Southern comfort in the wild

PHILIP ENGLISH appreciates a safe, warm base from which to venture into the wilds of the deep south and Antarctic.

It's this regime of early starts, putting up with shipboard life while being pounded by cold, heavy seas and venturing out for walks; intruders on bleak, remote islands where a step wrong can lead to disaster.

So it is a comfort to know that while out subantarctic island hopping there is, not too far away, a warm base and a bunk, a galley with skilled chefs serving serious breakfasts and hearty, mouth-watering dinners and a bar to share with fellow adventurers.

The floating base is the Akademik Shokalskiy and the adventure can be any one of Christchurch-based Heritage Expeditions' voyages either around the south of New Zealand, its subantarctic islands or the Antarctic.

The 46-passenger Akademik Shokalskiy is a perfect base. It's no cruise liner but on voyages to some of the world's remotest places, inhabited by some of its most wondrous wildlife, it just seems right that the ship is a working research vessel.

Built in Russia in 1983, the 72m Akademik Shokalskiy has an ice-strengthened hull, stabilisers, twin diesels, a surprisingly good-tasting water supply from its own desalination plant, a hospital, library, lecture room and sauna.

Russians make up the crew and run the ship. The onboard hosting and expedition leadership is left to the New Zealand, British and Australian Heritage Expeditions staff.

The crew and expeditioners live apart. But an informal atmosphere makes it possible to strike up friendships with the Russians, to learn at least a few words of their language and get a feel for the culture.

For most, contact will be with the Russian officers who man the bridge to which every expeditioner has almost unlimited access. The open bridge policy is an additional attraction to shipboard life.

Apart from offering comfortable viewing of the rolling seas outside or the occasional seabird (particularly in the middle of the night), it is not every day that you can visit a ship's bridge, this one the nerve centre for polar navigation.

Responsible for the passengers on board is Rodney Russ, the leader of Akademik Shokalskiy expeditions. A noted conservationist who played a leading role in the rediscovery of the kakapo on Stewart Island in the late 1970s, he has 25 years' experience of the places the ship visits.

For Russ nowhere else on Earth offers such biodiversity and he frequently reminds expeditioners of this. His enthusiasm for the subantarctic islands of New Zealand and Antarctica and the need to care for their environments infects staff and expeditioners alike. With such leadership, missing out on excursions ashore seems unthinkable.

But with access to the subantarctic islands limited to only 550 people a year, it is just as well to make the most of getting ashore or on to the ice.

Safety is a key factor when cruising so far from civilisation. A check-in, check-out system operates for all excursions. The Akademik Shokalskiy has a fleet of semi-rigid inflatable Naiad craft for landings (not always dry) on islands or pack ice. The ship also has two amphibious all-terrain vehicles for transport on the ice.

After a full-on day in the elements it is back on board to disinfect your boots to prevent the spread of unwanted micro-organisms between bird colonies.

Cabins come in various shapes and sizes (suites, twin shares and twin shares with shared facilities) and with different bedding arrangements (bunks and single or double beds).

Only the loos betray the fact that the Akademik Shokalskiy is a research vessel. Based on a vacuum system flushing they are as exciting as those on a passenger jet.

On a recent voyage to Stewart Island, New Zealand and Australian travel agents were not sure the cabins approached the luxury demanded by their clients. American travel agents, perhaps more adventuresome and appreciative at being in such a wildly different part of the world, had no such complaints, however.

CASENOTES

Coming up:

From the Subtropical to the Subantarctic, cruise only (November 17-24): prices range from $3606 to $3221 a person, plus Government landing fees of $290 each.

Beyond the Roaring Forties (December 10-22): from $9990 to $7433 each, plus Government landing fees of $555 each.

Christmas and New Year in Fiordland (December 21-28 and December 27-January 3, 2001): from $2940 to $2590 each, plus Government landing fees of $80 each.

Contact:

Heritage Expeditions

PO Box 6282, Christchurch

Ph (03) 338 9944, toll-free 0800 262 8873, fax (03) 338 3311.

E-mail Heritage Expeditions