Letters from a small island: Dry land – Tristan da Cunha – Thursday to Tuesday

The island was visible from the bridge of the Baltic from about 8am this morning, and what a sight it was, even half hidden by cloud it is impressive with massive cliffs that plunge hundreds of metres straight into the sea. Fortunately the swell has remained small and the harbour is workable and we were able to go ashore.

Tristan da Cunha from the Baltic. Edinburgh is on the flat plain just visible over the bridge wing

I’m staying in a self-catering cottage, run by a woman called Vera Glass (one of only seven surnames on the island – things are a little “agricultural” around here…) which is nice, the décor is interesting too, I even have a Barbie Doll toilet roll holder . I’ll be here for the next week or so, until the Edinburgh (a fishing vessel that fishes around Gough) arrives to take me down to Gough. The town of Edinburgh (the only town on the island) is nice, and very English, but with some things to remind me of home. All the food, groceries, cars, equipment, basically everything that they don’t make or grow here comes from good old SA, so you can buy Chomps and drink SAB beer in “the local” (actually the Albatross bar, but no one calls it that). I was hoping for a traditional English pub, with a name like the Shepard and Leg or something, but was sadly disappointed. It doesn’t serve food or even have wood panelling. Could be anywhere really.

Barbie, the legless toilet roll warmer

I have been surprised by the number of vehicles and the amount that people drive around the town. Seems as if every family has at one car and everyone drives everywhere, in a town that you can almost spit across. Only the ex-pats on the island walk, weird huh? The furthest it is possible to travel on the island is to the potato patches about 3km from the village, and there is a bus service that runs regularly. I can’t understand it, especially when petrol and diesel cost £1.50/L.

Saturday was sheep shearing day, a huge event on the island. For the preceding week the islanders have been gathering their sheep from the plateau around the village and moving them to a large sheep pen near the potato patches. Once all the sheep are gathered in the large pen the island children are responsible for finding their parents sheep by using the notches in the sheep’s ears as identification. Once each sheep is caught, it is moved into a smaller pen where it is wrestled to the ground and pinned down so that it can be sheared. They start really early in the morning, around 4 am, so by 10 am they have finished and the drinking can begin. The rest of the day passed in a blur…

Finally, the Edinburgh has arrived on time and the sea is calm. The next update will hopefully be from Gough on Wednesday evening or Thursday.