Well that’s not strictly true, we were allowed out in the garden, however for at least the past 3 days the kids hadn’t joined us for our daily walk about due to it being ‘too cold’. Goodness knows how they will tolerate the proper winter next year…
And so we have come to the end of quarantine, I’d say the last three days were the most difficult. The monotony of each day, coupled with the lack of ease to do things like get food, organise anything meant that it really was starting to drag.
A few of Chris’ new colleagues arranged a couple of trips for us as soon as we were out of quarantine, the first was to Cape Pembroke, around 7km east of Stanley. Its a now disused lighthouse, standing proud on the easternmost headland of East Falkland and the location of Stanley’s Saturday parkrun – an event I hope to join in the future! The children loved being outside again, even if a little breezy, they couldn’t wait to explore the rockpools and climb across the rocks in and around the shore.
Our second outing that week was to Goose Green, 94km south west of Stanley. It was our first opportunity to experience the great Falklands roads, which during our 1.5hr trip consisted of tarmac, hard rubble, dirt track and then much to Chris’ delight, off road. The views were amazing, giving us a glimpse of the mountains we want to add to our bucket list of trips to do whilst here. We also experienced the famous ‘4 seasons in a day’ scenario – setting off with the snow making visibility difficult, hail, and then bright sunshine as we arrived at our first stop; Bodie Suspension Bridge. The bridge is one of the most southernmost suspension bridges in the world and has largely been used for the movement of sheep from one area to another during shearing time.
Following our little adrenaline ride of avoiding the ditches and puddles across the fields, we decamped for a picnic lunch in the schoolroom for the settlement whilst the kids enjoyed playing on the park in probably the most picturesque parks they’ve ever played in! The trip was topped off with a quick visit to a beach which name escapes me, however importantly we saw our first penguins!
Family life in the Falklands 