Where We Be
The day continued to brighten, and before long we were on our way to the post office
|
Antarctica -- Port Lockroy
|
Port Lockroy's post office / gift shop makes for
one of the more unusual stops on an Antarctic
cruise. You can send a postcard from here, but
it probably won't arrive until long after you're
home. There's also a fun little museum attached
to the gift shop that shows what life was like for
the lonely Brits who lived here back in the day.
Equally interesting is the penguin rookery that
has established itself right around the base of
the building. Here we got our one-and-only
closeup view of a penguin egg as the penguin
repositioned herself atop her nest of rocks.
Port Lockroy is situated in a beautiful protected
bay, and we were fortunate enough to spend
the entire morning here. We watched as the
scenery changed from misty and brooding to
sunny and warm -- warm enough that we were
peeling off layers. Besides the post office, we
visited nearby Jougla Point to see whale bones
and an even bigger penguin rookery. This was
followed by a genuine Argentinian barbecue on
board the ship (no penguins involved). After
lunch we sailed towards a scenic highlight of
the trip, the Lemaire Channel (see next page).
Where else can you buy penguin gin or send a postcard from Antactica?
|
View of the Seven Sisters as we pull away in our zodiac
|
The zodiac put-in point is framed by gorgeous scenery
|
Lonely Brits painted these images in their bunkroom. They remained hidden under a
layer of paint and were only rediscovered when the bunkroom was restored in 2011.
|
Christmas cards are a popular purchase just ten days before Christmas -- but they'll never get there in time
|
Attached to the gift shop is a museum reminding us of what life used to be like for the Brits who lived here
|
Tins of food included Christmas pudding, crawfish, pork sausage, and marmite
|
Back outside, the penguins are making a racket and stealing rocks from each other's nests
|
Penguins have built their nests right around the building's foundation
|
This may be the most unusual post office in the world
|
A fellow passenger says in jest, "I'll bet those penguins pulled
that whale out of the water and ate it, leaving only the bones"
|
The scenery at Jougla Point is almost otherworldly
|
Talk about a room with a view!
|
Rocks are a hot commodity here -- penguins steal them from other nests and bring them to their mates
|
An even bigger penguin colony resides in this gorgeous piece of real estate
|
On to our next adventure at Jougla Point
|
This outbuilding near the post office is also surrounded by a penguin rookery
|
Inside is a surprisingly well-stocked gift store
|
Before heading to the post office, we reveled in that misty and brooding scenery we mentioned above
|
It's practically warm enough for t-shirts by the time we sail away from Port Lockroy
|
Robin sips coffee in the Observation Lounge before venturing outside for a chat
|
A genuine Argentinian barbecue awaits us onboard
|
We even got a glimpse of a penguin egg
|
It's hard to see, but the label shows a penguin on skis
|
Seal for Christmas dinner, anyone?
|
Rusty chains hang from a rock wall near the zodiac put-in point
|
Robin does her best
penguin impression
|
Slowly the mists began to clear
|
