Port-Christmas
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Port-Christmas is a natural and historical site on the Kerguelen Islands, located at the northern tip of the main island, on the east coast of the Loranchet Peninsula. It covers the bottom of Baie de l'Oiseau, the first shelter for sailors approaching the archipelago from the north, and is easily identifiable by the presence at the entrance of a natural arch, now collapsed, known as the Kerguelen Arch.
James Cook docking at Christmas Harbour in December 1776. The Kerguelen Arch is at left. (Engraving by John Webber, 1784)
The Kerguelen Arch on January 2nd, 1893, when the French aviso ship Eure (on the left) renewed its formal takeover.
View of Port-Christmas from Lake Rochegude, with Mount Havergal on the right, Table de l'Oiseau on the left and the Kerguelen Arch in the background, as explorer James Clark Ross passed through in 1840.
Port-Christmas and Baie de l'Oiseau (with the Kerguelen Arch in the background at left) on January 2nd, 1893, when the Eure crew renewed their formal takeover of the archipelago.
Port-aux-Français
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Port-aux-Français is the main settlement of the Kerguelen Islands, and French Southern and Antarctic Lands, in the south Indian Ocean.
Port-aux-Français in 2005