My Next Adventure – Antarctica

It’s only six days before I leave on my next adventure – a nineteen day voyage to the Falkland Islands, South Georgia, South Shetland Islands and Antarctica

Next Saturday, February 2, I will begin my journey to meet the ship on which i will be sailing. I will begin by flying from Melbourne to Sydney and then to Santiago in Chile. After 22 hours of travel, I will reach Buenos Aries in Argentina where I will be looking forward to a shower and a bed overnight. On the following day, I will take a five hour flight to Ushuaia in Tierra Del Fuego, arriving there mid-afternoon. That means I will have travelled for two days, just to get to the starting point!

I have allowed a day in my itinerary to look around the city of Ushuaia which is the most southerly city in the world. It used to be a small prison colony and naval base. It is now triple in size, compared to a little over a decade ago because it is the main embarkation point for Antarctic expeditions. Before I get on the ship, I will also spend a day doing a walking tour through the Tierra del Fuego National Park – a scenic area of rocky coastline, beech forests and extensive wildlife.

On February 6, my ship (Akademic Sergei Vavilov), a Russian ice-strengthened expedition ship will sail for the Falkland Islands. On this trip, we will spend two days there before heading south to South Georgia and the South Shetland Islands. We will have about a week in which to visit those islands which are famous as whaling centres during the 1800’s and early 1900’s. This area is also the location of Sir Ernest Shackleton’s epic journey in search of rescue after his ship, The Endurance’ was crushed in the ice in 1912. Finally, we will have a few days on the Antarctic Peninsular before returiing to Ushuaia on February 24th. Then I reverse my long journey home again.

I am looking forward with some excitement to see some of the natural wonders of this part of the world and will aim to upload a post on  most days describing my trip and experiences. I look forward to having you join me in this adventure.