After picking
up the happy campers from Petermann Island, MV Fram proceeded to Yalour
Islands. This group of low lying islands is not only a home to 5000 pairs of
Adelie penguins but is also known from its dense, but low, vegetation. Antarctic
hair-grass, cushion moss and few crustose lichens bring many different colors
to the rock surfaces and demonstrate that Antarctica is not only black and
white. It was also our furthest south destination - 65°14’S.
During lunch
MV Fram sailed one more time through Lemaire Channel.
This time in northerly
direction bound for Port Lockroy and former British Antarctic Survey Base “B”,
situated on Goudier Island. The base was built in 1944 also as a part of
“Operation Tabarin” and after closing down in 1962, the buildings slowly
started to fall apart. In mid 1990s British Antarctic Heritage Trust took over
the site and in 1996 renovated the buildings. Today it is small museum where
visitors can learn how the research personnel lived in Antarctica in 1950s and
1960’s. It is also post office and souvenir shop - the biggest shopping mall in
Antarctica, as some people are saying. There was time to send some postcards
home and buy few souvenirs, knowing that majority of the profit would go to
restore other old British Bases in Antarctic Peninsula area.
At 6 pm we
all were back on board and Fram started its way north through Neumayer Channel.
Sadly, our journey is slowly coming to an end. Next stop – Ushuaia and … Drake
Passage is ahead of us.
