Christmas blues and and antidote

Last Saturday I was feeling rather down and homesick. All our family were gathered for the Wilkie Christmas gathering which we usually host and, although we had spoken to them on the phone, I felt very far from home. However in the early evening I went for a lovely walk which cheered me up no end. I got Simon to drive me down to Whalebone Cove which is the far easterly end of the harbour.

This is dominated by the hulk of the Lady Elizabeth, a huge iron sailing ship. She was launched in 1879 but was damaged rounding Cape Horn in 1913. She limped into Stanley for repairs but these proved too expensive so she stayed moored in Stanley harbour. A violent gale in 1936 drove her down to her current resting place.I then walked along the far shore of the harbour out to Engineer's Point. If you are looking from our house this is the point on the right hand side of The Narrows (the entrance to the harbour). One of the beacons marking the harbour entrance is sited here. Near it there are some large old chains going down into the sea which have puzzled me but I read recently that during the first world war there was a metal net which could be pulled up across the Narrows to block the entrance and the chains were used to lift it.
Many of the rocks and stones are covered with an amazing variety of lichens of different colours.
A variable hawk was perched on a rocky peak and is, I think nesting there. She kept flying around and making a lot of noise in an attempt to distract me. My attempts to photograph her were unsuccessful, just capturing tail and feet as she flew off.
Beyond the point is a Hadrassa Bay with a pebble beach round to Tussac Point. There were several magellanic penguins on the beach and when they dive into the clear water it is amazing to see them swimming. At the entrance to one of their burrows I could see small chicks sheltering under the parent's flippers.

Beyond Tussac Point the coast along to Gypsy Cove is rocky with waves constantly breaking.
On one rock I saw a colony of nesting black-crowned night herons (locally called quarks). The adult birds are grey and white but the young speckled brown and most seem to have 2 chicks. They usually feed close to the shore catching small fish and crustaceans.
On another rocky cliff was another quark's nest and a group of nesting rock shags. These now have large chicks in their precarious nests. I do wonder how they manage not to fall off into the sea.At Gypsy Cove I saw 2 magellanic penguin chicks outside their burrow just next to the path. There were lots of adults coming and going to the burrows and hundreds congregated on the beach at Yorke Bay. Standing amongst them was one lonely king penguin.
Having watched them for some time I rang Simon to come and pick me up feeling much more cheerful and privileged to be here.