Sunday: New Island, Falkland Islands

New Island, a privately owned island, once was a sheep farm.  It is the most westerly island in the Falkland archipelago and today is owned by The New Island Conservation Trust.  It has a census of 4 residents during the summer and 2 during the winter.  Always very windy, the temperature is a constant  45 degrees.  Our Zodiac departed at 9:10 AM in choppy water for the 20 minute transport to the island.

 

The "yellow penguins" were waiting for us at the landing site.  They cheerfully assist us in and out of the Zodiacs, no mater how bad the landing conditions were.  Today, their job was easy because our landing was in a sheltered cove.

From the landing site, we had a mile's trek across the rolling countryside.  There are no natural trees in the Falklands because of the continuous strong wind. 

 

Flying overhead was a black brow albatross.  These beautiful birds have a wingspan of up to nine feet!

Half-an-hour later, we reached the far side of the Island.  Below us on the steep rocky cliff was a large penguin rookery.

The penguins here are southern rock hoppers.  They are smaller than the gentoos we had seen in Antarctica and are adept at hopping from rock to rock.

Up close they have a distinctive mohawk head piece.

 

 Opposite the rookery was a breeding area of the black brow albatross.  Each nest had a chick nearing adulthood.  Not yet able to fly, they sit in their mud-bowl shaped nest hoping their mother will return soon with lunch.

We enjoyed visiting the penguin and albatross nesting areas, but were happy when it was time to return to the landing area.  At the cliffs, the wind had been gusting to 45 MPH which made balancing on the rocks quite difficult.

Upland geese wander the country side.

 

Viking never ceases to amaze us!  At the landing site, the crew had brought ashore champaign and glassware to celebrate our return.

The "bubbly" pleasure helped us forget that we were facing a windy, cold, wet Zodiac ride back to the ship.