Under way with the preparations Toby Tyrrell , January 8 , 2013
Welcome from the James Clark Ross in Port Stanley ! We are well under way with our preparations . As with the last cruise in this project , there has been lots to do : stores and equipment to load , instruments to set up , numerous items to tie down and make secure in case of the likely bad weather . Some of the scientists arrived several days ago , some a couple of days ago , the last of us yesterday . A few came via Chile ( it ’ s not possible to come via Argentina because of the dispute over ownership of the Falklands ), but most via the ‘ Land Bridge ’, the name for the direct connection from the UK . This consists of travel via military flights ( actually a chartered commercial airliner , but unusually one with no logos or in fact any markings at all ) from RAF Brize Norton in the UK via Ascension Island in the equatorial Atlantic . The stopover in Ascension is quite odd : while travelling from mostly cold and wet ( UK in winter ) to mostly cold and wet ( Falklands in summer ), one has two hours at tropical temperatures . Most passengers were not appropriately dressed for the eventuality and consequently rapidly became overheated .
James Clark Ross in Port Stanley @ Jeremy Young
Port Stanley is the main town in the Falkland Islands ( the Malvinas if you prefer ), but still a small place with only about 2000 inhabitants . During our hour-long drive from the airport to Port Stanley we saw a good deal of the landscape – quite flat moorland reminiscent of Scotland , sparsely populated with humans but more densely with sheep . Port Stanley itself has an old-world charm to it , with lots of gift shops ( servicing in particular tourists en route to Antarctica – the cruise ship Hamburg is here at the moment ) and a quiet and relaxed feel
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