We had intended on going to the Welcome the New Governor Parade on Saturday 16th October, but we were sat in Jacs, a local excellent cafe before the parade when a friend asked us if we wanted to go the Cape Pembroke Lighthouse as they had managed to get the key. They were going with the Falkland Conservation Watch Group, who are the local young wildlife group. The weather was fantastic – glorious sunshine, and not a breath of wind. Ideal weather!
We had been trying unsuccessfully to get the lighthouse key for several weeks, and had also heard it was an interesting drive. A friend had got bogged the week before on his way out there, and it took him 5 hours to get out! The peat bogs are really soft, and will swallow a vehicle. Off roading out here is somewhat different to the UK! We decided we couldn’t pass up the opportunity to head out there with some experienced guides, so we met up at the airport and set off in convoy. This view is from the lighthouse looking back to Stanley, and you can see the different tracks used by people.
It was quite an interesting journey out, but we didn’t get bogged. A few people seemed surprised we were taking the Lightweight when they had Discos, 110’s and the usual collection of Mitsubishis and Toyotas, but the old girl did us proud, and everyone was suitably impressed with its performance!
Having got used to laning in groups of 3 and 4 in the UK, it came as a surprise that 10 vehicles headed out there. Sometimes as many as 40 or 50 vehicles will go off roading!
Now, this will surprise my UK teaching colleagues, but some of the kids in the Watch Group go to my school, and they were extremely mature in their attitude to seeing a teacher outside of school – none of that silly giggling stuff; because it is such a small community, they accept that they will bump into their teachers all the time outside of school. They had been looking at the role of camoflage for predators and prey, hence the bits of grass and head bands!! Harry didn't want to put bots of grass into a head band, so he borrowed Dawn's hat!
Harry wanted to go up the lighthouse, so I took him up to see the view, and then went back up on my own to take some photos. He wasn’t very sure when we got to the top, and the last two ladders inside were nearly vertical, which made it interesting getting him to the top!
There is also a memorial to the Atlantic Conveyor which was part of the Task Force, and was carrying useful equipment like helicopters. It was the loss of the ship to an Exocet that meant the Task Force had to yomp across the island. The memorial is a large bronze propeller with the names of the dead and the location of the wreck.
Again the wildlife was stunning, and this is one of a sequence of photographs of a night heron. Unfortunately it refused to dive into the water to catch a fish!
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