The moment September arrives, people in the Falklands start to talk about spring. It’s hard not to assume as the days lengthen quickly that the cold days of winter are behind us. However, the one thing I have learnt about Falklands’ weather is that it is entirely unpredictable. This year, for most of September spring … Continue reading Spring is sprung
Sheep Life
Sheep are the farm animal which is synonymous with the Falkland Islands, there are about 500,000 of them across the Islands. However, when you get to the Islands it may take you a while to see them. Partly this is because they have a lot of land to roam in (about 1 sheep per 10 … Continue reading Sheep Life
First impressions of São Paulo
After 3 years in South America, I've had my first experience of Brazil, as I went to an education conference in São Paolo in October. São Paolo is a mega city, the largest city in Latin America with over 30 million people in the macro-metropolis area. It is absolutely vast and the car is the … Continue reading First impressions of São Paulo
A spring break in San Pedro de Atacama
In October I spent some time in San Pedro de Atacama, for a spring break - although I'm not sure that spring is really a concept in a desert. However, being spring meant that it was a moderate temperature, both at night (not freezing) and during the day (not incredibly hot, merely high 20s in … Continue reading A spring break in San Pedro de Atacama
Ode to a Library
Fear not, despite the title I am not going to channel my inner Keats and force a poem on anyone. None of us deserve that. I am, however, going to share my appreciation of my local library, and I realise that a more correct literary title would be a "Paeon of Praise" but it´s autumn … Continue reading Ode to a Library
A long, thin country
Lots of people know that Chile is a very long country and one way of understanding this is to unfold a standard size country road map. Most countries fit fairly nicely onto the map, or can be put easily onto two sides - not so Chile. When you unfold the map for Chile you find … Continue reading A long, thin country
Easy Like Sunday Morning
The Falkland Islands are famous for being windy but sometimes we get a beautiful calm day, with mirror like seas, unruffled birds and sunbathing sealions. That's always a good time to walk the coastline in perfect peace.
Dogs with jobs
Unsurprisingly, as a rural country the Falkland Islands has lots of working dogs - Collies (England) are commonly used for farm work, as are Kelpies (Australia) and Huntaways (New Zealand). Then there are the military dogs doing security checks at the airport and round the military base. So far, so normal. Living here I have … Continue reading Dogs with jobs
Locked Up
As I got out of my car this morning and walked across the car park to the office, it occurred to me that I hadn't locked the car. The thought floated across my mind and I dismissed it, it really wasn't necessary to go back. As someone moving from UK city centre living to the … Continue reading Locked Up
Wild Goose Chases
My first night at the Beach Hut through the fury of the wind and rain beating on the cabin, I could hear geese calling to each other. The next morning, in the blue pre-dawn light, I could see the creek edges were alive with geese, ducks and the occasional swan. I made a cup of … Continue reading Wild Goose Chases
