One of the great fascinations with adventure and expedition cruising is travelling to
some of the most impossibly distant
corners of the globe.
Nowadays even the North Pole itself is
regularly visited by powerful icebreakers
and the tiniest atolls, thousands of
nautical miles from land, see visitors
come ashore.
Here’s a quick checklist of five of these
improbable specks on the map that many
cruisers have already crossed off their
lists.
1. Macquarie Island: Inhabited by around 20 Australian scientists and support
staff, Macquarie has only featured as a ‘tourist’ destination since adventure
vessels heading to the Antarctic started looking for somewhere to break the
many days at sea. Geologically attached to New Zealand, but administered by
Australia, it is halfway to Antarctica from Tasmania. Apart from the wildlife,
Macquarie is famous for its rocks. Geologists will know what an ophiolite is
and that Macquarie is the only place to see one.
2. Fatu Hiva, Marquesas, French Polynesia: The second most remote
archipelago in the world (next to Hawai’i) is the Marquesas. Fatu Hiva is well
known as the centre for Marquesan arts and crafts, centred around the village
of Omoa on the western coast and has one of the largest selections anywhere
in the archipelago. Thor (and Mrs) Heyerdahl spent time in 1937 for the
famous book, Fatu Hiva, Back to Nature.
3. Espanola (Hood) Island, Galápagos Islands:Tiny Espanola was named by the
Spanish for, you guessed it, Spain. The British also named it after the famous
naval man, Samuel Hood. Tucked away in the far southeast corner of the
Galápagos Islands group, its isolation was also its salvation as the more
northerly younger islands, were often visited by hungry seamen, pirates and
whalers.
4. Deception Island, Antarctica: This collapsed volcanic caldera off the northern
tip of the Antarctic Peninsula is one of the most talked about islands on any of
the southerly itineraries. Dripping in history, wildlife and stunning scenery, the
island was home to several countries’ whaling and Antarctic bases until a
series of violent eruptions sent them scrambling. After your ship makes the
nail-biting entry through Neptune’s Bellows, visitors can stroll around the
abandoned base at Whalers Bay or visit the teeming Chinstrap Penguin colony
where 200,000 birds all call at once.
5. Beechey Island, Canadian Arctic: If it weren’t for some odd blips in history,
Beechey Island would still be the infinitesimal featureless, uninhabited satellite
of its much larger neighbour, Devon Island in Canada’s Wellington Channel.
Some time in 1845, the still lost
English explorer, Sir John Franklin,
stopped to winter in the shelter of
Beechey Island. Three of his men
remain there, a testament to
greater events about to unfold.
The fourth edition of the
Adventure Cruise Guide is out
now, detailing all the eager
operators waiting to take you to
any of these far flung outposts.
For more information visit
www.adventurecruiseguide.com.
