Falkland Islands

We spent 3 Feb at sea. Another restful day. Always plenty to do. Tony has been joining the pickup game of pickleball in the afternoons on Deck 11. He’s now had a few games. He’s learnt the rules by chatting to people in the line awaiting their turn to play. And tactics. Sometimes there is a very strong wind. Makes the game very interesting.
The captain isn’t the only comedian on board. A waiter at lunch. Tony ordered a glass of prosecco. “And for you, mam?” “A glass of water please.” He just stood and looked at Ursula. No expression. For a while. No words needed. She didn’t cave in.
In the evening we attended the Rolling Stone Lounge. Tony had been devastated to find out that the BB King bar has disappeared. This replacement has a bar and very loud music so not all bad. R&B tonight. Pretty good. They do 45 minute sessions. Afterwards Tony and Rob had a quick look (Tony) at some very modern dancing in the World Stage.
In the pickleball queue Tony had discovered that only about 50% of stops at the Falklands actually happen. Strong winds often blow up, as the ships have to anchor out. Today (Feb 4th) we visit Port Stanley. Yesterday, 35 knots of wind. Today 10 knots. Tomorrow 35 knots. How lucky can you be?
We need to catch a tender ashore. Finally land. Tony’s plan is to catch a shuttle bus to Gypsy Cove where we can see Magellanic and Gentoo penguins. Pub lunch then historic walk using a map available at the tourism office. Rob decides to walk to Gypsy Cove. Only 6.5 km. (Whoops, was actually 6.5 miles. He still does it.)
The bus driver’s name was Nick. “I’m a Falkland Islander. I was 19 during the Falklands war. The Argies were planning to use the civilians as human shields. Fortunately they didn’t get a chance.”
We were told that the Argentinians at the end surrendered very quickly. The British general walked into Stanley, went straight to the pub and ordered a pint.
Port Stanley is VERY British. Like Gibraltar. Drive on our side of the road, British pounds, red phone and letter boxes, neat vegetable gardens. Population of the Falklands is a little over 3,000. Only a few more than that of passengers and crew onboard the Oosterdam. Trevor tells us that due to the billion or so dollars the squid fishing reaps, the Falkland Islands would have a per capita income to rival Luxembourg and United Arab Emirates if it were a country in its own right. Public infrastructure in Stanley is excellent.
Gypsy Cove has searingly white sand and a lovely outlook. Very few penguins. We saw a few among the bushes as we walked through the low scrub. Did a 40 minute walk along narrow paths through the scrub. Nice views of harbour and town. Shuttles back to town a bit sparse. Big crowd waiting. We used our subtle urging skills to ensure seats on the first one to arrive. Back in town and up the hill is the pub: Victory Bar. Tony gets the last table. Ursula checks the menu with our bar lady. “Fish and chips. Or chips and fish.” We go to a restaurant nearby (Groovy’s). Excruciatingly long wait for our pints and fish dishes. Passable.
Tony gets the Town Trails map from the very helpful ladies at the Visitors Centre. We choose the shorter 4km History Walk. Not far into the walk it starts to rain. Stanley has over 250 rain days each year. Only light so we keep going. May not ever return here. The first part of the walk takes us through the back streets of town. We marvel at the very productive vegetable gardens. Many tunnel houses. Most gardens are extremely neat. A highlight was the Whalebone display. We see quite a few school kids going home. We pass the large Community School buildings. It has a big indoor swimming pool. Finally we turn down to the waterfront for the return to town. We pass many monuments and sights. Quick visit to the Dockyard Museum. Then a relaxing tender ride back to Oosterdam.
Afterwards we discovered that on a previous cruise the weather blew up (to 60 knots), while the passengers were ashore. The ship had to put to sea. Couldn’t return for 3 days. Passengers were somehow accommodated in the town. We were lucky.
Tonight on the World Stage we saw comedian Geoff Boyz. His best joke involved a 50th birthday skydive in Australia. Hilarious. 45 minutes of laughter is excellent relief from the pressures of this cruising life!!Read more