A wedding day

As alluded to in the previous post, it appears that the Governor's wedding went off in fine fashion. It was a sunny spring day in Stanley with higher-than-expected temperatures (around 55F), albeit with considerable wind. I was only able to download one webcam frame every three to five minutes or so, but that sufficed to get a general idea of what was transpiring.

Recall also in the previous post, I was going on about how I imagined the Governor was having a crummy day on that Monday back in March. He was missing his sporting events and was obliged to get back to business in the capital. The Governor boarding the Islander nine-seater aircraft bound for Stanley doesn't absolutely end that anecdote, though.

The arrival and departure of FIGAS aircraft in the countryside ("Camp") is a cooperative effort, requiring at least one local person on the ground at the landing site to put up the wind sock, get out the firefighting equipment, and establish communication with the aircraft over the two-meter once it comes into view. Each airstrip I saw had a small shed (which I invariably dubbed the "terminal building") in which the necessary support equipment was located. Aside from the erectable sock-pole, there were no other structures. The firefighting apparatus consisted of tanks and hoses on a trailer which would attach to your Land Rover. Everyone in Camp has four-wheel-drive vehicles and trailer hitches, so anyone's vehicle can serve as fire truck.

The ground liaison is also responsible for assuring that the runway is clear. Chiefly, this means clear of sheep and clear of upland geese. Now, midwesterners can relate to geese. They're a nuisance all over the place, it seems. But what's with the sheep? With all the fences and gates separating airstrip and fields, can't they at least keep the sheep off the runway? As we were laconically informed at Goose Green, "Yes, but then the grass would get too long." The natives were polite enough not to add a big, "ah-DUUHHHHHHH!!" at the American suburbanite's expense.

What goes for landing applies to takeoff as well, and by the time the FIGAS plane bearing His Excellency was bouncing down to the far end of the airstrip for takeoff, a group of upland geese was browsing around toward the opposite end of the runway. Since someone else was serving as fire truck, the Land Rover we boarded (soon bound for Port Howard Lodge) was duly appointed to chase off the geese. So Wayne, who was driving, jostled us down the field and got the geese airborne. As our Land Rover pulled off to the side, the Islander aircraft started accelerating for takeoff.

Apparently though we had taken insufficient interest in where the geese actually wanted to go, because as we watched the geese all did a one-eighty, turning back en-masse to re-cross the runway in flight. The pilot had to pull back the throttle, abort the takeoff, turn around back to the start and do it all over again. Whether the Governor was ticked or just figured it was par for the course that day, I cannot say.

All that nonwithstanding, Mr. Pearce is certainly enjoying a far better day today. We'll find out soon whether Penguin News has a fast enough turnaround to get a picture on the front of their Friday paper.

Update: The Falkland Island News Network and the South Atlantic Remote Territories Media Association have the faster turnaround in getting news and a picture up. See article here.