Well it's been a little while since the last bit of twittering - mostly because there are only so many pictures you can take of the sea and the ship in the sunshine with no land in sight and really only so much you can say about it. I have therefore been saving it up for the extravaganza that I shall now launch into. My non-medical endeavours have continued and I have a beautiful white cargo tender cabin to show for it - the 6 years of medical school did not prepare me well for such tasks but, luckily, my dad did. Admittedly some paint did not end up where it should have, but it really is very challenging painting above head height in fairly high winds while bobbing around at sea. I am still discovering paint in my hair nearly a week after completing the task and the windows required a bit of TLC with a scraping device, as rollers, gloss paint and high winds is a particularly tricky combination to manage. Anyway, I enjoyed myself immensely - mainly because I got to hang out in the sunshine listening to my especially prepared 'music to paint to' playlist and eat desserts guilt free thanks to the calories burnt keeping upright.
Admire the shiny whiteness of the cabin
The wildlife sightings have been increasing the closer we have been getting to land and, although I have been terrible at actually photographing it, I can report sightings of whales, dolphins, albatross and penguins. The latter I shall come onto in a bit. One of the main reasons for the lack of good photographs is that it has been getting a little more choppy and windy over the past few days which has coincided with the arrival of the birds. I have managed several rather blurred pictures of an albatross but there is definitely room for improvement. I think I will probably see them again - hopefully sitting on a nest staying nice and still. I have also discovered that, while I appear to be fairly immune to sea sickness, sleeping when you're being rolled from one side of your bed to the other is a skill that I have yet to master. Luckily we have arrived in the Falkland Islands today; the ship is moored up and therefore staying still and I plan to do a bit of sleeping. Unless of course it is sunny tomorrow, in which case I will be hunting down the penguins at every opportunity. Maybe even in the dark.
A video clip would probably be better here
Yes it's blurred but it's the best I have for now
On the subject of penguins, I have managed to get my first sighting of the little fellows and thus the obsession has begun. Before I launch into tales of treks to far off beaches, I think it is important to try to set the scene a little. The following 3 pictures were taken as we dropped anchor and within the space of about 10 minutes in the order shown. The weather here is unpredictable to say the least. Think Scottish islands and you will have a pretty good idea of what it's like.
Nice! I decided not to offer to help out on deck today.
The site of penguins (or at least somewhere vaguely near the penguin burrows)
Anyway, despite the fact that the deck crew were battling with a storm of horizontal hail stones, all went smoothly when coming alongside, and the promise of solid ground for the first time in just under a month beckoned. Two options for walks from the ship were suggested to me:
1) turn right, walk for about 10 minutes, arrive in town and have a cup of tea/pint
2) turn left and walk for an hour through intermittent hail stone flurries and some mighty strong winds but with the possibility of white sands, turquoise water and penguins at the end.
Obviously there was really no decision to be made and, although I did momentarily question my choice as the hail stones were flung against my legs so hard that they actually stung through two pairs of trousers; when the clouds cleared and the sun came out and two little penguins popped out of the sea and waddled up the beach, I was happy with my decision. Less happy when I realised I would have to run back to avoid missing dinner whilst wearing a thermal, fleece, down jacket and full waterproofs. Oh I looked good when I arrived back on the ship wind burnt and sweaty!
