2014/02 Falklands trip - The F25 |
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Tuesday February 11th
We had an early flight, a bit misty but the windsock hung limply. Yet again, we flew via Port Stephens, dropping off Ian and Amanda, another English couple. At Darwin field, our relatives were waiting dutifully by the 4WD with the windsock flying. The rain had just started.
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We’d had a great time but now F had the cold too, so she was snuffling while I coughed. The only activity I can remember that day is going for a sunny and windy walk with M and the dogs. .
Wednesday February 12th
Sandie and I shared a Gentoo penguin egg at breakfast. The egg was large, with an orange yolk and a transparent “white”. It looked like one of those super-bouncy balls, the rugby version of course. I thought it tasted much like any other hard-boiled egg, though Sandie said the white was a bit fishy.
It was sunny and windy as we took off with M on a tour of the north camp area. We’d be traveling on the ring road, what Falklanders jokingly call the F25. It does have a few differences from England’s M25, such as being gravel, having no traffic, and not being a road. It’s officially an all-weather track, which exempts drivers from a bunch of tiresome rules. There are no places on the road, just spurs that link to settlements.
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F25 Circuit |
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We were crossing mainly empty moorland, with stream crossings, stone runs, and a few craggy hills high enough to qualify as mountains. The sky was black in front of us, but the cloud moved on just in time. M took us to San Carlos where British troops landed in May 1982 to reclaim the Falklands. From this beachhead, troops went across country to attack the Argentinians at Stanley and Goose Green.
We went to the war cemetery in San Carlos and then on to the little café for tea and cakes. The owner’s partner Andi, as well as being a talented singer, is a potter and she makes these plaques by impressing grasses into the clay. As you might expect, crafts are very popular in the Falklands and the islands’ present to Prince George was a shawl made from Falklands wool.
On our way around the F25 we came across a farm with this collection of ancient Landrovers.
Mostly though, the country featured these rugged mountains and stone runs. The British used the mountains in their advance on Stanley and the Argentinians would mine the
areas between the stone runs. You can see from the photo how difficult it would be to traverse a stone run.
On our way back we saw these Belted Galloways, decorative as cows go, and noted for their fine quality beef. The mallards are residents at Valkyrie House, rushing around 
the garden on missions known only to ducks.