs and immigration on Sunday. Sunday was a special day here –
Battle day, a remembrance of the war between England and Argentina. So Monday
was a Bank Holiday. Which meant that most of the shops in the village where
open, except for the Bank.

So we had a look around, walked along the
waterfront, did some shopping ,stretched our legs on steady ground. This meant
for most of us muscle pain at the end of the day! It was strange to feel land
under your feet after more than a month at sea and try to make your legs work
the way you were used to them working… and they just wouldn’t. Heading up one of
the many hills, was a big job! So over the next few days we do short walks to
work our way back into shape and hopefully do one long beautiful nature walk in
a few days time.

The night we arrived in Stanley we got a nice big send
off with arctic weather. As we were trying to keep the leading lights in line
hail was coming down on us hard. The temperature was below 10 degrees and
packing the sails away was cold business. It made our first beer taste all the
better though! We dropped anchor close to the Europa and were docked alongside a
jetty the next day.

Yesterday we set sail again. We did our shopping, we
will have more time to discover the pubs of Stanley next week, first it was time
to go out and explore a bit more. Where are all the penguins at! We sailed the
first bit in the early afternoon and straight away we spotted two swimming King
Penguins. Then came the groups of Magellanic Penguin and all sorts of shags and
cormorants. And sailing into Port Harriet we were accompanied by a group of
Commorsons Dolphins. They are quite small dolphins, shaped like porpoises but
collared black and white. They were playing in front of the ship, jumping,
slapping their tail and playing with the bow wave.

The nature here is
amazing. We have not seen a lot yet, but already we are taken by the rough looks
off the cliffs and rocky mountains which change into green grass hills with soft
shapes and small houses with colourful rooftops. The wild life is amazing, not
only yesterday out sailing, but also in port, we have seen birds of prey, birds
with bright red chests (who might be pray), a vulture, gees with chicks, seals,
albatrosses and more. We have started a new photo competition – best Penguin
picture!

Today we will set sail early for Kidney Island – Kidney cove.
The wind has increased to a near gale again and the weather for the next week
does not look especially good, so we will have to see where we can find the best
anchor spots. Hopefully near some penguin
colony!