There’s no sign of Frosty the Snowman or even narwhales sticking their unicorn-like tusks through the cracks in the sea ice, but what there is on an amazing flight over the Antarctic is the most extraordinarily striking landscape I’ve ever seen.
In WA we’re lucky enough to have landscapes like the Bungle Bungles, Wave Rock, the Pinnacles, and the gorges at Karijini, but I’ve never seen anything like the Transantarctic Mountains, the enormous mountain range that splits the continent in two.
Have a Go News had been invited along for Antarctica Flights round trip from Perth to the southern continent aboard the luxurious Qantas 787 Dreamliner.
The captain tells us the weather today is perfect, so much so that we’re going farther south along the mountain range than usual – spending an hour or so longer than the normal three to four hours the flight normally spends above the Antarctic continent – and extending our total time in the air to 15 hours.
It’s a big day, 7am at the domestic airport and not landing until 11pm, but wow, this is certainly a bucket list trip.
My long-time mate, children’s book author Norman Jorgensen joined me on the trip and the pair of us took a bucket load of photographs. They aren’t a patch on the reality of seeing the stark landscapes outside the plane’s windows of snow, rocks, sea and sky – not a speck of green to be seen anywhere.
And surprisingly for me, it’s a landscape that is far from flat, mountains in the range go up to more than 4000 metres and our very skillful pilots take us close to the ground, as low as around 600 metres, so at times you feel like you could almost reach out and touch the mountains we’re passing.
Early in the journey flight manager Mandy Churchill introduces passengers to expert commentators Dr Tony Worby, Robert Kiernan and Peter Attard.
It’s a trio of talented storytellers. Each of them has spent considerable time on the ground in the Antarctic. Dr Warby has visited the continent 17 times, participating as voyage leader or chief scientist on more than a dozen marine science programs in the sea ice zone that he was involved in.
Robert Kiernan was a glaciologist for one of the biggest and most comprehensive programs of scientific exploration of the inland ice sheet ever undertaken by the Australian Antarctic Division. He was awarded the Antarctic Medal in 1995 for his contributions to Antarctica.
Peter Attard has completed many expeditions across various stations in Antarctica looking after station equipment.
As the trio told their stories over the PA, they put in a call to the team on the ground at Davis Station one of three permanent Australian bases to chat to them about daily life at the station.
It certainly kept passengers entertained on the long journey.
And also keeping the passengers entertained was the food. This was not the kind of airline food I was used to, omelette and Hungarian sausage for breakfast, a Reuben grilled cheese toastie for lunch and braised wagyu beef for dinner – and of course there were vegetarian options – along with snacks, snacks and more snacks.
A spokesperson for Antarctica Flights said the food served in each class was as per the Qantas international meal service (even though it is a domestic flight) so Premium Economy and Business Class have enhanced food and beverages.
We were greeted on board with a mimosa and wines, aperitifs and spirits were available all day.
The clouds that had accompanied us from Perth miraculously gave way to clear skies and bright sunshine bouncing off the first of the icebergs appearing beneath us and then expanses of sea ice with long cracks opening up, with 24 hours of daylight melting the ice in the southern summer – and then the biggest surprise – the mountains and glaciers.
The pilots tilt the plane from side to side to give all its passengers the best possible views and half-way through the flight those of us sitting by the windows swap with passengers seated in the middle of the craft to ensure everybody has an opportunity to take in the scenery.
Views from the Dreamliner’s windows, 65 per cent bigger than other aircraft of this size, provide a fabulous perspective of the landscape and we all wander around the plane looking for vantage points to get the best photographs.
The captain on our flight declares the vista to be one of the best he has ever seen and it’s hard to imagine how it could be any better.
And on the journey back home, all talked out, it was time to put the headphones on and watch a couple of movies on the Dreamliners posh viewing screen.
Norman and I were flying in Premium economy class, which had buckets of leg room and comfortable seats. These tickets are $3999 per person. Ticket prices start at $1199 for an economy seat that doesn’t have direct access to a window but passengers can get up and move around to find good viewing spots; up to $7999 for a deluxe business class seat.
Antarctica Flights has one flight each season from Perth and in total operates seven flights from Australia, two each from Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.
The season runs during the Antarctic summer from November to February.
A flight has never been cancelled because of the weather. There are 19 different planned routes which Qantas monitors leading up to the flight so the route can be adjusted to suit the weather.
The next Perth flight is already on sale which departs on January 26, 2025.
Contact Have a Go News via email or call for a brochure – email jen@haveagonews.com.au or 08 9227 8283.
