There is so much still to tell you about this place. I haven't said much yet about the people we have met and are getting to know. Debbie Wahle and her family have been a real life line for us from early on. While back home and still planning they were able to answer all our random questions about schools and shopping and lifestyle here, and of course Debbie was the one who met us at the port on the first day with daughter Mia. Debbie is the island's public sol...

Pilling is an adorable little primary school about half a mile from the prison in upper Jamestown. It's on the site of an old barracks, a two storey colonial building, with a first floor balcony. Lots of dark wooden panelling and creaky wooden stairs, high ceilings and reasonable size classrooms. Two year groups are together in each class, so Lottie is in year 1/2 class, and phoebe in year 5/6 class. The class numbers have traditionally been small but are current...

I find it hard to believe we have only been here for one week! The UK feels so far away. We have had no access to TV or Internet. While we were in Cape Town we vaguely picked up on the fact that Barack Obama had been re-elected, and that was the last we heard from the outside world! So I am sat typing this offline on Monday evening, in the hope that I will get an hour's Internet connection at a cafe in Jamestown tomorrow morning so I can send this and pick up o...

Saturday 10th November 2012 From the deck at the stern I watch the horizon. It's a 180 degree turn to take it all in. As wide as I have ever seen, a vast expanse of deepest blue, a completely uninterrupted line. No ships, no land, just a few specs of white on the wave crests. Trailing the ship is a band of turquoise, crested with foam, stretching back to the horizon, charting our path through the water as it is churned and oxygenated. The calmest day so far, I ...

Sunday 11th November 2012 There was a remembrance service on the sun deck this morning. The ship's officers took the front row, and the captain led, from a proper wooden lecturn brought on to deck for the purpose. We sang along to some very traditional hymn tunes which were played at slow speed over the speaker system, a passage from John 15 was read, a very warbly, off key bugle tune was relayed while the ship's standard was lowered. A very simple prayer of rem...