NorbertsNiece

Just discovered the Captain's address from this morning on the TV. Dressy night tonight. Here's tonight's MDR menu followed by The Pinnacle Restaurant which is where we're eating .

Some slides from this morning's Captain's talk. A23A is the world's largest iceberg; it broke off from Antarctica in 1986 and almost immediately got stuck after a deep section of it grounded on the seafloor. Recently, it became dislodged and started drifting again. Followed by some 'fatherly' advice here Where Shackleton landed Paper charts

Day 9 Sunday Christmas Eve at sea. Good afternoon (!) and thanks for following. Pics from this morning.

Some of Geoff's pics. Back to the ship. We were 3 hours late sailing away. The logistics of taking a sick crew member ashore took time to arrange with the shore and local hospital health care. We heard today he's doing fine. The Hamburg left before us.

Back in Stanley we are taken on a drive around the town.. I take a brief walkabout. Christ Church Cathedral is the southernmost Anglican Cathedral in the world .

Nyree has provided sandwiches and snacks including Penguin bars!! The drive back as exciting, bleak and formidable as the drive out. .

Am headed to the beach. Sand whipped up by the incredibly strong wind. More humans than penguins. Soooo cold and windy. Hats, scarves, gloves and thermals so recommended! Beach video here .

I tried to share this last night but was too tired to figure out why it wouldn't load. I'm achy today from the hours in the jeep. The nesting penguins are encircled by white rocks which we humans may not cross. The chicks are brown balls of fluff! They are curious and while we've been told to not approach us they are not similarly advised. The girl was so absorbed in her selfie stick she failed to notice the babe approaching!

You are way more organised than me! I'd mess up big time .... been there done that lol

A very bumpy ride video here Gates are opened by the lead driver, our driver shuts them behind us We arrive at Volunteer Point and have to disinfect our footwear. The occasional penguin is loitering in the distance. We then get to be quite close! . .

We stopped at a farm en route. The vehicles travel in convoy off road for safety purposes so we waited briefly for others to join us

Means having to edit every post to separate the images. And within 15 minutes....

Continuing yesterday's posts. Thanks for your patience. Accessing the tender was chaotic. Too many independent travellers for the space allocated. Little organisation. The ride from Stanley to Volunteer Point took over 2 hours. We were joined by a younger couple. Our driver, Simon, was a 5th generation Falkland Islander. He was 4 when the invasion occured and remembered his family being moved to a place of safety. We drove on tarmac, gravel and then for the most part off road. The landscape is bleak, very rough terrain. Many ponds amongst the peat.

Geoff had gone around 7am to the Rolling Stone. He wasn't the first. When they eventually opened ticket distribution there was a massive surge forward so any queue was obliterated! We were ashore by 9am No other GF options in the Café. I had quite a chat with Executive Chef Thomas yesterday about GF bread. Will be following up! I've been to a couple of talks this morning and was exhausted last night. Picture heavy posts to follow!!

Day 8 The Falkland Islands Good morning and thanks for following Woke again at a more sensible hour. Beautiful day out. Chilly. Windy. MS Hamburg 420 passengers operated by Plantours Kreuzfahrten has arrived before us. We have tender ticket 6. 1 - 5 have been called already. No food , fresh fruit to be taken ashore

Am awake at silly o'clock.

Tomorrow 🤞we go ashore by tender at Port Stanley. The Falkland Islands derive their name from Falkland Sound, the name given to the waterway between East and West Falkland by Captain John Strong, who spent several days in the Islands on his ship 'Welfare' in 1690. Falkland Sound was itself named after Viscount Falkland, one of the owners of 'Welfare'. Captain Strong was the first person to have been recorded as landing in the Islands, although the first reported sighting was by English navigator Captain John Davis in 1592. The Falkland Islands have never had any native inhabitants and no indigenous people have ever been displaced, instead the Islands were entirely unoccupied until 1765, when they were first claimed by the British who established a garrison at Port Egmont. Over the years, the British, French and Spanish periodically had garrisons within the Islands until 1811 when all were withdrawn.On 6 October 1832, an Argentine military garrison arrived in an attempt to establish sovereignty over the Falkland Islands, disregarding the British claim of 67 years prior. Less than three months later, on 2 January 1833, the Royal Navy evicted the military base with no loss of life. The civilian population, who had sought permission from Britain to live there, were invited to stay. A year later, a small, permanent British administration was established and in 1845 Stanley become the capital. They enjoyed a peaceful existence until 1 April 1982, when an Argentine military force invaded. For 74 days they lived under foreign occupation, until liberation by British forces on 14 June 1982. Nearly 1,000 Falkland Islands, British and Argentine lives were lost as a result of the war.Since 1982, their lives have been transformed, they've become financially self-sufficient and almost entirely self-governing, determining their own future and way of life. The community has been formed through voluntary immigration and settlement over the course of nearly two hundred years. They are a diverse society, with people from over 60 nations having made the Islands their home. At their heart are those Falkland Islanders whose families have been in the Islands for nine generations.In 2009 a new Constitution was established which provides enhanced local democracy, internal self-government and enshrines the right of self-determination. Four years later in 2013, they held a referendum which was overseen by international observers, where 99.8% of the electorate voted to remain a British Overseas Territory. https://falklands.gov.fk/our-history We are taking a privately booked excursion to Volunteer Point to see the emperor penguins with Estancia Excursions with whom I toured previously. Cannot wait to go back!

Loving hot mocha and GF biccies in the café

Daily menus are downloadable as .pdf lido_lunch_7.pdf lido_dinner_7.pdf divein_menu_2021_noshake.pdf dr_lunch_-_day_7.pdf day_7.pdf mdr_breakfast_menu_winter_2023_en_-_v2.pdf james_suckling_wine_list_2023.01.01_v2_print_1_.pdf

Some pics from yesterday I forgot to share. There's a diy taco station by the Lido pool. I decided to try a hot dog in a GF burger bun. It was delicious ..... maybe the best I've had at sea! After lunch caught a few zzzzz on deck 10 then watched the passengers who were late returning to the ship saunter along the pier! Saw quite a few dolphins at sailaway! .

Just back from an awe inspiring talk given by Dr Fiona Shanhun on 'Antarctic Science and why it matters'. Had a dreadful seat and will get to the theatre earlier next time! It's not all ice! From the earliest explorers to today. Experiments undertaken on, above and below ground and ice. The sheer volume of information being gleaned is staggering and the means by which it's obtained is innovative and so inspiring. I suggest popping her name into Google. She's really special. .

WiFi has been sporadic but appears to be working fine now 🤷‍♀️. Found a workaround on the TV

Day 7 At sea Good morning and thanks for following. I caught a bit too much sun yesterday and am taking it easy today. Thought I'd show you around the TV selection but we have a remote control that doesn't like to go right so stuck right now. Must see if we can get it swapped! . . . . .

Dinner

Back at the ship on the bulbous bow is a family of sea lions. Quite happily chilling. Then along came what I can only assume was a male, certainly VERY angry, and voluble, who proceeded to turf the family off! One solitary sea lion remained!