When sailing, upon arrival at land, we normally drop the fenders, tie up and jump off the boat, delighted to be on terra firma. Not so on a cruise. There is a whole palaver with regard to getting off, which has to be done when dealing with such large numbers.  None-the-less, as soon as possible, John , Patricia and I escaped the ship and headed off walking from the port into town.  I spent a good few hours getting the previous 2 blogs uploaded and took myself off to the pub afterwards to recover!! So, since I didn’t see much of Stanley, Margaret is going to do this blog.  Over to you Margaret……

We arrived in Stanley on West Falkland about 9.30 am and after watching a very careful docking were glad to get off the ship and spend a day on land, exploring. A large group opted to go directly by bus to Gypsy Cove. These eager beavers were lined up on the gangplank well beforehand, cameras, lenses, tripods all in evidence. I opted for a walk, about 4 miles out the coast. Hugh, the on board doctor was leading the walk . We walked through the port area and noticed a few old fishing boats abandoned, reminder of times past. The Lady Elizabeth sits out in the harbour and she originally limped into Stanley in 1913, damaged and in need of repair. She ended up being  used as a floating warehouse for some years until a storm finished her off and set her to rest on her side a distance from the dock. Walking on to Whalebone Cove, called this because at low tide large number of whale bones can be seen. Whaling and sealing were important for early economic growth on the island. As we walked on to Gypsy cove we saw several warning signs for landlines and the area nearest the coast was fenced off. The white sandy beaches were out of bounds , but the wildlife flora and fauna were enjoying the space. A group of Magellanic penguins stood at the top end of the beach, they are quite small, nest in burrows under the tussac grass and make lots of noise. By now nature was calling and I was glad to take the bus back to Stanley . We made straight for the Victory pub where we sat and enjoyed a real English lunch of fish and chips and beer. What more could one ask for!

I took a walk around looking at the houses and shops mainly clapboard houses with coloured tin roofs …no slate roofs . I felt it was more like a film set, neat and tidy some lovely fruit and vegetable patches, a small hospital, supermarket and a small hotel. I didn’t make it to the museum as I was drawn back to the Globe Tavern for a few refreshments before boarding the zodiacs at 5pm.

Well if we think the Arran Islands are remote or Inis Boffin for that matter, come here to experience remote. Check out the English telephone boxes and post box  painted that bright red and the locals who unanimously want to be wed to Britain .

Names of British ships involved in the war written in rocks on the hill

More evidence of the war