With borders closed, here’s an ice idea
New Zealand’s only Antarctic tour operator is planning ‘‘a summer for locals’’ and hopes the lack of international travel options will encourage Kiwis to visit the frozen continent.
Christchurch-based Heritage Expeditions organises trips to the Ross Sea Region, visiting penguin colonies and the historic huts made famous by explorers Robert Scott and Ernest Shackleton.
With prices averaging $27,000 a person, the 30-day voyages are not cheap, but they are usually fully booked with around half of the passengers coming from outside of New Zealand and Australia.
The family-run firm hopes a transTasman travel bubble will be introduced, allowing the ship to be filled with Kiwis and Aussies.
Antarctica is not owned or administered by a single country, meaning the company can visit without leaving international waters.
Expedition leader Aaron Russ, whose father Rodney founded the company in 1984, said the trips were almost fully booked for this summer, but half of the passengers were non-Australasian.
‘‘Kiwis have grown up thinking about Scott and Shackleton, so we have a consistent number of New Zealanders each season,’’ Russ said.
‘‘Our thinking, like all the other New Zealand tour companies, is, are Kiwis going to look closer to home?
‘‘This is crystal ball gazing, but the Australia/New Zealand borders are probably going to be open, so we’re looking at doing a summer for locals,’’ he said.
Antarctica is free from Covid-19, and Russ said much of the wildlife and many historic sites could be visited without interacting with staff or researchers at international stations.
Russ recognised the trips were expensive, but said they were not in a position to offer discounts because of the high costs of operating in the frozen region.
‘‘The ship is a really specialised vessel. It’s the highest ice class a passenger ship can be without being an icebreaker,’’ he said.
A cheaper option is a tour of the Subantarctic Islands. The most popular itinerary visits The Snares, Auckland Islands, (Australia’s) Macquarie Island and Campbell Island, run over a two-week period.
A Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade spokesman said officials had had initial conversations with Heritage Expeditions about its plans for the next Antarctic season. The company would need to comply with border restrictions.
1. Jean Wishart, Jenny Lynch and Rowan Dixon were editors of what New Zealand publication?
2. In literature, who was the illicit lover of a gamekeeper named Oliver Mellors?
3. In a 1977 hit song, who included a line about Celtic and United, his two favourite football teams?
4. In what type of building would you find a transept, a crossing and an apse?
5. What first name was shared by a composer with the surname Stravinsky and an aviation pioneer with the surname Sikorksy?
6. Chicago is located on which of the Great Lakes?
7. The Aylesbury, the Khaki Campbell and the American Pekin are breeds of what?
8. What do the letters GOP, which are often used to refer to the United States Republican Party, stand for?
9. In which century was the Taj Mahal built: the 17th, 18th or 19th?
10. Which famous 19th-century poem included the line: ‘‘Cannon to right of them, Cannon to left of them, Cannon in front of them’’?