One thing I want to point out is that the Antarctic is a very expensive trip. It’s by far the most expensive trip that we have taken so far and we’ve been to some faraway places for some long vacations. I did, however, see one bright side to this trip. I did a bit of research before we left and learned that Antarctica has no towns, no houses, no roads, no hotels, etc. To me, that meant “No Shopping” opportunities. I figured that while it was an expensive trip, at least Vicky wouldn’t have any opportunities to add to my discomfort through shopping.

In that regard, Antarctica turned out to be like the U.S. tax code, there is an exception to Everything!

Port Lockroy was the shopping exception in the Antarctic. This was our next land excursion but we were told in advance that there really wasn’t much to see or do at Port Lockroy, except for a chance to buy a souvenir and get our passport stamped with Antarctica.

Still, the first picture was taken off the bow of our ship and as you can see, Goudier Island is small and the weather was blizzard conditions. I mean, honestly, WHO would take a small boat through all that snow and ice simply for the chance to buy a shirt and trinket?

See below for the answer to that question.

In the third photo, you can see that Vicky was successful. Port Lockroy was originally a base set up by the British in 1941 as part of their war effort. It was later closed down. It has now been reopened as a museum by the Antarctic Heritage Trust. It’s been restored to the way it was in the 1950s. It has a communications room, kitchen, sleeping quarters, and they added a post office and souvenir shop. I won’t include any of the other rooms in photos but that’s why you see the painting of ‘Marilyn’ on the wall in the third photo. Of course, Vicky thinks that Marilyn was the real reason I took this photo but I assured her, I was only recording her purchase.