Part III: Antarctica and Academe - Scott Polar Research Institute

swans that flew off. Later seven of them returned but were very shy and kept their
distance. While Toby and Peter (the Chauffeur/Butler etc.) fished I walked along the
bank and absorbed the sunshine and the pure air, the sun sparkling on the water and
the fish rising. Unfortunately they caught only two. On the way back we got bogged
down at one point, but managed to extricate the vehicle without too much trouble.
After lunch I took a Land Rover out to Surf Bay over atrocious roads - a real bone
shaker of a trip. I wandered along the beach then over to the Peninsula and
eventually York Bay, where again I walked. It began to spot with rain, so I returned
to GH, having seen the airfield and the site for the new one, which was one object of
the trip.
At 7 o’clock I went to Evensong with Toby and Jean, again driven in state by the
Governor. The Bishop was giving the sermon, so it was a special occasion and the
service was broadcast to the Camp - as was usual. Toby read the first lesson and I
the second; we sat through rather a dull sermon by Bishop Tucker. Coffee followed
in the Church Hall before we were able to escape to a small but pleasant supper and
the time passed quickly in talking until bedtime.
I had arranged to talk with "Clem" Clements, and I returned his Land Rover. We
talked about the plans for running down the Stanley operation and he had some
ideas about this. I had another look at the Clothing Store which we should probably
retain, also the superbly equipped Falkland Islands Company (FIC) Carpenter's
Shop, which we rented for £800 a year. Clem said he would wish to return to the UK
and I agreed on a September l976 return (his daughter's schooling required this).
Then I spoke with three other staff about their future. Back to GH where there was
time for an hour's discussion with Toby. Then sandwiches and beer for lunch,
chatting with Jean and Toby, until Ted came to take me to the Airport to check-in
baggage.
There was a longish wait and we took off about 2 o’clock in brilliantly fine sunny
weather, with a full plane. There were good views of the islands - the rather dulllooking
land, but beautiful silver-sand beaches, with the sea changing through green
to deep blue and patches of kelp fringing the shore where there were rocks. We
passed quite close to Cape Dolphin and had a very good view of the islands, divided
by Falkland Sound. Cloud-capped West Point Island and the Jason Islands were far
to port and hazy. Then out over the South Atlantic on a flight lasting 21/2 hrs to
Comodoro Rivadavia in Patagonia. This was a rather dusty-looking oil town set in
near-desert country, with a cluster of oil derricks just offshore. We passed over very
wide, uninterrupted wild beaches, stretching for many miles. It was a good breeding
area for the elephant seals and it was easy to see why their density ashore was so low
- there was virtually unlimited space for their colonies. We had to wait about 50
mins at Comodoro, where our baggage was checked onto the Buenos Aires plane.
Also we gained an hour in the new time zone. A comfortable Austral 737 took us to
BA, arriving at 9.30 pm in the rain.
Miss Glynn Evans from the Embassy met me on the tarmac and there was a
reception committee from the Instituto Argentino Antartico waiting for me. We sat
and chatted in the VIP lounge until my luggage was through and so on by car to the
Residence at the Embassy, where I had the main guest suite to myself- a very
comfortable and spacious three rooms. A scotch, a shower and so to bed. There were
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