Competition. – Until February 29th, Oceanwide Expedition are offering the chance to win a 30-day cruise to Antarctica, cruising the spectacular Ross Sea.
I for one have always longed to visit Antarctica, to see this ice and snow covered wilderness. I imagine it to be stark and unforgiving in its beauty. With humpback whales, Empire and King penguins, waterways to explore and glaciers to crampon hike on. I know for sure that time in this remote part of the world, so connected with the raw and honest side of nature, up close and personal with a pristine wilderness, would feed my every sense and leave me changed.
Now the Oceanwide Expeditions Antarctica Contest is our chance to win a 30-day cruise ticket for the most spectacular Antarctic journey ever. To enter the contest, create a profile and gather at least 20 votes and you’re in the running for a trip of a lifetime, one valued at over $25,000 per person. The competition is open from 8 December – 29 February to ALL participants aged 18 or over. Full details about the contest are on the contest pages.
More about the Grand Prize and the company as provided below:
Join Oceanwide Expeditions for a spectacular expedition to the Ross Sea. The first Discovery Cruise voyages to the Ross Sea were successfully completed in 2013. Join the new voyage to Campbell Island, home to the Southern Royal Albatross, to the huts of Shackleton and Scott on Ross Island, to the Bay of Whales and Kainan Bay, the starting points from where Norwegian Amundsen and the Japanese Shirase gained access to the ice-shelf in 1911 and 1912, and where Byrd wintered in Little America.
The ice-strengthened vessel “Ortelius” will be accommodated with helicopters for the two Antarctica cruises, sailing from the South-American continent to the Antarctic Peninsula, crossing the Polar Circle, further west to Peter I Island, sailing in the Bellingshausen sea along the ice-edge of “deep Antarctica” into the Ross Sea. The voyage continues to the uninhabited sub-Antarctic Campbell Island and ends after 32 days in New Zealand. The second cruise offers the same itinerary, but in reverse.
The Ross Sea Challenge
The Ross Sea region of Antarctica has always presented a dream but also a challenge to visit to explorers. The Ross Ice Shelf prevents a full seasonal operation and distances are enormous. Apart from the extremes, landing sites are still difficult to reach. “With the advantages of the “Ortelius” in combination with the use of helicopters, our travelers are having some great opportunities exploring Antarctica’s most fascinating sites”, says CEO Michel van Gessel.
Historic Discovery Voyages
British Polar explorer Sir James Clark Ross discovered the Ross Sea region in 1841. It took another 60 years before the true race to the South Pole began when the British Royal Geographic Society sent Robert Falcon Scott on his voyage in 1901, followed by Ernest Shackleton (1907-09), Japanese explorer Nobu Shirase (1910-12), and another attempt of Scott and Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen who reached the pole in 1911. Many of the relics (such as the huts of Scott and Shackleton) of this golden period of exploration still exist, preserved by the cold, ready to be visited by modern-day explorers.
The expedition in more detail
Very few expeditions have ever ventured this far south to the Ross Sea. Oceanwide Expeditions tries to land passengers in such areas as the rarely visited volcanic Peter I Island, the huts of the British explorers Ernest Shackleton and Robert Falcon Scott on Ross Island, McMurdo Station, the Dry Valleys – where the conditions are the closest you get to the conditions on Mars – and Campbell Island, home to the Southern Royal Albatrosses.
The voyage contains one of the last wildernesses on earth, hardly affected and visited by humans. Passengers will experience the largest ice-formations in Antarctica and will encounter an astonishing diversity of life despite its incredibly harsh conditions. The Ross Sea is home to minke whales, orca’s, weddell and crabeater seals, adelie and emperor penguins, petrels and skuas.
These are the things you can do or see – Bluff & Invercargill | Bird Watching | Zodiac Cruising & Shore program | Shore based walking | Antarctic Fur Seal | Elephant Seal | Wandering Albatross | Black-browed Albatross
Oceanwide Expeditions is one of the pioneers in ship-based exploratory voyages in the Arctic and Antarctica. They operate cruises with small ice-strengthened vessels, ideal for exploration into these remote regions. While cruising in the Polar regions they assure that you will become increasingly fascinated by these unique wildernesses, places of drama, wildlife, history and true emotion. Take a look at their cruises on offer.
I’ve entered and recommend you do too. Who knows, one of us might be the lucky one. If you’d like to take a moment, vote for me here.
Learn more about here Oceanwide Expeditions and follow them on Twitter and Facebook or contact matt@oceanwide-expeditions.com.
