Is a Banana an acceptable Anniversary present?

What can I do for a Wedding Anniversary?  I'd brought tea in bed, along with a freshly-downloaded copy of the Guardian on the Kindle... What about a rare, prized banana with the porridge, and a trip to a penguin-filled island?  What more could a woman want?  (I'll probably find out later today!).

Still evening at the jetty

Juvenile black-capped night heron

 The Falklands have been enjoying a rare bout of High Pressure this week, with clear skies.  I could relax and hang out washing without the risk of it blowing away or getting soaked in a shower!

But I had some paperwork to deal with to prepare for the arrival of our shipped belongings.  I headed down to the shipping agents and paid for all our shipping, which is due to arrive any day now.  1.4 cubic metres, (15 boxes of stuff I've already forgotten about),  plus a car...

Then, in preparation for our treasured, old Freelander arriving, I took out insurance - it's too old for comprehensive, so 3rd Party, Fire and Theft (although I suspect there isn't a lot of theft.  Where could you take the car?  People leave the engines running while doing their shopping!).  But I can't complete insurance unless I have the car's registration......

So, walk along the seafront to the Royal Falkland Island Police station, to register car (£40) and pay road tax (£110).  (This for about 35 miles of road!)

But....Registration can't be finalised without proof of insurance cover!  So, back to insurance office....  Collect insurance certificate, and return to Police Station.  Hurrah.  Is it like this elsewhere?  I haven't registered many cars!

Now, I just have to complete the Customs declaration; hope the car passes the Bio-security check (no alien seeds or creatures stuck to its wheels); and then hope that it wasn't damaged on the voyage.

On the plus side, diesel is only 75p per litre!
A litre of fresh milk is about £2, but there's a bottle shortage.  Only UHT is in the shops.

Fresh  milk is available, but BYOB!

Having heard rumours of bananas being in town on Sunday, I wander into the supermarket to see what's available.   Lo and behold!  little, conical red fruits.. that's right - strawberries!  Wow!  And Oranges, from the US of A....a mere £1.39 each!  No wonder we used to get scurvy! :-)

Just for interest, I jotted down the prices of some of the fresh fruit and veg -

Kiwi fruit -  48p  each
Lemon - 66p each
Grapes - £4.50,small punnet
Strawberries -£4.50, small punnet
Leek - £1.50
Onion - 60p
Avocado - £1.83
Lettuce - £2.40
Pepper - £1.60
Vine Tomatoes - £2.70
Cucumber - £2.60
6 eggs (Chilean) - £2.40

No supermarket price wars here! However, fresh meat is very reasonable -

Leg of Lamb - £6.50
Shoulder of lamb - £2.20
Lamb chops £5 per Kg
Mince - £1.80/kg
Forerib of beef - £4.80 for 2Kg
Fillet steak - £18/kg
Plus there is plenty of mutton, and offal!  Where's my Atkin's diet book?

and......S-T-R-E-T-C-H!

So, no need to eat the Elephant Seals, even if it was allowed!

Lunchtime banana on Victory Green

 And so, hidden between the onions and potatoes, I came across the mythical yellow fruit that I hadn't seen since the middle of January.  I saw people buying them by the dozen - maybe they were making banana bread?  But I restricted myself to 4.

More bananas posing with the treasured Banana Guard!

What more could a woman want?  On Sunday, we visit Bleaker Island.  We like bleak places - Rannoch Moor,  North Yorkshire Moors, Iceland, etc.   So this might be up our street:  bleak, with penguins!  Report and photos next week.

Many thanks for your interest and messages.  Over 1200 hits on the blog now, with people in Australia, Canada and Brazil now reading this!  It's saving me a small fortune in postcards and stamps!  ;-)

Cheers

Peter