Travels of a Fish Nut

I'm at the airport waiting for midnight to arrive. I was packed yesterday and took it down Dave's work to get it weighed as I was having problems weighing it at home. It was just under 54 kg and I hoped that it would not matter if I was a little over. Yesterday was notable in its normality. I watched tv, went down Dave's in the afternoon and cooked lasagne for tea, then finished loading my CDs on to my laptop. This morning I had my first lie-in in over a week which was lovely! I spent the morning watching tv and had a shower then cooked lunch in preparation for mum's return home. We left Nailsea around 2pm after picking up my new glasses. They have magnetic sunglass attachments which is very cool! We stopped in Bristol to say bye to Jo, then headed to Brize Norton. The drive was pretty uneventful, but the weather was atrocious at times. We got to the airport around 5pm. We had to get temporary passes to enter the base, then I was able to check my stuff in which took all...

I've just spent the entire evening packing. It was my first attempt and the experience has led me to revise an opinion. My least favourite activity is not clothes shopping, it's packing! I'm allowed 54 kg and as many bags as I like (or at least that's what I've been told) but it's not when you're trying to pack enough toiletries and clothes to last a year in conditions you're not entirely sure of. It also doesn't help that every time I go on the scales to weigh my bags, my weight can change by up to 0.5kg and the bags can also change weight each time, so I have only a vague idea of how much they weigh. This was not a problem when I thought I had loads of weight to spare, but as I remember more and more things the weight is creeping up. My books weighed 10kg alone! I've removed some and put my shoes in with them (I'd originally forgotten to pack them even though they were by the bed waiting) but the weight is still 10kg or there abouts. So far...

We had my 'congratulations and good luck' party today, or, as I thought of it, my 'good riddance' party! The weather was better than we could have hoped for. The forecast was overcast, with rain in the afternoon and sun in the evening, but we had beautiful sunshine all afternoon. Thank you to all who came, and thank you so much for the cards, gifts, and words of encouragement. Following comments regarding commenting on this blog, I've had a look at the settings and have changed them so anyone can comment. Please leave your name if you do though, as it's nice to know who's reading this! It's strange, I've been mentally preparing to leave for the last couple of weeks, since I found out I got the job. Despite the fact that I've been organising paperwork, doing courses and endlessly shopping for things, it was giving away my two spiderplants that has really made me recognise that I'm actually going. Thanks Wendy and Betty for taking them. I hope ...

I've graduated (again!). I'm now a BSc, BSc (Hons), I think. The day was lovely. It seems we've had some of the best weather in the country - in Bristol it was raining most of the day and there's flooding in parts of the south west - but in Plymouth it was beautiful. The ceremony wasn't as long as I was expecting, which was a pleasant surprise. I wasn't at all nervous until it was almost time for me to go on stage, and then I remembered I'd spent a lot of the morning tripping over my own feet, and began to worry that i'd trip and fall on stage. Luckily I didn't. I did manage to almost walk past the second guy on stage as I didn't see him until it was almost too late! Apart from that it was uneventful. I spent the afternoon with my uncle Dave, mum and Fiona, Steve and the kids (my friends from New Zealand - hiya!). We went to the aquarium and looked at all the fish. It was really fun but a bit exhausting! Kid's have so much energy! Getting ho...

Last night mum, Jo and I went to see 'Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix'. If I fly on thursday as is my hope, this will be the last time I go to the cinema before I leave. I thought the film was good, but while I really liked all the components of the film (except for the numerous shots of Harry being tormented in his sleep, which I found repetitive in the book and even more so in the film) there was something lacking. I'm glad I saw it but wish that the last film I saw was slightly more exciting.

This week I have mostly been spending money. On tuesday I went into town to get my implant (took ages but hopefully it will be worth it. I've got a lovely bruise though!) and go clothes shopping. I bought some tops, trousers and thermal-wear from Millets and Kathmandu and went looking for a watch. My old watch isn't really suitable for the conditions it will be subjected to and the leather strap never seems to last very long. I asked in several jewellers for a waterproof watch that will be suitable for life in the South Atlantic on fishing boats and they kept showing me these fancy gold watches!!! If they showed me diving watches they were invariably mens and so took up my entire wrist. I found one very expensive one which I will probably get as it is the only female diver's watch I've seen. And it has glow-in-the-dark hands which is always cool! (I'm sad, I know!). I've also been buying toiletaries while trying to exploit as many buy-one-get-one-free and 3-for-...

I've done the sea survival course. It was really interesting, a little scary (it's amazing how many ways there are to kill yourself at sea!) and reassuring: survival seems to ultimately depend on will-power and I think I've got that! We drove down to Plymouth, arriving shortly before 10.45 pm. We checked in to the motel and were in bed by 11.30, although I didn't get to sleep until gone midnight. We were up, dressed and leaving at 7.40am. We thought about stopping somewhere for breakfast but decided to get to Falmouth and worry about food if we had time. Luckily we did have time as we found the place in time, and had breakfast at the marina. The course was theory in the morning and practical in the afternoon. It was quite intense. We were shown all the things you need to do, both before an emergency and during, including the different ways you can be rescued and how to attract attention in order to be rescued. The practical consisted of learning how inflate liferafts an...

The last few days have been quite strange. It's been long periods of doing nothing followed by short bursts of panicky activity. As I was going to London the day after I got the job offer (it's strange to think I got the job offer less than a week ago) I got the forms that I could fill in done so I could take them to Falkland House in person while mum arranged doctor's and dentist's appointments for me. I had the dentist on monday which took less than 5 minutes, and was supposed to have my yellowfever vaccination, contraceptive implant (I can't be dealing with periods while out in the middle of the ocean!) and medical yesterday. Unfortunately, things didn't go quite as planned. It turned out my doctor couldn't give me the implant, so I had to arrange to go to the Family Planning Clinic in Bristol (arranged for next tuesday) and when I checked that my medical was still taking place I discovered that I only had a 10 minute appointment booked when I needed a h...

I'm starting the countdown to the date when I leave (which is unknown at the moment so the count is somewhat imprecise!). Everything's turning into "the last time I . . .". Today was "the last time I go on the narrowboat". Mum, Steve and I took the narrowboat from its mooring at Sharpness up to Slimbridge where we stopped for lunch, then we went on to Saul. Nothing exciting happened but it gives me the opportunity to attach some photos and see how that works! This is a damselfly - a Common Blue damselfly (Enallagma cyathigerum) I think. This is a great crested grebe, which is my favourite freshwater bird. I think this is a red-tailed bumblebee (Bombus lapidarius). Finally, I thought I'd better show at one photo of the actual canal!

I thought you might like to know how I ended up going to the Falklands. Well, I saw an advert in New Scientist for Fisheries Observers in the Falkland Islands and realised it was exactly the sort of job I wanted. I had got a bit fed up of just learning the theory of fisheries and wanted to get some more practical experience. This job was just what I was looking for. I applied for the job and miraculously got an interview. I went to London for the interview and although I thought it went ok, I didn't think I'd get the job. But on thursday evening (5th July) I checked my email and there in my inbox was a job offer!! I was completely shocked but overjoyed. So now I'm rushing around, trying to get all the paperwork that's needed completed so I can fly to the Falklands! They want me to leave as soon as possible, which will be the 26th July if I can get everything done in time.

Hello! This blog is for you to follow my (hopefully!) fantastic adventures as I head off to the Falkland Islands. Posting will be sporadic, or even non-existent, depending on my ability to access the internet. My intention is to let you know what I'm doing, and what life in the Falklands is like. I'd love to hear any comments you have, and if you have any questions just ask!