Where does time go?
Apologies are well overdue for the lack of blogs and I am afraid it is not likely to get much better!
We have been trying to make the most of our last summer here so have been trying to get out and about as much as possible. This has resulted in thousands of photos being taken but little time to sort and edit them or to write blogs.
Since Christmas we have had stayed with friends at Fanny Cove House, Cattle Point House and Walker Creek (all self catering and in different parts of Lafonia) and done lots of exploration of different parts of the coastline.
We have also camped at Cape Dolphin and Fanning Head and spent 3 nights camping on Saunders Island as well as various day trips with the ramblers.
In three days time we are heading to Chile to go hiking in Torres del Paine national park, hoping to do a 10 day circular walk. In preparation for this I have done several local walks carrying a backpack of increasing weight. It is quite worrying how much what seems like essentials actually weigh. I will shortly be cutting the small bar of soap in half again but have not yet sawn the handle off my toothbrush!
We have had some exceptionally hot and dry weather which has been great for getting out and about but not so good for the garden and quite a few of my flower plants have died. However I still managed to win several prizes in the horticultural show, mostly with vegetables.
It has now turned cold and wet and the days are getting much shorter.
Simon has been very busy at work as his boss has been away but is back today. It has also been very busy at the hospital and we have several staff sick so I have also been busy with 2 extra shifts this week.
Last weekend we stayed at Walker Creek settlement and on Sunday drove to a sandy beach called Seal Cove. From there Simon and I walked along the rocky coast and were surprised and delighted to find this young leopard seal resting on the rocks.
These are the rarest seals here and this is the first one we have seen - I had almost given up hope of seeing one.
It had probably swum up from Antarctica or South Georgia and was exhausted hence we were able to get quite close to it.
They can be very fierce and in the past have tended to be shot when found on beaches. Their hides were prized by makers of horse gear
They have a sinister, rather reptilian shaped head and enormous mouth and sharp teeth.
A female research diver was killed by one a few years ago in Antartica.
