Craig didn’t have a great night but at least by this morning the sore throat had gone but he had the full on head cold happening with watery eyes and a bit of a temperature I think.  However we had our morning cuppa then got dressed and went up to Horizon for breakfast.  I remember that when we were on the Diamond Princess our lovely little Na had made me a tea with honey, lemon and ginger when I was full of the cold.  We saw her this morning and she said “Oh Papa – you’re not well – I make you a special tea!”  And she did and he certainly felt a bit better after that.

We were already anchored in the bay off the Falkland Islands and this was a tender port.  We weren’t in a made rush to get off but there was nothing else we really wanted to do so we just headed to the dining room and collected our tender tickets.  We discovered then that the sea had turned a bit rough and they had temporarily suspended tender operations.  However after about an hour we were able to board our tender.  The actual trip was quite smooth – the real worry for the ship is getting on and off – particularly at the ship as if its rough the tender bobs around a lot and is risky for anyone who’s got limited mobility.  

I’d planned that we’d catch the shuttle bus out to Gypsy Cove where we could see Magellan penguins.  I had a smile to myself when I overheard a couple talking and the wife said that she wanted to see penguins but her husband obviously didn’t share her enthusiasm and replied that she could watch “Happy Feet”!!  There’s been quite a few ships excursions on this cruise to sites where you can see penguins – and there are all different types.  But they are all very expensive and to be honest while I was keen to see penguins in their natural habitat, it didn’t much worry me what type I saw.  So we opted for the shuttle bus which was $20 each.  We piled into a little coaster bus and we got to sit in the front with our lady driver who gave us a great commentary as we drove to Gypsy Cove which is about 10km from the town of Stanley.  We were able to walk along the cliff path and saw many penguins.  This is the time of year when they’re on the shore as they are molting and apparently don’t go much in the water until their new coat comes through.   After we’d had our walk we hopped back on a shuttle bus back to town and decided we needed to try their famous fish and chips and the locally brewed beer.  It’s still very definitely a British territory – our bus driver told us she was 7^th generation Falkland Islanders – or kelper as they call themselves (after the seaweed) – but she had a very definite English accent, as did many of the other islanders we talked to.  So the menu in pubs and restaurants has a strong English pub flavor.  The fish was fantastic – fishing is their major industry followed closely by tourism though the tourism season is pretty short and only about 3 months.  This is for two reasons – the weather, which was really ‘warm’ for our visit, was a top temp of 10 degrees and there’s only that relatively short period when the penguins are on shore.   The beer was also really tasty and very like a typical English lager.

We then had a bit of a walk along the main street – saw the Jubilee Villas, which look like something from a typical English town, and the Christ Church Cathedral – the southernmost Anglican Church in the world, and the archway made from two whale jawbones.  

We then got the tender back to the ship and called into Crooners where Chris made Craig a hot toddy.  We came back to our cabin and had a little rest and then got changed and headed down for a drink before dinner.  A mixed bunch of companions tonight – two American couples and two American ladies and once again lively conversation.  I had soup tonight – Thai but can’t remember it’ exact name, followed by scallops which were amazing and finally another wonderful Chocolate Journey dessert – caramel tart with chocolate icecream –it was superb!

Craig had managed to get through a pretty big day was flagging now so he headed off to bed.  I decided to give the casino another go and had a pretty good night and played for a couple of hours – I should have cashed in a few chips when I was up a fair bit – but kept playing away and finally called it a night with my initial stake still intact – which allows me another night of fun!