Snapshots from Antarcticathe journey heritage ice and snow Mount Erebus scenic vistas fellow travellers life saver wildlife albatross penguins petrel and skua seals whales
From our archives…
The beautiful Antarctica attracts a wide range of tourists, from the young at heart, the adventurer and those on a trip of a lifetime. Located in the Antarctic region of the Southern Hemisphere and home to the geographic South Pole, it is one of the great tourism frontiers providing an unique experience that is different and memorable.
Surrounded by the Southern Ocean there is nothing like standing on the boat and staring out into the ocean, as Antarctica appears on the horizon. The experience is further heightened with the appearance of some of the beautiful ocean wildlife.
Seasons
Due to the earth’s tilt and orbit around the sun, there are only two polar seasons, summer and winter. During the summer at the poles, the sun does not set, whilst in winter, the sun does not rise. It is the summer season that most tourist visit the region. The days are long, as the sun only drops below the horizon for a few hours a day, whilst the sky does not become completely dark at night.
How to get there
There are a couple of options to visiting the region by air or by sea. Whilst there are tours that can fly to Antarctica, many visitors prefer the experience of reaching Antarctica by ship, with a number of operators available dependent on your route. There is a list of Australian Antarctic tour operators from the Australian Antarctic Division website.
Now named the Ortelius, this ship was originally launched as the “Marina Tsvetaeva” in 1989. She served as a special purpose vessel for the Russian Academy of Science, then later re-flagged and renamed the Ortelius – an Antarctic exploration vessel.
Special thanks to Jennifer Cooke for sharing her travel and photographs (and those of her fellow travellers) of the amazing tour with Aurora Expeditions to Antarctica.
Footnote & References
- Antarctic Travel Photographs © Jennifer Cooke (and fellow travellers)
- Additional Antarctic Travel Photographs © to fellow travellers (courtesy of Jennifer Cooke)
- Australian Antarctic Program, https://www.antarctica.gov.au/
- Shackleton’s Hut, Cape Royds, Antarctic Heritage Trust, https://nzaht.org/conserve/explorer-bases/shackletons-hut/
Snapshots from Antarcticathe journey heritage ice and snow Mount Erebus scenic vistas fellow travellers life saver wildlife albatross penguins petrel and skua seals whales
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