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Auckland, New Zealand
Auckland is the staging point for our Great Explorers expedition. Overnight at the centrally located Carlton Hotel or similar. |
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Lyttelton, New Zealand
In November 1901, Scott and Shackleton, aboard specially built Discovery, sailed into Lyttelton harbor to make final preparations for their exploration of Antarctica's Ross Sea region. You and your companions fly from Auckland to Christchurch (the flight is not included in the voyage price), where you are transferred from the airport to that same port to board the icebreaker Kapitan Khlebnikov. |
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At sea
Watch for whales, dolphins and seabirds from the ample openair decks of the icebreaker. Resident specialists assist you to identify the wildlife that may momentarily join the expedition.
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Enderby Island
Visiting the home of the rare Hooker's sea lion and yelloweyed penguin is today's goal. Red-crowned parakeets flit in the canopy of rata forests - gnarled and twisted trees that rarely exceed six feet (1.9m) in height, the last such vegetation you will see.
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Campbell Island
Campbell Island's Perseverance Harbor was named for the first ship known to have anchored there. You explore the harbor in a Zodiac landing craft if weather conditions permit. During the pre-excursion briefing, the ship's historian will relate the amazing history of discovery, sealers and whalers as well as the failure of pastoralists.
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At sea
The Expedition Staff may speak of the Russian Antarctic explorer, Admiral Thaddeus von Bellingshausen today. Sailing under the patronage of Czar Alexander I, the admiral became the second man to cross the Antarctic Circle, exactly 186 years ago, and leader of the first expedition to sight the Antarctic continent.
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Ice Edge
Spend time watching the powerful Kapitan Khlebnikov crush her way through dense pack ice. Tonight's dinner might have a Russian flavor as this is the anniversary of Bellingshausen's great discovery. More than a century passed before Admiral von Bellinghausen was recognized for his accomplishment.
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Cape Hallet
Kapitan Khlebnikov's helicopters may be deployed to take you sightseeing in the Cape Hallet area.
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Campbell Glacier, Terra Nova Bay, Cape Russell
In accounts of Antarctic exploration the exploits of lesser known members of expeditions are frequently overlooked. Victor Campbell, a member of Scott's Terra Nova expedition, with five others, landed to explore Terra Nova Bay in January 1912. They carried a tent and food for ten weeks of exploration. The ship meant to collect them was unable to make the rendezvous. The seven dark months the men spent in an ice shelter ended in a 39-day, 225 mile sledge journey. Their tale of survival reinforces your exploration of the Bay. While you add to your knowledge of the great explorers, you continue to learn about the indigenous wildlife, such as orcas and Minke whales.
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Drygalski Ice Tongue, Franklin Island
Another name to be reckoned with is that of Erich von Drygalski, a German geophysicist, with a passion for the science of ice formation. He used the first telephone in the Antarctic to communicate with his crew on the ground, having ascended 1500 feet in a hydrogen-filled balloon to take aerial photographs of a never before seen region of the continent. The Drygalski Ice Tongue, the focus of today's activities, was named in his honor.
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Scott Base, Cape Evans, Cape Royds
Perhaps there are no protected monuments in the world as daunting as the huts left by the expeditions of Carsten Borchgrevnik, Robert Falcon Scott, and Ernest Shackleton. Small and dark - some still stacked to the rafters with canned goods - they sheltered men, animals and machinery against the deep freeze and long dark months of the Antarctic winter.
Scott's Discovery Hut is now encircled by an American research facility, McMurdo Station. Your Expedition Leader will request a tour of the base and that of the New Zealand's research station, over the hill. Scott also built a hut on Cape Evans, now maintained by the Antarctic Heritage Trust. As you enter you step back in time to spartan living conditions, which are in sharp contrast to the comforts you experience aboard the icebreaker. In the entry you find a pile of seal blubber left stacked as emergency fuel just as it was nearly a century ago.
Ernest Shackleton built a hut on Cape Royds during his Nimrod expedition. Adélie penguins have a rookery that is the breeding ground of thousands of the comical, flightless birds. The backdrop to this visit is the volcanic Mount Erebus with its constant steam plume. |
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Dry Valleys
Ironically getting to the Dry Valleys, where very little precipitation has fallen for millennia, is subject to weather conditions. If the conditions are right, you fly by helicopter to one of the most surprising regions in Antarctica.
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Ross Ice Shelf
In 1841, Captain Ross with two ships, Erebus and Terror, set out in search of the South Magnetic Pole. Although he failed, his voyage improved the map of Antarctica. Ross felt disappointment when he encountered a 10 metre wall of ice blocking his path. Searching for a way through, he sailed along the wall, he named the Victoria Ice Barrier, for 420 km. In time the wall became known as the Ross Ice Shelf. Captain Ross' accomplishments are put into context during formal and informal presentations by the Expedition Staff aboard. |
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At Sea |
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Bay of Whales
The Bay of Whales is associated with three heroic names in Antarctic exploration: Shackleton, who gave it its name; Amundsen, who established a winter base there in 1911; and Richard Byrd, who used the Bay as a staging area in 1946, and now you, your fellow passengers with the officers and crew of the icebreaker Kapitan Khlebnikov. Today, you participate in a historic event, as the Kapitan Khlebnikov attempts to attain the most southerly position ever reached by ship. |
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Ross Sea
Captain Ross has been credited with a long list of discoveries. You learn about many of them as you continue to explore the sea that bears his name. For example, on Foyn Island, one of the Possession Islands, you visit a penguin rookery and learn James Ross with Francis Crozier discovered the islands and claimed them for Queen Victoria.
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Cape Adare
Carsten Borchgrevink led a winter expedition in Antarctica. He spent the winter with nine other men, one of whom built the first sauna in Antarctica. If you have not yet relaxed in the sauna onboard Kapitan Khlebnikov, the visit to Cape Adare may be the impetus you need. Borchgrevink's group shared Cape Adare with a rookery that now boasts a population of more than a quarter million pairs of Adélie penguins. |
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Balleny Islands
John Balleny mounted an expedition to the high southern latitudes in search of sealskins and whale oil. He discovered the Balleny Islands on that voyage. Excerpts from his journals aided Ross during his voyage of discovery. These remote, rugged, icebound islands are virtually inaccessible to traditional cruise ships. |
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At sea
Over dinner lift a glass to John Balleny, who, 167 years ago today, discovered the islands that bear his name. |
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Macquarie Island
Virtually the entire world population of royal penguins lives on Macquarie Island, only one of the compelling reasons that led to the designation of this place as a World Heritage Site. Geologically the island is distinct from other subantarctic islands as it was formed when an oceanic ridge lifted upward. During the anticipated two day visit to the Island you will hear of sealers and Douglas Mawson's radio station where the first contact with Antarctic was made in September 1912. |
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At sea
As the expedition draws to a close recap sessions will be conducted by the Expedition Staff. Romantics enjoy a dinner with a Valentine's theme on the last evening at sea. |
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Hobart*
You disembark from Kapitan Khlebnikov after breakfast then you are transferred as a group to Hobart airport. |
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* Neither the airfare between your point of origin and athe embarkation and disembarkation points nor the airfare from Auckland to Christchurch is included in the price.
The itinerary is a guide only. Our exact route and program varies according to ice and weather conditions - and the wildlife we encounter. Flexibility is the key to the success of this expedition. Visits to research stations and the subantarctic islands depend on final permissions. |
