Lots from the South Part of the World and More

Hello again. Time for another update and this time I have lots of cards to show and lots to talk about. Cards will be from Argentina, Uruguay, Adelie Land and England. England doesn't quite fit in with this group but that's how it goes sometimes.

First up is a card from Ushuaia, Tierra del Fuego, Argentina, or as Dale wrote on this card, "the end of the world ". I know that in my last update, I referred to Punta Arenas as the southern most city in the world. Well Ushuaia also claims this title. I think it goes something like this , Punta Arenas is the southern most city on the South American continent, while Ushuaia is more south but on the south coast of Ilsa Grande de Tierra del Fuego. Puerto Williams is even more south , but due to its smaller population than Ushuaia, many refer to it as the southern most town. So I'm going to rank them as #3 Punta Arenas, # 2 Ushuaia and # 1 Puerto Williams. Hope I haven't offended anybody. Irregardless it's good to have received cards from them all and let them all claim what they want. So there. Dale's card shows a beautiful view of Ushuaia with the Martial mountain range in the north. It looks like a pretty nice place with spectacular scenery all around. We see 2 great stamps compliments of dale. The lighthouse stamp was issued in 2010 and is of a lighthouse in the Beagle Channel, off the coast of the Bay of Ushuaia. The stamp on the right is 1 of a set of 7 definitives issued in 2009.

Next card is also from Argentina and again is from Dale. Posted from Puerto Madryn, it is a card from the Egidio Feruglio Paleontology Museum in Trelew. The museum is one of the most important museums in the world for dinosaurs. It offers models of over 30 different types of dinosaurs. Dale used 2 copies of the 2005 definitive stamp showing the Perito Moreno Glacier , located on the south west of Santa Cruz Province , Argentina. This is a beautiful glacier and due to its size and accessibility , it has become a major drawing card for southern Patagonia.

Now another card from Dale. This one is from Montevideo, Uruguay. It shows us Pocitos Beach Waterfront. Located just 10 minutes from the centre of Montevideo, Playa Pocitos or Pocitos Beach is an upscale neighbourhood on the banks of the Rio de la Plata. The stamp, a triangular shape, was issued in 2008 and is 1 of a definitive set of 9 or so issued over a number of years.

The next 2 cards are from The French Southern and Antarctic Lands. This consists of:
1 - a group of islands in the Southern Indian Ocean
2 - Adelie Land, the french claim on the Antarctica Continent.
3 - Scattered islands in the Indian Ocean.

Both cards are postmarked Dumont D'urville T'Adelie T.A.A.F., meaning Adelie Land - the portion of the Antarctic coast between 136 degrees E and 142 degrees E. Its shore length is 350 km and it extends as a sector about 2600 km toward the South Pole. Just a little FYI- the movie March of the Penguins was filmed at Adelie Land. The first card has a sea bird, the Southern Fulmar, a petrel on the front. The second card has a view of Dumont d 'Urville ,the French Base on Antarctica. Permanently staffed since 1956, the base has a population of between 30 and 110, depending on time of year.
Both of these cards are compliments of Jean Pierre.
The stamps include a 2008 flag stamp, 1 of a set of 5 , and a minerals stamp from 2009, featuring pyrite.The bird stamps are also from 2009 and are part of a petrels souvenir sheet of 5.
I don't usually show the complete back of a card, but in the case of the card above, I made an exception so you could read the various stamps on the card.


The final card is from England and comes from a Postcrosser named Margaret. Her card shows us Bletchley park, which is also known as Station X. Located in the town of Bletchley, in Buckinghamshire, England it was the site , during World War II, of the United Kingdom's Government Code and Cypher School. It was here that the famous German Enigma code was broken. Margaret used a 2010 , Machin definitive.

That ends this rather long update . This was started late Thursday evening , but never got finished. It is now Friday afternoon and the end is in sight. Thanks again to Dale, Jean Pierre and Margaret for the cards. Without the cards , well I don't need to go there. As always, leave a comment if you wish, I love to hear from you.

I'm off to the mailbox now, to see what new postcard goodies await.