Bleaker Island

Just before I came down to the Falkland Islands, a friend at work sent me a link to a magazine article written by an American student about Bleaker Island.  The article as best as I can recall now told of the student’s use of funding she had been allocated to go somewhere to write.  She had concluded that her writing would best be aided through going somewhere where she would have no distractions and she considered Bleaker Island would be the best place in the world to achieve this.  Opting to come down in July (ie the middle of winter) was probably not the best decision this student could have made and the article went on to detail how the weather was terrible and, if the article was to be believed, the author rationed her food and in particular her treats to endure her time on Bleaker.  Apparently the end result of all this was that the student got a book out of it about how to write a book rather than her original planned novel.  However from my perspective of interest in the Falkland Islands,  apart from resolving not to go on an island trip in the middle of winter, the article did have the effect of fixing Bleaker in my mind and when an offer appeared in the local newspaper for stays on Bleaker, it seemed too good to turn down.

So at 8am on the Friday morning before Christmas we turned up at Stanley airport for our FIGAS flight to Bleaker.  The little red FIGAS planes are a regular feature in the skies above Stanley, but this is the first time I had been on one.  It is by far the smallest plane I have ever been on, seating only about 8 people and with no separation from the pilot, who is the only crew.  Aside from ferrying people on trips to the various islands, the planes form a vital connection for the islands to “mainland” East Falkland and are the quickest way to get assistance to the islands should that ever be required.  Readers who are nervous of flying might want to skip over the next bit as an island service down here does not have a plethora of marked, tarmac runways.  The runway at Stanley airport is concrete, but for the islands, the runways are simply a strip of as close to flat land as possible that the inhabitants of the island keep clear of debris.  On Bleaker the runway is a grassy strip at one end of the island.  Touching down was fine, taking off again two days later was quite fun (according to my personal definition of fun).

Having, more sensibly than the student author, picked December for our visit to Bleaker, we were blessed with a weekend of beautiful weather and a fantastic opportunity to roam and see plenty of wildlife.  Looking back at the camera roll, I discovered we took a mere 540 photos over one weekend.  I’ve had much fun selecting my favourites for this blog, but if anyone is keen for more, simply send me a message through this blog and be prepared to be bored by penguin photos.  We were especially fortunate that both the rockhopper and gentoo chicks had hatched so we had lots of baby penguins to look at, as well as sea lions and a variety of other birds, some of which are quite rare.

There’s really little more to say, except that if anyone happens to be visiting the Falklands and has the time, we would very much encourage you to go to Bleaker.  Everything is within walking distance and with the highest point on the island being only 27m above sea level, it’s an easy walk even with children.  Mike, Phyl and Nick are fabulous hosts, the accommodation is beautiful and comfortable and the catering is yummy.  All in all it was a perfect and very relaxing way to start Christmas.  Hope you all enjoy the photos.

Rockhopper chicks

Feeding time

Magellanic (nearly grown up) chick

A proud macaroni

Gentoo cooling down

Fun on the beach

Brown-headed gulls