The 10,000-foot summit of Mount Français was cloaked in clouds as National Geographic Explorer sailed through the morning stillness into Port Lockroy. As always Captain Leif found us the perfect anchorage just a stone’s throw from the tiny Goudier Island. The gentoo penguin colony shares Goudier Island with a very unique neighbor, Antarctica’s only post office. Open each year during the Austral summer months, the post office is run by some very dedicated members of the British Antarctic Heritage Trust. Originally built by the British in the 1940s during WWII to monitor enemy activities, it later served as a scientific base until it was abandoned in the 1960s. In the 1990s it received a new lease on life when it was restored to its original condition and opened by the trust as a museum. In addition to being able to send postcards back home from our remote location, all proceeds from the museum’s shop contribute to the continual restoration and maintenance of this and other heritage-listed sites across the White Continent.
After sending our postcards to loved ones we took a short Zodiac ride to Jougla Point. As this was our last landing for the expedition, it was our final opportunity to walk amongst the penguins. In the 1820s Jougla Point was home to a whaling station, the remnants of which can been seen along the shoreline. Whale vertebrae protruded from the snow serving as stark reminders of the titanic battles that were waged between these leviathans of the sea and the early frontiersmen who came to hunt them.
The perfect end to our final day on the peninsula was the opportunity to plunge into the invigorating Antarctic waters. The mud room was at capacity as those brave souls prepared themselves for the fateful plunge.
As the day came to an end we sailed north through Dallmann Bay. Our passage escorted by feeding humpback whales and gentoo penguins. Thick ice rings the bay and made the perfect backdrop to the feeding whales whose tails and flukes cut through the icy water. There could be no more fitting end to our visit to the White Continent.
