Antarctica’s most popular (and adorable) man-made attraction is back
If you step ashore this season (no landing is ever guaranteed in unpredictable Antarctica), you’ll see Port Lockroy’s three buildings: the post office, a museum and shop are within a timber hut called Bransfield House, a boat shed and store date from 1957, and there’s a modern Nissen hut. A replica of the original that collapsed in 1994 is the team’s living quarters where indoor temperatures range from six to 12 degrees Celsius.
Port Lockroy and its buildings.Credit: Helen Annan/UKAHT
Over its 80 years of existence, Port Lockroy, off the western Antarctic Peninsula, has had a rollercoaster history. The site, selected in 1944 as Base A, Britain’s first permanent base in Antarctica, was part of a secret wartime mission known as Operation Tabarin to assert a presence and territorial claims on the White Continent.
It then became an atmospheric research base until 1962 when it was abandoned for several decades. Fast forward to 1996 and Base A was restored with support from the Trust, which today manages the site. Post-office and merchandise sales have helped fund everything from repairing Bransfield House’s roof to this season’s project – urgent repairs to Blaiklock Island Refuge, the Trust’s smallest and least accessible site.
Last season, 43,224 passengers headed to Antarctica, recording 80,251 landed visits. While taking those precious steps on the pristine landscape, visitors also followed strict biosecurity protocols that will remain in place this season to help prevent the transmission of avian flu.
Industry-wide IAATO (International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators) guidelines include maintaining minimum distances from wildlife and not sitting, crouching, kneeling or lying in wildlife areas. You also can’t place items – including tripods and backpacks – on the snow or ground in these areas. It’s a long list of things you can’t do – but at least you can once again clomp into the Penguin Post Office.
The details
Tour
Port Lockroy’s Penguin Post Office is a popular shore excursion offered by most cruise lines
headed to the Antarctic Peninsula. Landings are subject to weather and ocean conditions.
See ukaht.org
The writer travelled to Antarctica as a guest of HX. See travelhx.com/au
