Well after leaving Buenos Aires, (where not much happened for me - I was busy being a model in the spa, amongst other things), We were quite late getting into Montevideo, Uruguay due to weather conditions. This allowed us to have a quick dash into the city though late in the sfternoon before our gig. Booby Milton & I were on a quest for fruit & vegatables. There are usually market type stands here & there by the squares. Alas , this late in the day , & on a Sunday , there was none. We picked up a trinket or two(actually 3 ketchain thingys , for 200 pesos , whatever that is in Uruguay money - I disremember). We also dashed into the town again after our gig , as we were done by about 9:30, & didn't need be aboard by 11:00 o clock. Just enough time for some snacks & four quarts of uruguay beer. (Not bad at all, but then again , its almost hard to find bad beer isn't it)?
So then of course there was a number of sea days , & the arrival once again Port Stanley of the Falkland Islands. (Or Malvinas , if your from Argentina). Rob had a gig at the Malvina hotel, so I went to the post office alone this time, also picked up a flag for the "Wool Club"-(the Falkland flag has a sheep on it)! Then decided to walk out to Gypsy Cove this time & catch the shuttle back. My theory was that it would be safer than walking back , as I could predict when I wanted to come back precisely. On the way I tried to arrange for a fellow to take Colin & I fly fishing for sea trout next time we are back here on Feb. 10th. (Oh please)! So I walked along the shoreline for about a mile, & took some pretty cool pics of upland geese , some pintail type ducks, & black & white oyster catchers. (the ones with the bright red bills). I walked for a ways after this before managing to hitch a ride the rest of the way to Gypsy Cove with a local chap. It was already well into the afternoon before I took my first picture there , but the weather was improving. I walked way down into the near shore area where there may or may not be land mines still , looking for bird photos. Got a couple pretty good shots of as of yet undetermined species. Will try & uoload a few soon.
Have been at sea for days now already since then. Am just now in the Antarctic Zone , nearing "Elelphant Island". (Named for elephant SEALS , don't you know). Its been a rough night weatherwise. The crew mess is aptly named today , the twelve foot high swells have wreaked havoc down there. They also knocked chairs over etc in our cabin, if that is any indication of the power of these waves.So now we are to spend four days exploring this island , & the channel just below it. I have already seen some albotross with impressive 9 foot wingspans, and a few other species flying alongside the ship. So far , it is almost impossible to get a photo of one of these. By the sounds of the lectures I have been attending though , we should be slowing down in the channel enough to get some good glimpses of quite a variety of the wildlife species which seem to thrive in these rich waters here. ( apparently , it is the wind whipping up the waves that causes so much oxygen to be churned about under the surface , making these the richest waters on the planet for vegetation & marine life of various sorts. It is for this reason we have some strict rules during our passage. (ie: no laundrey for four or five days. I got up at six a.m. to do mine yesterday. after being awoken this morning by crashing furniture at 4 a.m., I still need some more sleep ! Yawn)...
Friday, January 23, 2009
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Gypsy Cove
Well I failed miserably trying to upload photos of the glacier & other recent pics, so am abandoning those photos for now , & moving ahead to yesterday's shots taken at a place called "Gypsy Cove" on the Falklands main Island,(The town is called Stanley). I had signed up for a tour with passengers from the ship , & as that didn't happen , I had sort of given up hope of much in the way of bird photos. However, during the mailing of a number of parcels from the post office,(including some first day covers for the collection-replete with extra stamps !), I saw Bobby Milton,(our Guitarist), trying to make change to use in a payphone.There was some haggling about exchange etc with him amidst my stamp collecting , wrapping up of packages etc & Rob's joking about single women, gay bars on the island etc."Please dont come back" quipped the cool lady when we were finally done. (And she had refunded Rob's american money from the Falkland change; the phones don't take coins, but cards.) Note: The Stanley post office rocks !So we went for some coffee at the Stanley syore , which has lots of everything like any general store on a remote island should,(albiet expensive)! We did find some Cayenne pepper , & a few interesting sundries not always found elsewhere , such as treacle , which seems to be a type of mineral loaded mollasses. It was still probably morning , but just barely , & I decided to try & take a shuttle bus to a place I had heard of called "Gypsy Cove", where there was supposed to be some penguins around on the beach. Mr. Milton begged off in pursuit of Carrot soup. Soup shmoup I figured , & was glad I did. It was only $10.oo to take the shuttle after flshing my crew card, (Half price); & it left pretty much right away. It wasn't that long a drive (15 minutes thereabouts), & before we even came very close I was seeing some new & interesting sights & birds ! It was a great three hours or so I spent wandering the trails , hanging with many,many birds including maggellin penguins , rock shags, turkey vultures, strange geese & other waterfowl as of yet undefined. The land is covered with the most amzing & colourfull moss , shrubs, rocks, sand & various forms of life. This place really is a birdwatchers paradise ! There is also some remnants of the Battle there ( in 1982) , & warnings to be aware that there still may be landmines present off the trails. I wandered around nearer the shore a bit for photo ops , & didn't get blowed up. (obviously). I took 1101 photos , which I am currently tyring to upload on Colin's computer while he is fast asleep ! It takes way too long to upload these things from here on the ship, but I will try & get a few on now. Stay tooned for more & better ones , when I eventually make it home to Beautifull B.C. !
Sunday, January 4, 2009
Penguins !
Well Here it is 2009 , and we have rounded the cape once again , with a stop first in the Falkland Islands first, & in Ushuaia, & Punta Arenas afterwords. Had a nice visit in all three places , although it was biting cold in the Falklands , & even snowed a tiny bit. Did a bit of shopping in Punta Arenas Argentina, & had some brunch. (It seems almost everything on all the menus here has ham & cheese , including my ommelette; I really must improve my spanish) ! The Falkland Island menus are all about fish & chips , which are not all that great if you ask me , & neither were the canned peas.(& at $17.00,I opted to eat on board the ship that day). New Years Eve was another formal night for us here aboard the Star Princess, & we held a rock & roll crowd till 2:20 a.m. , which was another long night& its been hard to have enough dress shirts this week. (Colin & I did a gang wash of whites in the crew laundrey today, as it was formal tonight & we did the champagne waterfall , as well as a few sets in Explorers lounge).
So New Years day was the aforementioned crew penguin tour ! Rob somehow managed to miss the bus , which was unfortunate , but at least he hasn't missed the ship .We had to travel about an hour to penguin land, & along the way , our guide explained all about the different breeds of penguins, how much they weigh, eat etc. (they eat mostly squid & sardines , weigh about 10 to 15 pounds , & live something like 15 years). The species we saw are called magalene (I think thatsthe proper spelling , I'll check). There are probably 20 or 25 other types of penguins, all similar looking , but some with quite wild differences, includingcrazy yellow eyebrows & rounder shapes etc. We had to walk about a mile along a path once arriving at the site , & there is a charge for visitors , which was included in our tour price. The path became a wood slattrail after a ways, & I started spotting the odd nesting penguin after about 3/4 of a mile. At first I was dissapointed as he was a long ways off, & I knew we only had about an hour here at the site. Within a few more minutes though , I was quite close to some of these fascinating creatures , & they were unafraid, & quite amiablein fact. Apparently , they think that we are just more penguins. (Funny looking ones , no doubt) ! I will try & get a couple of my photos of them uploadedpresntly. I have quite a lot of shots, its tricky to load anything from here at sea though. If anyone would like more photos (or LOTS)' send me a note with your address ,& I'll try & deliver you a disc. So meanwhile, we are at sea for three days , & will have a new group of passengers after the dis-embarcation in Valpraiso. Will be back at sea & heading back to Buenos Aires once again after this stop. Will try & keep doing updates from time to time. Please send me some messages or e-mails if your reading any of these blogsas I haven't gotten much mail over the holidays & it would be nice to know whats going on in Canada these days.( Is there going to be another election) ?
So New Years day was the aforementioned crew penguin tour ! Rob somehow managed to miss the bus , which was unfortunate , but at least he hasn't missed the ship .We had to travel about an hour to penguin land, & along the way , our guide explained all about the different breeds of penguins, how much they weigh, eat etc. (they eat mostly squid & sardines , weigh about 10 to 15 pounds , & live something like 15 years). The species we saw are called magalene (I think thatsthe proper spelling , I'll check). There are probably 20 or 25 other types of penguins, all similar looking , but some with quite wild differences, includingcrazy yellow eyebrows & rounder shapes etc. We had to walk about a mile along a path once arriving at the site , & there is a charge for visitors , which was included in our tour price. The path became a wood slattrail after a ways, & I started spotting the odd nesting penguin after about 3/4 of a mile. At first I was dissapointed as he was a long ways off, & I knew we only had about an hour here at the site. Within a few more minutes though , I was quite close to some of these fascinating creatures , & they were unafraid, & quite amiablein fact. Apparently , they think that we are just more penguins. (Funny looking ones , no doubt) ! I will try & get a couple of my photos of them uploadedpresntly. I have quite a lot of shots, its tricky to load anything from here at sea though. If anyone would like more photos (or LOTS)' send me a note with your address ,& I'll try & deliver you a disc. So meanwhile, we are at sea for three days , & will have a new group of passengers after the dis-embarcation in Valpraiso. Will be back at sea & heading back to Buenos Aires once again after this stop. Will try & keep doing updates from time to time. Please send me some messages or e-mails if your reading any of these blogsas I haven't gotten much mail over the holidays & it would be nice to know whats going on in Canada these days.( Is there going to be another election) ?
Friday, December 26, 2008
4 hours in Rio Current mood: awake Category: Blogging
O.k., so we got into Rio De Janero late. Its usually hard to get off the ship early, & as this was a 'turnaround day' , meaning new passengers, it was going to be even more difficult. I signed up for the crew tour, thinking that I would at least get to see some of the highlights of this famous & cosmopolitan city. As we approached, I was up early (about 6 a.m.), excitedabout the day ahead, & already taking photos of the nearing Corcovada & city. We had two busses for the crew tour, I was on #2. We got off the ship around 11 a.m., & filed through the busy terminal & areas . There wasabout 55 of us on the one bus. Our guide was local , & talked through a mike turned up too loud. We made one stop at a trinket shop before taking the trolleything up to the top of the mountain to Corcovado & the amazing statue. The trinket shop took too long & everyone was writing postcards & buying stuff. It had been raining & cloudy apparently for three weeks straight. How lucky were we to have a beautifull sunny day ? I was impressed with the view, to say the least.There was a lot of condors or vultures of some type zooming around the cliff immediatlely beside ,below & around the stairs to the top. I would have liked to spend more time trying to get the perfect picture of them. I did get a couple good shotsof them, I think. As well , I took a lot of pictures of the view , & the statue itself. It was very hot up there , & there was not much shade. I was worn out by the time our time was up.Some local musicians were jamming away in the other trolley car back down. Too bad I was in the back one. Also , I should perhaps mention that our guide did a good job whisking us in front of all the other tourists!There was a lot of traffic in the city. We had zero time to stop at the beaches. We zoomed by some fabulous places of note, including Ipanema beach, & umm, cant remember the other famous spots. There are gorgeous young women in bikinis having showers & other sights hard to avoid not noticing. Suffice it to say the 4 hours had zoomed by very quickly. I took a lot of photos. Will try & upload a few here in my pics. As we passed the last beach , a storm was coming up with lightning & it was raining by the time we were on board. Everyone had a great day , & wished we had more time ashore ! We have now been back to Montevideo Uraguay , where I bought some trinkets from the few local vendors in a seemingly deserted big city. (Merry Christmas y'all)!( Beach trip was a no go as to a bit of hangover this morning)...
O.k., so we got into Rio De Janero late. Its usually hard to get off the ship early, & as this was a 'turnaround day' , meaning new passengers, it was going to be even more difficult. I signed up for the crew tour, thinking that I would at least get to see some of the highlights of this famous & cosmopolitan city. As we approached, I was up early (about 6 a.m.), excitedabout the day ahead, & already taking photos of the nearing Corcovada & city. We had two busses for the crew tour, I was on #2. We got off the ship around 11 a.m., & filed through the busy terminal & areas . There wasabout 55 of us on the one bus. Our guide was local , & talked through a mike turned up too loud. We made one stop at a trinket shop before taking the trolleything up to the top of the mountain to Corcovado & the amazing statue. The trinket shop took too long & everyone was writing postcards & buying stuff. It had been raining & cloudy apparently for three weeks straight. How lucky were we to have a beautifull sunny day ? I was impressed with the view, to say the least.There was a lot of condors or vultures of some type zooming around the cliff immediatlely beside ,below & around the stairs to the top. I would have liked to spend more time trying to get the perfect picture of them. I did get a couple good shotsof them, I think. As well , I took a lot of pictures of the view , & the statue itself. It was very hot up there , & there was not much shade. I was worn out by the time our time was up.Some local musicians were jamming away in the other trolley car back down. Too bad I was in the back one. Also , I should perhaps mention that our guide did a good job whisking us in front of all the other tourists!There was a lot of traffic in the city. We had zero time to stop at the beaches. We zoomed by some fabulous places of note, including Ipanema beach, & umm, cant remember the other famous spots. There are gorgeous young women in bikinis having showers & other sights hard to avoid not noticing. Suffice it to say the 4 hours had zoomed by very quickly. I took a lot of photos. Will try & upload a few here in my pics. As we passed the last beach , a storm was coming up with lightning & it was raining by the time we were on board. Everyone had a great day , & wished we had more time ashore ! We have now been back to Montevideo Uraguay , where I bought some trinkets from the few local vendors in a seemingly deserted big city. (Merry Christmas y'all)!( Beach trip was a no go as to a bit of hangover this morning)...
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Buenos Aires , Montevideo; first visits
Montevideo, Buenos Aires , Rio Current mood: quixotic Category: Blogging
So since my last post , we have been to Montevideo , Buenos Aires , ( both in the same area of Argentina) , then several days at sea before reaching Rio De Janero. Montevideo is a happening place. its a big city. Bobby Milton had a bike & rode for hours on the same drag & never left downtown. I went traipsing with the saxophonist from the orchestra (Wes), to find a drugstore he needed to go to. (Apparently he was to pick up some medecine for a friend who lives in the U.S.A. as well. It was medicine for a diabetic, & already paid for. We walked for way over an hour , maybe even two before finding it. Along the way there was some cool old architecture , shops, parks , neighborhoods etc. I took some photos of parrots & statues in a couple parks on route.
The fellow at the drugstore was named Nicholas, & he spoke english & was extremely friendly & helpfull. He gave us directions to some other places ( I wanted to find a health food store for example , as was out of aloe juice etc). So we walked some more before finding that ( the address in the phonebook was wrong). We also stopped for coffee in a outside place. It was here I bought a backpack for $10.oo (american $ or 240 pesos). I could see how handy they are, Wes had $2000.oo worth of drugs he was carrying around with no problem !
So it wasn't far to travel to get to Buenos Aires , I had IPM , or ship duties , so I was only able to get off for a couple hours. This is a huge city of over ten Million people. Its a bit overwhelming. I will check it out again on boxing day. I did buy a nice wallet for $5.oo, or 15 pesos. leather goods are very reasonable here.
So I will continue a bit later about Rio as I'm running out of time , & would like to include some new photos ! ... Merry Christmas all ! ! ! Its a sunny & warm day here at sea aboard the "Star Princess" !
So since my last post , we have been to Montevideo , Buenos Aires , ( both in the same area of Argentina) , then several days at sea before reaching Rio De Janero. Montevideo is a happening place. its a big city. Bobby Milton had a bike & rode for hours on the same drag & never left downtown. I went traipsing with the saxophonist from the orchestra (Wes), to find a drugstore he needed to go to. (Apparently he was to pick up some medecine for a friend who lives in the U.S.A. as well. It was medicine for a diabetic, & already paid for. We walked for way over an hour , maybe even two before finding it. Along the way there was some cool old architecture , shops, parks , neighborhoods etc. I took some photos of parrots & statues in a couple parks on route.
The fellow at the drugstore was named Nicholas, & he spoke english & was extremely friendly & helpfull. He gave us directions to some other places ( I wanted to find a health food store for example , as was out of aloe juice etc). So we walked some more before finding that ( the address in the phonebook was wrong). We also stopped for coffee in a outside place. It was here I bought a backpack for $10.oo (american $ or 240 pesos). I could see how handy they are, Wes had $2000.oo worth of drugs he was carrying around with no problem !
So it wasn't far to travel to get to Buenos Aires , I had IPM , or ship duties , so I was only able to get off for a couple hours. This is a huge city of over ten Million people. Its a bit overwhelming. I will check it out again on boxing day. I did buy a nice wallet for $5.oo, or 15 pesos. leather goods are very reasonable here.
So I will continue a bit later about Rio as I'm running out of time , & would like to include some new photos ! ... Merry Christmas all ! ! ! Its a sunny & warm day here at sea aboard the "Star Princess" !
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Falkland Island , Current mood: tired
Well , the Hoe Down in Explorers lounge was real good , afterwords we made our appearance in the Wheelhouse lounge , where the orch. cats were doing a jazz set. Sat in on a few tunes playing drums , mostly which featured Colin on the Bari sax. We also had a few different pianists with us , as well as trumpet, tenor & trombone.
Eventually played a few tunes on the trumpet , or rather took a few solos is more like it. That went pretty o.k., & I felt that I had earned the single malt scotch I drank before that set. We then sat with the wonderfull Irish couple who have been with us since Halloween. (They dance almost every song as well ) ! So I drank some Stellas , from the tap , which I always feel is unfortunate , but there it was .
It was now time to rush up to the crew bar , & check out the Brazilian group, (The drummer had been jamming with us in the wheelhouse, so they must just be starting , & he was playing like he was on fire) ! So I started playing percussion right away . The crew bar had just closed. Fortuneatly , the Brazilians had beer behind the makeshift stage , & offered me one right away. So now I am playing agogo bells , trumpet ,& eventually settled for a big medal shaker & tamborine together, & hung out by the drummer. They went full on into the whole Brazilian trip , & it was quite exhilherating ! Reminded me of the time I played the shaker with that african band in Yellowknife at the "Folk on the Rocks" fest. a number of years back. ( I was just sitting in there too , actually playing at the Cave with "The Blue Angels" , which was a band with Indio Saranjevo I was in for a summer.
So by the time I finally was relxing with the saxman in the smokers lounge & ready to call it a day , I have no idea what time it was. I finally dragged myself out of bed & onto a tender at the crack of noon . It seemed like not really the day to go penguin hunting. It was a very long tender ride , & I felt a coffee was in order. This took awhile to find. The Falkland Island is a small archipelago 300 miles off the coast of Argentina. You may remember there was a dust up there when Argentina attacked the small british forces back in 1982. There are two main islands , & 776 smaller ones. There are only 3000 people who live here , & ten times as many penguins. These islands are a paradise for bitd watchers, as there is more than 120 species of birds, half of which are residents. There are several species of penguins apparently, among them gentoo, rockhopper,king & jackass. Other birds common are upland geese,steamer ducks, oystercatchers gulls, terns, & there are some albotrosses & giant petrels nesting on some of the smaller islands. I was able to mail a significant amount of postcards from here ,which may take awhile to arrive, as apparently they go to Britain first ! I also picked up a first edition envelope from here for me & Tunies collection. It was just issued , & has six different penguin stamps on it , as well as a great shot on the envelope of some king penguins.
I'm now at sea again , of course , & still trying to get enough rest to feel somewhat whole again. Got up early this morning to try & photograph the sunrise again , & was finally succesfull after quite a wait. ( We went ANOTHER hour forward last night , so we are now SIX hours ahead of B.C. time) ! ( Now you know why I don't phone as often Ma) !
Well , the Hoe Down in Explorers lounge was real good , afterwords we made our appearance in the Wheelhouse lounge , where the orch. cats were doing a jazz set. Sat in on a few tunes playing drums , mostly which featured Colin on the Bari sax. We also had a few different pianists with us , as well as trumpet, tenor & trombone.
Eventually played a few tunes on the trumpet , or rather took a few solos is more like it. That went pretty o.k., & I felt that I had earned the single malt scotch I drank before that set. We then sat with the wonderfull Irish couple who have been with us since Halloween. (They dance almost every song as well ) ! So I drank some Stellas , from the tap , which I always feel is unfortunate , but there it was .
It was now time to rush up to the crew bar , & check out the Brazilian group, (The drummer had been jamming with us in the wheelhouse, so they must just be starting , & he was playing like he was on fire) ! So I started playing percussion right away . The crew bar had just closed. Fortuneatly , the Brazilians had beer behind the makeshift stage , & offered me one right away. So now I am playing agogo bells , trumpet ,& eventually settled for a big medal shaker & tamborine together, & hung out by the drummer. They went full on into the whole Brazilian trip , & it was quite exhilherating ! Reminded me of the time I played the shaker with that african band in Yellowknife at the "Folk on the Rocks" fest. a number of years back. ( I was just sitting in there too , actually playing at the Cave with "The Blue Angels" , which was a band with Indio Saranjevo I was in for a summer.
So by the time I finally was relxing with the saxman in the smokers lounge & ready to call it a day , I have no idea what time it was. I finally dragged myself out of bed & onto a tender at the crack of noon . It seemed like not really the day to go penguin hunting. It was a very long tender ride , & I felt a coffee was in order. This took awhile to find. The Falkland Island is a small archipelago 300 miles off the coast of Argentina. You may remember there was a dust up there when Argentina attacked the small british forces back in 1982. There are two main islands , & 776 smaller ones. There are only 3000 people who live here , & ten times as many penguins. These islands are a paradise for bitd watchers, as there is more than 120 species of birds, half of which are residents. There are several species of penguins apparently, among them gentoo, rockhopper,king & jackass. Other birds common are upland geese,steamer ducks, oystercatchers gulls, terns, & there are some albotrosses & giant petrels nesting on some of the smaller islands. I was able to mail a significant amount of postcards from here ,which may take awhile to arrive, as apparently they go to Britain first ! I also picked up a first edition envelope from here for me & Tunies collection. It was just issued , & has six different penguin stamps on it , as well as a great shot on the envelope of some king penguins.
I'm now at sea again , of course , & still trying to get enough rest to feel somewhat whole again. Got up early this morning to try & photograph the sunrise again , & was finally succesfull after quite a wait. ( We went ANOTHER hour forward last night , so we are now SIX hours ahead of B.C. time) ! ( Now you know why I don't phone as often Ma) !
Cape Horn ! Current mood: awake Category: Travel and Places
Well I tried to read my last blog & guess I'll have to start proof reading them as its so full of mistakes. Sorry ! Well I will forge ahead , even though I seem to be wasting a lot of time & energy trying to describe the sights here , rather unsuccsefully I feel. Will be nice to eventually get some photos happenning.
So to pick up where I left off last , We arrived in the town of Ushuaiau .( spelled something like that. If you check on a map at the VERY bottom of the cape , its there , so I'll assume you know where I mean). This is now Argentina , & the first time we have been in this country. So there was a submarine docked where we were supposed to , so we had to take the tenders in. There was some problems with that for us , but I won't go into any detail. Rob & I made it ashore for 3 or 4 hours before we had to play our gig. There was almost no-one at the gig as most people were still ashore.
Its quite a beuatifull area , again reminding me of the north country , in particular this small city (60,000 or so, I think) ; reminded me of Yellowknife. There is a bunch of artisans & craft places , as well as quite a few stores of an american type feel. We tried to find local feel places for cofee or whatever , but the few we nooticed weren't open till late eve.
It's was nice to see grass & dandelions & flowers here as it is summer. There were a lot of lupens , which are that long arctic flower with many buds forming a cone shape & very colorfull. The view from as little up as the second street up is spectacular really , & quite a steep climb. There were tours available to see penguins etc, but we did not have the time today for anything like that.
When we got back to the ship I took some really good sunset shots on our break , which was between 9:15 & 10:15. There is a really short window for pictures before the sun is gone, & I'm getting better at being in the right place on the ship at the right time for this. I bet I'm getting some better shots than the pros onboard with my second hand Fuji & occasionly the back-up camera I have, which is the Olympus.
Well , today we rounded the Cape. I missed the sunrise by a few minutes , but stayed up for the rounding of the Cape, & once again got some very cool shots. There are these cool sculptures created by the years of pounding waves. The sky was pretty intersesting , & there were sunspots radiating off the ocean at times, as well as the boobies , or gulls flying about. Some of them end up in my shots.
So now we are all at sea , with not much too look at at the moment , but anticipating an interesting visit to the Falklands tommorow. We will arrive at about 8 a.m., so I will now have to go move my drums around so the Brazil guys can use them, then set them up again for me to do the "country Hoedown" show , then make an appearance & sit in in another lounge for the jazz jam, & do the same in the crew bar where I'm supposed to sit in with the Brazilian grooup. All this & still have an early night so I can try & get up early enough to take a public bus to a place called "Gypsy Island", where I can maybe see some damn penguins !
Well I tried to read my last blog & guess I'll have to start proof reading them as its so full of mistakes. Sorry ! Well I will forge ahead , even though I seem to be wasting a lot of time & energy trying to describe the sights here , rather unsuccsefully I feel. Will be nice to eventually get some photos happenning.
So to pick up where I left off last , We arrived in the town of Ushuaiau .( spelled something like that. If you check on a map at the VERY bottom of the cape , its there , so I'll assume you know where I mean). This is now Argentina , & the first time we have been in this country. So there was a submarine docked where we were supposed to , so we had to take the tenders in. There was some problems with that for us , but I won't go into any detail. Rob & I made it ashore for 3 or 4 hours before we had to play our gig. There was almost no-one at the gig as most people were still ashore.
Its quite a beuatifull area , again reminding me of the north country , in particular this small city (60,000 or so, I think) ; reminded me of Yellowknife. There is a bunch of artisans & craft places , as well as quite a few stores of an american type feel. We tried to find local feel places for cofee or whatever , but the few we nooticed weren't open till late eve.
It's was nice to see grass & dandelions & flowers here as it is summer. There were a lot of lupens , which are that long arctic flower with many buds forming a cone shape & very colorfull. The view from as little up as the second street up is spectacular really , & quite a steep climb. There were tours available to see penguins etc, but we did not have the time today for anything like that.
When we got back to the ship I took some really good sunset shots on our break , which was between 9:15 & 10:15. There is a really short window for pictures before the sun is gone, & I'm getting better at being in the right place on the ship at the right time for this. I bet I'm getting some better shots than the pros onboard with my second hand Fuji & occasionly the back-up camera I have, which is the Olympus.
Well , today we rounded the Cape. I missed the sunrise by a few minutes , but stayed up for the rounding of the Cape, & once again got some very cool shots. There are these cool sculptures created by the years of pounding waves. The sky was pretty intersesting , & there were sunspots radiating off the ocean at times, as well as the boobies , or gulls flying about. Some of them end up in my shots.
So now we are all at sea , with not much too look at at the moment , but anticipating an interesting visit to the Falklands tommorow. We will arrive at about 8 a.m., so I will now have to go move my drums around so the Brazil guys can use them, then set them up again for me to do the "country Hoedown" show , then make an appearance & sit in in another lounge for the jazz jam, & do the same in the crew bar where I'm supposed to sit in with the Brazilian grooup. All this & still have an early night so I can try & get up early enough to take a public bus to a place called "Gypsy Island", where I can maybe see some damn penguins !
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