British Antarctic Territory

Happy New Year people!! OK, I know it's been five days already since it passed, but being that it is my first post this year, I do want to use this opportunity to wish you all a superb 2015, being happy and cheerful, doing the things you like, spending time with the people you love, travelling as much as you can and of course, enjoy full mailboxes as often as possible :)

2015 started pretty fine for me...esp. postcard-wise...this post is a proof of it ;-)
Even though my initial plans for New Year's eve didn't really get to be realized, my last minute option turned out to be a really good choice and it was just great...esp. when you get to bribe the DJ with chocolate to play Depeche Mode for the second time :P

Anyways, the downside of all this is that I've been ill ever since...I saw it coming even before NY, but I guess it didn't want to ruin my NY plans more than it already did, so it waited till it was all over to knock me down to bed...and it's been driving me crazy, being stuck inside and lying in bed most of the time...the worst thing is that I don't feel I'm gonna recover for at least a few more days, and I really better be cos in like ten days I'm going back to my working tasks and I can't possibly be doing my job in such a condition =/
Well, at least it is a good opportunity while doing nothing productive, to squeeze in one or two updates before things get hectic again and I neglect this nice, little cosy place of mine.

Now, is there a better way to start the year than with a new country? I know I told you already that a few new countries have been waiting in line to be posted, but JP ruined my plans (gees, seems like a lot of my plans have been ruined lately, but probably for a good reason :D)
So I'm really sorry that I'll keep you in dark for a while more about those special places, but today the special first post in 2015 goes to this written and stamped card from the...well, you've already read it in the title above so it's no longer that much of a surprise, but yep, it is indeed a w/s card from the British Antarctica! :D  I just don't know if im more excited to have received this card or envious of JP for having been there :)

The card shows a wreck of an old whaler ship, while in the background you can see the Deception Island, which is part of the South Shetland Islands, which have been claimed by the United Kingdom since 1908 and to be part of the British Antarctic Territory since 1962. They are also claimed by the governments of Chile (since 1940, as part of the Antártica Chilena province) and by Argentina (since 1943, as part of Argentine Antarctica, Tierra del Fuego Province).

Awesome cancellation of Port Lockroy, which is a natural harbour on the north-western shore of Wiencke Island in Palmer Archipelago of the British Antarctic Territory.
As for the stamps....there are two and both were issued in 2013. The one with the penguin is from a set of 8, penguin stamps, of course, and this little fella here is an Adélie penguin. The other stamp is from a set of 16 stamps commemorating the 50th Anniversary of British Antarctic Territory Stamps - Antarctic Research. No, that's not the Queen there lurking...or is it?!!

Thanks sooo much JP for the fantastic surprise...and for the perfect timing, starting the new year with a brand new country!! Thank you!!! Ana happy!!

Weddell seal, Antarctica

Dont you just have the itch to hug it and cuddle it??!!!

this feels like a perfect thing to tuck yourself in on a cold winter night....well, provided you are not spending that night in the open air in Antarctica, otherwise, I think you would be all icicles when you wake up...

This cutie here is the Weddell Seal, the most southerly-breeding mammal of all. It lives on inshore ice around the Antarctic Coast. The playful pups grow a staggering two kilograms a day while suckling and weigh up to 600 kilograms when fully grown. They can live to over 20 years of age.

heh, there is someone who gains weight at a bigger ratio than me....2kg a day...i feel relieved :P

they are called Weddell because they were discovered by James Weddell in 1820s, when he was on a sailing expedition within the Weddell Sea, also named after him.

I love this card!! And its probably gonna enter my list of all time favourite postcards!

Palmer Land, Antarctica

Whichever adjective i use in order to describe this card, i still wont actually express how i feel towards it...fascinating? Yeah, it is fascinating, but it feels as if its more than that as well....maybe you cant get the ACTUAL glimpse of it thru here, but this card is just absolutely AWESOME!!!

The Antarctica itself is more than appealing to me, something i want to explore, get inside its secrets, depths, mysteries....extremes of the world actually fascinate me in general.
This card is called: BAS Twin Otter flying low over a crevasse field.
This is the English Coast of Palmer Land, which is broad southern part of the Antarctic Peninsula about 640 km east of Peter I Island (in the Bellingshausen Sea), claimed by Britain as part of the British Antarctic Territory. It is named after its discoverer, Nathaniel Palmer,  captain of a U.S. sealing vessel, who led an expedition to Antarctica in 1820.
A GREAT GREAT GREAT card! Simply GREAT! Not just coz its the Antarctica...i simply love how they caught that plane..i love its reflection in the snow...and its just a feeling one of a kind, a plane, flying over a deserted area, having in mind that unlike the Arctic, on Antarctica there are no permanent human residencies...except for scientists and explorers....

King George Island, Antarctica

And the last destination for today, would be King George's Island, at the Antarctic.....i somewhat find it amazing to have a postcard showing the Antarctic!


The island was discovered and named by the British explorer William Smith in 1819. It is approximately 95 kilometres long and 25 kilometres wide with a land area of 1150 square kilometres. Over 90% of the island's surface is permanently glaciated.
Human habitation of King George Island is limited to research stations belonging to different countries. Most of these stations are permanently manned, carrying out research into areas as diverse as biology, palaeontology, geology, biology etc.
In 2004, a Russian orthodox church was opened on the island near Russia's Bellingshausen Station. The church, one of the southernmost in the world and one of the few permanent structures in Antarctica, is permanently manned by a priest.


hmm, well....im fascinated by the people who live there....so cut-off from the rest of the world...i dont know if i could do so...would DEFINITELY like to visit it, but live there, a-a....i do prefer cold to hot weather, and i could use some cold weather a lot right now...but im not gonna go THAT radical :)

well, hope you liked the diversity of the today's trip ;-)