Wednesday 26th December
So I worked my second night shift last night, with hardly any sleep between shifts yesterday as obviously it was Christmas Day and it was snowing and I was far too excited for trivia like sleep. I managed to get a couple of hours sleep on shift, but still ended the night feeling dangerously tired. It is now Wednesday and the last time I got my head down for more than 2 hours was Sunday. The weather over night was shocking - it was blowing an actual gale and the showers of snow and hail were relentless. Reid was on shift with me and came out to do a couple of obs and we just laughed at how ridiculous it was getting a face full of hail as the temperature fell to plus 1, and we vowed to never come here during the actual winter!
Each Boxing Day there is horse racing at Stanley. We had hired a landrover in advance and 5 of us were going to go. Both Reid and I were shattered and the wind was forecast to increase - massively could not be bothered with the races. But we didn't want to let the others down, and figured there would be chance to rest another time. So we agreed we would man up and go. Got in from work and was ready for bed at 9am and we had arranged to leave for Stanley at 11am. Less than 2 hours of sleep again. It is always so difficult to sleep when you know it is only for a short amount of time - for some reason my brain just refuses to wind down. So after a half doze I got a knock on my door 5 mins after my alarm went off from James, who was also coming to the races. He said that due to the weather the entire event was cancelled. I was secretly relieved - I had had enough of getting smacked in the face by sideways blowing hail!
Reid and James had to work the night shift tonight, but me and the other two decided it would be a waste of the hire car if it was just sat there unused. The wind and hail were due to ease through the afternoon so we decided to wait until later, then head to Stanley for dinner that evening. Yay. By this point I figured there was no point in trying to get a bit of sleep and decided to power on through. I wonder how long it would be before the hallucinations start... We all went for lunch then James and I watched a film before me and the other two headed for Stanley.
The weather was suddenly much calmer and the drive was just under an hour. After seeing the size of other towns like Darwin and Goose Green I was expecting Stanley to be only a little bit bigger and to be very basic. But it was just like a village back home and had everything you might find in a large village in the uk. There are quite a few things to tick off on the tourist list at Stanley - there is a cathedral which we saw, and a giant totem pole with signs pointing to various places in the world. We went into Malvinas House Hotel and booked a table for the three of us for dinner. Yay! It was so exciting!!
We got in the car and took a short drive down to gypsy cove. Because of the land mine risk you cannot walk on the beach here, so we stood behind a bit of rope and took photographs. It was very pretty, and we saw even more penguins!!
We headed back to Stanley to look in the jewellery shops and gift shops, which there was no shortage of! All kinds of penguin branded things and falkland branded things. I was heavily engrossed in my gift buying, when I turned a corner in the shop... And saw two of my friends from back home!!!!!! I had known he would be down here as he in in the navy and was due to be here, on a ship, from November to July. But I had no idea the ship was ashore and that he would have 10 days leave over Christmas for his wife to come and visit! His wife was also very good friend of mine, and since we lost touch just over two years ago they began dating and are now married to each other!!!!! After a very shrill round of hugs and hellos we decided to ditch the penguin gift shop, go to the pub and have a catch up!!
It turns out that he, bless him, had also known I was here and had contacted my boss in the met office to get hold of my roster and had planned to come and surprise me when I would be on shift on Friday. We got up to speed with who had done what in the past two years, and insisted they join us for dinner. While we were in the pub, also in walks my boss with his wife and child! They had come to Stanley for a couple of days break so we were conscious to try and not hog their company, or be in their profiforal vision too much. Turns out they would be eating in the same restaurant as us too later!
Dinner was amazing. The meal cost the same as my mess fees for the entire length of my tour - ie three months food and accommodation, but trust me that says more about the mess fees rather than the dinner. I had calamari, lamb and a lush toblerone desert thing. Will definitely be coming back.
It was so good to see Tom and Helen. We swapped numbers and it turns out they will be visiting the mess soon anyway, and that when Tom goes back to sea Helen has a couple of days before her flight so will be in the mess for a couple of nights!
All very very exciting!!!
Got home around 1030pm and was straight for bed. Tomorrow is my day off, and Reid is on a sleep day, so we have decided to go to Bertha's Beach in the afternoon. James is between two night shifts, but the sea state is currently "Rough" so he will come along with us!
What a day :) xxx
