First 3 Weeks Done…

So, now heading back on the ‘Air bridge’ after just over 3 weeks on the Island. Can’t wait to see Yassi and Fred although the military are doing their best to make me wait; I have to ‘rest’ for 11 hours after landing before they will let me drive the hire car home. That means after landing, I will be home approx. 15 hours later and will have to drive at night! Oh well, at least I’m getting home. Also had a great start to the day with the sun god(s) treating me to this view on the way to the air terminal:

What a treat on my last day

Been a very busy visit mostly focused on getting to terms with the job and the very nuanced approach required with training so far from home. Policy documents are my only friends now!! Although I spent all of the weekends here in the office playing catch-up, I still managed to spot a few things whilst here.

On the first or maybe second day, I saw the Caracara. The tinter-web suggests it is rare but I saw it several times. Beautiful bird that the locals call the Johnny Rook (may be spelt slightly different) for reasons that I do not know.

Beautiful yet menacing looking Caracara

Something that really surprised me is that it does not rain that much down here. The wind is on maximum blast 25 hours a day, but the rain doesn’t visit too often. Even more surprising when you see some of the epic doom clouds that pass over such as the one pictured below:

They carry a look of doom but they keep their watery treasure

It is actually so lacking in the wet gift from the gods that during the summer months, to even burn some grass in your garden for example, you require a permit from the Falkland Islands Government (FIG). The risk of fire out here is quite high and the peatlands are extremely hard to control if they burn. A really good example picture is below which shows what appears to be wet moorland looking landscape; the ground is mostly peat and is almost tinder dry beneath the surface.

Looking moody over on Mount Pleasant

Those moody clouds do allow for some stunning views, like when the sun god thrusts its photons through and allows us mortals to see the light in the form of rays…

Ra shows the Falklands the true form of light

Another bird that got pretty close and said hello was the Turkey Vulture. Was walking back inside the building that houses the shoe box they call a room, when 3 of these ‘orrible looking beasts scared the shit out of me!! Startled is much more accurate as there was no need to change any underwear, but still, it was a close call. When I was only a metre or so away, I must have startled them so they went one better and made me jump.

I don’t really think they’re horrible or ugly, but they are certainly not as charismatic or handsome compared to that glorious looking Caracara. Just saying, if I had to choose a bird for life, the Turkey Vulture is not likely to make the short-list. Couple of pics below of the tricky trio who almost caused an evacuation of the unwanted kind:

The first pair of the troublesome trio

The third, and most guilty looking, of the gang

The 3 weeks weren’t all work though; I managed to get around the city of Stanley for a couple of hours when Van had to take his car in for a service. Very small, very cute. Not Van or his car but Stanley. Looking forward to getting there again in the future and having a good walkabout with my Yassi and Fred. I didn’t get any photos of the city but did get to see Yorke Bay and Gypsy Cove. This is where I was given a real treat and saw my first real-life wild penguin. So cool, made me giggle like a child and it felt good. Couldn’t believe how gorgeous they are and how close us humans get. Only seen one type so far and that is the sweet little Magellanic penguin as seen below:

At first, I swear I thought it was a statue!

Could the Magellanic penguin be any sweeter?

These gorgeous little schnukums were chilling out on the grassy hills just above the beach at Gypsy Cove. The pics below give a decent view of the cove.

Spot the penguins and goose at Gypsy Cove

Beautiful looking beach at Gypsy Cove - Yorke Bay is just behind

After seeing those little beauties, the path heads towards a rather large old coastal gun. I clearly didn’t read the information board at the time, so historical commentary from me will wisely stop there.

Quite a big gun - information board not read!

Imagine living across the water!

Saw a nice little moss ball thing as well, although it was as tough as nails; the world’s hardest moss I reckon. If there was a Royal Rumble fighting event hosted in the plant kingdom for mosses, this tough little bastard would kick ass and take the crown for sure. Nice looking too. Mosst likely works out on mossle beach!!!

Tougher and deadlier than moss-tard gas

Something I love is the 360 degrees of sky; although there are hills, it’s mostly rather flat and no matter where you look, you see the sky. It’s awesome. No high-rise flats, no skyscrapers, no tall trees (will come back to that!). It should be obvious that one has to be outside, it’s not quite the same when indoors! Couple of example pics of the glorious blue skies that can be witnessed here:

Such a deep blue it was and no trails anywhere

Full (or ish) moon in the clear blue skies of Mount Pleasant

When the winds come down from the north or north-west they roll over the hills, particularly Mount Pleasant, and can create a type of severe air turbulence known as rotor turbulence. These conditions can cause serious disruption to fixed-wing flying, so they are monitored closely. Luckily, Mount Pleasant Complex is also home to a dedicated team from the MET Office who update 24/7 on the rotors situation with pretty awesome accuracy (which is nice!!). I visited the department because my job is dependent on these reports; the kit and radars etc they have is pretty epic and the visit was a good geek-out. These rotors may well be the silent stealth killers for those aircraft of the fixed-wing variety (rotors obviously sound as though they should love helicopters because they also have rotors, but sadly aviation does not work according to my naming conventions!), but they can cause a very beautiful sight by rolling those clouds over the hills. The pictures below sadly cannot show the rolling nature of the clouds so you mosst close your eyes now and use your imagination.

Mount Pleasant wearing its cloud cap

View from Pleasant Peak out to Mount Pleasant - all very pleasant indeed

So, that was this visit in a nutshell and I appreciate that this has mosst likely been a long-winded journey for you poor souls reading this; however, whenever you feel down, whenever you feel beat up, whenever you feel like life just can’t get any tougher, please please please just be thankful that you are not a tree trying to survive on the Falkland Islands!!

They tried at the start but it was all too much!!

Must be one of the saddest things I have ever seen. When have you ever heard anyone ever say “When I grow across, I want to be a …”? Poor thing never had a chance to grow up.

Well, that is it for this entry. From up on high, a quick goodbye to the Falkland Islands. Until next time.

Goodbye for now

Peas and love to all of you mosst wonderful readers

Zed

P.S. I wrote this on the plane and uploaded once arrived at Cape Verde.