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http://i613.photobucket.com/albums/tt213/photodisc/farmhouselead.jpgWelcome to the edge of settlement in the southern hemisphere – Falkland Islands. The ship’s first stop is West Point Island, one of the Falkland Islands lying at the northwesterly point of West Falkland and tomorrow the ship will be at Port Stanley, on the eastern side of Falkland Islands. A self-governing overseas territory of the United Kingdom, Falkland Islands is a group of islands in the South Atlantic Ocean about 700 miles to mainland Antarctica. Wow! Am I this close to the South Pole? West Point Island was originally known as Albatross Island and Isla Remolinos in Spanish. A day before arrival, weather forecast for West Point Island was predicted to be cloudy sky and chances of rain but fortunately the weather that we have today turned out to be sunny and clear blue skies. Since Falkland Islands is close to the south pole, the island enjoys cooler temperature all year long.

The ship dropped anchor inside the bay in front of West Point Settlement where a small jetty is located. Ship passengers (and crew as well) arrive at the jetty through tenders running continuously to and from the ship. From the jetty, just a short walk up to the hill is the farmhouse owned by Lily and Roddy Napiers. I was taking some photos in front of the house, just outside its white wooden fence when a couple showed up from the door and welcomed me inside their yard for a chat. The couple are so welcoming and they shared to me plenty interesting facts of the island and its wildlife. Few minutes later, few other couples from the ship arrived and joined the conversation. Later on we find ourselves inside the farmhouse’s modest receiving area served with tea and cookies. I am just not so sure whether they are Lily and Roddy because we forgot to introduce our names from the very beginning. All I know is that the couples are very very friendly and very keen sharing everything we want to know about the island – the history, its original inhabitants and the conservation of wildlife and a lot more.

After the tea and learning few facts of the island from the inhabitants themselves, I politely excused myself and started walking further up the hill to see the island’s spectacular view from the top. On the way, this windmill here grabbed my attention. I’ve never been so close to a windmill before, so I took this very rare chance encounter of a windmill. Yeah… the blades are revolving and I could hear its sound exactly similar to the ceiling fan at my grandma’s house…LOL… Few meters from the windmill, I saw this some sort of flat-plate solar energy collector. I did not see any power lines around the island so most probably, it generates power supply to the farmhouse. I was navigating the ship prior to our approach in the channel earlier today when someone from the island contacted us through the VHF radio. The island has no other inhabitants except these welcoming couple and about 4 other more that live in the farmhouse, now I realized that I may have been talking to the guy in the farmhouse who offered us tea and cookies because I saw communication equipments inside.

After the strenuous yet tireless climb to the hill, here I was viewing from the top all these awesome sights and the panoramic view of West Point Island. Visible from here were the beach and the penguins, the ship which was safely anchored at the bay, the tendering operation, the albatrosses, the island’s spectacular cliffs and the beautiful scenery of West Point Settlement. West Point Island so as with the rest of Falkland Islands is a very rare destination that cruise ships include in the itinerary. A colleague mentioned to me that the last time they were here was three or five years ago but during that time the weather wasn’t favorable to allow the ship to drop anchor. So, instead, the ship turned back and went straight to Port Standley, the capital of Falkland Islands. Distance from West Point Island to Port Stanley is only 150 nautical miles and we must be there by 7AM tomorrow. The weather forecast for tomorrow seems not favorable but we are all optimistic that the ship can still safely drop anchor at Port Stanley. Well, this is all for now…buckle up and enjoy the ride…

Click on the photo to enlarge

Abandoned Tool House	West Point Settlement
Seaside House	West Point Island Jetty
Approaching the jetty	West Point Rocks
Rockhopper Penguins	Albatross

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