Transport

Well I have sown some seeds and it is trying to rain again so I thought I would add a bit more.
As it is our wedding anniversary on Sunday we have booked to go to Carcass Island (one of the smaller islands to the north-west of West Falkland) for the weekend where we are hoping to see some different wildlife including elephant seals. The Falkland Islands government air service (FIGAS) flies to many parts of the islands, doing a trip around to wherever people want to get on or off. When we booked a couple of weeks ago we were told that we would be on the 10:30am flight but when I rang to confirm this morning it seems we now won't be going until 3pm which is a bit disappointing as we are still on the morning flight back on Sunday. They announce on the local radio each evening who is going where on the next days schedule so you wouldn't get away with slinking off for an illicit weekend!
We bought and shipped out here a second hand Mitsabushi double cab pick-up which arrived before we did. When we went to collect it we found that the battery was completely flat and when jump started the alarm sounded continuously. However one of the local garages got that sorted out after the weekend and I was able to sort out insurance, registration and tax and get new number plates made. Simon has since enjoyed a couple of off-road driving experiences.
We also shipped out 2 new mountain bikes which we use to get to work and around town. Having not ridden a bike for nearly 30 years I am still rather wobbly on mine, particularly when it is windy!
About 99% of the vehicles here are 4 wheel drive with about half being landrover defenders and many with lots of extra items like metal tracking, ropes, spades and spare wheels strapped on top to assist when "bogged".
The government have pledged to put gravelled roads to all the settlements in "camp", that is everywhere outside Stanley, but once you leave these it is easy to sink into the peat bogs.
The speed limit is 25mph in town and 40mph outside town and the police are strict in enforcing it. It is easy to get distracted when driving or cycling into or out of town as going along beside the harbour there are usually interesting birds to see.
Stanley is built on a grid system on a steep hill and traffic going up and down the hill has priority over that going across the hill at junctions apart from the bottom road that runs by the harbour.
Until recently there was a boat called the Tamar that regularly supplied the coastal settlements and smaller islands but this has recently been replaced by a car ferry called the Concordia Bay which runs between East and West Falkland twice a week so it is now possible to drive to the West but apparently it is not able to go to all the places that the old boat did, so some communities are more isolated.
October 6th was a public holiday (peat cutting day, although few people now cut and burn peat) so we went out for a drive around quite a bit of East Falkland which was really interesting. As we had blizzards over the weekend the central mountains were all snow covered and very impressive. We went through a deep ford and realised later that we had lost our front number plate.
We have also explored quite a bit locally and had some nice walks.