Antarctica

Of all the things to do in Hobart, you probably haven't thought of sailing to Antarctica. Antarctica and Tasmania have had a long and intimate association. It was from Hobart that Roald Amudsen and Douglas Mawson’s expeditions launched from. Hobart is also home to the Aurora Australis, the icebreaker...

In 1982 Argentina invaded the Falkland Islands, turning the British colony into a combat zone. Although news images of cold, barren, snow-covered battlefields continue to linger in the minds of television audiences around the world, on a Falkland Islands cruise I learn that this is far from the truth. The...

This remote British outpost, a stepping stone to Antarctica for intrepid explorers and cruise passengers alike, is an enchanting wildlife sanctuary with a fascinating past. Rugged cliffs and towering snow-covered peaks rise from the sea forming a panoramic postcard. We have sailed for two days across the Southern Ocean from...

The sky shimmers with orange-gold clouds as we cruise past a white shelf of ice. The wind stings my face and cold seeps through my polar layers. The whoosh of the ship slicing through waves provides a background track to the discordant chorus of squawking gulls overhead. I brace...

I have to admit I had reservations about travelling to Antarctica. The thought of being wretchedly seasick while crossing some of the roughest seas on the planet bothered me. I wondered if seeing penguins everyday would become monotonous. Then a few weeks before I was due to fly to...