Jack Sleeps Over

Jack is one of Harry's friends, and is from New Zealand.  He recently stayed over so that his mum and dad could go out for the evening.

There was the usual ice cream:

Several frantic light sabre fights:

Which tired them out so much that they put themselves to bed!!!

Harry's Sports Day

Harry had his first sports day recently.  It was held on my school field, but as I was teaching that afternoon, I couldn't get out to see it.  Dawn went along to watch it and photograph it.

He took part in three races:

The running race (third place)

Carry the bean bag on the bat race (first place):

Run, put the flag in the cone and run a bit more race (second place):

That done, Harry shows off his stickers: 1st, 2nd and 3rd!

HMS Glamorgan Memorial Service

The 15th Feb was the memorial service for HMS Glamorgan.  The ship was hit by an exocet fired from near Surf Bay, and was the last ship to be hit in the war.  It was also one of the first ships on scene in 1982, as it carried Admiral Sandy Woodward to establish the 200 mile exclusion zone ahead of the carrier and land forces arriving.  None of the advance group of ships made it back to the UK unscathed, and some paid the ultimate sacrifice, and still lie in the waters of the Falklands.

Glamorgan had been supporting the assault of Two Sisters by laying down 4.5" shells ahead of the Royal Marines of 45 Commando.  They had stayed for as long as they could to continue fire, right up to the last possible time that they could.  It was as they turned away from teh gun line to head back to the task force location that the exocet battery detected them and fired.  Fortunately the missile struck the helicopter hangar and this saved the ship, but 14 men still lost their lives.

A large stone was carved and polished back in the UK, and was then shipped down on the MOD resupply ship.  The ships crew arrived by plane and spent a week touring the islands.  For many of them, including Captain Barrow, it was the first time they had landed on the islands.  Glamorgan was sent home as the conflict ended for repairs.

Following a service with hymns and prayers, the Last Post was sounded, and then two Typhoons from MPA did a flypast.

As they headed in, the kids were blissfully unaware of the noise about to be unleashed, as the Typhoons thundered over head at 100 feet, followed by one completing a vertical climb on full reheat!

That done, it was up to the FIDF club for a buffet and drinks.  I managed to meet Captain Barrow, now in his 80's.  He was extremely emothional, and still regrets staying until the final minute that he could, as if he had left earlier, his ship may have survived undamaged.  He did say though that being able to visit the Falklands had helped him with his healing process, as he had seen that the conflict had been worth it.

In a few short months, it will be the 29th anniversary........

Sign to Sing

Harry's school was taking part in the world record attempt "Sign to Sing" where the children had to sign to "I'd like to teach the world to sing."

They had spent several weeks learnign to practice along with a training DVD containing Ollie the Monkey.  My school decided that the Year 7 students could take part as well, so as a Year 7 tutor I was able to go down to the school to supervise them.  The school hall at the Infant and Junior School was packed full of kidsa dn parents who wanted to take part.  Due to the time differences, it was to be performed at 11:45, which corresponded to 14:45 UK time.

They completed the signing and singing, and the school has become part of the record holders!

Squid Jiggers

Now most of you are thinking "What is a Squid Jigger"

A large chunk of the economy is based on fishing licences, and squid is one of the most lucrative.  Ships come from Taiwan, Korea and China to catch squid.  The boats have to collect a licence in Stanley, and they have to be checked over before being given the licence.  Whilst they are in the harbour, they keep their engines and plant running, so one or two boats can make it failry noisy on a still night.  Imagine waking up to 30+ of the things!

They look rough, battered old things, and quite often crew members will jump ship due to appalling working conditions.  That said, a dip in the harbour water, which is much colder than that of the UK, doesn't do them much good either!!

Sunsets again!

I have already posted some pictures of sunsets that we get here.  They really are spectaculr because of the low levels of air pollution, as well as the hole in the ozone layer!!

This time I drove round and crossed the Canache to take some photos from across the harbour.

 

The photo below is of the "Lady Liz" an iron sailing ship that was declared beyond economic repair when she landed in Sanley after taking a battering in a storm.  She was then used a storage hulk until she was driven to her current position in a storm.  So now she sits and slowly succumbs to the rust monster!

More Ships!!!

Okay, so in earlier posts I have mentioned the cruise ships that come in regularly.  I took some of these a while back, but have only got round to posting them.

One late summer's evening, we noticed a cruise ship returning to the harbour.  The ship had been in earlier during the day, we believe that there was passenger transfer happening.

Between the cruise ship leaving and then coming back, a bulk carrier had come into the harbour, which made manoeuvering the boats difficult.  We think there was more room than the photos suggest!!

 

A super yacht docked in the harbour a few weeks ago too, The Big Fish.  She was on her maiden voyage, and is the absolute height of luxury.  Click on the name to find out more about her!