A Date with the Penguins!

One of the main industries of the Falklands is tourism.  There is so much wildlife that makes it's home there undisturbed...Several different breeds of penguins, seals and sea lions, albatrosses, dolphins and whales.  The most accessible King penguin colony in the world is found not far from Stanley on a place called Volunteer Point.  (Named after a shipwreck off that coast).  To get there requires one and a half hours of bouncing over peat soil in a 4x4.  Dave Morris kindly took us one day, and it was breath-taking.  I never imagine the beaches to be so white nor the water so turquoise on the Falklands!  The penguins are fascinating.... they are so tame, you can get up really close to them.  There are three different breeds found at "Volunteers" as the Islanders call it.  The King, the Gentoo, and the Magellanic.  I couldn't decide which photos to publish, they are all just so neat, so here goes all of them!  I wish I knew how to embed videos, because to see them walking is so amazing... but have never had a successful attempt to post a video!

The scenery driving out to Volunteer Point

These buildings belong to one of the many sheep stations along the way.  There was a sign that said "Caution, Free Range Kids!"  Here's one of them!

                                                           At the sheep station

                              Inside the honesty box - Anzac biscuits, cherry chews, muffins....

We went down this slope easy!

                                              The King colony from a distance

                       There is a chick there with brown feathers which he will lose eventually.

Walking down to the sea

A chick nearly changed his suit!

Sign says "penguins only beyond this point"

The beautiful beach

Coming down from the rookery to take a dip

The Kings and a Gentoo

Going...going...gone!

This is called the "creche" of the gentoos.  All the chicks stay here, while the parents are out feeding.  It's incredible to see when the parent comes back, it stands on the outer edge and calls.  One chick out of that multitude will go running to it's parent!  How does it know?? Then the parent instead of feeding it then and there, turns around and runs away!  And makes the chick run after it flat tack.  Once it's a long distance away from the creche, and the chick tires out, it will finally turn and feed it's baby! Apparently this is to strengthen the chick, and start leading it toward the beach.  Chicks whose parents never come back because they've died at sea, will just starve to death in the creche.

This day was hot for the penguins (around 25oC), and many were just flopped on the ground panting.

Gentoo adults

A bit more of the Falklands

The shipwrecks Lady Elizabeth and Samson lying in the harbour.  The Islands are littered with shipwrecks, most of them having been severely battered as they rounded Cape Horn and never got any further.  These were both built in the mid-1800s and sailed from England as cargo ships all around the world.  Lots of places on the Islands have received their names after the ships that were wrecked there!

The "Lady Liz" in her hey-day.

The Pharos anchored in the harbour.  It's a scientific ship that sails down to the island of South Georgia to do investigations.

Another shipwreck!  This is the boat that Arthur Leeks and Lawrence Blizzard lived on for some time while they were first in the Falklands!  Tiny!  They moored it in the bay but Arthur tells that when storms came up Lawrence had to move it elsewhere.  The idea was that they sail from island to island I think!

Old wrecks and new...some of these are wrecks from the 1800s too.  Looking toward Stanley.

The Falklands was full of landmines, put down by the Argentines.  Slowly the mine fields are becoming cleared, but there are still areas where they are de-mining.  There are a lot of Zimbabweans here who are doing that work.  Some were put on the beaches, and although there are plans that the Argentines had to provide, because of the shifting sands they are difficult to find.

We came across this camp of some Zimbabweans who were clearing mines in this area.

Looking down on beautiful Gypsy Cove.  We went for a very long walk that day hoping to get down to the penguin rookery there, but found it was all fenced off because of mines!  (In actual fact if we'd gone past that bit we could have gone down to the penguins).  The sand is amazingly white!

Looking out to sea from same area.  All this was mined, and they're in the process of clearing it.

Looking back to Stanley from the harbour end.  All these reddish-yellow plants are ferns.

Having a cuppa in the Seaman's Mission on the way back from walking.  Note the flag overhead!  It's a voluntary mission sponsored by different businesses and churches that offer a place for the sailors to go while their ship is in.  It has tea and coffee, games, donated books and clothes for them to help themselves to, telly, and warmth!  There were a group of Indonesians there at the time.

A strange little bird I frightened out of the grass

The Stanley cemetery  where 8 of our friends are buried.

Cemetery with a view!

Leaving the cemetery and going back to town along this road

Most vehicles are 4x4s... there are few paved roads on the islands.  Since after the conflict of 1982, there was a lot of work done, but still a lot of gravel road and driving over peat bogs.

A tourist attraction apparently!!!!

One of the older homes of Stanley.

Sky after a storm

Looking back at Stanley by day...

And at sunset.