DEPART AUSTRALIA FOR BUENOS AIRES – 2 Nights

Depart Australia for  Buenos Aires and due to the time difference, arrive same day.

A free day to rest after your long flight and explore the city with your escort and other members of the group.

Check out this morning and transfer to the airport for our flight to Ushuaia to begin our Antarctic voyage.  On arrival we will explore Tierra del Fuego National Park including one way on the End of the World Train.  We will meet a representative of Aurora Expeditions and transfer to our assigned pre-voyage hotel.

This morning, enjoy breakfast before a morning is at leisure to explore Ushuaia.

Once onboard, you’ll have time to settle into your cabin before our important mandatory briefings. As the ship pulls away from port, we’ll gather on the deck to commence our adventure with spectacular views over Ushuaia and Tierra del Fuego.

This evening get to know your fellow expeditioners and friendly expedition team and crew at a welcome dinner to celebrate the start of a thrilling adventure to Antarctica onboard our luxury Antarctica vessel “Greg Mortimer” and sail down the historic Beagle Channel towards the Great White Continent!

As we commence the Drake Passage crossing, we make the most of our time getting comfortable with the motions of the sea. Our expedition team prepare you for our first landing with important wildlife guidelines and biosecurity procedures and start our lecture program to help you learn more about Antarctica’s history, wildlife and environment.

Our wildlife experiences begin as we enjoy watching and photographing the many seabirds, including majestic albatrosses and giant petrels following our vessel. On sea days, you may can enjoy the facilities on board the vessel including the gym, wellness centre or  the observation lounges.

Nearing the South Shetland Islands and the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula on the afternoon of day four, the excitement is palpable with everyone converging on one of the observation decks watching for our first iceberg. The ocean takes on a whole new perspective once we are below the Antarctic Convergence and are surrounded by the surreal presence of floating ice sculptures. The memory of your first big iceberg sighting is likely to remain with you for a lifetime. Time and weather permitting, we may attempt our first landing in Antarctica by late afternoon.

It’s almost impossible to describe the feeling of arriving in Antarctica. Spotting your first iceberg and taking a deep breath of some of the most fresh, crisp air on earth is an experience that will stay with you forever.

Once we arrive, the western side of the Antarctic Peninsula and the South Shetland Islands are ours to explore, and we have a host of choices available to us. Because we are so far south, we will experience approximately 18-24 hours of daylight and the days can be as busy as you wish.

Your experienced expedition team, who have made countless journeys to this area, will use their expertise to design your voyage from day to day, choosing the best options based on the prevailing weather, ice conditions and wildlife opportunities.

We generally make landings or Zodiac excursions twice a day. You will want to rug up before joining Zodiac cruises along spectacular ice cliffs or among grounded icebergs, keeping watch for whales, seals and porpoising penguins. Zodiacs will also transport you from the ship to land, where you can visit penguin rookeries, discover historic huts and explore some of our favourite spots along the peninsula.

While ashore we aim to stretch our legs, wandering along pebbly beaches or perhaps up snow-covered ridgelines to vantage points with mountains towering overhead and ice-speckled oceans below. If you have chosen an optional activity, you will have the option to do that whenever conditions allow, and of course keen polar plungers will have the chance to fully immerse themselves in polar waters – conditions permitting!

Central to the story of where Sir Ernest Shackleton’s ship, the Endurance became trapped in formidable sea ice, the Weddell Sea certainly is high on the list for many polar adventurers. A small set of islands standing off to the east of the Antarctic Peninsula collectively form the Antarctic Sound – the gateway to the Weddell Sea. With a well-deserved reputation as being an iceberg alley where large icebergs try to escape the Weddell Sea through Antarctic Sound, often making navigation difficult. However, the rewards can be great. Fossils are a reminder of a more temperate era – gastropods, large clams, and spiral-shaped ammonites, all turned to stone.

Enjoy a final morning landing in the South Shetland Islands before we re-enter the Drake Passage for our return journey to South America.

With lectures and film presentations to complete our Antarctic experience, there is still plenty of time to enjoy the magic of the Southern Ocean and the life that calls it home. There is time for reflection and discussion about what we have seen and experienced. We hope you become ambassadors for Antarctica telling your family, friends and colleagues about your journey to this magical place, advocating for its conservation and preservation so that

they might one day visit the region to experience what you have been lucky to see and do here.

As we approach the tip of South America, our Captain may sail close to legendary Cape Horn, weather and time permitting.

During the early morning, we cruise up the Beagle Channel, before quietly slipping into dock in Ushuaia, where we will be free to disembark around 8.00 am. Farewell your expedition team and fellow passengers as we all continue our onward journeys, hopefully with a newfound sense of the immense power of nature.

On disembarkation, passengers on flights departing prior to 2.00 pm will be transferred directly to Ushuaia Airport for our flight to the spectacular Iguassu Falls.  The falls are widely recognised as one of the world’s most impressive natural wonders boasting more than 250 falls, some of which reach to heights of over 60 metres.

Today we explore the Argentinean side of the spectacular Iguassu Falls.  We will take a ride on the Rainforest Ecological train before exploring the upper and lower circuit footbridges which are raised off the jungle floor to provide panoramic views above and below the falls.

A free morning until our departure to the airport for Buenos Aires this afternoon.

A tour of Buenos Aires will introduce you to this incredible city.  We’ll explore the bustling city centre including Plaza de Mayo, and Recoleta Cemetery best known for holding Eva Peron’s grave.  We’ll also visit the Evita Museum, a place where we will learn about the life and work of one of the most important women of Argentina.  Tonight you experience the passionate Tango, the heart and spirit of Argentina.

A half day tour today to the colourful neighbourhoods of San Telmo and La Boca to explore and enjoy local food and watch the Tango artists perform in the streets.  On our way back to the hotel we pass through the newly restored Puerto Madero area where you can choose to stay and explore.

A free day today before check out and transfer to the airport for our evening flight home.

In transit for home.

Arrive home in your capital city.