Posted on Wed, 1 Jun 2011

Adventures To The Arctic

Having traversed the usual tourist tracks a few times, friends are often stretching their imagination over where and how to travel and holiday next. Would it be cruising across the Mediterranean, kayaking across the south island of New Zealand, or a motoring tour up northern China in a swanky car provided by luxury tour operators? If you’ve seen it all, but still firmly bitten by the travel bug even as the world seems to be running out of interesting places to travel to, then it’s time to add Aurora Expeditions to your list of exotic travel resources.

The Australian adventure company is rolling out voyages to the Russian Arctic and Far East. This is icy landscape with lots of white furry wildlife and glistening icebergs! If you have a chronic case of wanderlust, check out Voyage to the End of the Earth’, a 14-day expedition to the Russian Arctic, departing Murmansk 26 July. Exotica doesn’t come cheap, starting at US$10,985 for twin share with private facilities. (There are cheaper options but no ‘private facilities’!!) This brings you to the 191 islands that make up Franz Josef Land, uninhabited, the last major landmass to be discovered and home to polar bears, walruses, seals and the elusive beluga whales. Accessible only by sea, this region has just been open to foreigners since 1991, and literally untouched. And the good news is, there’s a 15% discount for last minute bookings.

Another trip by Aurora is The Ring of Fire, 13 days to the Russian Far East and Kuril Islands. Departing Petropavlovsk-Kamchatasky on 16 September, it gets you to Kamchatka’s east coast with plenty of lakes, rivers, valleys, brown bears, sea lions, whales, otters and seals. Soak in hot springs, hike through megaherb forests, visit Cold War listening posts, secret Soviet Navy bases and remains of Ainu villages. Prices start from US$9,350 per person (once again, cheaper options available but NO PRIVATE FACILITIES!!) with 10% off, setting sail 16 September.

A real experience of a lifetime, these trips set sail on Akademik Shokalskiy, the company’s new ice- strengthened research ship with accommodation for 54 passengers, plus two dining rooms, lounge bar, lecture theatre, sauna and an ‘Open Bridge’ policy. According to the press release, these expeditions are staffed by ‘premium expedition leaders, naturalists, historians and geologists and the Russian crew keen to show off their country’s natural beauty’. Surely one of the last frontiers to travel to and gives you major bragging rights to having seriously ‘been there and done that’!