Travel Antarctica | Antarctic Cruises | Cruise Antarctica

Win a trip for two to Antarctica

2012-01-23T21:49:00.000+11:00

Win a trip for two to Antarctica with the Natural History Museum and Aurora Expeditions valued at £10,000.

To celebrate the opening of our Scott's Last Expedition exhibition we are offering one lucky winner and companion of their choice a place on an incredible Antarctic Peninsula expedition. The expedition is departing from Argentina in November 2013 (dates and details to be finalised).

Witness soaring snowcapped peaks, sheltered waterways, sculpted icebergs, penguin rookeries, seals and whales on board the Akademik Shokalskiy or Polar Pioneer.

The fantastic prize is kindly donated by Aurora Expeditions, an Australian-owned expedition cruising company travelling to remote areas of the world such as Antarctica.

Aurora Expeditions offers small ships, small groups, low-impact and personal experiences and big adventures, carrying a maximum of 54 passengers on board the ship. Flexible itineraries, educational lectures by expert staff, an open bridge policy and numerous Zodiac landings attract adventurous souls keen to explore the Great South.

The closing date for the Free Prize Draw is Sunday 2 September 2012 at 23:59 BST (British Summer Time).

Antarctic expedition duo break record

2012-01-20T17:13:00.001+11:00

Race to the finish to make last flight out

James 'Cas' Castrission and Justin 'Jonesy' Jones are just days away from successfully completing their attempt to become the first team to ski unsupported from the edge of Antarctica to the South Pole and back.

For the past 80 days, 29-year-old Cas and 28-year-old 'Jonesy have skied over 1900km – that's further than from Brisbane to Melbourne. Travelscene American Express is a Gold Sponsor of the record breaking attempt and General Manager Jacqui Timmins said the countdown is on as the pair battle on to make the last flight out of Antarctica next Friday, 27 January.

"Cas and Jonesy are on track to succeed in their push to finish in time but it's coming down to the wire," Travelscene American Express General Manager Jacqui Timmins said. "I've just been on the satellite phone with Jonesy and while they're tired, hungry, and exhausted, they are confident they will make the finish line in time."

"They have already smashed one world record by becoming the first to travel more than 1800km through the Antarctic unassisted and they're doing well to succeed in completing their Crossing the Ice expedition on time despite the heaviest snowfall in the region in years."

"Cas and Jonesy need all the help they can get right now as they push through the final week towards the finish line. It's going to be tight but they're determined and they keep on keeping on. These guys couldn't even ski not that long ago and now they're managing an incredible 45kms a day."

"They're so incredibly grateful for all the support they've received from Travelscene American Express. From messages of support from Members through to our support as a Gold Sponsor and travel partner, they're adamant that without our involvement, the expedition wouldn't have happened."

"Despite a mighty effort on a daily basis, it's going to be close," Travelscene American Express General Manager Jacqui Timmins said.

"As a Gold Sponsor of this incredible expedition, we're watching Cas and Jonesy' progress closely and we've got our fingers and toes crossed that the weather holds and that they're able to keep clocking decent distances on a daily basis."

"You can follow this amazing journey via www.casandjonesy.com.au and not only send Cas and Jonesy a message of support but also see via their webcasts just how truly tough this record-breaking trek is."

Mirroring their expedition, Cas and Jonesy are also looking to raise $100,000 for You Can, the youth cancer charity.

Free exhibition at State Library NSW: Finding Antarctica

2012-01-15T13:24:00.000+11:00

For full details see: Finding Antarctica: Mapping the Last Continent

Suite dreams on Antarctic cruise

2011-12-17T08:57:00.001+11:00

Seal basks in the sunshine as Zodiacs from L'Austral tour Foyn Harbour. Picture: Roderick Eime.

Guests examine the wreck of the Norwegian
whaling vessel. Picture: Roderick Eime.

TRAVELLING to the end of the Earth can now be done in hedonistic comfort, writes Roderick Eime.

Antarctica is for the hardened traveller, the gritty explorer and world adventurer used to privations and hardships. That is, until the arrival of vessels like L'Austral.

French-flagged cruise line Compagnie du Ponant (or just Ponant) has launched two of its planned three new-generation, green-certified luxury expedition cruise ships.

Le Boreal took to the seas in May last year, followed by L'Austral in June this year. A third, as yet unnamed, vessel will be launched in the middle of 2013.

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Port Lockroy celebrates 100 Years

2011-12-13T20:34:00.006+11:00

Port Lockroy c.1962

By Roderick Eime, editor of Adventure Cruise Guide

One hundred years ago, the so-called Heroic Age of Antarctic exploration was at its height. Men like Scott, Shackleton, Mawson and others, forgotten to time, opened up the great Southern continent for science, exploration and adventure. Their exploits were consumed voraciously by the popular press, the adoring public following their every step as these incredible men, apparently impervious to hardship and deprivation, forged deeper and deeper into the harsh frozen realm in search of glory in the name of the great British Empire.

The Great War stifled many plans and left a world bruised and battered but Antarctic exploration continued, albeit subdued. In the Second World War, Britain was afraid its hard won Southern interests may be threatened and the secret Operation Tabarin was organised in 1943 to patrol and report on any enemy movements in the region around the Antarctic Peninsula. Bases at Deception Island, Hope Bay and Port Lockroy were expanded and manned by naval personnel who had no idea where they were headed. Issued sunglasses on their departure from Britain, they surmised their destination would be warm and tropical. Wrong.

Further bases were added and this effort gradually transformed into the current multi-national presence we see today. Visitors aboard Antarctic cruise vessels frequently visit these sites. Some are maintained while are others have been left to “benign neglect”. One in particular, Port Lockroy, celebrates one hundred years since its establishment, first as a whaling outpost, then 'Base A' as part of Tabarin in 1944.

Abandoned in 1962, but restored and preserved since 1996, Port Lockroy is now the most visited site on the Peninsula with visitor numbers hitting a peak of 17,000 in a recent year. As many as 30 vessels visit the 'living museum' in the course of a season (between November to March) and the little post office handles around 17,000 items of specially marked items of mail. The gift shop carries everything from postcards and books to fridge magnets and fleecies. One passenger from a private charter spent $12,000 in a single visit, so the little outpost certainly pays its way.

Once the preserve of the male-only British Antarctic Survey, Port Lockroy is currently manned, if that is the correct term, by a team of five, four of whom are women. Their duties include occasional surveys of the healthy Gentoo penguin colony and serving the stream of guests hungry for genuine Antarctic souvenirs. An additional Nissen hut has been built to enhance crew comfort, but otherwise the structure is faithful to its original design, complete with recreated radio room, kitchen and common areas.

“Anyone from any country can apply to work here for a season,” says Ulva the current base commander and officer of the UK Antarctic Heritage Trust, a not-for-profit charity set up to maintain the historic bases.”We're only supplied once a year, but also rely on help from the many cruise ships to bring additional items and ferry staff.”

Fancy a stint at an Antarctic base? Why not apply for a position on Port Lockroy? For information on the UK Antarctic Heritage Trust and its work, visit www.heritage-antarctica.org

Tourists' iceberg dilemma

2011-12-04T19:54:00.002+11:00

An iceberg the size of the ACT is
blocking access to Mawson's Hut.

by Craig Hoggett | The Mercury

TOURISTS forking out top dollar to visit Mawson's Hut for centenary celebrations this summer are likely to face disappointment as the "Antarctic factor" heaves an enormous icy obstacle in ships' paths.

Expedition cruise ship MV Orion is due to start its 19-night Southern Ocean voyage on Thursday, with prices for the 100 passengers starting at $19,365 a person.

Orion expedition leader Don McIntyre said the Antarctic always had challenges but an iceberg the size of the ACT blocking access was "unique".

"Whilst it's not looking good, no one will know until we get there," Mr McIntyre said.

"We always maintain a simple philosophy we work with the Antarctic factor. You cannot dictate terms with Antarctica, it lets you in at its pleasure you have to work with it, you can't fight it."

A 2500 sq km tabular iceberg was part of a much larger ice mass that broke free from the Ross Ice Shelf in 1987 but subsequently broke up as it drifted westwards.

Parts of the "B9B" iceberg have grounded on the approach to the Mawson's Hut site at Commonwealth Bay.

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IAATO Launches New Website

2011-12-04T04:50:00.001+11:00

The International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators (IAATO) has launched a new website, providing a wealth of new information for prospective travelers to Antarctica. The new site also features an expanded Media Center for journalists and enhanced features for IAATO members.

"The familiar URL www.iaato.org remains the same, but the similarity stops there," noted IAATO Executive Director Steve Wellmeier. "The new site provides much better graphics and navigation tools, including a search function and site map. One of our goals is to provide accurate information for the Antarctic traveler, particularly in the area of environmental stewardship, guidelines for visitors, and answers to the many questions they might have."

Not all plain sailing in wild Antarctica

2011-11-29T08:47:00.005+11:00

Cool fun: Australian adventurers James Castrission and Justin Jones in the Antarctic Source: Supplied

THE weather is perfect. The sea is calm, the sky a dazzling blue. The day seems to challenge the common assumption that the frozen continent is almost always rainy.

I'm not saying my trip of a lifetime is all plain sailing. Our feisty little ship pitches through choppy seas while crossing the Drake Passage, south of Ushuaia - the Argentine tourist town from which most cruises to the icy land depart.

Read Full Story at The Daily Telegraph

Qantas The Australian Way: Go with the floe

2011-10-13T08:58:00.003+11:00

Photo essay and article by Peter Robinson and images by Peter Eastway from Qantas The Australian Way, October 2011

Open publication

Historic Antarctic expedition

2011-10-01T09:01:00.002+10:00

One Ocean Expeditions ship Akademik Ioffe in Antarctica.
A cruise voyage will take place to South Georgia in November to bury
the ashes of British explorer Frank Wild next to Ernest Shackleton. Picture: Supplied

photo of Sir Earnest Shackleton (L) and
Frank Wild in Antarctica. Picture: Anthony Reginato

IT WAS his final wish to be buried next to Ernest Shackleton and 90 years after their last expedition together, Antarctic explorer Frank Wild's request will finally be granted.

Wild, considered one of the great Antarctic explorers, will be buried beside his former boss in Antarctica this year after an exhaustive search for his long-lost ashes.

Four of his Australian descendants will be among the passengers taking part in a commemorative cruise with One Ocean Expeditions to South Georgia in November to take his ashes to their final resting place.

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AKADEMIK SERGEY VAVILOV TO JOIN ONE OCEAN EXPEDITIONS FLEET

2011-09-25T10:38:00.001+10:00

In what is seen as the most exciting development of the year for the expedition cruise industry, One Ocean Expeditions (OOE) has announced that the highly regarded Akademik Sergey Vavilov will join Akademik Ioffe as its second polar expedition vessel with effect from November 2012.

The Vavilov has been described by OOE's competitors as 'one of the finest expedition ships to sail the polar seas' and is sister ship to the Ioffe, which OOE currently operates exclusively under a long term charter agreement.

Both vessels were built in Finland in the late 1980's for the Russian Academy of Science. Both undertook hydro-acoustic research and consequently are extremely quiet, fast and stable. They are widely acknowledged as the best expedition vessels for difficult polar waters.

One Ocean Expeditions was founded in 2006 by Canadian Andrew Prossin, a 20 year veteran of Antarctica and the Arctic. Known for his innovative approach to expedition cruising, he has worked extensively with both vessels and it was an obvious fit for his new company to bring these vessels into the fold.

"This addition to our fleet was both necessary and timely for OOE", he said. "It is necessary because our 2011/12 season has almost completely sold out and we definitely need a second vessel. It is timely because the opportunity to take the Vavilov now puts us in a leading position with the two best expedition vessels in the world".

With a capacity of 105 passengers, (but limited by OOE to 92) the Vavilov will initially be deployed in Antarctica, followed by the 2013 Arctic season. But first, the ship will be extensively refurbished. "The Vavilov is a great ship, and with the forthcoming improvement program we will have no trouble bringing her up to the high expectations of One Ocean Expeditions' clients", said Prossin. "This is a terrific platform where we can offer an innovative expedition product and continue to hone the high levels of onboard guest services our clients have come to expect from us." A major renovation is planned, including redecorated cabins, enhanced, modernised public areas and a wellness centre.

For further details contact Active Travel on 02-9264 1231 or visit www.activetravel.com.au

East Antarctica: Frozen Folly

2011-08-30T21:53:00.003+10:00

A trip to East Antarctica is anything but a walk in the park. Our Adventure Cruise Guide editor follows gingerly in the footsteps of Sir Douglas Mawson. Words & Photos: Roderick Eime

“Beyond the Roaring Forties there are the Furious Fifties and Shrieking Sixties, for the storms that ravage these regions become more and more severe as one proceeds further south.” – Herbert Ponting, 1921

Who in their right mind would willingly subject themself to this kind of discomfort? And to call a voyage to Antarctica a ‘cruise’– especially if you’re venturing beyond 70 degrees south – is a serious misrepresentation.

If your idea of a cruise is sitting on a deckchair beside a pool with a pina colada in one hand and a Jackie Collins potboiler in the other, read no further. Deep Antarctica is one of those places, like the moon, that is just so distant and unreachable that to travel there is almost the stuff of fiction.

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Rod travelled with Heritage Expeditions

SMH: In Memory of Mawson

2011-08-30T21:46:00.000+10:00

On parade ... the MV Orion approaches the Antarctic continent.
Photo: Louise Southerden

A century after the explorer embarked on his expedition, Louise Southerden steps ashore on Australia's Antarctica.

You've spent days crossing the Southern Ocean from New Zealand, found your way through pack ice, seen your first house-sized berg. Now, here it is: the Antarctic continent, a wall of ice with a sloping brow, filling the southern horizon.

Nothing prepares you for that first glimpse of this alien land and the simple vastness of it. The South Pole is still, incredibly, 2630 kilometres further south, across all that ice, some of it four kilometres thick. All you can do is stand and stare.

Then, out of the whiteness, a rocky point appears: Cape Denison, on Commonwealth Bay. This is one of the few places in east Antarctica, due south of Australia, where the largest ice sheet on the planet kneels down to meet the sea, allowing you to step ashore. It's also where a timber hut built by Douglas Mawson and his men in January 1912 still stands.

Aurora Expeditions Celebrates Sir Douglas Mawson's Centenary

2011-06-21T01:23:00.000+10:00

Aurora Expeditions have three exciting voyages to commemorate the centenary of Sir Douglas Mawson's Australasian Antarctic Expedition. In January 1912, explorer Douglas Mawson and 17 others landed at Commonwealth Bay. For the next year, they braved appalling conditions, when the wind speed averaged nearly 80 km/h, occasionally peaking above 320 km/h. Their expedition ranks as one of the most successful in polar exploration history.

Each of Aurora Expeditions' Centenary voyages visits three outstanding regions: Macquarie Island, where Mawson set up a communications base; the East Antarctic coast, a vast region where the polar plateau offers a dramatic backdrop to Mawson's Hut; and New Zealand's exquisite subantarctic islands.

Passengers departing on the first Mawson's centenary voyage will mark the departure from Hobart of the 1911-14 Australasian Antarctic Expedition (AAE) led by Sir Douglas Mawson on Dec 2 1911—exactly 100 years to the day after the AAE sailed for Macquarie Island.

"The Mawson's Huts Foundation is looking forward to welcoming all passengers to the Sir Douglas Mawson Centenary dinner in Hobart on Thursday Dec 1. Over 500 guests are expected to attend the dinner which is being supported by the Federal and Tasmanian governments and a flotilla of hundreds of ships will farewell your ship as you sail down to the Derwent on the first leg of your voyage to Mawson's Huts at Cape Denison.

Patron of the Foundation the Governor General of Australia Ms Quentin Bryce AC has been invited to attend the dinner which will also mark the beginning of the "heroic era" celebrations for Antarctic exploration which saw the Norwegian Amundsen reach the South Pole ahead of the British Explorer Robert Falcon Scott, his demise and then Mawson's own incredible feat of survival after the loss of two colleagues". David Jensen, Mawson Hut Foundation.

These 26-day voyages are Aurora Expeditions' most adventurous in scope, with extended sea crossings and the chance to explore the pack ice edge, where much of Antarctica's marine life, including whales, seals and penguins, can be found. The voyages will visit Mawson's Hut and the abandoned French base at Port Martin, and the working research station of Dumont d'Urville. Prices start from US$17,475 per person twin share.

The voyage, "Emeralds of the Subantarctic" is a 13-day expedition, which takes you to Macquarie Island and Campbell Island, the Auckland Islands and, depending on sea conditions, a rare Zodiac cruise of the Snares Islands. This region contains the greatest diversity of seabirds in the world, often in astounding numbers. It's a tremendous opportunity to visit a wildlife wonderland. Prices for this voyage start from US$7,325 per person twin share.

Aurora Expeditions will be utilising their ship Akademik Shokalskiy for the East Antarctica voyages The decision to use small, ice-strengthened ships allows Aurora Expeditions to visit areas that other large cruise ships can't. For many years, Aurora Expeditions has been a leading expedition cruise company specialising in Antarctic and European Arctic expeditions. Since the early 1990s, Aurora Expeditions have shared their love of Antarctica with small groups of adventurous individuals keen to explore one of the wildest places on Earth.

Aurora Expeditions' dynamic team all share a great respect for natural and cultural environments. Aurora Expeditions continues to approach expedition travel as a catalyst for making a difference in one's life, and in the world.

Rabbits and rats targeted on Macquarie Island: ABC

2011-04-26T17:08:00.000+10:00

For the past few days wild weather has held up plans to begin a special eradication program on a rugged Subantarctic island.

A team of specialists, including 12 dogs, has arrived offshore at Macquarie Island, ready to begin the crucial operation.

The project aimed at eradicating rabbits and rodents is no overnight quick fix. It's expected to take five years and cost at least $25 million.

From the island, Tracy Bowden reports.

INTO THE FROZEN SOUTH - Historic Hurley Video from Pathe

2011-04-23T13:01:00.002+10:00

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The World’s Most Innovative Antarctic Expeditions

2011-04-14T13:39:00.000+10:00

Experience the magic of Antarctica in the Summer of 2011, aboard the celebrated research vessel, Akademik Ioffe. This ship is considered the best equipped, most stable and most capable Antarctic expedition vessel in the world, with a maximum of just 95 guests. All voyages include well presented lectures, up to three shore excursions per day when in Antarctica and a complimentary Antarctica wet weather gear hire package. For the adventurers, we include the option to spend a night camping on the ice as well as sea kayaking. You also enjoy outstanding international cuisine prepared by our team of chefs. There are 10 expeditions to choose from – departing between November 2011 and March 2012. With the Aussie dollar so strong, there will never be a better time to go! Popular expeditions include:

Antarctic Peninsula Adventure
(4-departures this season)

11-day expedition departing from Ushuaia, Argentina. Experience the breathtaking scenery of the Antarctic Peninsula – a region teeming with wildlife, towering glaciers, icebergs in all shapes and sizes and historic research bases. Our days are filled with excursions ashore accompanied by our naturalist guides. *Ask about our special airfares to South America.

Journey Below the Antarctic Circle
(1-departure this season)

On this 13-day voyage, we journey further south than we do at any other time in the season. Our aim is to cross the Antarctic Circle, below 66 ° 33' south. We aim to head as far south as Crystal Sound, an icy sweep of water surrounded by the dramatic peaks of the Antarctic continent. The scenery here, combined with the extended light at the height of the Antarctic summer, make for truly jaw-dropping sights in every direction. Be quick, this expedition sells out every season! *Ask about our special airfares to South America.

The Falkland Islands, South Georgia and Antarctic Peninsula (3-departures this season)

On this far-reaching expedition to the islands of the South Atlantic Ocean and the Antarctic continent, you revel in 19 awe-inspiring days of exploration. Busybody penguins in rookeries by the thousands, stupendous icebergs reflecting startling greens and blues, humpback whales feeding on krill, and, of course, the continent-sized sweeping ice sheet of Antarctica are just some of the highlights of this outstanding expedition. *Ask about our special airfares to South America.

Contact Active Travel – the Antarctic travel experts.
Call 02 9264 1231, email sydney@activetravel.com.au or visit www.activetravel.com.au.

Visit the Antarctic Centre in Christchurch

2010-11-14T00:27:00.001+11:00

by BELINDA MERHAB || AAP

Antarctica is the coldest, windiest, driest place on earth.

It is twice the size of Australia, drier than the Sahara and temperatures can get as low as minus 89C.

More interestingly, it's a place to party, with concerts, bars, a bowling alley and a hefty supply of condoms.

This is what I discovered when I visited the International Antarctic Centre in Christchurch, one of New Zealand's most popular tourist attractions.

It isn't Antarctica, but it's the closest thing to being there, without actually being there.

The city of Christchurch is one of five official "gateways" to Antarctica, where some 70 per cent of travellers to the icy continent leave from.

The centre is home to the US, Italian and NZ Antarctic programs as well as the Antarctic passenger departure terminal.

During winter, there are roughly 500 people based at 34 stations across Antarctica.

The population, made up of scientists, researchers and station support staff such as cooks and cleaners, swells to a couple of thousand in the summer months.

Centre manager Mike Hyde and our guide, Sue Best, are two of Antarctica's most passionate ambassadors, who promise to give us a taste of what it's like there.

Having arrived in Christchurch to torrential rain and gale force winds, weather described by the locals as the worst they've seen in a decade, their promise shouldn't be too hard to fulfil.

Our first Antarctic experience is a ride aboard a Hagglund, a Swedish all-terrain vehicle, strongly resembling an army tank - it was originally designed for military use - used in Antarctica since 1985.

I climb into the first of two carriages, joined by caterpillar tracks, and don my headset, as we make our way across a series of small earth mounds.

Our driver explains that the only difference between this vehicle and the Hagglunds used in Antarctica is the padding on the seat, for which I am very grateful.

He then sets out to show us what this beast can do: we drive over a 1.5m crevice and climb the Hill of Terror which is followed by a seven metre drop straight into a pond, demonstrating the amphibious capabilities of the vehicle.

Back on dry land, Sue tells us what life on Antarctica is like.

She should know, she's spent five summers and one winter there as a cook.

According to Sue, Antarctica is a place to "party hard" and she jokes with us about the number of condoms shipped there each year and the drinking that goes on.

But on a serious note, Antarctica is not for the faint-hearted.

Those wishing to travel there are subject to psychological testing before departure.

You must be able to work well in a team environment and you have to be resilient.

Once the polar winter sets in around March, the continent (depending on where you are) is subject to four to six months of constant darkness.

At Scott Base, the main NZ station, there is darkness from April to August.

The weather leaves some areas totally cut off from the rest of the world, as the temperature becomes too cold for aeroplanes and freezes the sea, making ship access impossible.

Over 10 years ago, American physician Dr Jerri Nielsen made headlines around the world after discovering an aggressive form of cancer in her breast during the Antarctic winter, in March 1999.

The extreme weather conditions meant her station was closed off from the outside world until the end of the year.

With help from doctors via satellite email and colleagues that she trained to care for her, Dr Nielsen treated herself.

She performed a biopsy on her breast and treated herself with anti-cancer drugs delivered in an airdrop by the US Air Force in July 1999.

That October, she was rescued by the Air National Guard in minus 50C conditions.

According to Dr Bryan Storey, Professor of Antarctic Studies at the University of Canterbury, the continual darkness during the winter months can bring on the winter blues.

"People do get affected by the continual darkness," says Dr Storey.

"People are made aware of it, the station always try to keep some structure to the day, so people get up and have a breakfast, and lunch, and dinner and have activities and work to do.

"It keeps people in a routine.

"On Scott Base, there might be 20 people and they look after each other and organise events that keep things ticking on."

Sue tells us that the darkness "can be depressing".

"You want to sleep all the time," she says.

In summer, you have the opposite problem: perpetual daylight.

From November to January, the sun does not set and Sue says people hang sheets on their windows to get some shut eye.

There's also a two-minute limit on showers - water needs to be conserved in order to put out the frequent fires that occur as a result of the dry atmosphere.

It is so dry, you must drink two to three litres of water every couple of hours to prevent dehydration and if you walk outside in normal clothing, 60 seconds is all it will take to freeze the moisture in your lungs and kill you.

To get a feel for just how cold it is, Sue takes us to the Snow and Ice Experience, a snow-filled room, designed to make you feel as though you are actually in Antarctica.

There's even an igloo.

We are given rubber socks to put over our shoes and coats, to experience what it is like in Antarctica on a hot summer day. It's a scorching minus 8C.

Thirty seconds of simulated Antarctic winds is all I can handle before leaving the room. But apparently, it's very popular among tourists from warm countries and it can actually be difficult to get them out.

Finally, we see the fairy penguins, or Little Blues, all of whom have been rescued from the wild and have disabilities.

Some are wearing pink booties - seriously.

Apparently, penguins can get calluses on their feet if they stand for too long, and don't spend enough time swimming, and if this happens, they are given pedicures and are forced to wear the shoes.

After watching the penguins eat their lunch, we head over to the centre's cafe for some refreshments of our own.

Upon returning to Sydney later that week, I spread the word about Antarctica's sea of condoms to all my friends and family.

For once, they seemed to be interested in the tales from my travels, confirming the theory that sex sells.

A quick Google search of Antarctica+condoms confirms the rumours.

In 2008, 16,500 condoms were reportedly delivered to Antarctica's McMurdo base station, the main US base, where just 125 people were stationed - I'll let you do the math.

IF YOU GO:

The International Antarctic Centre, 38 Orchard Road, Christchurch. Call: 64-3- 353-7798

Visit: www.iceberg.co.nz

The centre is open every day of the year from 9am.

Entry for adults is $55, children aged 5-15, $36, and family passes are available for $145.

Entry for children under five is free.

The writer was a guest of the Antarctic Centre, Accor Hotels, Christchurch Tourism and Pacific Blue.

Experience the 'Heroic Era' of Antarctic Exploration

2010-09-07T15:00:00.001+10:00

Imagine spending New Year's Eve or early 2011 as part of an Antarctic expedition. Join the purpose-built expedition cruise ship Orion for modern-day exploration of Antarctica with departures leaving from Dunedin (New Zealand), in December 2010, and Hobart, in January 2011.

Cross the Antarctic Circle before heading for Cape Denison and a rare visit to Douglas Mawson's historic huts, built for the 1911-1914 'Australian Antarctic Expedition'; or explore the Ross Sea region including Scott and Shackleton's bases still surviving from the 'Heroic Era' of Antarctic exploration.

These timber buildings are rare in a world context. Just six complexes surviving from the 'Heroic Era' of Antarctic exploration: a period of great human adventure, exploration, research and discovery on the last continent to be explored.

Whipped by ferocious katabatic winds, it is a wonder that there are any remnants of buildings left at all. Yet, remarkably, in addition to the historic buildings, there are plentiful examples of clothing, food, crates, sleds, ropes and kerosene tins remaining, literally frozen in time.

At over twice the length and 10 times the weight of Douglas Mawson's wooden ex-whaling barquentine, Aurora, the purpose built expedition ship Orion (with the benefits of oversized stabilisers, retractable sonar and ice strengthened hull) provides her 100 guests with the needs of today's adventurers: technology, safety and creature comforts that include fine food and wines, a gym, boutique, hairdressing, sauna and massage facilities - as well as 80 staff, specialist lecturers and polar expedition crew to look after every need.

These are true expeditions - both cross the Antarctic Circle, voyaging further south than the position of the South Magnetic Pole. Magnetic compasses are useless in these waters, an area that remains largely unsurveyed.

Orion's 10 Zodiacs, purpose designed expedition transport for intrepid modern-day adventurers, will be put to good use for landings ashore in Antarctica and World Heritage listed sub-Antarctic Snares, Auckland and Macquarie Islands, pristine breeding grounds for countless wildlife.

On Macquarie Island the King penguin colony alone is estimated to have in excess of 170,000 breeding pairs. So rare are visitors here that they are usually ignored by birds, seals and penguins alike as they go about their daily business. See Elephant seals, some weighing as much as three tonnes - more than a car - and the massed gathering of Royal penguins coming and going from the sea.

Never to be forgotten expeditions to some of the most exciting and wondrous places on earth.

Mawson's Antarctica - Commonwealth Bay 2010

18 night expedition: Dunedin / Antarctica / Dunedin
Expedition departs 28th December 2010 Dunedin / Snares Islands / Auckland Islands / Commonwealth Bay region / Macquarie Island/ Dunedin

Fares from $19,365 per person for an Ocean View category B Stateroom
Suites from $26,710 per person for a Junior Suite
Orion's spacious Owners' Suites are $40,555 per person

Scott and Shackleton's Antarctica - Ross Sea 2011

21 night expedition: Hobart / Antarctica / Christchurch
Expedition departs 27th January 2011 Hobart / Macquarie Island / Ross Sea region / Campbell Island / Christchurch

Fares from $22,590 per person for an Ocean View category B Stateroom
Suites from $31,160 per person for a Junior Suite
Orion's spacious Owners' Suites are $47,315 per person

NOTE: Please note that all Antarctic voyages are subject to possible variation according to prevailing weather conditions and as such are opportunistic in nature. On occasion intended destinations will need to be changed for safety or other reason.

Further information on Orion Expedition Cruises can be obtained by visiting the website www.orionexpeditions.com

For reservations or to obtain a brochure call Orion Expedition Cruises: 61-2 9033 8777 (Sydney callers) 1300 361 012 (regional and interstate) or your travel agent. Email: info@orionexpeditions.com

Ranked #2 expedition cruise ship in the world in the current Berlitz Cruise Guide, Orion is the world's latest purpose-built luxury expedition cruise ship, featuring an unmatched range of onboard facilities.

With 80 crew and a maximum of 100 passengers for Antarctic voyages Orion offers the highest staff to guest ratio and guest to public space ratio of any ship based in Australian waters.

Icebreaker and Ross Sea Voyages

2010-08-07T15:03:00.008+10:00

Dear Adventurers

We are now in the depths of the southern winter, the snow is low on the mountains and we had a -5ºC frost here in Christchurch earlier in the week. That is as cold as a cool summer’s day in Antarctica, but despite looking there were no icebergs and penguins were a little thin on the ground as well! If you have always wanted to see icebergs and penguins, you could wait till the next ice age or you could join us for the experience of a lifetime in Antarctica!

Heritage Expeditions continues to offer its very successful expeditions to the Ross Sea Region of Antarctica, and after many years of planning we are pleased to bring you a full range of expeditions to South Georgia & the Antarctic Peninsula. Our Antarctic Peninsula expedition’s sail aboard the former Swedish icebreaker MV Polar Star which carries just 100 passengers is supremely well suited to polar navigation with its icebreaker hull allowing us to explore where others are unable. Aboard the expedition program has the same focus on experiences ashore and education that we have always valued.

As an introductory offer Wild Earth Travel has for a limited time the exceptional one off rate of AU$5,844 per person in a double berth with private bathroom on our 9th December and 6th January 10 night departures from Ushuaia.

That is a huge 35% discount of the regular price!

Alternatively if you want to turn a classic adventure into a once in a lifetime trip this offer is extended to our 19 night expedition taking in The Falklands Islands, South Georgia and Antarctica on which double berths are now only AU$10,702 per person on our November 21st departure!

If you have already been to Antarctica and have Antarcticus Feverus or you have always wanted to experience Antarctica there has never been a better time.

Contact us today for further details – offer ends August 10th so don’t delay!

Best Regards

Aaron Russ
‘Small Ships, Big Adventures’

IN THE HEART OF THE ICE CONTINENT, VISIT ANTARCTICA WITH HAPAG-LLOYD CRUISES’ EXPEDITION SHIPS

2010-06-12T12:21:00.000+10:00

Hapag-Lloyd Cruises’ Small Expedition Ships Won’t be Affected by New Bans That Will Keep Large Cruise Ships Out of Antarctica Starting in 2011

he International Maritime Organization adopted a ban on the use and carriage of heavy fuel oil for ships sailing in Antarctica this month, effectively meaning that beginning August 1, 2011 most large cruise ships will no longer be able to sail in Antarctica. Hapag-Lloyd Cruises’ two expedition ships, the 5-star* MS HANSEATIC and the 4-star* MS BREMEN have always used diesel fuel, state-of-the-art waste disposal systems (rubbish-incinerator and biological sewage treatment plant on board) and environmentally-friendly underwater paints (TBT-free), which will allow both ships to continue this very popular route in 2011 and beyond. Hapag-Lloyd Cruises’ expedition ships carry no more than 184 passengers. Zodiac (small motorized boats) landings, under the guidance of experienced experts who give detailed instructions to passengers about proper conduct while in Antarctica, never exceed 20 people.

łWe support all changes to current regulations, if they are geared towards protecting and conserving Antarctica, said Sebastian Ahrens Managing Director of Hapag-Lloyd Cruises. łWith our passengers, cruises to Antarctica have not suffered a loss of fascination in that the secret of an unforgettable cruise to Antarctica is to have a small-ship operator that offers trips off the beaten paths. And this is exactly what our expeditions are all about all under the premise of leaving the environment intact.˛

Hapag-Lloyd cruises is an active member of IAATO (International Association of Antarctic Tour Operators) a voluntary union of Antarctic tour operators that have agreed to promote ecologically sustainable tourism in the Antarctic continent and, at the same time, benefit from the experience of the other members.

Hapag-Lloyd Cruises will be offering two Antarctica international (German/English) cruises in early 2011 on the MS HANSEATIC and the MS BREMEN. Both ships are well equipped for travel in difficult waters, with both holding the highest ice class ranking for passenger vessels (E4). Also shallow drafts and high manoeuvrability allow the ships to enter waters larger cruise vessels cannot reach. Guests explore the world’s best-kept secrets in zodiacs (small motorized boats) with only 10-12 guests. Onboard experts include a team of experienced scientists, expedition leaders and specialists who guide landings and offer guests the rare opportunity to observe plant and animal life up close. Both ships also have warm parkas and rubber boots for all passengers on-loan.

The Antarctica itineraries below offers guests a once in a lifetime experience to view the gigantic colonies of birds, particularly penguins as they gather for the start of their summer in Antarctica. In addition to observing the massive bird colonies, guests will also have the opportunity to hike on the Falkland Islands, explore South Georgia, bath in the hot waters on Deception Island and observe the gleaming icebergs and whales in the Antarctic Sound.

MS BREMEN: ANTARCTICA and the ANTARCTIC CIRCLE

(South Georgia, Antarctic Peninsula, Antarctic Circle)

Dates: January 5 24, 2011 (19 Days)

Embarkation: Ushuaia/Argentina, Disembarkation: Ushuaia/Argentina

Rate: Starting at $11,710* per person based on double occupancy for an outside cabin, rate includes flights between Buenos Aires and Ushuaia.

MS HANSEATIC: ANTARCTICA

(South Georgia, South Orkney Islands, South Shetland Islands, Antarctic Peninsula)

Dates: January 726, 2011 (19 Days)

Embarkation: Ushuaia/Argentina, Disembarkation: Ushuaia/Argentina

Rate: Starting at $13,640* per person based on double occupancy for an outside cabin, rate includes flights between Buenos Aires and Ushuaia.

For more information on other HANSEATIC AND BREMEN international cruises, visit www.hl-cruises.com.

Antarctica Tour Operators Group Predicts Tourism Decline

2010-05-25T01:00:00.000+10:00

The International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators (IAATO) predicts that new fuel regulations will lead to a steep decline in the number of cruise ships sailing in Antarctica. An amendment passed by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) that bans the use and carriage of heavy fuel oils in the Antarctic beginning in mid-2011 is projected to lead to a nearly 23 percent decline in cruise tourism to the region, IAATO said.

The ban goes into effect Aug. 1, 2011, and will mostly impact large cruise ships that carry more than 500 passengers and briefly pass through Antarctica waters, without disembarking passengers, while traveling from South America. Designed to minimize the potential for accidents involving heavy fuel oils, the ban will force larger ships to deplete any banned fuel onboard before traveling into the region.

As a result, it is expected that a number of these ships will alter their itineraries to avoid the area, which will result in a projected decline in tourism from a current annual estimate of 35,000 visitors for the 2010-11 season to roughly 27,000 the following season. “Our mission remains the advocacy of responsible tourism operations geared toward the safety of human life and the protection and preservation of the Antarctic environment,” said Steve Wellmeier, executive director of IATTO. “As a result, our members are receptive to those changes that help accomplish these objectives.”

Unaffected will be the majority of smaller, expedition-type cruise vessels -- those carrying 60 to 500 passengers -- which in recent years have relied on lighter distillate fuels such as marine gas oil and marine diesel oil. These fuels are not included in the ban.

IAATO is a member organization founded in 1991 to advocate, promote and practice safe and environmentally responsible private-sector travel to the Antarctic. IAATO currently has 110 members. IAATO members work together to develop, adopt and implement operational standards that mitigate potential environmental impacts. For more information, visit www.iaato.org.

Coming Antarctic Season 2010/11, the Last for Big Cruise Ships

2010-05-18T12:09:00.000+10:00

The Antarctica season beginning in November 2010 is likely to be the last one as it has been known. Proposed changes to the type of fuel ships are allowed to burn and carry in this fragile ecosystem have now become a reality, making the future of big cruise ships in Antarctica uncertain.

A rule was passed last year by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) banning the use and carriage of heavy fuel oils, the type of fuel commonly burned by big ships, in the Antarctic. The reasoning is that a spillage of this type of fuel is considered too much of a risk—and accidents do happen, as we witnessed in 2007, when Gap Adventures' M/S Explorer was holed by ice and sank.

Read full story (opens a new site)

Cruise Tourism in Polar Regions: Promoting Environmental and Social Sustainability?

2010-05-14T15:18:00.000+10:00

Cruises are the primary form of tourism in the Polar Regions and cruise ship tourism in both the Arctic and Antarctic is expanding rapidly. Yet little is known about the practices, implications and challenges of tourism in remote polar seas. Climate change is dramatically altering the impact and potential for such forms of tourism. Recent incidents, such as the sinking of one cruise ship and the grounding of two other cruise vessels in the Antarctic Peninsula in 2007, highlight the need for a critical examination of the implications of polar cruise tourism.

A specific critical study of polar cruise tourism is therefore timely. The industry has moved beyond its infancy, and is now entering a maturing phase with increased numbers and types of vessels, more demanding routes, and more regular and predictable patterns of activity. A range of factors is likely to support this maturing phase, including increasing tourist demand for travel to remote places, overall popularity of cruising worldwide, more sophisticated promotional activities by tour agencies, increasing awareness at the political and community levels about the benefits and costs of cruise tourism, and changing ice regimes in the polar regions. The increase in cruise activities, and the associated risks of accidents, as well as the potential and actual impacts of the large numbers of tourists in the polar regions bring with it management challenges for sustainable use of these regions. This book discusses critically the issues around environmental and social sustainability of the cruise industry in Polar Regions. Authors from Canada, USA, Europe, Australia and New Zealand are experts in their respective fields and take an innovative, critical and at times controversial approach to the subject.

In spite of bad weather 16 cruise vessels visit South Georgia during February

2010-03-17T12:45:00.001+11:00

“Minerva” one of the sixteen cruise vessels and six yachts that called in Grytviken

For South Georgia February was one of the busiest months in the 2009/10 tourist season with sixteen cruise ships and six yachts visiting the island.

According to the February edition of the South Georgia newsletter the 11th cruise was an especially busy day at Grytviken, with two vessels bringing the largest numbers of passengers in a day this season. “Delphin” with 355 passengers visited in the morning and “Minerva” with 300 in the afternoon.

Six yachts have been around the Island this month: three on private visits, two on charter to small tourist groups and one as support yacht to a kayak expedition.

Three yachts gathered at the north end of the Island awaiting better weather before launching back to the Falkland Islands. With the weather unrelenting the yachts were trapped long enough for passengers and crew to miss pre-booked flights.

One yacht that did head out had a very rough voyage and another 15-metre long yacht ended up having to be singled handed back by the skipper when its two crew members joined a cruise ship to get back for their flights.

Continued stormy weather and a wetter than average February disrupted schedules and prevented many landings as the ships sought out the more sheltered potential landing sites on the worst weather days.

Source:

Antarctica with Lesley Gidding - Sydney

2010-03-14T22:49:00.000+11:00

Whale Expert Lesley Gidding On Antarctica - PLUS 5% off!

For the month of March, it's not just the temperature that's plummeting in Antarctica! World Expeditions is offering an earlybird 5% off 2010-2011 season voyages for bookings made during the month of March!!!

Now you can get a range of hot discounts to the coolest destination on the planet. Antarctica can tell a thousand stories; its wildlife, sculpted icebergs & interesting history; the ambitions of those who've tried to conquer it; its peril in the days of global warming.

With an emphasis on animal encounters and maximum shore time, our range of Antarctic programs are thought provoking and adventurous with the opportunity to kayak, dive and even camp on the Antarctic mainland for a night!

And there's no better way to see Antarctica than through the eyes of Antarctic expert and biologist Lesley Gidding. Lesley is treading lightly in the land of ice and rock and, through the Southern Ocean Research Partnership initiative, making sure research efforts are combined rather than duplicated to reduce impact on the fragile environment. Lesley will impart invaluable information about ecology, the history of whaling as well as the delicate ecologies and what science and conservation are doing to protect Antarctica.

Here's your chance to get in on a great night of imagery and information and a jump on a great deal on the 2010/2011 Antarctica season.

Antarctica with Lesley Gidding, Sydney
When: Tuesday March 16th - 6pm
Where: Level 5, 71 York St
Cost: FREE
Register HERE

Come Prepared! Visit our Antarctica webpage, find something that suits you
and Lesley will be able to answer your questions on the night.

Chimu Adventures Offers 25% off Antarctica Expeditions

2010-03-14T10:13:00.002+11:00

Latin America and Antarctica specialist Chimu Adventures is offering 25% off the MS Expedition Antarctica cruises.

The special is valid for all departures in the 2010/2011 season and all expeditions such as the classic 11 day voyage and the longer 20 day 'Spirit of Shackleton' route.

Director of Chimu Adventures, Greg Carter, believes the deal gives people the opportunity to pick up a real bargain in getting to Antarctica. Carter claims, "with the 25% off discount, prices are starting from around $AUD 3775 for the 11-day classic expedition. This is really unbeatable value!"

The offer is available for bookings made before 30th April 2010 and is commissionable for agents.

Economic downturn puts freeze on Antarctic tourism

2010-01-05T18:02:00.000+11:00

Source: Reuters

The economic downturn has frozen tourists' enthusiasm to travel to one of Australia's most remote and inhospitable Antarctic outposts with tourism operators reporting a sharp downturn in bookings.

In January 2009 the Australian Antarctic Division reported a record five cruise ships carrying over 400 visitors visited the site of the Mawson's Huts in Cape Denison, base of one of the most significant expeditions in Antarctic history.

However, only one cruise company, Australia-based Orion Expedition Cruises, was expected to visit the remote outpost in January this year, carrying about 96 visitors.

"We've had a slower year based on the recession. That means Antarctica hasn't been in the front of people's minds," Chris Perkins, sales and marketing manager for Orion Expedition Cruises, told Reuters on board the polar cruiser The Orion.

Commercial Antarctic tourism dates back to the late 1960s but interest surged in the late 1980s, leading to a wide range of tourist and adventure activities -- and prompting a list of regulations to protect the pristine Antarctic environment.

Orion Expedition Cruises runs an 18-day trip that visits the historic wooden Mawson's Huts, set up by geologist Douglas Mawson who led an Australasian Antartic expedition from 1911 to 1914, as well as Port Martin, the site of 100 grounded icebergs.

But if the tag price of between USD19,000 to USD40,500 is not a deterrent then the idea of spending seven days crossing the gruelling Southern Ocean to visit one of the world's most inhospitable regions can be off-putting to many travellers.

Some, however, are determined to make the trip to Cape Denison in east Antarctica, with the voyage best undertaken in the southern hemisphere summer between late December and March.

"As far as the economic climate goes, that goes up and down, but I'm getting older and that means I've only got a limited time to do all the things I've want to do," Fred Pernat, a tourist from Melbourne, Australia, told Reuters on board The Orion.

"I suppose I've got a bucket list and coming to Antarctica is one of the things I've always wanted to do."

Rising tourist numbers have sparked a debate on the pros and cons of commercial visitors to the remote wilderness of east Antarctica which is far less accessible than the Antarctic Peninsula that is a two-day sea trip from South America.

But while the risk of contamination to the environment is always a possibility, tourism to the area is bound by strict guidelines set out in the International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators (IAATO).

Professor Pat Quilty of the University of Tasmania says tourism is not doing as much damage to Antarctica as research stations, which can be occupied by up to 1,000 people in summer.

"It's very clear that whatever humanity does is going to have some effect. The question is whether it's transitory," said Quilty.

In order to minimise the impact of tourism in the area, Orion Expeditions has designed its five star cruise ship to operate on low fuel and carry a mini-decimalization plant which reduces the amount of water used and carries all "grey water" or sewage back to port for disposal.

"We don't dump anything. Nothing goes over the side," said Perkins.

Antarctic Cruise Guide - 2nd Edition

2009-12-31T15:03:00.000+11:00

Professor Craig Franklin from the UQ School of Biological Sciences has recently announced the release of the second edition Antarctica Cruising Guide, believed to be the most comprehensive guide for tourists to the area.

Up to 40,000 tourists visit Antarctica each year and this number is set to increase.

The guide, co-authored with Dr Peter Carey, was written to inform people about Antarctica in a way that would not only enhance their trip south but also raise awareness of threats to Antarctic conservation.

"Sales of the first edition of the book exceeded our expectations so much so that AWA Press wanted to release a second edition," Professor Franklin said.

"We took the opportunity of the second edition to expand the coverage of the highlights of Antarctica and more importantly, to update the threatened species status of key wildlife found in the Southern Ocean.

"It is alarming that more than one-third of the species described in the book are listed as threatened and endangered. In this edition we have been able to devote a chapter to 'Threats to Antarctic Conservation'."

The new edition includes chapters on the Falkland Islands and South Georgia which are now being visited more often by tourists, as well as Ross Island which is being visited by tourists travelling directly from Hobart to Antarctica by sea.

"We have covered most tourist destinations as well as those sites which are of scientific and historical importance. There is no book that gives such a thorough overview of the places that most people are able to visit in Antarctica," Professor Franklin said.

Professor Franklin and Dr Care, have spent four years carrying out scientific work or lecturing on cruise ships in the Antarctic.

"We are well qualified to help more people appreciate and have a greater understanding for the ice," he said.

Antarctica Cruising Guide is available in bookshops and online and is published by AWA Press, New Zealand.

Mawson's hut team sets up home on the ice

2009-12-14T08:12:00.000+11:00

Pauline Askin

I am now standing on Antarctica, my icy home for the next six weeks and it’s minus five degrees Celsius and majestic. My new address is Commonwealth Bay, Cape Denison, 67 degrees South, East Antarctica.

A group of curious penguins greeted us as we unpacked our gear, but our nearest human neighbours are 200 kms west at the French Antarctic base Dumont D’Urville.
Commonwealth Bay looks like a tourism postcard. A curved bay with a coastline of ice cliffs. The isolation is stark. Apart from Sir Douglas Mawson’s huts, which we are here to restore, a radio mast and our portacabins, there is nothing but ice. From today we will live and work in close quarters without seeing anyone else until a scheduled cruise ship arrival in mid-January 2010.

It’s 10.24 pm as I write this blog but it is not night. This is a land that never gets dark during summer, which is a little surreal.

I have been awake for nearly 24 hours since l’Astrolabe arrived in Commonwealth Bay in perfect weather, light winds and cloud cover, ending our 2,500 kms journey from Australia. After a quick coffee we started the helicopter shuttle.

It took us two hours and about seven helicopter trips to transfer the 10 members of the Mawson’s Huts Foundation 2009/10 Expedition, laden with polar clothing, survival packs and work equipment. There were also 14 caged pallets of food, scientific equipment, generators, fuel and building materials for the restoration work.

I was fortunate to go back up in the helicopter for about 20 minutes while my colleague Dr. Peter Morse was shooting video footage for a documentary.

I had a bird’s eye view of the Cape Denison coast, where I saw deep cracks in the ice cliffs and my first sight of Mawson’s huts, half buried under snow and ice from the Antarctic winter. With everything firmly planted on the ice, the pilot waved us goodbye as he hovered overhead.

We quickly unpacked equipment so that we could get indoors and get properly clothed as fast as possible, then erected tents, dug a freezer cave for our frozen foods and unpacked pallets. There is still a few days work unpacking the pallets.

By about 9 a.m. we were sitting down to a steaming bowl of Egyptian lentil soup made by one of the team — it was delicious and just what was needed to warm up.
The rest of the day passed very quickly and included a walk to Mawson’s huts. The main hut and workshop are pretty well exposed and there’ll be no problems getting access to restore them, says expedition leader Tony Stewart. Some of the group did a water run to Alga Lake to secure some freshly melted Antarctic snow. Most people have now gone to bed and it’s time for me to join the slumber party. Good night.

Iceberg a 'once-in-a-lifetime' sighting

2009-12-12T19:08:00.000+11:00

A giant iceberg - 19km long - drifting towards Western Australia has been hailed as a once-in-a-lifetime rarity for both its size and the length of its journey.

The iceberg, known as B17B, is currently 1,700km from Australia's west coast on a lengthy and laborious journey from Antarctica.

It is one of the biggest icebergs ever seen in that part of the world and has amazed scientists for having maintained its impressive size without breaking apart.

"It's very rare, uncommon, but not unusual," Australian Antarctic Division glaciologist Dr Neal Young told AAP on Wednesday.

"Icebergs do come from time to time and they can be very big, but it can be a long time before we spot one - so it's really a once-in-a-lifetime sighting."

Originally three-times its current size, the iceberg broke off Antarctica's Ross Ice Shelf in 2000 along with a slew of others.

The iceberg has since travelled thousands of kilometres and a third of the way around Antarctica thanks to ocean currents and winds.

It stayed completely still in one spot for about five years.

As it makes its way slowly north towards Australia, the iceberg is likely to split into smaller pieces as it gets closer - if it comes this way at all, Dr Young said.

Dr Young originally spotted the iceberg using satellite images from NASA and the European Space Agency.

The iceberg is 19km by 8km, equating to an area of 140 square kilometres - roughly double the size of Sydney Harbour.

New Zealand fears tourism disaster in Antarctica

2009-12-10T19:11:00.001+11:00

New rules are needed for tourist ships visiting Antarctica to prevent a disaster in the world's most isolated region, according to New Zealand Foreign Affairs Minister Murray McCully.

"I am greatly concerned that unless we take action, there will be a serious maritime casualty involving a tourist vessel in Antarctica, and we will be faced with a humanitarian and environmental disaster," McCully said.

A three-day meeting started in Wellington Wednesday of about 80 experts from the 47 Antarctic Treaty countries, aimed at drawing up new regulations for tourist ships visiting Antarctica.

McCully told the meeting that four tourist ships had run aground in the past three years, and 154 people had to be rescued by a nearby vessel after the Canadian-owned Explorer sank after hitting an iceberg in 2007.

"We were lucky. No one was lost in that incident, but the fact that there have not been more serious consequences owes more to good luck than good management," he said in a speech.

"Clearly, we are on borrowed time."

The number of annual visitors in tourist ships has quadrupled to around 46,000 over the last 15 years, and there are concerns some of the ships are not suitable for the extreme conditions.

The meeting is expected to come up with recommendations on the types of ships that can be used in Antarctic waters, and whether they should be required to sail with another ship nearby for safety's sake.

Other recommendations will be aimed at ensuring the Antarctic environment remains pristine, including whether to ban the use of heavy fuel oil, which if leaked could have a devastating impact on wildlife.

The experts' recommendations will go to a meeting of Antarctic Treaty members in Uruguay in May next year.

Source AAP

Team hunts for Mawson's historic plane

2009-12-05T19:09:00.000+11:00

A heavy duty metal detector is being brought into Antarctica to scan for a plane used by Australian explorer Sir Douglas Mawson.

He took the flying machine to Antarctica in 1911 and the Mawson's Huts Foundation wants to find it.

The search for Sir Douglas' plane has captured the imagination of Tony Stewart, who is leading the team of expeditioners who will spend this summer down at Commonwealth Bay.

Full Story

One Ocean Expeditions secures expedition ship ‘Akademik Ioffe’

2009-06-21T21:13:00.000+10:00

ANTARCTICA 2010

Canada-based ONE OCEAN EXPEDITIONS, represented by ACTIVE TRAVEL, has announced a significant coup for the forthcoming 2010 Antarctic season.

Commencing 16 January 2010, ONE OCEAN will operate the well-known Russian research vessel, Akademik Ioffe, formerly chartered by US-based Quark Expeditions.

ONE OCEAN'S CEO and ex-Australian resident, Andrew Prossin, said " Akademik Ioffe has been sold in the Australian market for years. I worked with this vessel for many seasons and in my opinion she is the best-equipped Antarctic expedition vessel in the world. I am delighted to have secured her for the 2009/10 Antarctic season".

The Akademik Ioffe was commissioned by the Soviets in 1989 and was originally designed as high-tech "spy ship". She was never really used for that purpose however her sophisticated ballast systems and ultra-quiet engines make her an ideal vessel for polar exploration. According to Prossin, she is "about as quiet and vibration free as they come".

Andrew Prossin is a veteran of approx 150 voyages in Polar regions and is at the forefront of polar innovation. Some years ago he introduced sea-kayaking options to the Australian market and his 2010 programmes contain a number of creative options. First, he will reduce passenger numbers from 110 to 86, providing the highest staff/client ratio in the industry. Secondly, each voyage includes four 'Adventure Concierges', setting new standards for customer service. Their role is simply to engage with passengers at whatever level is required, to ensure they get the best from their Antarctic adventure.

ONE OCEAN is also unique in the expedition cruise industry by offering a wide variety of options to clients every time they leave the ship. These include sea-kayaking, guided hikes, zodiac cruises, bird-watching programmes – with passengers able to choose their preferred activity each time they go ashore. And an overnight adventure camping option (normally over A$200) is free of charge including all necessary gear.

By reducing passenger numbers from 110 to 86, there is considerable extra space on board. Each expedition will now include a massage therapist and a new onboard spa will provide a variety of relaxing and therapeutic services at an additional cost. The company has also developed an 'Active Cruising' programme, bringing fitness and adventure together into a unique package. An onboard personal trainer will offer a regular programme of fitness and training sessions so that participants are well prepared for daily activities – and for the delicious meals prepared by the Canadian chef!

Five expeditions are offered next year, including three 10 night cruises to the Antarctic Peninsula, a 12 night expedition to the South Orkney Islands, Weddell Sea and Antarctic Peninsula and an 18 night trip to the Falkland Islands, South Georgia and the Antarctic Peninsula.

For brochures and further information contact ACTIVE TRAVEL on 02-9264 1231 or visit www.activetravel.com.au.

FOOD CACHE FOR 1911-14 AUSTRALASIAN ANTARCTIC EXPEDITION FOUND AFTER NEARLY 100 YEARS

2009-03-07T10:50:00.001+11:00

A food depot established by the 1911-14 Australasian Antarctic Expedition (AAE) led by the legendary Sir Douglas Mawson, has been discovered nearly 100 years later by a small team of explorers led by Greg Mortimer, founder of Aurora Expeditions.

The cache is at Madigan Nunatak (Nunatak is the Antarctic term for a rocky peak surrounded by ice), named after Cecil Madigan, a geologist with Mawson’s AAE who established the food store in case of emergency for sledging parties.

Found this week, it is 70 kms east-south east of Cape Denison which was the AAE’s base for two years and which is now being conserved by the Mawson’s Huts Foundation which currently has a team of eight working on Mawson’s Huts for the next four weeks.

Mortimer, the managing director of Aurora Expeditions and a member of the first Australian team to climb Mt Everest., flew by helicopter from his ship the Marina Svetaeva, which is carrying 100 passengers on an Antarctic cruise to Mawson’s Huts. On board is a grand-daughter of Madigan, Julia Butler.

Attempts to find Madigan Nunatak in the 1980’s failed with ice covering the rocky peak and only a long bamboo pole protruding from the cache sighted in 1985.

“I have been trying to get to Madigan Nunatak for years” said Mortimer from onboard the Marina Svetaeva. “This year we were in the right place at the right time.”

“It was a tiny ridge in the white expanse of the polar plateau about 2400 feet above sea level. We observed a cairn surmounted by a tin consistent in shape and construction with kerosene tins associated with the AAE” he said. “The tin contains at least three calico bags held in place by a rock. One contains white powder, probably flour and the other a brown substance, possibly pemmican (a food mix favoured by the AAE on sledging parties).

The long bamboo pole which marked the spot for the AAE still remains but now lies on the rocks.

The Mawson’s Huts Foundation team which was landed by a Marina Svetaeva eight days ago is carrying out an extensive works programme which includes locating the first aircraft ever taken to the Antarctic and fitting out a special laboratory to conserve the thousands of artefacts left inside the hut when the AAE left for home in December 1913.

Aurora Expeditions Antarctic Adventures 2009/10

2009-03-07T10:43:00.001+11:00

Aurora Expeditions 2009/2010 Antarctic season features thirteen expeditions on two ice-strengthened vessels that offer camping, kayaking, climbing and helicopter excursions, as well as unequalled wildlife viewing opportunities on the great white continent.

In its ongoing quest to provide the most extraordinary adventures in Antarctica, Aurora Expeditions is offering thirteen itineraries for the 2009/2010 Antarctic season between November 2009 and March 2010, showcasing the beauty, remoteness, history and wildlife of the frozen south and offering the most comprehensive program of adventure activities of any Antarctic tour operator.

Whether travellers want to see the tallest penguins in the world; paddle a kayak in clear waters dotted with icebergs; scuba dive in the remotest place on earth, or follow in the footsteps of the great explorers, Aurora has an expedition that will match their wildest dreams.

Aurora’s 54 passenger ice-strengthened ship Polar Pioneer will undertake ten voyages to the Antarctic Peninsula during the season; while the 100 passenger ice-strengthened and helicopter equipped Marina Svetaeva will make three voyages to ‘Deep Antarctica’ including Commonwealth Bay and the Ross Sea.

While not luxury vessels, both ships provide simple, comfortable accommodation with meals prepared by Western chefs. All voyages include all meals on board, shore excursions, and an in-depth education program with expert commentary and talks by Aurora’s team of naturalists, historians, geologists, expedition staff and special guest lecturers.

The small group size makes it possible for all passengers to go ashore at every landing, allows the wildlife to be observed without disturbance and makes for more relaxed visits to historic sites and scientific stations. The maneuverability of these smaller vessels, along with a fleet of inflatable Zodiacs, allows travellers to visit places conventional ships cannot reach.

Unlike some other operators, Aurora is not concerned with hairdryers, bathrobes, spa treatments, dress codes or room service – the emphasis of its expeditions are on true exploration and discovery in some of the most extreme wildernesses on the planet.

The Antarctic Peninsula is the warmest and most accessible region of the frozen continent, reached by two days sailing from Ushuaia at the southernmost tip of Argentina. In addition to witnessing the most amazing wildlife spectacle on earth, for intrepid travellers, Aurora offers adventure options in the Antarctic Peninsula such as sea-kayaking, camping overnight on the ice, climbing and scuba diving.

The 12-day ‘Antarctic Peninsula for Climbers and Kayakers’ (7 -18 December 2009) voyage offers the chance to climb icebergs and unclimbed peaks or paddle in pristine waters led by some of the world’s most experienced mountain climbers and guides.

The 12-day ‘Across the Circle’ (16 – 27 February 2010) voyage includes the opportunity to scuba dive amongst glaciers and gigantic icebergs and meet seals and penguins in their element in a once-in-a-lifetime underwater adventure.

The 20-day ‘Shackleton Odyssey’, (27 February – 18 March 2010) voyage retraces the epic journey of the great explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton and offers the option for experienced climbers to repeat his alpine crossing on foot from King Haakon Bay to the now deserted whaling station at Stromness.

Voyages will also visit scientific bases and historic sites. Prices for Antarctic Peninsula voyages start at US$5990 (ex-Ushuaia) per person triple share.

‘Deep Antarctica’, the most southerly region accessible by ship, stretches from the Ross Ice Shelf to Commonwealth Bay in East Antarctica. It’s a wild place guarded by pack ice and is reached four days sailing across the Southern Ocean from Australia or New Zealand. This area is the stuff of polar legend, with century-old huts and base camps that are literally frozen in time. Voyages also plan to call in at two or three sub-Antarctic islands – home to millions of royal, king and other penguin species, several species of albatross, snorting elephant seals and frisky fur seals.

The 27-day ‘Mawson’s Antarctica’ (11 December 2009 – 6 January 2010) voyage to Commonwealth Bay departs from Hobart, visiting the wildlife-rich sub-Antarctic islands on route to Cape Denison, site of Mawson’s historic hut, and the French Antarctic base, Dumont D’Urville.

The two 26-day ‘Ross Sea Explorer’ expeditions will depart from Hobart (7 January – 1 February 2010, returning to Bluff New Zealand) and Bluff, New Zealand (2 February – 27 February 2010, returning to Hobart). These expeditions aim to sail to the Ross Ice Shelf, dry valleys, and historic huts of explorers Scott and Shackleton. Helicopter excursions are included on all voyages to Deep Antarctica.

Prices for all three voyages start at US$12,590 per person quad share.

Although suitable for people of all ages and physical abilities, these are not ordinary cruises. Weather and ice, not clocks and calendars, set the schedule for a journey here. In the spirit of exploration, landings and activities will depend on ice, sea and weather conditions and the daily schedule may change in line with the dynamic environment.

Aurora Expeditions is a licensed travel agent who can arrange competitive airfares and pre and post touring options in conjunction with these voyages.

For further information contact Aurora Expeditions on 1800 637 688 or visit www.auroraexpeditions.com.au

Orion expeditions to Sub-Antarctic islands

2009-03-07T10:42:00.001+11:00

Immerse yourself in some of our planet's most extraordinary biodiversity.

Protected by the Southern Ocean, secluded and seldom visited, the Australian and New Zealand Sub-Antarctic Islands, recognized by UNESCO as one of the worlds' precious regions of unique biodiversity, will be visited by the expedition cruise ship Orion in December, 2009.

Today these remote nature reserves enjoy World Heritage status, recognised for their volcanic and glacial geological formations and extraordinary diversity of flora and fauna - much of which endangered or recovering since being discovered and later plundered in the late 1700's and early 1800's by sealers and whalers.

Home to over half of the world's seabirds, some of which exist nowhere else, this wildlife paradise contains 40% of the world's albatross species and 50% of the world's penguin species including the endangered yellow-eyed penguin, plus hundreds of thousands of other endemic birds - petrels, prions and cormorants.

The expedition team will include the highly respected British zoologist and naturalist Dr John Sparks, who travelled to Antarctica onboard Orion in 2006.

At Snares there is every expectation guests will see Sooty Shearwaters, the endemic Snares Crested Penguins, Snares Fernbird and Tomtits. On Enderby Island expect to see pipits, parakeets and plovers, Hooker's Sea Lions, and perhaps even the Auckland Island Flightless Teal and Sub-Antarctic Snipe. Campbell Island, home to the Southern Royal Albatrosses, has the highest diversity of breeding albatrosses of any island in the world.

And then there are plant species that have to be seen to be believed, including 5 meter high tree daisies on Snares, giants compared to their relatives in more temperate climates.

With convenient embarkation in Bluff (Invercargill, New Zealand) or Hobart, Orion will head south to visit (depending on voyage) Macquarie, Campbell, Stewart, Snares and Auckland islands as well as spending time exploring New Zealand's beautiful Fjordlands (including Milford and Doubtful Sounds).

These two expeditions to the Sub-Antarctic islands are designed for nature lovers and photographers alike. The remnants of the old whaling station on Macquarie Island, the high cliffs and numerous caves and arches formed by marine erosion on Campbell Island and the enormous sea stacks on the southern peninsulas of Snares present dramatic contrast to the prolific bird life, penguins, seals, sea lions and flora in this remote sanctuary.
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Dr John Sparks has travelled all over the world making wildlife films, including five with Sir David Attenborough; he has written 11 books and visited Antarctica on many occasions. Details available at www.johnsparks.org
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Orion Fares Guide:

13 night Sub-Antarctic Adventure –departs Hobart 1 December 2009 or Bluff (Invercargill) NZ 14 December 2009. Itineraries vary.

Fares from $10,630 per person twin share for an ocean view Category B stateroom

Suites from $14,660 per person twin share for a Junior Suite

Owners' Suites with French Balcony are $22,265 per person twin share

Ranked #2 expedition cruise ship in the world in the current Berlitz Cruise Guide, Orion is the world's latest purpose-built luxury expedition cruise ship, featuring an unmatched range of onboard facilities.

With 75 crew and a maximum of just 106 passengers Orion offers the highest staff to guest ratio and guest to public space ratio of any ship based in Australian waters.

Further information on all Orion Expedition Cruises to Antarctica, Papua New Guinea, Melanesia, Asia, New Zealand, the Kimberley and Arnhem Land can be obtained by visiting the website www.orionexpeditions.com

For reservations or to obtain a brochure call Orion Expedition Cruises: 61-2 9033 8777 (Sydney callers) 1300 361 012 (regional and interstate) or your travel agent. Email: info@orioncruises.com.au

New Ship for Antarctica

2009-03-07T10:40:00.001+11:00

Clelia II
(100 Passengers)

To be re-launched early in 2009 (constructed 1991) for Antarctica expeditions, the all-suite luxury ship Clelia II was extensively refurbished, redecorated and otherwise improved to offer the finest in small-ship cruise travel. This private, yacht-like, ice-strengthened expedition ship accommodates only 100 guests in 50 suites. Each suite provides ocean views, measures 215 square feet or more, and includes a sitting area or separate living room, twin or queen-size beds, spacious closets, air conditioning.

Amenities

Decorated with rich fabrics, handsome wood, polished brass, rare antiquities and fine works of art, the yacht’s public spaces are warm and inviting. These include:

• Library with Internet access
• 2 Lounges with audiovisual facilities
• State-of-the-art gym/spa
• Beauty salon
• Boutique
• Hospital
• Elevator serving all passenger decks
• Dining room
• Two sun decks
• Jacuzzi
• Swimming platform

Clelia II complies with the latest international and U.S. Coast Guard safety regulations and is outfitted with the most current navigational and communications technology as well as with retractable fin stabilizers for smooth sailing, an ice-strengthened hull and a fleet of Zodiacs. Clelia II is staffed by 60 European officers and crew. Taken together with her limited guest capacity, excellence of design, craftsmanship and material, Clelia II's spaciousness and intimate ambience combine to make her ideal for distinctive cultural and expedition voyages.

Specifications:

Length: 290 ft
Beam: 50 ft
Draft: 12 ft
Gross Tonnage: 4200

The Clelia II will be operated by Polar Cruises of Oregon, USA and can be booked in Australia by Cruise Traveller.

Cruise West to Antarctica

2009-03-07T10:39:00.001+11:00

Seattle, WA - Continuing to add exciting new destinations to its global offerings, exploration cruise line Cruise West (http://www.cruisewest.com) is pleased to announce that it is adding an exclusive, 19-night Antarctica expedition to its product line-up for 2010.

On board the 114-guest, all-suite Corinthian II, a very select group of guests will have the opportunity to explore the very best that the most remote continent on earth has to offer. Ports of calls and sites include the Falkland, South Georgia and Orkney Islands as well as the Antarctic Peninsula and the myriad of islands that dot its shore.

"Cruise West is making a conscientious effort to keep itinerary offerings fresh and intriguing," said President and CEO Dietmar R. Wertanzl. "We are seeking out destinations that complement our core products, create excitement for repeat guests and appeal to new guests - so introducing Antarctica was a natural progression. The Corinthian II is a sister ship to our Spirit of Oceanus, so we know our repeat guests will feel right at home."

Diversity - in cultures, landscape and temperatures - will be one of the hallmarks of this maiden voyage as guests begin their adventure in luxury at the Palacio Duhau Park Hyatt Hotel in Buenos Aires before departing for the quaint, southernmost city in South America, Ushuaia.

After boarding the Corinthian II, guests will gain fascinating insight on the flora, fauna, history and geology via presentations by an expert staff of eight naturalists. In the tradition of Cruise West's up-close, casual and personal style, guests will have extraordinary opportunities to view Rockhopper penguins in the remote British outpost of the Falkland Islands; thousands of King penguins and nesting grounds of wandering albatross in South Georgia, while simultaneously admiring the water-loving larger species of whales, fur seals, elephant seals and the icebergs and glaciers that surround them.

Antarctica, owned by no country but managed under a 46-country scientific treaty, is the fifth largest continent on the planet while remaining the least populated. Its exotic remoteness combined with legendary stories of exploration and adventure spur on the fantasies of armchair travelers and documentary-watchers all over the globe; for 114 Cruise West guests, the fantasy has now become an attainable reality.

Cruise West's 19-night maiden voyage to Antarctica will depart February 7, 2010. Prices start at $13,899 (US dollars); save $1,000/person, based on double occupancy, by booking and paying in full by May 1, 2009.

To learn more about this itinerary or other Cruise West voyages, consumers are encouraged to attend one of the company's online live presentations - Visit http://www.cruisewest.com/presentations to view the schedule.

More information about advance reservations for this itinerary - as well as Cruise West's other itineraries to destinations as diverse as Alaska, Panama and Costa Rica, Mexico's Sea of Cortes, Japan, Vietnam, the Galapagos, the Pacific Northwest or the romantic rivers of Europe - can be found online at www.cruisewest.com, by calling 1-800-296-8307 or contact a Travel Professional.

www.cruisewest.com

Tourists burn a trail to Australian Antarctic outpost

2009-01-20T11:04:00.000+11:00

By Pauline Askin - Reuters Life

An isolated Australian outpost in remote Antarctica has become a popular destination for adventure-seeking tourists, as more tour operators put it on their itinerary for more than just researchers.

The 97-year-old Mawson's Hut, in Cape Denison at Commonwealth Bay, was home to Sir Douglas Mawson and his men during the 1911-14 Australasian Antarctic Expedition.

It had more than 300 visitors in December -- a record number -- with another 100 expected on the last ship that arrives around January 23.

"It's becoming a more popular tourist destination, I think, because it's part of an increasing trend in Antarctic tourism," Bruce Hull, senior environment officer at the Australia's Antarctic Division, told Reuters.

"By the time the fifth ship arrives at Cape Denison between the 20th and 23rd of January, I think the numbers will be about 400 visitors for 2008/09," he added.

This compares with about 260 visitors in 2006/07, and about 200 visitors in 2000/01.

The gruelling sea and icy conditions makes the six-day passage across the Southern Ocean attractive to only the most daring type of traveler. Four companies, from Australia, New Zealand and Germany, go down to Cape Denison and Hull said the ships posed no threat to the environment.

"All activities in Antarctica are subject to an environmental assessment and each tourist expedition is subject to that," he said. "On the whole most tourist ventures are assessed as less than minor or transitory."

Mawson dubbed Cape Denison the "Home of Blizzards" because of its severe climate and the area is only accessible for a ten-week period, between mid-December and mid-February, when weather conditions are less inhospitable.

Chris Perkins, sales and marketing manager for Orion Expedition Cruises which runs trips to Cape Denison, said Mawson's Hut was a part of Australian history that had now become slightly more accessible.

"It's becoming more popular because more operators are providing ways to get down there. Five or ten years ago it was very difficult, only research ships went there," he explained.

"It's one of the most exclusive and difficult places on the planet to get to. Mawson's Hut is part of Australian history, it's preserved in ice basically, it's kind of like a time capsule," Perkins said.

The average age of visitors to Mawson's Hut is about 45-55 years old, and travelers need to be certified fit by a doctor to be able to go there.

There are also strict quarantine guidelines -- tourists are required to wash and disinfect their boots before they go ashore and clothes and baggage must be checked for seeds and other agricultural items.

Since the beginning of the modern Antarctic tourism industry in 1969, the number of tourists in Antarctica has grown from a few hundred to more than 30,000 each year, according to the International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators.

Antarctica: Big, white and silent

2008-11-07T23:32:00.000+11:00

ASTW Travel Writer of the Year 2007: Responsible Tourism

By GARY WALSH

THERE could be few acts more distasteful than disrupting a solemn graveside ritual, especially by calling loudly and belching. Then again, elephant seals - burping, gurgling, farting, mobile waterbeds that they are - aren't known for their decorum, and of all people the great Antarctic explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton would probably excuse their behaviour.

We were standing in a whalers' cemetery on the sub-Antarctic island of South Georgia, 100 or so people wrapped up against the chill, each cradling a tot of rum in a little plastic cup, about to toast Shackleton's memory. His fateful journey south, which resulted in an epic survival story after the destruction of his ship Endurance in the Antarctic ice, had begun here at the whaling station in Grytviken on December 5, 1914, and his life ended here on January 5, 1922, when “The Boss” had a massive heart attack on the eve of another expedition to the Antarctic.

It was a reverent moment until a bubbling sound like a misfiring outboard motor disturbed the sober atmosphere and everyone turned to a wide-eyed juvenile elephant seal poking his snout through the picket fence. He blurted and snuffled and generally made a nuisance of himself until the party broke up, proving yet again that the wildlife has retaken South Georgia.

From Christmas Eve 1904 until the end of commercial whaling in 1965, South Georgia was the biggest slaughterhouse on earth. The island's whaling stations processed an almost unfathomable 175,250 whales in six decades. In the peak season of 1925-26,1855 blue whales, 5709 fin whales, 236 humpbacks, 13 sei whales and 12 sperm whales were killed. Seals, too, were prized - an estimated 1.2 million fur seals were killed for their pelts and elephant seals were taken for the oil extracted from their blubber.

The day before our ship, the Akademik Ioffe, reached South Georgia we ran into an extraordinary field of cetaceans feeding on a rich supply of krill, as many as 18 blue whales as well as humpbacks, fins, leis, southern rights, a beaked whale and a minke. Some experts have suggested it was the biggest bounty of whales seen in one day since the end of the whaling era. In our four days in South Georgia's waters, however, not one whale was seen. Romantics like to think that the whales somehow sense that South Georgia was their killing field and choose to avoid the area.

Shackleton's story is intertwined with South Georgia's. When Endurance was finally crushed by pack ice on November 21, 1915, having been beset that January, Shackleton and his crew set up camp on the ice. In March 1916 they took to the water in three lifeboats and after seven days made landfall at Elephant Island. A week later Shackleton and five others set sail in the 6.9-metre James Caird and somehow managed to navigate 1300 kilometres of the world's wildest seas to reach South Georgia's bleak west coast.

It was an unspeakably awful journey, 16 days in a small boat, trying to catch snatches of sleep while wedged between blankets filled with unyielding rock ballast, skin rubbed raw from the chafing of clothes not changed for seven months – “supreme strife amid heaving waters”, as Shackleton put it in his memoirs.

The whaling stations that Shackleton knew meant salvation were on the opposite coast, so he and two colleagues, Frank Worsley and Frank Crean, set off to cross the savage, unmapped interior of South Georgia on foot. For 36 hours they trekked through snowfields and deeply crevassed glaciers, crossed frozen lakes, reached dead ends, took wrong turns and at one point leapt in the darkness half a kilometre down an ice cliff with no idea what awaited them at the bottom. Crean fell into a lake that now bears his name not long before Shackleton heard what he thought was a work signal from Stromness station.

“At 6.30am I thought I heard the sound of a steam-whistle,” Shackleton wrote. “I dared not be certain, but I knew that the men at the whaling-station would be called from their beds about that time. In intense excitement we watched the chronometer for seven o'clock, when the whalers would be summoned to work. Right to the minute the steam-whistle came to us, borne clearly on the wind over the intervening miles of rock and snow. Never had any one of us heard sweeter music.”

I first visited South Georgia six years ago, when it was possible to walk among the ruins of the buildings at Stromness and have your picture taken at the manager's house where Shackleton and his colleagues announced their arrival. Safety concerns, including the presence of asbestos, mean it is now closed to the public, who can only approach within 50 metres of the buildings on land or sea. (Recent research has shown that the manager's house was built after Shackleton's miraculous appearance, causing a rethink about which building it was that the three sailors arrived at.)

What is still possible, weather permitting, is a retracing of the final few hours of Shackleton's trek. After a steep initial ascent from Fortuna Bay it is easy walking across a saddle and past Tom Crean's lake to the point where the factory whistle was heard. Then it is a scramble down loose scree - rather than the frozen waterfall that Shackleton and his colleagues somehow descended - to the tussocky marshland that surrounds the old whaling station.

Vicious katabatic winds roaring off the island's glaciers made it impossible for us to make the walk this year, but six years ago I managed it, dodging aggressive fur seals on guard around Stromness's tumbledown buildings to come to the door of the (supposed) manager's house. As everywhere on South Georgia, the wildlife ruled. Inside one building a pair of doe-eyed elephant seals lay between winches and work tables, in another, fur seals peered from beneath metal beds. In every comer a seal seemed to have taken up residence, sheltered from the worst of the elements and generally undisturbed.

At Grytviken it is as if the whaling station has been subjected to a kind of industrial autopsy and then the body has been dressed for showing it to the relatives. Courtesy of a seven million pounds grant from the British Government the shells of the buildings have been removed in the past few years to reveal the boilers, engines, pipes, valves and other machinery of the oil extraction processes. There is, when you think about it, a synergy with the whaling era in the stripping down to the bare bones of the factory.

Grytviken is safe to wander through and it is richly evocative in a sanitised, museum- like way, but the stations at Stromness, Leith and Husvik have a more stark and truthful aspect to them, with their rattling iron walls, rusted machinery and half- submerged wharves, all displayed to the accompaniment of the plaintive cry of countless seals. What Grytviken does have is a human aspect the others lack. The station's excellent museum, which devotes a section to Shackleton, is run by South Georgia's only two permanent residents, Tim and Pauline Carr, who also look after the beautifully restored whalers' church. Visitors are encouraged to ring its bell, the peal of which echoes around Grytviken's natural amphitheatre.

Our first landing on South Georgia this year was at Prion Island, home to a small population of the threatened Wandering Albatross. Neighbouring Albatross Island is now closed to visitors because of the fragility of its bird population, while Prion Island may soon also be off limits. In a contentious move, the South Georgia government, run from the Falkland Islands, plans to build a wooden boardwalk across the beach and up the gully that leads to the albatross nesting grounds.

The aim is to prevent erosion of the steep gully and to minimise disturbance to the wildlife - penguins and seals are also in profusion on the island - but critics fear its impact on several levels. They worry that it will encourage greater numbers to visit Prion Island, causing more pressure on the albatross population, and that it will disturb established penguin trails on the hillside. There is also concern about its visual effect. Many conservationists, including some who work for the adventure cruise companies, would prefer the island to close to visitors than to see the boardwalk constructed, as unpalatable a decision as that may be.

There is also discussion about a cull of fur seals on the island. Once hunted to the point where there were only a few hundred seals left around South Georgia, their numbers have now grown into the millions. Now the greater concern is for the wandering albatrosses, whose numbers, decimated by long-line fishing, are declining at a rate that may see them extinct within 40 years. While measures taken by the South Georgia government have seen seabird mortality decline to a negligible level in its waters, elsewhere the deaths continue at a horrifying rate.

In tightly controlled groups of 10 we staggered up the boggy gully, keeping a wary eye out for snarling fur seals who were well camouflaged in the tussock grasses. We were allowed 10 minutes at the top of the hill to watch the albatrosses in flight, displaying their plumage or just nesting on their eggs; at all times we were kept within the bounds of a small flagged area.

A rule adopted by all cruise companies requires visitors to get no closer than five metres to the wildlife, which is fine in theory and respected in practice. But nobody has told the animals. If you sit on a rock or lie on a beach, penguins, especially the inquisitive kings, will approach and check you out. They will peck at your clothes or tug at the straps of your daypack, or in the case of the king penguins, stride right up to you, look you up and down, and then decide you are entirely forgettable and wander off.

At Gold Harbour there were tens of thousands of gorgeous kings on the beach. They are tall, elegant and beautifully coloured, with charcoal bodies, golden necks and salmon-trimmed beaks, full of personality and with a call that sounds like one of those cheap children's birthday parry trumpets. Occasionally it's like watching a Three Stooges movie as they slap each other hard with their flippers, squabble and pratfall. And it's scarcely believable that their chicks, fat little bearskin hats with beaks, grow into these glorious creatures.

We farewelled South Georgia with an evening cruise along Drygalski Fjord, which was like passing through an Ansel Adams photograph. The scene was monochrome, apart from an almost imperceptible blue tint to the glaciers that leaned down into the water. Mountains disappeared into broken clouds, the near-total silence was all the more impressive for the sounds that were present - the bump of the ship's hull on chunks of ice and the pop of air bubbles bursting on their surface, the boom of glaciers cracking under the immense forces that push them towards the sea - and the sky always looked on the verge of breaking into an ecclesiastical burst of sunlight, like something you would see on the cover of an Old Testament. South Georgia, like its wildlife, is always showy and always memorable.

About Hellbent For the Pole

2008-05-17T12:23:00.000+10:00

About Hellbent For the Pole: "On 20 January 1958, Sir Vivian (then Dr) Fuchs and Sir Edmund Hillary met at the South Pole amid a worldwide blaze of controversy. It was the halfway point of the Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition’s crossing of the Frozen Continent — but Hillary and his ‘support’ team, driving modified Ferguson farm tractors, had made, inHillary’s words, a ‘hellbent’ dash to the Pole, pipping Fuchs and his team in their more sophisticated Sno-Cats.
Hellbent for the Pole is a behind the-scenes, often irreverent, insider’s account of the expedition by the
journalist covering for the New Zealand Press Association, The New Zealand Herald and The Daily Telegraph in London, and illustrated by manydramatic and historic photographs taken by the author. Most books recounting human exploits in Antarctica involve the concept of the hero. This book digsbeneath that outdated ‘stiff upper lip’ approach to tell it like it really was, warts and all."

Of Ice and Men

2008-05-10T14:52:00.000+10:00

As an irrepressibly inquisitive child, I would pore over maps of the great Southern land imagining infinitely white vistas, ice-encrusted shorelines and flocks of bizarre creatures engaged in all manner of noisy rituals.

Then this fledgling student of geography, in the grip of idleness, would often identify the most isolated and unlikely points on the globe, vowing one day to venture to these invariably far-flung and often wholly inhospitable lands. Antarctica's treacherous, spiny tendril was one such irresistible location.

Like the bristly tail of some giant, prehistoric sea creature, the Antarctic Peninsula thrusts out past the Antarctic Circle, lunging vainly toward its sibling, the Andes, across the infamous Drake Passage. As far as the Antarctic is concerned, the peninsula is the most densely populated location on the continent, sprinkled with vast research bases and minute outposts alike. At the height of the summer season, the human population numbers over 3,000 - not counting tourists. That figure shrinks to less than 1,000 during the intensely chilly winter.

Fast-forward thirty years and that misty dream becomes reality. I'm standing on the bow of a modern ice vessel watching hefty chunks of disintegrating pack ice thud against the hull as we pick our way gingerly through a narrow channel. Lonely groups of Adélie Penguins watch curiously as we inch past, while in the distance, a lone Leopard Seal dives for cover under the flow.

Having already traversed the waters from The Falkland Islands to South Georgia and penetrated the snoozing caldera of Deception Island, the Akedemik Sergey Vavilov and its seasoned crew prepare to make the perilous entry into the ever-diminishing confines of the frozen waterways amongst the Palmer Archipelago.

During the pre-dawn, Vavilov enters the relatively broad expanse of the Gerlache Strait and well before the first smell of morning coffee wafts up from the galley, we're perched around the bow, goggle eyed, as the snow-splattered peaks embracing the Lemaire Channel loom above us. This is the sort of vision that lasts to the grave - a manic chequerboard of ice chunks, too small to be called 'bergs' are arrayed out before us. Now at a virtual crawl, the Vavilov gently nudges them aside, the ice-strengthened steel bow ushering them delicately around the hull amidst muffled, squeaking protests.

After a suitably reinforcing breakfast we reached our southernmost point, Petermann Island, where a very basic survival hut erected by the Argentines in 1955 provides essential food, shelter and magazines for marooned explorers - handy to know if I miss the last zodiac home. A cross erected nearby bears witness to those who didn't make it. Apart from the curious hut, the little outpost plays host to the southernmost flock of breeding Gentoo Penguins while Sheathbills, Shags and the ever-opportunistic Skuas patrol nearby.

The return journey was interrupted with some leisurely zodiac cruising amongst the grounded icebergs off Pleneau Island. Seasoned by a stiff, sleety breeze, the scene is like a frozen graveyard - these doomed bergs aren't going anywhere. Arranged in totally random assortments, these guys are gathered here from all around the peninsula, their normal migration halted permanently by the shallow harbour. No two even vaguely alike, these forlorn sculpted slabs still exhibit their marvellous range of intense blue dictated by varying oxygen density. Our passage is often slowed by a thickening, smoky pane of ice forming before us and we are forced to bash our way through with oars as the lightweight zodiac displays its total lack of ice-breaking capability. Heads suddenly swivel and twitch as a timid female Leopard seal and pup suddenly appears, and just as mysteriously disappears, amongst the frosted icescape - a rare sight even for experienced expeditioners.

Next port of call is the recently refurbished, Port Lockroy on tiny Goudier Island. Abandoned by the British Antarctic Survey in 1962, the cute hut is chock full of artefacts from the mid 20th century's Antarctic expeditions and is now a heritage listed site. A radio room, a galley and a working post office where you can send a genuine Antarctic postcard and get your passport stamped. More like monks than caretakers, Dave and Nigel cheerfully answer questions while dispensing stamps and souvenirs at the most visited place on the peninsula.

Our final and most significant landfall is the Chilean mainland base of Gonzales Videla at Waterboat Point, where we set foot on Antarctica proper. I suspect our expedition leader, Julio, a burly Chilean himself, was trying to bolster his country's economy when I saw the vast array of souvenirs laid out for our inspection. The table quickly cleared and the contingent hastily withdrew to quantify their spoils. The location is so named because two typically foolhardy Englishmen wintered there in 1921-22 in an abandoned Whaler's boat. The boat itself, oozing history, was burnt by the Chileans as junk. The guano-coated base is completely overrun by incontinent Gentoo Penguins, all fiercely protected by the dozen or so military personnel who are quick to interdict if wandering visitors stray too close.

We salute the Chilean flag that flies above the ashes of the original water boat, knowing that this will be our last view of the Antarctic mainland. The aptly named Paradise Bay is the epitome of classic Antarctic Peninsula scenery. Deceptively tranquil waterways dotted with ice cakes and framed by snow-dusted cliffs, completely silent except for the occasional screech of a wheeling seabird.
I believe we all posses a photographic memory, and when I close my eyes and recall these evocative vistas in all their glory, I'm grateful for this small power of the mind. Occasionally I blow the dust off my weighty old atlas and childishly smile that certain knowing smile as my eyes pass along what were once simply maps but are now living, full colour diaries of adventure.

Sir Douglas Mawson

2008-05-10T09:41:00.000+10:00

By Rick J. Smee

The blizzard eased and at last the long, harrowing nightmare seemed to be coming to an end. Suffering snow-blindness and severe malnutrition Douglas Mawson staggered toward the Antarctic Coast hopeful that his supply ship had waited beyond the appointed rendezvous. Three months of deprivation, hunger and hardship suffered in the most hazardous and enervating of conditions had reduced him to a mere skeleton of a man. He stood alone at one of the coldest and windiest places on earth and scanned the blue and white ocean for the ship that would take him to safety but all he saw was the SY Aurora sailing away toward the distant horizon.

Douglas Mawson was born in Yorkshire, England in 1882; his parents Robert and Margaret Mawson emigrated to Australia two years later. After completing high school Douglas passed the University of Sydney entrance examination at sixteen years of age and chose a three-year degree in mining engineering, graduating in 1902. Mawson made a geological survey of Vanuatu (New Hebrides) in 1903. A couple of years later he was appointed a lecturer at the University of Adelaide.

With famed English explorer Ernest Shackleton, Mawson left New Zealand on New Year’s day 1908 onboard the 300-ton barquentine Nimrod. Among the party was Mawson’s mentor, T.W. Edgeworth David, professor of geology at Sydney University. There was time for just one expedition before the long Antarctic winter closed in and Edgeworth David led a party of six which included Mawson to scale Mt. Erebus an active volcano which towers 3,974 metres above the ivory world. Mawson was spellbound by the amazing contrasts of fire and ice emanating from the volcano’s crater.

As soon as practicable Shackleton despatched two parties, one to the South (Geographic) Pole the other led by David and Mawson to the South (Magnetic) Pole, their first priority was to take magnetic observations at all suitable points and to make a geological survey of South Victoria Land. Mawson, David and Alistair Mackay set off on their 2030 kilometre trek on September 26, 1908. After a perilous journey they raised the Union Jack on January 15 1909 at the South magnetic Pole.

The return trek was even more trying, exhaustion, hunger and snowblindness plagued the party until they returned safely to the coast on February 5, 1909. Shackleton’s party was not so fortunate and after 128 days and a trek of 2736 kilometres they were forced to turn back just 180 kilometres short of their goal.

Shackleton returned to Britain where he was knighted, while the Australian contingent were given a rousing welcome back in their homeland. Before long Mawson was making plans and on December 2 1911 he left Hobart, Tasmania on board the M.Y. Aurora with a party of thirty men bound once again for the vast frozen wasteland that is Antarctica.

After encountering gale force winds and mountainous seas, a small group landed at Macquarie Island, 1.370 kilometres SSW of Hobart and established a scientific and radio base. Aurora headed south again on December 23, 1911 and before long she was edging cautiously through swirling mist and fog. Without warning a mighty iceberg rose silently out of the gloom. The eerie creaking of the old ship’s timbers and ropes were the only sounds as Aurora slipped through the black water. Approximately one mile long and half a mile wide, the iceberg was scoured with cracks, crevasses and caves. Every man aboard stared at the towering spectacle of mass and colour where every shade of blue gleamed with transcendent beauty and menace.

AuroraAurora sailed deeper into the frozen sea of pack ice before land was finally sighted on the sixth of January and two days later a small group put ashore at Commonwealth Bay. Mawson named the site of their proposed Winter Quarters, Cape Denison. Supplies were unloaded before the Aurora sailed away, she would return next summer. Toward the end of the month the main hut and workshop were nearing completion and on the thirtieth, the eighteen-man party were sleeping inside the hut. By early February 1912 the weather had deteriorated as hurricane-force blizzards screamed down from the high Antarctic ice plateau. The realisation that Mawson had chosen one of the windiest places on earth for the expedition’s base was not long in coming.

Mawson had planned to utilise modern technology, in addition to radio he had brought a Vickers REP aircraft but howling gales and mechanical problems kept the plane on the ground. However it did perform some useful tasks on skis as an air-tractor, hauling loads of up to 370 kilos. During a lull in the weather Mawson, Madigan and Ninnis sledged south for nine kilometres where they dug an ice-shelter, which was supplied with food and equipment, brought in by sledging parties and the air-tractor, they named the place Aladdin's Cave.

The long dark Antarctic winter closed in and the little group settled down to await the spring, as blizzard after blizzard raged outside, the men grew impatient. Finally in November 1912 five expedition parties set out, Mawson had allocated the most dangerous task to his own group of Dr. Xavier Mertz a Swiss Mountaineer and ski champion, Lieutenant Belgrave E. S. Ninnis and himself. Eighteen Greenland Huskies would pull three sledges; their goal was to penetrate through frozen, unchartered territory as far east as possible. An inspiring legend of courage, endurance and survival would soon be engraved in the annals of Antarctic exploration.

In 1954 members of the first Australian National Antarctic Research Expedition landed on mainland Antarctica to commence work on its first station which was subsequently commissioned on 13 February 1954. In honour of the man who had devoted so much to Antarctic exploration and science it was appropriately named Mawson Station.

The 50th anniversary of Mawson Station this year is cause for celebration and quiet reflection. Australia Post has recognised the importance of the occasion by issuing a series of stamps and the Royal Australian Mint has produced a commemorative coin. Mawson continues to be at the cutting edge of Antarctic scientific research from global warming, ecology, microbiology and geology to immunological projects.

Sometimes mere words fail when such awesome beauty and majesty confront us but one thing is certain, Antarctica is a place like no other. It is the coldest, driest, windiest and highest of all the major landmasses on the planet. Its Transantarctic Mountains are 65 kilometres wide and 2,000 kilometres long while the highest peak, Vinson Massif in the Eternity Range of Western Antarctica rises to 5,140 metres. Antarctica is a lonely, wild and whimsical place. A place where days and nights are longer than anywhere else on earth. A place which has one of the greatest concentrations of wildlife on earth, it is a place where active volcanoes soar from the frozen, wind-swept plateau, it is also the fifth largest of all the continents and the least understood, it is indeed man’s last earthly frontier.

It seems probable that Captain James Cook and crew onboard HMS Resolution were the first to visit Antarctic waters in 1773. Cook wrote, ‘A strong gale attended by a thick fog, sleet and snow, which froze to the rigging as it fell and decorated the whole ship with icicles. Our ropes were like wire, our sails like plates of metal and the sheaves froze fast in the blocks, I have never seen so much ice.’

The Russian explorer Thaddeus von Bellinghausen first sighted the continent at 69 degrees south and 2 degrees west, on January 27, 1820. However early sealers and whalers were known to frequent the waters of the Antarctic Circle. Later such famous pioneers as Weddell, Palmer and Ross carved their names into history when they chartered the ocean around the South Pole. Today a new breed of adventurers is again coming to this majestic polar land. Luxury passenger liners such as Marco Polo cruise into waters first seen by Cook during the Antarctic summer, to provide unforgettable sightings of the mystery continent.

Adventure Associates of Sydney have regular adventure cruises from Australia, New Zealand, South America and South Africa in modern, well appointed Russian-built icebreakers and offers some of the most thrilling and meticulously organised tours of Antarctica available. Naturalists, lecturers, doctors and dedicated staff ensure that each expedition is not only an incomparable adventure but also a comfortable and thoroughly edifying one. One recent traveller with AA commented, “The trip was a dream come true, fulfilling a lifetime’s ambition. Every time we thought it could not get any better it did. There were many moments when we were speechless with wonder.”

To protect the Antarctic environment the Madrid Protocol was signed in 1991 in order to provide much-needed, comprehensive safeguards. After prolonged discussion and negotiation the joint efforts of France and Australia were successful in having mining banned indefinitely.

The scientific world has learned much about our fragile planet from Antarctica yet despite the many secrets already unlocked and ongoing scientific research, contemporary understanding of Antarctica might be compared to a small piece of pack-ice floating on a vast frozen sea. It is little wonder that those who live and work in the various stations dotted around the South Pole are filled with such enthusiasm and excitement. We have only just begun to learn about this awe-inspiring white land.

Such names as Amundsen, Scott, Shackleton and Mawson are synonymous with Antarctic exploration and thanks to the climate; elements of the past are still preserved. A visit to the superbly preserved hut of the Scott expedition of 1901-1904 reminds us of the Spartan facilities and hardships endured in the early days of Antarctic exploration. Companies like Adventure Associates who are totally dedicated to minimising the impact of each expedition, actively pursue a dedicated environmental policy, which follows to the letter, internationally agreed regulations.

Hardly able to stand and almost delirious from pain and malnutrition, Mawson couldn’t believe his luck as he watched the M.Y. Aurora sailing away. He staggered to the summit of an icy ridge where at long last, the winter quarters came into view. The main hut seemed to be surrounded by black rocks, probably exposed by melting snow and ice. Suddenly it seemed to Mawson that one of the rocks moved, he thought the end was near and then it waved.

A man began to run toward him. “My God! Which one are you?” gasped Frank Bickerton. Mawson later learnt that five men had been left behind at the hut, where full preparations had been made for them to winter and later search for Mawson’s missing party. Douglas Mawson had survived one of the most harrowing ordeals in the annals of human courage and survival. His legacy lives on with the magnificent work, which is carried out each and every day by the men and women of Mawson, Davis and Casey Stations, Antarctica.

The life and times of Douglas Mawson read like something from an adventure novel. The achievements of the Australasian Antarctic Expedition (1911-1914) which he led were instrumental in establishing Australia’s commitment to scientific study in Antarctica. He located and chartered the South Magnetic Pole area and undertook the longest unsupported Antarctic sledge journey of nearly 3000 kilometres. Mawson was an early advocate of conservation and his untiring efforts led to the abolition of sealing. He also worked diligently for international control of all Antarctic wildlife and was light-years ahead of contemporary understanding in the scientific study of eco-systems. Sir Douglas Mawson received many awards during his lifetime, including a knighthood but possibly his greatest reward is in the burgeoning understanding and environmental protection of the last frontier.

The author is a Queensland-based journalist who is regularly published both in Australia and around the world.

Not a lot happens on South Georgia these days... thank goodness!

2008-05-07T12:40:00.000+10:00

Travel about 2000 kilometres east from Tierra del Fuego, at the very tip of South America, and you might stumble on its precipitous and windswept shores. At 54 degrees S and 37 degrees W, South Georgia is about as remote as any place on earth could possibly be.

First sighted in 1675 by a hopelessly lost British merchant vessel, South Georgia didn't feature again until our beloved Captain James Cook stuck a flag in it on January 17, 1775. Tipped off by Cook's reports, sealers later arrived in their droves to liquidate the island's fur seal population, which they did in less than ten years.

Numerous intrepid and enterprising soles traversed its shores since then, including the famous antarctic explorer, Sir Ernest Shackleton, whose arrival at Stromness after the loss of Endurance is the stuff of legend. With him on the outward voyage at least was his photographer, Frank Hurley, who snapped this vista (left).

My first vision of this harsh and foreboding land would have been almost identical to that of the first explorers. Standing on the bridge of the modern 6,000 tonne Akademik Sergey Vavilov, a converted Russian oceanographic vessel, I first saw its snow-encrusted spinal ridge pierce the thick bank of clouds that almost constantly shrouds the island's stark features.

The Vavilov negotiates South Georgia's fjords »

Around almost every corner of the jagged coastline is another glacier. Huge creeping masses of metamorphic ice beating a slow-motion path to the sea, occasionally calving great deep blue chunks to form icebergs.

The ship skirted the northern edges and its islets, making for Cumberland Bay and King Edward Point, the nominal capital of South Georgia. Embedded deep in the sheltered fjord, the British garrison has been there ever since the brief Argentine occupation in 1982. Housed in sparkling new barracks at King Edward Point, they overlook the sprawling desolation of the abandoned whaling station of Grytviken just a few hundred metres away.

« A sperm whale is cut apart on the Grytviken flencing plan (Nigel Bonner)

As recently as thirty years ago, this tranquil and splendid harbour would have been stained red for months on end as the mighty mammals were carved up for their flesh and blubber. The putrid stench of decaying meat, the acrid smoke from the many cookeries and the clamour and bustle of messy industry was the norm here for over fifty years.

Whale processing factory crumbles at Stromness »

After the last whales were dismembered and gutted on South Georgia in the mid 1960s, Grytviken, and the similar shore stations at Leith, Stromness and Husvik, were simply abandoned and left to crumble. Walking around the rusting and decaying ruins of these enormous factories is an unsettling experience. It's like Auschwitz for whales and I'm continually troubled by visions of the enormous carnage that must have occurred here and in the nearby seas.

« King penguins stand guard on South Georgia's beaches

On the fringes, and often in the midst of this chaos, seals, penguins and numerous seabirds now congregate, oblivious of its dark history. Playful fur seal pups, now back in abundance, confront you in mock attack. Pods of enormous elephant seals loaf like great stinking, belching blubber-filled condoms, occasionally squirming for a better view of me as I walk cautiously past. These are the small ones, perhaps just a tonne apiece. The larger males, often three tonnes or more, have gone fishing for a few months.

An albatross enjoys a predator-free life »

Away from the ghostly iron and steel, South Georgia teams with wildlife, and this is its new attraction. Majestic albatross, hardy petrels and the crack Skua gulls all patrol the crisp air around the island, nesting in cacophonous masses on the tussock grass covered slopes and ledges. A recent census counted about thirty different breeding species and twice as many visiting species. The combined bird population of South Georgia numbers well into the millions.

Not to be overlooked are the six species of penguins, ranging from the abundant little Macaronis, through the regal Kings and cheeky Gentoos to the much rarer Adelie, Chinstraps and Rockhoppers. These lovable little creatures often formed honour guards for us when we went ashore in Zodiacs from the Vavilov, hooting and catcalling as we moved carefully amongst their rookeries.

South Georgia, once again replete through isolation and human inactivity, has all but returned to its former glory, marred only by man's untidy monuments to greed and cruelty.

Words and pictures by Roderick Eime

“Great God! This is an awful place!”

2008-05-07T12:29:00.000+10:00

So said Captain Robert Falcon Scott, the day he arrived at the South Pole. The vivid tales of Mawson, Shackleton, Amundsen and Aspley Cherry-Garrard are characterised by their immense hardships, incredible deprivations and sheer triumph of will over appalling conditions on the world’s frozen continent.

Just why anybody would want to visit Antarctica, much less the South Pole, flies completely in the face of common sense, yet demand continues to rise and the necessarily limited number of tours are regularly sold out.

Nevertheless, Adventure Associates have managed to add extra departures and a fifth vessel to the fleet for the coming season.

Apart from our popular ship-based expeditions, Adventure Associates are now offering land expeditions deep inland - even as far as the South Pole itself!

Imagine flying across the huge frozen expanses, the stunning mountain vistas and the enormous glaciers just as Richard Byrd, Lincoln Ellsworth and Sir Hubert Wilkins would have done in the middle of the last century. Yet unlike these revered polar pioneers, you will actually land at the South Pole.

Other land options include camping with the Emperor Penguins and trekking around Patriot Hills. Those with a serious thirst for adventure can even join one of the 10- or 60-day ski expeditions that culminate in an arrival at the Geographic South Pole.

Whatever your Antarctic dream, Adventure Associates has the program for you!

For the Hell of it

2008-05-07T12:12:00.000+10:00

Australian journalist, David Burke, was aboard the first direct flight from Melbourne to the South Pole. Taking place in the still frigid month of September, it was to be anything but routine.

“Prepare for crash landing!”, comes pilot Fred Gallup’s voice over the crackly intercom. Despite Fred’s deliberately calm tone, the rest of us hunkered down in the minus 50-something degree fuselage, are already saying our prayers. The hydraulics in the nose gear are frozen, the radar is ‘out’, the cargo door won’t shut, the windscreen is smashed are our very last drop of fuel is about to go. Why did I ever say ‘yes’ to this mission?

These are the words of Australian journalist and adventurer, David Burke, on the occasion of the first non-stop flight from Australia to the South Pole, in September 1964. Despite the considerable resources, technology and skill of the US Navy, Burke’s experience serves to remind us that one should never take anything for granted in the Antarctic. Burke takes up the story.

The brainchild of Rear Admiral Jim Reedy, commander of the US Navy’s support force, Operation Deep Freeze, the plan was to complete his series of the world’s last great inter-continental flights and, in the process, drop a parcel of mail at the South Pole to the people of Deep Freeze’s Amundsen-Scott Base.

Instead of landing at the pole, the mighty Hercules C-130 (dubbed Adelie) would then proceed to the US base at McMurdo – a trip calculated to cover some 7000 kilometres in just under 16 hours. The fuel load alone is over 30 tonnes, nearly half of the entire weight of the fully laden aircraft. I need not have worried: though we seem to swallow every last metre of Avalon’s strip before our gallant Herc lifted off.

With me was Dr Phil Law, the only other Australian, and then head of our Antarctic Division. The journey began at Avalon airfield just outside Melbourne and I remember being comforted by the enormous amount of fuel we were taking on board for this historic flight. The problem was that, in order to make what would be the longest Antarctic flight on record, we needed to take off about five tonnes overweight. I need not have worried, we lifted off on a very pleasant Victorian spring evening, proceeded out over Port Phillip Bay, across Bass Straight, over Tasmania and up into the clouds beyond.

Sleep was fitful amid the drone of the four huge turboprops and just after midnight we crossed the Magnetic South Pole, our first navigational objective. Phil and I stared for some time at the majestic blue-green aurora that coaxed us south. The sight both comforted and disturbed me at the same time, for the beauty of Antarctica is always underscored by an unpredictability that tests the most skilful pilots and navigators.

As we cross the Antarctic Coast, a dim sheet of white far below, I recall the heroic exploits of our celebrated explorers, Mawson and Wilkins, who pioneered exploration and flight on this incredibly harsh continent in impossibly fragile and inadequate machines. Despite our altitude of 8500 metres, the surface below is rapidly rising to meet us. Just 4000 metres now separates us from the ice below.

We approach the Pole without radar or tracking radio from the ground as all these systems have mysteriously failed. Instead, the Admiral, as cool as you like, informs Amundsen-Scott to build a bonfire! Despite the seemingly impossible request, a faint plume of black smoke begins to rise from the most southerly point on Earth.

Our drop of newspapers and letters takes place without incident, but I am reminded that the Admiral has just created two more records; the earliest and the coldest long distance Antarctic flight – it’s -620C outside! Far too cold to land, it was at this point things began to go ‘pear-shaped’. First the windscreen shattered. Fortunately the glass held in place, but it crazed like a car windscreen. Then the cargo doors with frozen seals would not close, so the cabin depressurised, forcing us to fly way lower across the 12,000ft peaks of the Trans-Antarctic Mountains than normal and burning extra fuel. The thrill of the flight was already wearing thin at this stage when an urgent radio report came through. “There’s a blizzard at McMurdo,” the Admiral informs us, “so we’re shooting for Byrd station.”

This may sound routine to the reader, but factor in the events just described, add the extra miles to Byrd and the situation changes enormously. Furthermore, my comfort is not enhanced when I see the chief mechanic rummaging for a Lockheed service manual that I notice is labelled “Landing Gear”! Crikey, what now?!

A tiny amount of moisture in the hydraulic fluid had frozen, seizing vital valves in the nose undercarriage. This means the nosewheel and all-important ski hangs limp and flaccid beneath the cockpit like a broken foot. Ever resourceful, the crew extract from the bowels of the aircraft an enormous chain and attach it to the afflicted leg. Like Volga boatmen we all tug and strain in unison to secure the wheel as best we can. The chain is locked off with a prayer.

No sooner had we donned our hardhats, strapped ourselves to immovable parts of the fuselage, than Fred’s voice came over the intercom again. “Hang on, we’re going in.” I vividly remember staring at the 16200 litre fuel tank, now bone dry, wondering what sort of deadly projectile it would become when we “went in.”

With the big Hercules at a ridiculous angle, nose way in the air, Fred brought the crippled aircraft in at just above stall speed, touching down with the main gear and dropping the nose at around 40 knots. The chain holds, thank heaven, and almost immediately the four engines cut out leaving us to shudder to a stop on the rough, ungroomed ice.

Despite the incredible drama, we are all elated as we exit the plane in -40 degree cold. Aviation history is made, by the seat of our pants, as it so often is.

I still smile when I read Phil’s notes on the flight. Not known for overstatement, Dr Law observes, “A memorable and historic flight … and one prosecuted with the highest competence.” Here, here!

For the record: 7110 kms Melbourne to Byrd via South Pole in 15 hrs 39 mins. - the greatest duration of any modern Antarctic flight.

The author, David Burke OAM, is a prolific author and historian. His quest to document and research Antarctic events has made him an explorer and adventurer in his own right. David has made six trips to Antarctica using both military and civilian transport. His first was by US Navy icebreaker in 1958 and his most recent was with Adventure Associates aboard the Kapitan Khlebnikov in 2002.

His most recent book is titled, Voyage to the End of the Earth (Envirobook, ISBN 0858811960) and includes detailed accounts of his own and others’ journeys to Antarctica.

Image [book cover]

Ice Age

2008-05-07T12:11:00.000+10:00

Those who visit Antarctica are often following their heart and mind. But many find their soul.

Thinking of a great holiday usually brings a smile to your face, often a sigh as you remember special moments. It’s surely a sign of a truly remarkable destination then that remembering an adventure to Antarctica can reduce a group of people to tears. Tears of sheer joy thinking about the huge impact of the whole experience.

The thrill of venturing into the last real wilderness. Seeing wildlife in its natural state and loving the fact that they have not yet learnt to fear man. Absorbing the wonder of an almost untouched environment and knowing there are no barriers except those thrown up by nature and an automatic respect for the beauty that surrounds you. Having no crowds to deal with except the thousands of penguin chicks fledging their nests and heading for the icy waters.

Heady stuff, granted. Over the top? For some, maybe. But these are shared opinions of the 83 passengers aboard the MV Lyubov Orlova on our Adventure Associates expedition to Antarctica. Eleven days of pure magic and absolute peace. Words are just not enough to describe Antarctica’s appeal and its stark contrasts.

It is cold and dangerous, and yet warm and welcoming. Silent and white as snow one minute, then noisy and black as volcanic ash. Tranquil for onlookers but bustling with activity for the thousands of penguins, for example, almost ready to leave the nest at the end of the Antarctic summer.

It has a beauty that is immediately obvious; a photographer’s paradise for sure. And yet it has hidden delights; nature’s own little secrets just waiting to be discovered by those dedicated enough to make the trek and patient enough to sit and watch.

Watching a fat, fluffy, trusting chick waddling casually past when you sit on a rock? Or sitting stunned as 40-ton humpback whales come so close they wet you with their blowholes, and then perch upright in the water to get a better look eye-to-eye. Leopard seals toying with us probably looking for breakfast, darting and sliding from one side of our Zodiac (an inflatable boat) to the other and then following us back to the ship. The groan of a glacier just before the gun-shot crack as it calves away and plunges in the sea.

Antarctica? People asked, why on Earth would you want to go there? Isn’t it cold and just a lot of ice? Won’t your photos just be all white? Of course it’s freezing. In fact it gets so cold, when you pass south of 65 (that’s degrees latitude and about 30 degrees farther south than Adelaide), the air is the same temperature as the water. Snow falling on the sea forms an icy layer instead of melting. But come prepared with the right clothes and the weather is not an issue. Thermals, jumpers, jackets, gloves, hats, waterproof pants, rubber boots and a healthy sense of adventure and you’re set.

And yes, there’s a lot of ice, but it comes in the most amazing array of shapes, sizes and colours. Beautiful sculptures by the world’s most famous artist of all, nature herself. And a kaleidoscope of colours and textures. Pure white honeycomb with frosty edges, soft foam and marshmallow towers in muted pastels; glistening turquoise blue crystals, stalagtites dripping into water so clear you can easily see the minke whale rolling just metres away and the penguins porpoising in and out of the waves.

Well, at least there’s the polar bears to look at. Wrong. Despite popular belief, they are at the other end of the world. There are so many reasons for choosing Antarctica. Our Russian ice-strengthened ship carried 83 passengers from 20 different nations, from Ushuaia at the southern tip of Argentina to the great white continent. That’s 83 different reasons for a group of adventurers aged from 15 to 74; people willing to cross the dreaded Drake Passage, one of the roughest stretches of water in the world, to reach Antarctica.

Joy, from Scotland, heard stories as she grew up of her uncle who worked at a research station. She always dreamt of seeing the real thing for herself. For American Sherry, it’s the last continent to conquer. Michelle and Jeff from Canada are on their honeymoon. Young Tricia from the US tossed up between Africa and Antarctica, but her dad wasn’t ready to let her go on a safari.

Allessandro, an Italian father-to-be, wants to find his spirit and a place to feel at peace with the world. Lawrence, a Brazilian filmmaker, is gathering footage for wildlife documentaries. A travel agent from Holland is checking out the expeditions that are selling like wildfire.

Some see it as a way of one-upmanship. Not many people, after all, can say they have been to Antarctica. For others it is purely the ice or the wildlife. A Japanese film crew captures every moment for a TV travel channel and who knows why the large group of Japanese tourists chose Antarctica, but they are having the time of their lives. For Dot Miller, a 67-year-old self-confessed adventure junkie (and my mum) from Adelaide, it’s the fulfillment of a life-long dream. Reaching that one destination that will stand out for all time.

How does it compare with other holidays or pastimes like jumping out of planes? “There is no comparison,’’ she says. “This tops the lot by far. It’s much more than I ever expected. It’s hard to describe the feeling that overcomes you. It’s so peaceful. Even with the other passengers there’s still plenty of chances and room to be alone just to take in the quiet. There’s no rubbish, no signs, no graffiti. No need to check that you’re going in the right direction. I just can’t believe how lucky we are. It’s like a dream. I have to keep pinching myself to make sure I’m really here. I feel like I’ve gone to heaven.’’

And those feelings are echoed every day. Each person, regardless of their age, enjoys . . . no, LOVES it. Everyone seems to get something completely different out of their visit; their own special memory. It may be eye-balling a 40-ton whale, conquering a mountain, swimming in icy Antarctica, seeing snow for the first time, admiring the antics of penguins or recording new species of birds.

Some turn the trek into a tribute to those early explorers who first dared to cross Antarctica’s unknown spaces - a pilgrimage for Shackleton, Mawson, Scott, Amunsden and the like, even though our expedition is made from the safety and comfort of a ship with warm beds and gourmet meals. And yet there is one common thread - a passion for our new-found paradise.

Most people come expecting to conquer this last real wilderness. We leave knowing that no one truly can. The best you can hope for is to experience it. Antarctica really does have to be seen, and felt, to be believed.

Carolyne Jasinski writes and edits for the Adelaide Advertiser newspaper. She travelled with her mother on our Classic Antarctica expedition on board the MV Orlova – and apparently will never be the same again!

Ross Sea Reprise

2008-05-07T12:08:00.000+10:00

By Thomas Keneally

I first went to Antarctica by plane as part of an American party in 1968. After vapouring on to everyone for over three decades about how startling, how cleansing, how life-transforming a place it is, I seized at last a chance to go again as an Antarctic tourist on the chartered Russian icebreaker Kapitan Khlebnikov, which would succeed in taking us as far South into the ice as a ship can go.

We left in February last year from the same port, Lyttleton, New Zealand, as the classic expeditions used to. The Southern Ocean was relatively kindly. Icebreakers roll side to side, not in the rather more complex rolling, yawing and pitching which causes sea sickness even in ocean liners. We had to learn quickly to walk leaning backwards or forward at angles which, when photographed, had comic appeal.

On the way south, we landed at two of New Zealand’s SubAntarctic islands, Enderby and Campbell Islands. These were not only remarkably atmospheric, but were marked by the extraordinary megaherb plants, which grow gigantically to absorb as much sunlight as possible.

Both islands had huge populations of seals, the bulls lolling on the beaches and in the undergrowth with their harems. Campbell, to the south, was the huge breeding ground for albatross, and climbing a saddle, we found ourselves amongst these giant, magnificent, roosting birds.

I should say now that the Zodiac vessels we travelled ashore in were large and seemed to offer little challenge to the spirited septuagenarians who made a portion of the passengers. Passengers’ ages ranged from the twenties to a robust English 85-year-old widow. Many passengers had made earlier trips to Antarctica, either from New Zealand, or to the Antarctic Peninsula via southern Argentina.

We had an experienced staff of scientists and adventurers, as well, and were carrying a number of young Australian scientists whom we were to drop off on Macquarie Island on the way home. Meals were informally eaten without the fixed seating of stuffier ships, and south of Campbell, conversation was lively as we kept an eye out for Our First Iceberg.

When it came, it was an older pyramid-like iceberg, rather smaller than the huge tabular icebergs we would soon encounter, but like a first child, it was photographed from every angle. Similarly, our first brash ice, as we entered Antarctica’s skirt of ice, and our first pod of whales. Whales - orcas, minkes, humpbacks and southern right became so plentiful that on the bridge, where we passengers were welcome except during storms or difficult ice circumstances, no sooner would a pod of whales be announced ahead of us than someone would spot another on the port or starboard.

Adelie penguins and seals populated the ice floes we sailed through, and ahead, in such clear air that one could see to the limits of visibility, the huge coast of Antarctica from Cape Adare westwards, the coastal mountains and glaciers, and the Trans-Antarctic mountains rose out of the sea. The landscape in Antarctica is really super-landscape. First of all, there is the extraordinary clarity of the air, which makes a glacier or a mountain fifty kilometres distant look as if it is only morning stroll away. Similarly, the great volcano, Mount Erebus, fuming away above its huge ice-slopes, looks like it could be scaled in a morning, whereas it takes expert climbers three days to ascend. As well as that, Antarctica is so un-marked by humanity. It’s landscape is so massive that no one race, no culture, religion or language has owned it. It is, in the best sense of the word, No Man’s Land.

All landings, whether by helicopter or by Zodiac, were dependent on weather and ice conditions. What surprised me were the lengths to which the Russian captain and the American expedition leader would go to compensate us for landings which proved impossible. For example, a huge glittering array of ice and icebergs held Cape Adare in its grip, and to make up for the fact we could not land there, the captain took us looking for the world’s then largest iceberg, C-19, 200 kilometres long and some seventy to eighty kilometres across. When we encountered it in the Ross Sea, it stretched to the north-western and south-eastern horizons and towered above the icebreaker. So a champagne party was arranged atop the iceberg, and we were all lifted onto it, this world unto itself, by helicopter.

Ice-breaking is an hypnotically engrossing exercise, particularly if viewed from the ship’s bows on a sunny day. And our first landing on the Antarctic mainland came after visits to a number of extraordinary ice tongues, extensions of glaciers, jutting forward into the sea.

We came ashore at Terra Nova Bay where, with the massive mountains behind them, the Italians have a highly sophisticated research base, which they leave in winter but control from Italy by computer, so that much of its research continues unattended. We were then able to fly through the coastal mountains of Victoria Land and into the Dry Valleys, where glaciers end in great walls, leaving a grandly desolate bare terrain. This area offers so much information on the history of earth and sea, the condition of the Antarctic icecap in the past and future. One of these valleys is named after the Australian geologist Professor McKelvey, our geology lecturer aboard, who has spent a lifetime on the issues raised by the region - we nicknamed him the “Rock God”. He was our guide to issues of global warming and its impact both on the ice and on coastal civilisation everywhere.

On the other side of McMurdo Sound, we visited the atmospheric and poignant huts of Shackleton at Cape Royds and Scott at Cape Evans. Since there was now 24-hour daylight, we journeyed to Scott’s hut on a cold, still, Antarctic evening, when the light and the overcast, created extraordinary contrasts between the volcanic soil and the ice and snow. Many Scott enthusiasts thought it was the best experience of the journey, and no one said they were wrong. For in all these Antarctic huts, there are boxes of biscuit and tins of cocoa, there are stoves, magazines, books, pieces of dog and pony harness all left behind on the day the men of the classic Antarctic expeditions had to run for the ship which would take them home.

My mind was tickled by a number of Antarctic propositions of which I had not thought before. One is that the water in icebergs is older then human civilisation, coming from snow dropped five to ten thousand years ago on the polar plateau, whereas the sea ice is mainly one-year old. And the other is that Antarctica is the only continent where the first human habitations are still standing.

C-19, helped by other giant bergs we saw, had trapped ice in McMurdo Sound. As we approached McMurdo base, we met two American Coast Guard icebreakers trying to make a path for a tanker to unload fuel for the Antarctic winter. The icebreaking here was loud and spectacular. No sooner were we through a stretch, than we could see the first plastic layer of ice re-forming either side of us and in our wake. We had to fly ashore in the helicopters to visit the extensive scientific installations at McMurdo. Now run by a scientific administration, rather than as in 1968, by the U.S. Navy, McMurdo ships out all its waste and garbage, and so do all other stations. So, by the way, do ships such as the Kapitan Khlebnikov.

There is a dazzling range of research going at McMurdo and in the nearby New Zealand base, Scott. One of the most arresting issues is the ozone layer hole, which at the time of our visit had shrunk, giving momentary hopes that we were behaving ourselves environmentally. Sadly, I believe this decline in size proved merely temporary. Some of us climbed Observatory Hill, where the cross erected to Scott’s memory stands against the giant bulk of Erebus. Looking south, we saw the France-sized Ross Ice Shelf on which Scott had died on the way back from the Pole and across the Sound, the Royal Society Range.

Coming north again, we visited and crouched amongst the Adélie penguins, chicks and adults, at the colony on Franklin Island, but spectacular Cape Adare was still icebound. All the way we had encountered the most exceptional combinations of icebergs, blue caves eroded by seawater at their base. Indeed, at Adare, safe in ice, we were able to watch the great continuous floes heaving around with the swell, as seals slept soundly all around, and penguins went about their age-old, Charlie Chaplin-esque business.

Heavy seas stopped us landing at Macquarie Island too, and there was quite a drama getting our young scientists ashore in the Zodiacs. But at Lusitania Bay, the king penguins came out in thousands to see us, surrounding the ship, conversing and calling in their piercing voices.

I loved the Khlebnikov, the experience of growling our way through the ice, the continent’s massive coasts. I went back to Antarctica, in fact, so that I wouldn’t become one of those old bores who keep saying they wish they had while they had their health. But I think the end result is that I got the bug worse than I had it in the first place, so don’t be surprised to see me on next year’s journey.

HOME ON A ROCK A CHILLING THOUGHT

2008-05-07T12:06:00.000+10:00

david ellis

WHEN Don and Margie McIntyre decided to get away to the snow, they didn’t take out travel insurance.

Instead each had their doctors take their appendix out.

And rather than a cosy chalet with an open fire and a bar with plenty of like-minded folk to chat with, they pre-fabbed themselves a wooden box just 3.75m long, 2.5m wide and the same high, and headed off for the most remote rock they could find at Cape Denison on Antarctica’s Commonwealth Bay.

To spend a year there. Alone.

And because they knew winds could reach 240kmh, they took enough chain amongst their four tonnes of supplies to anchor their box to their rock, just so it – with them inside – wouldn’t get blown away.

To get to the Antarctic, Don and Margie hired a crew of stalwarts to help sail their 18m yacht Spirit of Sydney from home-town Hobart.

After putting their box together on their rock just 400m from Mawson’s Hut and watching their yacht sail back over the horizon towards Hobart, Don and Margie prepared for the year ahead.

When the sun shone they did outside maintenance jobs, took photographs, analysed and photographed every plank of Mawson’s hut to determine its deterioration rate, conducted a census of the penguin population, and did experiments requested by scientists from around the world.

Their only visitors for the whole year were the crew of an American helicopter who dropped by for half an hour on Christmas Day 2005, as an after-thought giving the McIntyre’s a pack of gum. Happy Christmas.

Most of their time was spent in their box sending our newsletters to schools around the world about their daily lives in the Antarctic, keeping diaries and journals, and doing domestic chores from cooking to mopping-up leaks.

Margie also hand-made 80-something teddy bears that were auctioned with an “Antarctica Birth Certificate” for up to $5000 each for childrens hospitals and charities. And at night they’d surprise talk-back radio hosts back home with a call. “G’day, we’re ringing from Antarctica,” they’d say.

Temperatures inside their box hovered around ten to fourteen degrees – with the heaters on. At night with the heaters off, 5cm of frost built up on the walls and ceiling.

A tiny annexe doubled as bathroom and food store for everything from food to medicines to kerosene for cooking. And because the annexe “was about the temperature of your home deep freeze,” says Don, baths were restricted to weekly… with toilet moments an art form in speed and dexterity.

And yes, they saw through 365 days of what they called “a glorified camping opportunity,” called up their yacht, and went home leaving their rock as pristine as if no one had ever been there.

Back in Hobart they finished their book ‘Two Below Zero,’ re-visited Antarctica several times as cruise ship lecturers and aboard their own icebreaker Sir Hubert Wilkins – and for something totally different joined a search for lost treasure in the jungles of the Philippines.

Today they go back to the Antarctic every summer in the luxury of the Australian expedition ship Orion, as lecturers and expedition leaders to 100 adventurers keen to explore this last frontier.

They take guests out amongst the penguins, seals, and sea birds, get up-close to whales, ice-cliffs and calving pack-ice, and go inside Mawson’s Hut – where, Don says “many just let go and cry openly with the emotion and enormity of where they are.”

And for the braver, there’s a Polar Plunge into the Antarctic waters. “They get out a lot quicker than it takes us to talk them into getting in,” says Margie.

Orion visits either the McIntyre’s Cape Denison region, or the Ross Sea area where Scott and Shackleton’s huts are visited.

Shackleton’s Forgotten Men

2008-05-07T12:01:00.000+10:00

Sir Ernest Shackleton, despite the loss of Endurance, is revered as one of the most capable and heroic of all polar explorers. It’s true, the men under his direct command returned to England without loss. But what of the patient, dedicated men who waited in vain for his arrival on the other side of the Antarctic continent?

These wretched soles, whose task it was to lay depots for Shackleton’s advancing party, were stranded for two full years before the survivors were finally rescued. After his own rescue and on learning of their plight, Shackleton was moved to write; "without parallel in the annals of polar exploration...a task almost beyond human endurance."

Shackleton’s Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition of 1914 was divided into two parties – The Weddell Sea Party, commanded by Shackleton himself and the Ross Sea Part, commanded by Capt. Aeneas Mackintosh. He had served with Shackleton aboard the Nimrod in 1907 and earned his leader’s respect as a gutsy, determined seaman of rare quality.

The Ross Sea Party arrived in January of 1915 aboard the Aurora, already a well-worn vessel, and immediately set about laying stores as instructed by Shackleton. When the first team struggled back to base in March without a single dog left, they found Aurora had been blown out to sea in a storm and perhaps lost forever.

Aurora’s stores had not been fully unloaded and the men were severely depleted, but resolved to complete their mission at all cost.

In October nine men set off again in parties of three with their four remaining dogs on a planned five-month sledge, this time needing to lay caches all the way to 83 degrees 37 minutes south. Feeding their urgency was the thought Shackleton’s party might be racing for those supply depots. They had no way of knowing Shackleton and his crew would abandon the Endurance at the end of that month.

Once again they were overloaded and at times covered the same ground as many as 14 times. On Jan. 4, one of the stoves salvaged from Scott’s hut failed and three men were sent back with it. Another stove failed after leaving a depot at 82 degrees south, forcing the remaining six men to continue together.

Near the end of January two men showed obvious signs of scurvy, and one had to be left behind about 40 miles from their final depot. The others reached Mount Hope on Jan. 26, 118 days after their trip started.

The two men first afflicted with scurvy had to be hauled on sledges during the return trip and one, photographer Arnold Spencer-Smith, died March 9. All of the men had scurvy by then, as blizzards had reduced daily rations drastically, but a few days later they reached Hut Point.

Their troubles were far from over, however. Their ship was gone and they were forced to live primarily off seal meat while staying in the frigid hut, originally built as a storehouse, not for long-term habitation. On May 8, Captain Aeneas Mackintosh and Victor Hayward decided to walk to a more comfortable hut at Cape Evans despite the fact it was too early in the season for solid sea ice. They were never seen again. Two days later a search party found evidence that the pair was carried out to sea on an ice floe.

Finally, in March 1916, Aurora was able to break free from the ice that had trapped her for ten months and sail for New Zealand. She returned to the Ross Sea with Shackleton aboard, on January 10, 1917 to rescue the survivors. In total, three men had perished, a fact often overlooked in the lavish, praising reports of Shackleton’s exploits.

Shackleton was so moved by the heroism and selfless devotion to duty of these men that he wrote in his memoir, South; "No more remarkable story of human endeavour has been revealed than the tale of that long march."

The depots that cost them their lives, so meticulously laid, still lie beneath the snow to this day.

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