Travel to the last frontier on Earth with Chimu Adventures

In Antarctica, the thing to do is to go with the floe
(Chad Carey -- ChimuAdventures.com.au)

East Antarctica — Avid travelers are forever seeking that "ultimate" destination to complete their wanderlust resume. Now Chimu Adventures is offering an itinerary that takes visitors to the most remote destination on the planet with an expedition that embraces a world of weather, wildlife, scenery and history on an expedition to rarely visited Commonwealth Bay.

As the only cruise in 2018 departing for this region from Australia, the journey sets its course from Hobart on December 10 aboard the Akademik Shokalskiy concluding 28 days later in Invercargill, New Zealand.

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Chimu's ship, the Akademik Shokalskiy is your Antarctica home
(Chad Corey -- ChimuAdventures.com.au) 

Combined with a capacity for less than 50 passengers and the singular sailing, it is truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience that only a few travelers, regardless of how experienced, will be able to claim for their bucket list.

During the course of the journey guests will witness a variety of species of penguins, no less than 13 breeds of mammals, brave temperatures over 20-below zero and cross the Antarctic Circle more than six times.

Penguins put on a show
(Chad Corey --
ChimuAdventures.com.au) 

Chimu Adventures is an Australian tour operator that has been offering flexible guaranteed itineraries to Latin America as well as cruises to Antarctica and the Arctic since 2004. The company caters to clients of all ages with memberships in several distinguished tour operating organizations.

To provide a sense of just how remote East Antarctica is, Commonwealth Bay is located about 1,700 miles south of Hobart and requires 11 days of sailing on the Southern Ocean through a region known as the "Roaring Forties."

From 1911 to 1913, Sir Douglas Mawson and his team built what is known as Mawson'sHuts during a challenging Australasian Antarctic expedition. Historically the Mawson Huts are among the Australia's most significant accomplishments, surviving for more than a century under  the most extreme Antarctic weather conditions imaginable.

Penguin convention at Sandy Bay
(Chad Corey -- ChimuAdventures.com.au)

As a comparison, more people have climbed Mount Everest than have stepped inside the Mawson Huts. During the past six years, less than 300 tourists have traveled to Commonwealth Bay.

Access to the huts is limited due to the need for specific conditions to be met that allow exploration. Chimu founder Chad Carey emphasizes however, that it does not detract from the experience if travelers do not reach them.

It's a whale of a tour
(ChimuAdventures.com.au)

 Carey strongly states, "You never know until you get there what the forces in Antarctica are going to dish up and this is what makes the travel style so exciting."

Setting foot in the huts isn't guaranteed but the December 2018 expedition hopes to maximize its chances by extending the itinerary to 28 days with extra time in Commonwealth Bay.

Past attempts to visit the huts have been hampered by a massive iceberg which has blocked the entrance to Commonwealth Bay for quite some time. Measuring 87 miles in length by 31 miles in width, recent access to the huts  has been impossible for visitors.

Last year, Chimu's expedition came within four-tenths of a nautical mile of the huts, however they did sight the Memorial Cross and some of the buildings.

It's not all ice and snow, flowers adorn Campbell Island
(Chad Corey -- ChimuAdventures.com.au) 

In 1912, the last members of Robert Falcon Scott's expedition to the area were discovered by a search party led by Edward L. Atkinson. The Atkinson party was able to take pictures and locate specimens of the group, but due to heavy accumulations of snow and ice, they were unable to locate the camp site.

In 2001, glaciologist Charles Bentley estimated that Scott's team was buried under 75 feet of ice that was located about 30 miles from the original site. After some quick calculations, Bentley determined the bodies would reach the Ross Sea in approximately 275 years and then be carried away inside an iceberg.

Memorial Cross on Observation Hill  (wikipedia)

The Memorial Cross, a nine-foot wooden structure inscribed with the names of Scott's party and the final line from "Ulysses" by Alfred Lord Tennyson ("To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield."), was erected in 1913 on the summit of Observation Hill. The cross overlooks the Ross ice shelf where the Scott expedition perished.

Depending upon conditions, Chimu's 2018 itinerary will  explore Macquarie Island which is home to millions of penguins including King, Rockhopper, Gentoo and endemic Royal species; the French Antarctic Research Base of Dumont D'urville and its nearby Emperor penguin colony; New Zealand's Sub Antarctic territory of Campbell Island; the Auckland Islands with its Shy Albatross and sea lion varieties; and the abundant nesting seabirds of The Snares before disembarking in Invercargill, New Zealand.

Penguin parade at Commonwealth Bay
(Chad Corey -- ChimuAdventures.com.au) 

Carey continues, "The past few years that Chimu has sailed to these remote areas and the sights we have witnessed have always been such an adventure, regardless of the conditions."

For more information contact Frances Armitage at Chimu Adventures.

Chimu Adventures' cruise to Commonwealth Bay is like exploring the last frontier on the planet. Proof positive that men really do enjoy taking charge of the "remote."