This season features the last
voyage of the ‘heroic age’ and
has a unique Australian link.
A COMMEMORATIVE voyage has departed
this week which will see the ashes of polar
explorer Frank Wild reburied with his “boss”
and friend, Sir Ernest Shackleton, in Grytviken,
South Georgia, in the South Atlantic.
Chartered by One Ocean Expeditions,
Akademik Ioffe is carrying the ashes, along
with special guests including Wild’s Australian
grand and great-great nieces, Shackleton’s
granddaughter Alexandra, and British historian
Angie Butler, who spent seven years tracking
down the misplaced ashes in South Africa.
Australian expedition leader and travel
writer/photographer, David McGonigal, is also
onboard the 80-passenger ship for the funeral
and cruise to the Falklands and Antarctic
Peninsula.
“This will be the last voyage of the ‘heroic
age’ of polar exploration,” McGonigal said.
“It ended in 1922 when Shackleton died, but
this is unfinished business so it’s the last
tidying up.”
McGonigal has visited Antarctica more than
100 times and was the first person to
accomplish a seven-continent motorcycle ride
when he rode on Antarctica at Argentina’s
Esperanza base in 1999.
He will work as an expedition leader on
Akademik Ioffe for most of the season’s
sailings from Ushuaia.
McGonigal’s voyage reports of the historic
Antarctic trip will be posted “whenever ship
communications allow” on his new blog on
www.antarcticguide.com.
The full website will officially launch on 14
December, the centenary of Norwegian
explorer Roald Amundsen reaching the South
Pole.
