The young lady turned 3 in February and had a party with lots of thoughtful gifts. She is developing a fine sense of humour and regularly impresses me with her irony. She even impersonated another girl during register time at preschool, which had us all in stitches!
Last month I was lucky enough to go on a whale watching trip from Stanley. We saw fins and blows from sei whale, as well as a load of other marine life including penguins, sea lions, gulls, shags, petrels, dolphins and so on. The boat ride was great fun but a little choppier than I had anticipated, and coming on the back of a girls' night out in Stanley where Bacardi featured pretty large, it was a struggle to keep my insides from making an appearance. If I remained stood up on the outside deck clutching onto the rail, with my nose tilted away from the diesel fumes and focused on my breathing I could just about keep a lid on it. Unlike my poor friend who regularly fed the fish throughout the tour. Sadly I have no amazing photos of whales to show as although I did capture a fin or two on record, my retarded reaction speed from the alcohol intake, plus lack of sleep, coupled with the boat movements, sea spray and general inability to use my camera properly meant they were not worth sharing.
This was my first encounter with whales but now I know what I am looking for, I have since seen them again from a helicopter, when visiting Volunteer Point last week. This is a site I have been keen to go to for over a year but what with various mishaps, wasn't able to. Finally on Wednesday I got to see the large colony of King Penguins and the warden who recently featured in the Sunday Times magazine. In my opinion, the kings are the most aesthetically pleasing of the penguins found here, although without the bustling and bumbling charm of the Rockhoppers.
After a two week stay Granny B has now departed back to the UK and so life is back to a rather jaded normality. Over recent weeks the weather has been mostly shocking with more rain to make up for the drought of December and only a glimmer of sunshine over the last week.
We did have a quick trip to Bertha's beach on Tuesday to make the most of the warmth, during which time the young lady was totally engaged with sand castle building and when I insisted on at least having a quick look at the water's edge, she then lost a welly and started moaning.
Lots of our friends on base here are leaving over the next 6 months so there are plenty of goodbyes and farewells coming up. It can seem like a never ending rotation of families coming in and going out, some changing schools and jobs for only a 1 year posting. As for the short touring personnel on 6 week, 4 or 6 month contracts, the blur of faces and names is such it seems like I change my underwear less often!
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