Hello and welcome

Hello all, and welcome to our Falkland Islands blog. Follow our progress through the wind, snow and penguins, and find out what it is like to live down here.

Saturday 11 August 2012

A week on the 'Silver Dove'


Canal Boat
This week we spent on a canal boat starting off in the Worcester and Birmingham Canal. We collected ‘The Silver Dove’ from Tardibigge Marina, and set off down the canal.

There were millions of ducklings and baby moorhens amongst the banks, and they all followed us as we went past them, hoping for food.

The first major event was a long tunnel about 30 minutes after we started our journey. Then, I kept a log of every bridge, tunnel, and pub we passed!

We had some very long days, starting at 8(you’re only allowed to leave a mooring at 8), right on through until 9. There was a very busy day in Birmingham, with lots of locks, and we weren’t allowed to moor up until we were out the other side of Birmingham.

During the week, we passed through the Worcester and B-ham Canal, The Oxford Canal, The Coventry Canal, and a little bit of the Stratford-upon-Avon Canal.

On the second day on the boat, the Ford Family(not forgetting Freddie), and Grandma, came and helped us for the day through Stratford, of which the highlight of the day was definitely the ice-cream(and also the Grass Snake which Uncle Robert fished out of the canal)!

After the Fords, we had no other visitors, but we had a fantastic time on the canal in our third time in a narrow-boat. We met lots of people on the canal, mainly from other countries enjoying their holiday (but not the weather). Mummy’s favourite boat name of the week was ‘Hephzibah’, but Bill and I weren’t quite sure…

Although the summer weather wasn’t quite summery, it didn’t rain that much, and on some days, was very hot. (Bill steered while Mummy and lay on the roof sunbathing)!



By Phoebe xxx

An Evening at Bluff Cove

Hattie and Kevin Kilmartin live at Bluff Cove and own the fabulous Sea Cabbage cafe at the Lagoon; penguins galore and a carribean-white sand.
In cruise ship season, they drive passengers off road over the moor to see their penguins, but now it is off season, and we all met up for a fabulous supper. The sun went down as we raised our glasses to the Islands, and  Hattie's supper was, as ever, delicious. The drive back in the dark over the boggy moor was interesting (!)

LIBERATION DAY! JUNE 14



Oh my goodness where did May go? It has been a jolly busy Autumn- we can probably count the evenings in on the toes of one hand(!?), and now the snow is beginning in earnest, and the wind produces a rather familiar ache in the bones of my face. While my friends at home consider the benefits of facials, I wonder how drastically my face will reflect  the ravages of 2 years’ worth of gales and extreme cold. The constant wind is hugely dehydrating, and as well as drinking gallons of water, I am sure loreal could make a mint down here if she thought we were worth it.. 

The 74 days of Falklands Conflict of 30 years ago, is being re-lived on every TV and radio programme back at home, and we are amazed at how much press coverage there is. Little did we imagine when we accepted this posting, that it would be quite such news.. but that was before Christina decided that we were the ultimate diversion for her economic nightmare! 

We don’t see much TV (British Forces Broadcasting is not the most groundbreaking), and the radio choices are BFBS RADIO (LOUD music or sport) or Falklands radio (LOUD music and surreal news..personal messages where everyone on island except us knows who is being talked about, lists of who is flying from and to which island tomorrow, and of course the sheep chill factor from the weatherman, which warns in percentage terms, how likely your newly shorn sheep is to be killed by tomorrow’s weather. Bill likes to listen to the flying lists; he tries to match up passengers and wonder who might be having an affair with whom..

But we don’t need to read about the history of the Conflict, or see it on TV. We have a walking history book passing through our doors each week. A fascinating, humbling collection of veterans, deeply touched by the Conflict, generally back for the first time, emotional, apprehensive, in groups of tight camaraderie reformed after years and clearly as firm as ever.  Sitting in our house, sipping tea politely they recount stories of endurance, bravery and horror with equally matter of fact tones. Standing on the beach as a soldier recounts jumping from a landing craft and landing waist deep in water – not to get dry for the duration of the fighting. Another recounts lying in a trench for nine days after which he remembers a plane flying low overhead, bombs drifting across, ‘almost close enough to touch’, parachutes opening , and then huge explosions, friends dreadfully injured, the desperate struggle to keep comrades alive, the deafening noise. .
Standing in Stanley on Liberation day, it is hard to understand what must be going through the minds of the soldiers who have returned to revisit beaches of their nightmares, and to share memories with their families. Standing in the cathedral, a soldier recalled  stumbling in to pray for his best friend who had been terribly wounded. The friend survived, and he came into the cathedral to tell the Falkland Islanders that, having met them again in peacetime, and having seen the progress the islands have made, and the gratitude the Islands continue to show to the military, he is hugely proud and relieved to know that he feels  glad to have been part of the Conflict.
Outside the Cathedral, a parade in the deteriorating weather; Falkland Island defence force march alongside representatives from all three services currently on tour, as well as veterans. Locals of all ages have stood outside in the freezing rain, waiting. Now the snow begins and the sentinels standing at each corner of the memorial, shiver.  The wind cuts coldly, and it is a real reminder of what it must have been like to live outside 30 years ago. My hat drips and after an hour I can tip a pile of snow onto the pavement.
After the marching and praying, a reception at the FIDF hall – it is going to last all day and night, and only the stalwart will survive past tea time!  

Landing Day – May 14th



Thirty years ago, the Task force arrived in San Carlos Water, to begin the fight back to retake the Islands, and this year we all drove out on the long road to Blue Beach cemetery, for the ceremony of remembrance.
Many veterans had travelled from the UK to be there; most for the first time since 1982, and on a blue sky morning we stood in the frosty cold and sang.
This, according to the veterans, was exactly the same weather they remember; the snow arrived later. On this day, they landed in sunshine. The difference was the noise; they all remember the overwhelming roar as the planes flew over, dropping bombs. Amazing stories of watching, slow motion, as bombs, released above them, parachuted down and exploded beside them on the beach. Stories of trying to keep friends alive, of bravery, and of the camaraderie as they coped with the fear, the cold and the wet. 

A typical Falkland reception followed in the fields; food from all points of the island (including our kitchen) filled trestle tables, and everyone tucked in.

FIDF Mobilisation Day - April 2




30 years ago, the Governor Rex Hunt sent out a message on the evening of April 1st, to tell the FIDF that they were needed, and that they should report for duty immediately. Every man left his family, and went to fight, not knowing what he would face or how many Argentines were on or approaching the island.  Stories of bravery from the men and women of the islands are retold; two men left alone with a machine gun to defend the run into Stanley, women with tiny babies facing an uncertain night alone.
Each year since the Conflict, the FIDF have become better equipped and better trained, and on the anniversary of their mobilisation, they hold a church service and parade through Stanley. The Governor and Bill march about, all shiny shoes and feathers fluttering (Governor big feathers, Bill small feathers). Very impressive in the sunshine. Hoorah