Pinups and penguins at the post office
ANTARCTICA A post office is the most visited sight on Antarctica. But the worlds most southern post office is not like your average postal service.
There is nearly 3000 gentoo penguins nesting outside the walls of the Port Lockroy Post Office, which has given the place its nickname The Penguin Post Office. The english broadcaster BBC have made a documentary from the place and several radio podcasts.
The old english research station is popular amongst cruise ships and tourists. 18 000 tourists visit the small station each summer season from November until March. And the the tourists send off more than 70 000 postcards with memories from Antarctica.
– This wasn’t meant to be a tourist attraction. But everyone wants to send postcards from Antarctica, so now it is, says the station manager Sarah Auffret.
Port Lockroy was built in 1944 as England’s first base on Antarctica. After the war it remained a research station until it was closed in 1962. In the 90s the station was restored, and it now also functions as a museum that displays the life on the station in the 50s.
Here you can view the authentic tools the guys used at the station 60 years ago, and in one room there is a full size bar with 50s booze and magazines.
Surprisingly there is several pinup girls painted on different walls in the building. And the pinups do not portray just any girl. Over one bed is a painting of Elizabeth Taylor, on other walls are the actresses Diana Dors and Doris Day, and in the postal shop there is a large picture portraying Marilyn Monroe.
See my short video from the place here (in Norwegian):
Click on the photos to enter the gallery.
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