New Island, Falkland Isles, Rookery Walk

After a day's sailing, we reached the western side of the Falkland Islands archipelago, stopping in a bay near New Island.

Paul was quite awake after his very early morning shift so he came ashore with me, where we did a walk over the narrow part of the island to see a rookery.

There were blue eyed shags (cormorants), black browed albatrosses, and southern rockhopper penguins. Many were nesting, a few had chicks! It was a lovely area, very rocky and steep in places but we had good views of the rookery and down to the sea.

On the way back to the ship we stopped at the Barnard Memorial Museum which talks about the history of the island, including whaling, and then sheep farming. Now the island is a wildlife sanctuary with a few residents to manage take care of the island. According to the Lonely Planet Guide about the Barnard Museum, I quote: the "museum incorporates the remains of a rough stone hut built by Captain Barnard, marooned here after an encounter with the crew of a shipwrecked British vessel in 1813. All but two of the shipwreck survivors took over Captain Barnard’s ship, leaving him and four others stranded for almost two years. But just as the pirates were sailing away, the British gun-brig Nancy arrived and took her as a prize of war. Barnard and his fellows, meanwhile, were left behind until December 1814." Interesting!Read more