Episode 11

Now, I know that it's a dam long time since my secretary last put her fingers to the keyboard and tried her best to compose our actions over the past couple of months into words. Not her forte really. We spent a few more weeks in England as the weather got somewhat cooler and remained consistently damp to downright wet. We did get the occasional frost and steadily we headed towards winter. Progress was made with the idea of a trip to the Falkland. So much so that flights were booked, first on the RAF flight to the Falklands, and also another to get us out of the Falklands to Punta Arenas in Chile where it was decided by L that we should spend a couple of weeks or so before heading back to Oz immediately before Christmas. The van was all packed cleaned and bedded down for the winter, I was pushed into the small backpack, the cars were all put away for the winter and off we set in drizzling rain one November morning by train heading for Oxford. That alone was dame near a marathon with about four changes of train along the route. Then it was bus from there to Brize Norton and a walk of a good kilometre or so in the dark and drizzle to where the RAF base is situated. One thing about these RAF flights, they don't fill up the planes and my lot had four seats to us three (not that I got to use a seat). Our flight left in the middle of the night but is was broad daylight when we landed and refuelled in Cape Verde 5 hours later, then it was on to Mt Pleasant in the Falklands, a 10 hour haul. L says she has never before had so much food in so little time, 5 meals were served during the flight. It was an overcast and dull afternoon in the Falkland, with a small pile of snow outside the terminal doors. After clearing immigration and customs we were met by our tour arranger and along with another couple loaded into a van and whisked off to Darwin, and our B and B/guest house for our first night. Icy rain fell before we even left the airport but soon after the sky cleared and the sun came out. Darwin is not even a settlement really, just a couple of guest houses, a working farm or two on an inlet near Goose Green, the site of one of the fiercest battles during the Faklands war of 1982. Immediately after a cup of tea was ingested we set out for a walk around the area. Along the foreshore of the inlet there was quite a variety of water birds including a pair of night herons, perhaps so named because of their dark grey colour. Loads of the very pretty and noisy sand pipers that we became very familiar with over the course of our stay. My lot didn't venture any great distance because they were quiet tired after our long journey and a 4 hour time difference. Next morning we set out and walked around the area, first walking up to the site of a couple of memorials to people lost in the Falklands conflict. This was the area of the Goose Green battle. On a hill above the guest house there is one of the masts from the ship the SS Great Britain. The wind was so fierce that my lot could barely stand up against it and to get my photo taken L had to cling on to me for dear life, thought I was going to become airborne without the aid of an aeroplane. It was none too warm either. This ship had quite a colourful life having been restored and put back in service a couple of times. Further along the shore we came to an old, beautifully built and restored stone corral. This had been built by early settler in the 1830's. On the hillsides there are areas of thick gorse at present in full bloom with brilliant yellow flowers. This gorse provides the only shelter there is for the sheep grazing around here. We were to see this gorse in many places with its brilliant splash of colour. Later we also learnt that one of the sheep farmers in this area lost several thousand sheep because immediately after they had been shorn the weather took an un-seasonably cold turn and the sheep died of exposure. They are particularly vulnerable after shearing and without much shelter from the weather. Before leaving Darwin we asked about their wind turbines and solar panels we could see. These produce much of their power requirements but they do have a generator too. Those wind turbines were almost spinning off their masts. That afternoon we were whisked off to the airstrip in a rattly old landcover. When we got there the driver then got out raised the windsock, hitched up the fire-engine trailer to the landcover, and we waited for the plane to come in. Shortly it appeared and touched down on the grass strip. the plane was/is a Britton Norman Islander, about 10 sets including the pilots. There are just two or three of these planes servicing all the islands. We flew low enough to get a great view as we headed off to Bleaker Island our next stop a mere 10 to 15 minutes away. At the airstrip here we were met by Mike, the farmer who owns the island and the guesthouse where we were to stay. Mike told us that he has both sheep and cattle, L can't remember how many sheep but about 40 cows. We had to travel most of the length of the island to reach the homestead, guesthouse, cabins and machinery sheds and workshops. After being shown our rooms Mike then took us off and showed us the main sites for viewing the wildlife. The massive King/Emperor Cormorant colony we could smell before we saw it. It is vast and must contain thousands of birds. Mike told us that it only started in that location about 20 years ago and has gradually got bigger and bigger. Many of the birds were sitting on nests with a mate standing beside them. About the outside of the colony is a number of skua birds that live by grabbing one of the cormorant eggs when the parent is being a bit careless. Beyond this colony nearer the exposed Atlantic shoreline we came to the Magellanic penguin colony. These penguins dig tunnels and lay underground. Their eggs are protected from the Skua birds but because it had been such a wet spring there was concern about how badly it would have affected the eggs of this species. the ground being so very wet. Off through some tall tussock grass we found a Rock hopper penguin colony, three small colonies really, and along with the rock hoppers there was also some of the king cormorants amongst them. Dolphin gulls and some other gulls were here too. Way to the north along the shore we came to the Gentoo penguins, several hundred metres inland from the shore. Magellanic penguin tunnels were beside the track much of the way. On a fresh water lagoon there was a variety of water birds, and along it's shore we saw nesting geese. There are two main species of geese. The very pretty russet headed geese, where both the male and female are quite alike, and the chicks, there were plenty of them about, are little two-tone grey stripy balls of fluff. The upland geese females are almost identical to those russet headed geese. The females have the same colourings but apparently they are larger, whilst the male is a grey and white birds and their chicks are just grey, no stripes. the Russet headed geese are protected, having been totally wiped out in Argentina, the only other place they once inhabited. Their number were quite depleted here once, but now appear to be quite healthy. On another part of the island we saw a sea-lion colony. seeing the bulls of this species one can see why they are called sea-lions. Their heads very much resemble their namesakes. On the calmer side of the island we saw a variety of ducks and in amongst the grass is a wide variety of grassland birds, all quite difficult to see. Especially for L. Over the next couple of days we spent hours observing all these species. It was windy and we had many showers so my lot had to keep their rain gear handy at all times. I was shoved in the backpack to keep dry most of the time, how un-exciting is that: Our very pleasant stay here was far too short and soon we were back at the airstrip for the short flight to Sea-Lion island, the southern most of the islands. Here we were met by Mick who told us that the whole island although privately owned is a wild life sanctuary. The guest house here was almost right beside the airstrip. There were about 20 guest here including us, only our hotel in Stanley at the end of our trip had more guests. A large gentoo penguin colony could be viewed from the lounge room, how good is that! It was a cold, drizzly, afternoon with the wind howling across the island. Not trees in this part of the world to hinder it. Mick, our host took us on a tour of the island pointing out many different grassland birds as he spotted them along the way. How the hell he could see them while he was driving is a bloody mystery. A couple of them are quite brightly coloured, while other blend in so well its a mystery to L how anyone ever spots them. On the fresh water lagoon were all the usual variety of duck, teals, geese etc. L can't remember all the species. Mick showed us the rock hopper penguin colony and from our vantage point we could see how they climbed the cliffs, hopping from one tiny ledge to another. The sea-lions after which the island is named weren't to be found at all. Good job we'd seen some of Bleaker. There was a large elephant seal colony, mainly big males and youngsters, apparently all the females had left a few days before we arrived. Along with their departure, the orcas had left as well, just about the same time as a BBC film crew had arrived to film the orcas. The film crew had only managed to see one orca up until the time we left. We spent a good while watching those elephant seals not that they did very much. One youngster did seem to take a dislike to David and chomped his jaws whilst lurching towards him. so we took care to keep our distance from that one in particular, none of the others took any notice. As we walked about the area of this colony we would stumble upon one now and again quite a way from the sea and hidden in amongst the tall tussock grass. They have been know to cross the island sometimes, about 1k, quite an effort over land, for such a huge beast equipped only with flippers. Thick rafts of sea weed floated off shore and in amongst this many of the duck species could be spotted for those with sharp enough eyes, not L, that's for sure. During the course of our stay L and I (me in the backpack) walked quite a long way about the island, however David, being his usual lazy self chose not to go far. We were the only passengers on the next leg from Sea Lion across to Port Howard in the West Falklands. This was a mostly cloudy flight of 30 mins or so and it wasn't until we were almost at our destination that we came low enough to see the farm where we would be staying with most of the fields divided by bright yellow gorse hedges. It did present quite a picture. At the guest house here we were the only guests and our hosts Wayne and Sue made us most welcome. We had arrived early in the day and so after a cuppa and provided with a packed lunch, Wayne took us on a tour around this island that is mostly farming country. We travelled north then west in a long valley between two ranges of mountains, circling around on the western side and coming to Fox Bay East that is really quite a bit further south than our starting point. We were surprised to see far less upland geese here. Apparently up until quite recent times they were shot because the farmers considered they ate to much grass. How much grass does a goose eat? Obviously too much as far as the farmers were concerned. No-one until very recent times bothered to consider the benefits of all that goose manure that in other places was so thick it was impossible to avoid. Apparently now, the numbers are slowly on the increase again. This is mostly sheep grazing country and there wasn't much in the way of gorse to provide any shelter either. We spent quite a while at large fresh water lake observing the water birds, especially the black necked swans, off in the far distance, and a meadowlark with the brightest red breast we saw in the islands. He was very near so L got a really good look at him. The small village of Fox Bay is many government buildings, goodness knows what they do here, not overworked it would be safe to say. There is a post office here too that was closed as we passed through on a weekend afternoon. Not far beyond this tiny hamlet is large mine field with warning signs on all the fences. Apparently work is to begin soon to totally clear these mine fields at great expense that many consider a waste as the sheep can graze across here without setting off any mines, it's only heavier species that set them off such as horses, humans and vehicular traffic. At the end of a dirt track we came to a small gentoo colony, one that is slowly re-establishing itself after being wiped out by early settlers who took exception to them, goodness knows why. It was here in this small colony that we saw the only penguin chicks we encountered on the whole trip. One penguin couple had twins whilst another had a single chick. Although we watched a sea eagle here, it didn't appear to be interested in the chicks and there were no skuas so these chicks seem relatively safe from predators. It was interesting to watch these penguins entering the raging surf from a rocky shelf and coming out of it. They just seem to plunge in and disappear into the waves as they set out and when they arrive they must surf in on the waves because they just suddenly appear standing upright on the rocks, how do they do that? After they come in they have a place in amongst the rocks that we could look down upon and watch them as they dried off in the sun and seem to interact with those heading towards the sea. Perhaps they are exchanging information on the conditions. On this island there is some agriculture as well as grazing and the people we had met in England came from this area. They had once owned one of the big properties here. Wayne told us, as indeed our other hosts had too, that this year spring is particularly wet and cold. It is normally much warmer, could have done with a degree or two of that. The previous two years had been quite dry and spring and summer is usually dry, so much so that finding fresh water can be a problem. Our hosts back at Darwin had told us that providing fresh water for their guests in summer is usually a problem and they are looking to put in big rain water tanks. Perhaps they should consider putting in similar tanks to what we have in Australia. On another day Wayne took us to see an abandoned old farm house in a beautiful setting in the north-east of the island. The old house is now used occasionally by hikers. It has a few old household items that L remembers from her childhood when being able to have electrical appliances was something one could only dream about. This place even had some of wooden laundry tubs: L enjoyed observing a pair of night herons fishing in a stream near our guest house and a pair of ducks with several chicks have a domestic argument right in front of her then swim off in total harmony or so it would seem. In that argument feathers were flying. The inlet here is a good spot to see dolphins but none were about when we visited. Around two hundred have been counted at one time. It was blowing a gale when we flew out of Port Howard, and even worse when we landed on Carcas Island 20 mins later. Our pilot said it was a 50 knot wind and if it got any worse he wouldn't be able to fly, it was right on the safety limit. Our plane touched down and came to a complete stop within 50 metres probably less. When it took off it did so becoming airborne within just a few metres. The pilots here are really good: Our host here Rob met us and the three others who flew in with us. They were a family group the eldest one being the author of books on the birds and mammals of the Falklands, Robin Woods. Our host who knew them well, kept calling Robin, Robin Hood. This island is another working sheep farm and there are some cows too, dairy cows and each day we had fresh milk from these cows along with cream for our deserts. There was once a big dairy farm someplace on the islands but it no longer exists so now most milk is UHT and comes from the UK. Long range milk. The wildlife was what we came for and we saw plenty of that: Over beyond the airstrip was another sea-lion colony where we could walk around amongst the animals as we could with the elephant seals on Sea-Lion island. Most of these seemed to be youngsters and they were spread out over quite a wide area. Off at the other end of the island were some gentoo and magellanic penguin colonies. There were high hills on this island and L and I climber up to the top of a couple of these where I had to pose for a photo. That was fine on one but on the other L had to leave me in the backpack and anchor it down with some rocks so that I didn't take off without permission in the wind. in a tree near the top we spotted a pair of crested caracara, about the only tree on that end of the island, they had a nest in the tree. Whilst here we had a boat trip over to West Point island and after a steep climb over to the other side of the island we came to a large colony of nesting black brow albatross and rock hopper penguins. We could get up really close to the nesting albatross and penguins. We loved sitting and watching those majestic albatross flying around the colony and the cliff. With a wing span of about 2.5m they just seem to glide, sometimes with their landing gear still down. This island is another working farm but one that seems quite run down. There are quite a number of farm building that are in a poor state of repair. They current owners are relatively new we were led to understand. One day a cruise ship came into the bay near the jetty for that island and apparently the passengers were visiting the albatross colony. Later they were coming to Carcas Island where our host was to supply afternoon tea to them but we left the island before they arrived. He was also supplying some lambs for their larder, that had been slaughtered and dressed the day before. Visiting cruise ships such as these must be a great boost to these island farmers. Here as on most of the islands the majority of household staff are from Chile. Only Port Howard managed without such staff of all the places we stayed. It wasn't blowing nearly so strongly when we left and we had a calm flight on to Saunders Island where a couple of passenger go off and others got on, then to Port Howard where we picked up another before flying off to Stanely, the only real town in the islands with a population of around 2,500. So not large: Stanley does have a very good and fairly new museum that not only shows local history but also has a shed that was built and used on South Georgia by Shackleton more than a century ago. It was detonating badly left were it had been built so it was brought here and preserved. From here we had a day trip to Volunteer point, quite a long drive on a mostly dirt road. This big breeding colony of Gentoo, Magellanic and King Penguins is on private property too and because it can be visited in a day trip from Stanley can sometimes have big groups of visitors but fortunately for us they were elsewhere on the day we visited and we had the place to ourselves. There was a small hut here used by researches from time to time and a few of the magellanic penguins had burrowed under it. The King penguins are similar to the Emperor penguins not only in colouring but also because they don't build a nest or lay their single egg on the ground but carry them on their feet keeping the egg warm with a sort of pouch that comes down over the egg keeping it covered and warm. Only a few of these penguins had laid by this time, they are the last to begin their breeding season. Also here were a number of last seasons king penguin chicks that were just getting their adult plumage. Many were in various stages of acquiring this plumage whilst just a few still had their juvenile plumage of fluffy brown down. They seem to get their new plumage from the feet upward and their back before their front, some many looked quite patchy with brown heads and black and white bodies. Our guide had picked up a lump of their down and we could feel how soft and fine it is. Along here there is a lovely white sandy beach and L and I stood there a good while watching the penguins surfing in or going out into the waves. Again, even after L spotted an incoming one in the waves it just seemed to be deposited on the beach in an upright position. As you can imagine the water was quite cold and several lingered in shallow water possibly debating whether or not they really wanted to go further. Just a few decided against the idea, retreating to the dry sand and joining those drying off in the sunshine and very strong wind. Again we saw a variety of sea birds and grassland birds. Altogether we had a brilliant day. Along our route to Volunteer point we passed through an area that was a battle ground during the Falkland war. Near the road there is the skeleton of an Argentinian helicopter shot down during the war. For the rest of our stay in these wonderful islands we walked around the town and saw, amongst other things, the Governors residence, and the secondary school where the students come from all other the islands for their secondary school education. There are boarding facilities for those you attend from outside of Stanley. Never did find out how those from outside Stanley received their primary school education. Perhaps there is something like the Australian system of distance education, but whereas in Australia it extends to secondary education apparently it doesn't in the Falklands. We also found out that now the islands are self supporting. There is a healthy trade with their sheep products, particularly organic lamb and with commercial fishing. Apparently there is gold in them their hills too, but no mining at present. Off shore oil has been found and will no doubt be exploited shortly. We flew out of the Falklands on a fine Saturday afternoon bound for Punta Arenas in Chile. © Lynette Regan 10th January 2018