Leaving Ascension

Ascension Island had been an unusual sort of place. It's wind swept and sparsely vegetated and constantly bathed in warm trade winds. The fact we reached this far flung outpost of the British Empire (4061 miles from Plymouth) on a military charter added to its unusual character. When the air force officer called passengers up to re-board the plane, it was in order of: families with children, females, senior officers, senior NCOs, NCOs, civilians and junior personell. Civilians like us were ranked slightly higher than the ordinary squaddies being deployed to the Falklands, but we still let them go first.

Of the island population I saw British military personell and a number of staff. These were mostly locals from St Helena, another imperial outpost a couple of days sailing away. It's a more significant island outpost, as it houses the government and issues the currency for Ascension as well. It i still the case that you cannot technically be born on Ascension - the passport of a new Ascension islander would state St Helena as the place of birth. I wonder if it's the influx of Saints (as the inhabitants of St Helena are known) which gives the island its unique flavour. Whilst walking along the road to Two Boats village and on to Sisters Peak I noticed that the driver of every passing car waved at us. After recognising this little ritual I tried to remember to wave back every time, but forgot most of the time. The anonymity of the bustling life on the mainland is hard to shake off in a couple of hours.

The shop on the military compound where we were housed during our stopover gave each of us a taste of the local currency too - issued in St Helena, the Queen on one side and interchangeable one-to-one with pound sterling. I hope to bring back a set of coins - they feature local wildlife (like the resident donkeys) while being deceptively similar to UK-issued sterling coins. The bank notes are different altogether - they feature Her Majesty, but she looks about 20 and the remaining design bears no real resemblance to sterlings either.

Four of us out of the science party have booked a couple of days on Ascension on the way back, so I shall write more about this peculiar and fascinating spot when I stop there again on the return journey. For now the plane hummed southwards through the Atlantic skies to its next stop, the Falkland Islands.