We arrived on the anniversary of the day Argentina invaded in 1982. The locals were nervous.
The occupying force was 16,000 Argentinian soldiers in a town of only 1,500 residents. The town water and sewage supplies could not cope, consequently, the soldiers used the bath tubs as toilets in many of the houses. Lots of residents were allowed to relocate to farms temporarily. A monument shows that 100 or so British soldiers lost their lives recapturing the islands. Perhaps 2,000 Argentinians died and the other 14,000 were captured.
Once every nook and cranny of our ship and our hand baggage had been checked for Argentinians, we were allowed ashore.
Stanley is a cross between an Alaskan town and an English village. Half the population speak like the Queen, the other half would rather just chew you up and spit you out (the soldiers).
We dealt mostly with the tourist-friendly half.
We found a supermarket and stocked up on chocolate. This is the one crucial food group overlooked when our ship was stocked.
I uploaded the blog last time on modem speed WIFI. I paid more for that 50 minutes than I pay in a week at home. It was a swearingly frustrating experience. Tip: Do not use the Jetty Visitor Centre WIFI. The supermarket has a comfortable coffee shop with cheaper and faster access and big flat screens to show that civilisation still exists.
We were then collected by half a dozen 4WDs that took us adventuring over flat farmland to Bluff Cove Lagoon where we saw our first King Penguins. They were slumming it with a large colony of Gentoos and other birds. It is a magic place. But it started to rain heavily.
We then walked around the point and into the café where a local played accordion hits of Scotland on an accordion. The locals had prepared 16 types of cakes and had enough to feed the friendly half of town or two of the other half. The menu was specially done, welcoming “Polar Pioneer, the last ship for this season”. We loved the whole experience.
On returning to town we had a few hours to kill and wasted one of them in the nearest pub. Our lead Photographer then showed us a slideshow of his November trip to Antarctica which included South Georgia Island. Note to self: do not look at a professional photographers photographs of any place I have seen in worse weather or stupidly elected not to see at all.
When the heavy rain started, we cut our losses and went back onboard early. Our ship rocks considerably less than the land seems to.
Download photo time.
Tricia loves to hate Lightroom. It is a complex photo organising package with none of the simplicity of her beloved Picassa. I am constantly abused as another random Tricia action results in some diabolical mess. I try to explain how the feature should be used whilst being berated for my “attitude”. It does not matter that the Professional Photographers leading this expedition require the use of Lightroom and that of her own free will, Tricia agreed with THEM that she would use it. It’s still all my fault because I am her personal IT whipping boy.
“Oh, what the hell have I just done”, OMG, something just went wrong in Lightroom and I didn’t get the blame. Are the laws of physics still intact?
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