Thomas Bywater spends the night on the ice of continental Antarctica for NZ Herald Travel. Video / Thomas Bywater
Antarctica is rapidly opening up to tourism and this once-in-a-lifetime destination lends itself to outlandish activities - like sleeping out on the ice or even taking a mini-submarine ride through the sub-Antarctic.
There aren’t many opportunities to visit Antarctica, so when you’re offered the chance to camp out on the ice of the seventh continent you say “yes”.
It was without hesitation that I agreed to join a camping trip unlike any other I’d been on. Even though I had only 90 minutes to get ready, pack, put on layers and eat my final meal - there would be no food allowed on to the pristine tent site.
Of the 335 passengers aboard Hurtigruten’s Frijdthof Nansen, only 30 had places on the Antarctic camping trip. As one of the most popular excursions offered, these were allocated by secret ballot. Paper invitations were slid under the cabin doors of the lucky few.
Though there was no ticket waiting in my room, it is impossible to remain disappointed in a place few people get a chance to visit.
A night camped out on continental Antarctica with Hurtigruten. Photo / Thomas Bywater
It did not stop me from turning up to the briefing, out of sheer curiosity. The remoteness and nature of Antarctica means any activity is inherently unpredictable. It’s the only place I’ve sailed to without even a rough itinerary. Due to the changeable weather conditions and unpredictable navigation, the following day’s activities would not be revealed until the night before, adding to the mystery. After a two-day sail out of Ushuaia, Argentina, the schedule merely said: Five days, Antarctica.
We knew at least that some of us would have the opportunity to go kayaking and snowshoeing. These elective activities cost anywhere from $80 to $900 and even after the ballots there was no guarantee the trips would take place. The much-anticipated “Amundsen Night” had been cancelled on the previous sailing by a blizzard which rolled into Paradise Bay with little warning.
Each activity had a comprehensive briefing en route to the ice. This was very strict. Failure to turn up meant visitors would not be allowed off the ship. Even passengers who had been cabinbound with seasickness - one of the world’s roughest oceans - were not offered a rerun of the safety talks. No matter how sickly they felt, every passenger turned up to the mandatory IAATO (International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators) briefing and biosecurity inspection, that was a prerequisite of being allowed out on the ice.
A night camped out on continental Antarctica with Hurtigruten. Photo / Thomas Bywater
But for all the uncertainty, I had not been expecting a call through to my cabin.
“There has been a dropout,” came the voice of Paul, the ship’s expedition leader.
" It says here you were at the briefing. There’s a space if you’re up for it. We leave at 8.30.″
With little time to think, I was in an inflatable dinghy with the other happy campers and 15 red two-person tents. I was paired up Todd, a retired lecturer from Texas. Todd had several great anecdotes about “the backcountry”, which for him meant navigating bears and flash floods in Yellowstone and Yosemite. He was keen to let everyone know it wasn’t his first rodeo. Though none of us had ever spent a night on Antarctica - or, as it turns out, used a snow anchor.
Putting up the tents on the ice was very different to the carpeted meeting room on the Nansen.
Before long the tents were up, two layers of ground insulation and thick down sleeping bags ready for the night.
As the temperatures plummeted to around -6C it was hard to tell in all our layers when sundown had happened. It hovered just below the horizon but darkness never came. It was only when the Nansen sailed around the cove and out of sight, it dawned that night had arrived on Antarctica.
We were left with the ethereal sound of breaking ice, wind blowing snow and the snores of two dozen cruise passengers.
What they don’t tell you about camping in Antarctica
Leave no poo behind in Antarctica - The Antarctic Treaty specifies that no waste can be left behind, this includes human waste. 1s and 2s must be carefully collected and brought back off the ice. We were provided buckets in a snow dugout.
No food can be taken camping - Cooking stoves and food are not allowed at on-shore camps in accordance with the Antarctic Treaty regulations - only emergency rations.
There’s no night, just twilight - With the tourism season falling during the four summer months, direct daylight is around 16 hours. At these southern latitudes darkness never really falls.
Night-time temperatures plummet to below-6C during the Summer, around -20C in winter. However, this is toasty compared with the average winter temperature of -63C, recorded at the South Pole.
Insulation station: Inside a two-man tent in Leith Bay Antarctica. Photo / Thomas Bywater
8 Unbelievable things you can do in Antarctica
Snowshoe over the seventh continent
With a pair of giant plastic overshoes, tourists are taken to places they couldn’t otherwise reach in the deep snow cover.
Write home from Port Lockroy’s penguin post office
The southernmost post office in the world is manned by volunteers from the British Antarctic Heritage Trust - and occasionally Kiwi conservators from the NZ AHT. Living in heritage huts, they collect mail and sell stamps for postcards home. Collection, a couple of times a year.
In the world’s largest scientific reserve, there’s so much data and so few people to collect it. Citizen science Initiatives, such as the Happy Whale project, which allows visitors to log cetacean sightings against a database, mean that just by taking holiday snaps you’re helping to understand more about the place.
The Wolf Fang camp sounds like a Bond villain lair, but it is in fact a tourist camp in Queen Maud Land. Visitors to the site are lent snow bikes with fat tyres to get about the various activities on offer.
Take a flight to the South Pole
Companies such as ALE offer charter flights to the Geographic South Pole, 90 degrees south! An experience that will cost you a cool US$59,900pp.
Take a polar plunge
A rite of passage for Antarctic tourists is the “polar plunge”. Cruise ships will offer the opportunity to go for a dip in the Antarctic waters. At a bracing -2C of brine it’s a memorable experience. Described as a short, sharp shock - nobody hangs around in the water for long.
Skin up, ski down the seventh continent
Some specialist expeditions offer activities such as ski touring on continental Antarctica - which is a bucket-list activity for snow obsessives. Of course this is not a standard activity and requires a lot of equipment which must be cleared by biosecurity.
Thomas Bywater is a Travel Journalist and Multimedia Producer for New Zealand’s Herald, specialising in New Zealand adventure travel and Antarctic tourism
