Christmas!!

Dear All,

It has been a very strange experience having Christmas in the summer down here and the weather has been lovely, warm and sunny most days. If you don't believe me ask Hengameh, Jade and Jimmy who were down here for a couple of weeks - to my great delight.

They arrived on the 12th December so the first thing we had to do was celebrate Jimmy's 16th birthday! Jim and I went quad biking, Jade made a cake for him and we went for a posh meal at the Malvina hotel. Jim took this all in his stride...

Jade helpfully decorated my chicken Ark in yellow and red. I am sure Attila and Dora are delighted with the colour scheme. Dora is a good layer but Attila seems to think it is ok to lay an egg once every ten days or so. Any suggestions to improve her performance are welcome. I am trying her on some spice mix which might give her the kick she needs!

Then came Christmas. We were invited to some friends of mine for Christmas day - John & Cherie Clifford. Cherie is from St Helena and they are generous and kind people. Cherie loves cooking and whenever they have people round she always provides a mountain of food.

Jimmy wore the Christmas present that Jade gave him - this was his favourite present. He also wore it when we were invited to pop in for drinks where the Governor was invited - the Governor seemed to take it all in his stride. Jade also got on well with the Governors two lads and had a good social life going out with them and some locals.

On Boxing Day and the day after there is horse racing in Stanley. We went both days for a few hours and bet on some horses. We won £10 on one race! There was one local horse owner and rider, Timmy Bonner who won most of the races he was in. He had taken Jade horse riding a few days earlier around Cape Pembroke - he's the chap in front with the red shirt.

The day before Hengameh, Jade and Jimmy left for the UK we managed to get out to Volunteer Point which is the home of the largest colony of King Penguins on the Falklands. It's a long drive mainly off road with mixed terrain including beaches, peat bogs and long grass but it was worth it to see the penguins.

Sadly they flew home on the 29th Dec so New Year feels a bit quiet without them. Back to work for me on the 3rd January so that will keep me occupied!
Happy new year to everyone and don't forget its always good to hear from you.

Cruise Ship Season has started!

Its only been a couple of weeks or so since my last blog - but I do try to update it at the end of each month. Since I have arrived back to the Islands in mid November the cruise ship season is well and truly underway! I have put below a selection of pictures of some of the ships that have visited. Its quite strange when they do visit as the passengers all come ashore wearing the same jackets. So you have a swarm of yellow jackets or red jackets going around town, all taking photos of the same thing, then they disappear off on a tour to look at penguins or battlefields or whatever, and then back they come and go back to the ship.

Ships range in size from 150 or so passengers right up to 3-4000. It makes a huge difference to the town as you can imagine.They ask some strange questions like "where do we get the penguins from?" "Where is the shopping mall?" etc. But the locals make a lot of money from the tourists so we try to answer politely!

Below I also have put a picture I meant to post last time of a flock of gulls that were sitting on the road and all took off at the same time filling the sky with birds and getting plenty of poo on the car!

Anyway Christmas is coming- it feels strange as the evenings are light until gone 9pm and dawn breaks at around 4.30am ish (waking me up) so sleep is precious at the moment. Still plenty of sun, wind, more fishing (my trout tally is now 4) and the archery club is doing well - so all's good. More to the point the Lewis clan come to the Islands in a couple of weeks for Christmas so that's exciting!

That's all for now - take care and I'll post again next month. Love Mark.

A Few Falkland Birds...

Spring has well and truly arrived in the Falklands and Hengameh managed to squeeze in a flying visit while Jim was away on a school trip in Germany.

While Hengameh was on the Falklands we went out to one of my favourite places - Long Island and were lucky to see a pair of King Penguins. They were probably on their way somewhere else. It was a right pain trying to take a picture of them as they kept turning their back on me -so the one below is the best one I got.

The bird theme kept going as we saw some other feathered friendsas we walked along the coast.

We also went back to Gypsy Cove- one of Hengameh's and my's favourite places just ten minutes from Stanley. The Megallenic Penguins have come back for the summer and they live in burrows in the ground so you have to be careful where you tread. They have a lot of character (not as much as Rockhoppers though) and they are cute.

JR and Charlene came with us on a trip to Salvador where Nick and Anna Pitaluga live. We had a good look round and helped to put up a poly tunnel, had a lovely picnic and saw a bird of a different kind. It's a Wessex Whirlwind which was a navy search and rescue helicopter. It ditched in the sea and was recovered and placed next to the farmhouse.

On the way to Salvador JR took us to where he new there was a hawk's nest. We were able to get quite close ands see the female hawk on the nest while the male hawk flew protective sorties nearby!

And just to prove hengameh was here....

The archery club is ging well with 24 members and a good turn out twice a week on Fridays and Sundays. They are a really nice bunch of people - we have a good mix of juniors, men and ladies and their improvement has been quite dramatic. We have our first competitions coming up in December and January. We are having a 'turkey shoot' using paper turkey targets before Christmas followed by a new year Portsmouth. We shoot indoors in the leisure centre but hope to move outdoors soon weather permitting.

I am writing this blog from the comfort of home in Torquay - popped over for a week for a bit of work and a bit of leave. Back to the South Atlantic on Sunday 13th November. Hopefully the famliy will come down for Christmas.

Hope all is well with you all. Love Mark

First signs of Spring

Greetings from the deep South where the evenings are getting lighter, the weather is improving and I have even seen some crocuses poking through in the Governor's House garden! We have had some lovely days (as well as still getting a bit of snow and a lot of wind). Spring here means lots of lambs, the begining of the shearing season and the start of the trout fishing season. I have been very lucky to have Mark down here again (sad for me that he leaves again in three weeks or so) and we have been able to do some outdoor stuff with the good weather.
We tried our hand at spinning for trout with some great 'ones that got away stories' but no actual trout landed. I have caught a Mullet using hook and bait and Mark and I ate it for tea. But even if you don't catch anything the scenery is great and the weather can be lovely too.

I have also started to go native and have acquired a firearms licence and a .22 rifle. Being 'tooled up' in this way assists our Upland Goose hunting efforts and increases the possibility of goose breast casseroled in red wine!I have got permission to go on Long Island Farm for a bit of the countryside pursuits. A very pretty farm by the sea.

We have also been allowed to go adventuring on a couple of quad bikes - these are seriously good pieces of kit with 4WD and Hi and Low ratios and 367cc engines. Lots of fun and capable of going almost anywhere.

We went up Mt Longdon where there is a memorial to a VC winner as well as a cross to remember all those who died there in the '82 conflict.

As with most places in the Falklands the scenery is stunning and the skies are crystal clear and beautiful.

In October Hengameh comes down for a flying visit and I can't wait - it will be good to catch up and show her new bits of the Falklands and new friends. next month there may be a few pics of Hengameh - just to prove she was here!

Anyway, down to the real business of the blog. Naming the hens. I have had some suggestions and some people have said they need better pictures before suggesting names. So below are pictures of both hens and the poll this month is to choose names - so please vote - your decision will seriously affect the future lives of my two ladies!

By for now, I hope you are all well and I look forward to hearing from you. Love Mark.

Back South for the next stint

Hello All, I am back in the Falkalnds following a months break consisting of a week in the Caymans, and three weeks at home (including a week's holiday in Portugal) with the family. It was a great break and I am now missing them enormously and I don't mind admitting it was a bit harder getting on the plane this time. But I have been back for a week and I am settling back into Falklands life.

I flew the long way back South stopping for 24 hours in Santiago in Chile. Flying over Chile was stunning with views of snow covered mountains for most of the journey. I popped down into the city for a wander around and found Santiago to be a very pleasant city.

It is a modern city at its heart with some great architecture but also stunning views over to the Andes.

There is only so much you can see in a few hours so I think a family holiday is in order in the near future. Especially for Jimmy I discovered where Assasains go to eat!

The exciting news back in the Falklandsis that I am now a chicken keeper! I have two very attractive young ladies who will hopefully lay eggs for me. The one below is a bit of a bully to the other hen but is stunningly good looking. She hasn't laid yet but should do soon.

The other is good looking too and has already laid two eggs for me in a nice pale blue colour!

Hopefully they will settle down in their lovely house. The Ark cost me £30 and the hens were £20 each. I have bought layers pellets and corn for them to eat and have spiked their drinking water with garlic and apple cider vinegar (as I am told this is good for their condition). The ladies share this beautiful detached residence.

So thats it from me for now. I hope you are all well and happy. Next update in about a month's time. Best wishes Mark. Suggestions for names for the hens would be greatly appreciated!

A change from the Falklands

Its the end of August and a couple of really exciting things have happened since my last post.

Firstly I won a prize in the raffle at the senior school fete. As you can see it is a very tasteful and elegant sculpture - I did have to put it together myself and it now takes pride of place next to my television.

 The second exciting thing was attending a Human Rights training event on the Cayman Islands. This involved flying from the Falklands to Punta Arenas, to Santiago, to Miami and then to the Cayman Islands. I arrived on Sunday and went for lunch at Coconut Jo's (as recommended by the taxi driver).

 And had a plateful of chicken wings and rum punch while being checked out by the walking menu!

I was put in an OK hotel near the beach (everywhere is near the beach as the island is only about 25 miles long and not many miles wide for most of it) The hotel was a bit run down and had a slight damp smell - but the Cayman's are hot (33degrees) and humid. The beach however was very nice and only three minutes walk from the hotel and the water was lovely and warm - a real contrast from the Falklands!

It's a tough job but someone has to do it - but to be fair the training was 9 to 5 everyday apart from Wednesday when we were given the afternoon off. With the help of some locals it was arranged for me to go to Sting Ray city and have a swim and touch and if you want, kiss a sting ray! (I didn't kiss one).

 At the end of that week I flew back to the UK for a well deserved break! So I am writing this month's blog from Devon at home and tomorrow we go on a famliy holiday to Portugal. I fly back to the Falklands later in August via an overnight stop in Santiago - more on that in the next instalement. Hope all is well with you all - Love Mark

Mid Winter

Hooray - we have passed mid winter day and from now on the evenings and mornings should start getting lighter. Down here mid winter day is celebrated by a dip in the sea. By 'dip' it means run in, immerse yourself and run straight out again!

I am told the water temperature was 5 degrees! May be I'll do it next year!

Earlier in June Jade camedown to visit me for a stay that turned out to be a bit longer than planned due to the ash cloud from the Chilean volcano. I took Jade for a weekend away to Darwin House. It was cold and snowy and we had a lovely time watching a movie, playing games and walking in the snow.

We also went to Fitzroy to look at the memorials from the '82 conflict and officially christened my car 'Betsy'. I think that was possibly the muddiest she has got so far!

Last weekend Mark and I went to Ajax bay which was where they established the field hospital for the '82 conflict. It used to be a refridgeration plant. It definately had an atmosphere about it and I don't particularly want to go back there. 22 soldiers died there from their wounds.

This weekend I Mark and I went out to a collegues house out in camp - its a dilapidated place which they are slowly doing up with another couple. We helped to move a cast iron stove in and then went cross country to a creek to do some fishing, Hamish had three trail bikes - so I got to ride a bike off road - great fun! Hamish and James (not my James but the son of the husband of the other couple) rode as well and Mark drove Betsy.

In other news Mark Musty is due to leave next weekend - good for him but sad for me - but who knows he may come back- he made such a great impression with the school and the parents they paid out for a long weekend trip to West Falkland including the ferry crossing and a flight back to Stanley - I think they like him!

Two Months In

Life down here continues to be interesting both with work and leisure. Work wise I was lucky enough to be invited out to visit the oil exploration rig Ocean Guardian - about 150 miles off shore.

For the helicopter flight I had to wear a survival suit which apparently will keep you alive in the water for about half an hour. Just a pity that it would take about an hour for the rescue chopper to find you! Still I got to wear a nice boiler suit on the rig

Out of work I am still determined to explore and last Sunday I wentdown to San Carlos for the memorial service for servicemen that died during the landing of troops on the Islands. It was very poignant with veterans from HMS Fearless present.

I also took a walk to Gypsy Cove - a very pretty beach near Stanley. It has penguins on during the summer but is still stunning in the winter...Hengameh did this walk on the last day she was here before flying back to the UK.

Above is a picture of Johnson's Harbour. This is a little settlement which is very pretty and about an hour or so from Stanley. I went there with a couple of collegues and had a picnic at the end of the pier by the sheep shearig shed.

So life here is OK though I have to admit to being a little homesick a week or so ago - but Jade is coming out to see me in a few days so that has cheered me up no end...

Six Weeks and all's well!

It's heading into winter here as I enviously look at the UK weather forecasts and see 28 degrees in London. We are averageing about 7-10 degrees and down ot zero at night and because we decided not to change the clocks down here it is dark until almost 8am in the morning. However I do have a decent view from my house window!

I have tried to get out every weekend and for the last two weeks Hengameh and Jimmy have been down here staying with me. See if you can spot them amongst the penguins....

Hard isn't it. The placxe these photos is taken is Bertha's Beach where if it wasn't for the wind and cold it looks likle you could be in the Maldives! (I should add that there won't be penguins in the Maldives)

We also managed to get off to one of the smaller islands flying in a twin prop islander plane to a place called Bleaker island (somewhere between bleak and bleakest). Stunning wild scenery and wildlife. We were lucky enough to see a family of sealions...

 As well as Rockhopper Penguins....the mafia of the penguin world - you wouldn't want to meet a group of these on a deserted beach at night!
We stayed in the red roofed house to the left.

I hope H & J had a good time here and we had a superb tour of the military complex here and hopefully will have some photos to post soon. Jimmy and I got to sit in the seat of a Typhoon fighter!

The other exciting news is that Mark Musty is heading down here to do some teaching in the Infant School for a few weeks so more company for me- I am looking forward to showing him around.

Anyway - hope you all are keeping well - I'll be in touch again soon. H has gone home with loads of pics and video so if you want to see more give her a call!

By for now....