6 - Shopping - Yes, Shopping!

This morning's landing was at Damoy Point. Damoy Point (64°49′S 63°32′WCoordinates: 64°49′S 63°32′W) is a headland 0.5 nautical miles (1 km) west-northwest of Flag Point, the north entrance point to the harbor of Port Lockroy, on the west side of Wiencke Island in the Palmer Archipelago. It was discovered and named by the French Antarctic Expedition, 1903–05, under Jean-Baptiste Charcot.[1]






This afternoon's landing was at Palmer Station, one of 3 US research stations on the continent. Palmer Station, on Anvers Island, is Antarctica's only US station north of the Antarctic Circle. Initial construction of the station finished in 1968. The station, like the other US Antarctic stations, is operated by the United States Antarctic Program. Palmer Station is staffed by about 45 scientists and support personnel in the 3 months of Antarctic Summer. There are only about 15 people at the station in the 9 long winter months.

And we shopped for souvenirs! Due to the delicacy and importance of their work, Palmer Station allows only 12 groups per year to land and tour the facility. So, of course they sell some souvenirs, the proceeds going to help fund the work at the station.







We topped off the day with a hot tub, with Wynola from Fairbanks. I think only one other person did a hot tub during our time on the ship. Jan and I did one more soak the night we set course back to Ushuaia, watching the water slosh out of the tub with the rocking of the ship... yeehaw! Wynola, from Fairbanks, knows of Lucy Fairbanks from Fairbanks... and Jan is related to Lucy Fairbanks, having visited her on a family trip to Alaska when Jan was a teenager. Small world!



Our traditional 'Feet Up' photo... ahhhhhh!


And a bit of silliness this evening. The guides billed it as a Color Contest, wherein we were separated into 4 groups and each group put as many blue clothing items as possible on one member of the group. Then, to the sound of striptease music, the clothing items were shed, the winner being the person with the most items. I think our group came in 3rd out of 4.





Hey, there's not a lot of night life here in Antarctica! Stay tuned to see a fun clip our expedition team showed us of an entry into the annual Antarctica Film Festival. Winters are very long here on the white continent!

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