Port Stanley
Shortly after six o’clock we make our way through the narrows and tie up at FIPASS dock. The gentle morning pastel shades slowly brighten as the sun rises further. By nine o’clock we have boarded our buses, which alarmingly have the following ersatz display on the front: “Out of Service.” Soon we are off on our tour of Stanley; we go past the new housing estates and then in the centre of town drive down the main road and pass the Information Centre, the Anglican Cathedral with its four whale bone arch, the Post Office and Philatelic Bureau and on to Government House. We make a brief stop at the War Memorial – it is the first of many poignant stops and references to the very unfortunate and sad conflict which took place from April to June 1982 between the United Kingdom and Argentina.
We then head on to the Museum: an all too brief stop at a wonderfully put together museum with so many interesting things on display. We enjoy, among other things, Wedgewood and Bone China, history and artifacts from old ships, a natural history section, fashion styles from yesteryear, marvelous perambulators and a dentist’s consulting room. All too soon we are on our way again: our next stop is at a house with whale bone skulls and skeletons as well as an old harpoon gun; it is the owner’s contribution to the anti-whaling sentiment. A pet reindeer grazes the green grass around the house.
Our next stop is at the Lady Elizabeth shipwreck, it is an opportunity to get out and do some bird watching as there are several species we want to get a sight of. Suddenly the silence is shattered by two Tornado fighters skimming over the airport and then over into the camp. After going past the old airport we stop at a beautiful spot with sandy beach a little way off. However just off the road there are barbed wire fences with little skull and cross bone markers. These areas are mined; what a terrible legacy. Overhead a tanker plane flies past with two umbilical chords extending out from either wing and to them two fighter planes drink in the nourishment they need to be able to continue with their exercises. The war may be over but the defense of the islands is very evident; the conflict and the wounds will take a long time to heal and the scars will never quite go away.
The afternoon is spent walking about the town and we take advantage to get some shopping done. Some even seize the opportunity for some chit chat as they sample a pint or two in one of the local pubs. However by then the quiet little town has been invaded by hundreds of passengers from a very large passenger ship. We feel the effect for the rest of our stay as we have not been accustomed to this!
Despite this intrusion one is impressed by the order, the tidiness, the quiet and the tidy gardens. There is a slight aroma of peat smoke in the air so characteristic of the old Stanley.
Shortly after six o’clock we make our way through the narrows and tie up at FIPASS dock. The gentle morning pastel shades slowly brighten as the sun rises further. By nine o’clock we have boarded our buses, which alarmingly have the following ersatz display on the front: “Out of Service.” Soon we are off on our tour of Stanley; we go past the new housing estates and then in the centre of town drive down the main road and pass the Information Centre, the Anglican Cathedral with its four whale bone arch, the Post Office and Philatelic Bureau and on to Government House. We make a brief stop at the War Memorial – it is the first of many poignant stops and references to the very unfortunate and sad conflict which took place from April to June 1982 between the United Kingdom and Argentina.
We then head on to the Museum: an all too brief stop at a wonderfully put together museum with so many interesting things on display. We enjoy, among other things, Wedgewood and Bone China, history and artifacts from old ships, a natural history section, fashion styles from yesteryear, marvelous perambulators and a dentist’s consulting room. All too soon we are on our way again: our next stop is at a house with whale bone skulls and skeletons as well as an old harpoon gun; it is the owner’s contribution to the anti-whaling sentiment. A pet reindeer grazes the green grass around the house.
Our next stop is at the Lady Elizabeth shipwreck, it is an opportunity to get out and do some bird watching as there are several species we want to get a sight of. Suddenly the silence is shattered by two Tornado fighters skimming over the airport and then over into the camp. After going past the old airport we stop at a beautiful spot with sandy beach a little way off. However just off the road there are barbed wire fences with little skull and cross bone markers. These areas are mined; what a terrible legacy. Overhead a tanker plane flies past with two umbilical chords extending out from either wing and to them two fighter planes drink in the nourishment they need to be able to continue with their exercises. The war may be over but the defense of the islands is very evident; the conflict and the wounds will take a long time to heal and the scars will never quite go away.
The afternoon is spent walking about the town and we take advantage to get some shopping done. Some even seize the opportunity for some chit chat as they sample a pint or two in one of the local pubs. However by then the quiet little town has been invaded by hundreds of passengers from a very large passenger ship. We feel the effect for the rest of our stay as we have not been accustomed to this!
Despite this intrusion one is impressed by the order, the tidiness, the quiet and the tidy gardens. There is a slight aroma of peat smoke in the air so characteristic of the old Stanley.
