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Whale Bones |
“All you need is love”
as the Beatles said back in the 1960’s. It’s sad to say that we do need a
holiday in the world to remind us to send card or to reach out to the ones we
love on February 14
th as the universe day for love, when it should
be every day that we keep our “love light one” as the Grateful Dead has said.
Yes, LOVE, shouldn’t be something that we just turn our light switch on and off
again, but it should be kept constant with us because it’s the higher truth.
What I’m doing on this day, well, I can
admit that I’m doing something that I do LOVE doing, playing with my camera
& exploration. It’s a great day to shine! As John Lennon said, “Love is the
flower you’ve got to let grow.
This morning it was nice to see a box of chocolates on my
bed after I came back from breaky. This day isn’t too bad after all the start
of it. I had the opportunity to listen to an introduction to Port Lockroy in
the lounge from a couple of people from the base. There’s a colony of Gentoo
penguins nearby on Jouglas Point. Also, the point has numerous whalebones from
a time when there was a whaling operation in the area. I quite enjoyed listing to Tom explain
the whalebones that have been on shore for about 100 years or more. I will admit that the weather was quite
brisk with heavy wind. I was glad
that I had my Gore Tex on. It was pretty sweet to experience it tho cos you
never know what is going to happen in Antarctica. The base is only open in the
summer tho & they pack up for winter, abandon it with the doors wide open. It’s
pretty rad to say that I have made it to explorers’ bases too while in
Antarctica. Today’s destination is the British Base “A” that is located inside
a protected harbor inside of Port Lockroy, it’s the only British Base on the
Peninsula. The Base started as a British base back in 1944 & operated for
18 years. In 1996, a group called
the UK Antarctic Heritage Trust
decided to begin the restoration of the main building. Today, it serves as a historic reminder
of the early days of exploration of Antarctica; there is also an official
Antarctic Post Office with a unique gift shop inside too where the proceeds
from the sales goes to supporting the base. I didn’t feel guilt for shopping cos the money I spent went to support a good cause. I honestly, didn’t think that there was shopping on shore,
I’ve been enjoying the beauty!
In the afternoon the
Explorer sailed into the Gerlache Strait searching for marine life &
experiencing the beautiful views. A new adventure is unfolding…
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Gentoo Penguins |
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Base A |
I did finally get a stamp in my passport at Port Lockroy, I
felt rather special cos I was not part of crew where they didn’t stamp mine in
Panama when I sailed through the canal. My Panama experience is rather
something special for me too in a lot of way. Sailing away back into the Drake
& off to Ushuaia. I can honestly say that I will look at the world from a
different perspective after being in Antarctica! The history here from the
early exploration times is remarkable & it continues to grow.
My photographer eye has changed once
again & really needed that right now. It’s an amazing place & I do
highly recommending seeing what the ice has to offer! Global Warming is
definitely a real thing; sad to see first hand the results of the warming is
doing to the ice here & the animals too.
It’s definitely a dream come true for me to say that I
have visited this amazing place. I’ve had a lot of fun too…