Become a Virtual Tourist Member Today!  Sign Up for Free | Sign In

French Southern and Antarctic Lands Travel Page by SharrieShaw

Search:
email to friend | help
Home » Antarctica » French Southern and Antarctic Lands » Countdown 2005 Atop The White Continent! - French Southern and Antarctic Lands
French Southern and Antarcti...
Click to get the inside scoop from
real travelers here at VirtualTourist.

French Southern and Antarctic Lands Pages by SharrieShaw


French Southern and Antarctic Lands Travel Page by SharrieShaw
See the Entire French Southern and Antarctic Lands Travel Guide
Click Picture to enlarge.
 email me
 add as friend


SharrieShaw   
Simply impressions


Real Name: Sharrie
Lives In: China
Member Since: Dec 01, 2004
VT Rank: Unranked

Best French Southern and Antarctic Lands Travel Deals

Antarctic Vacations
Expert-Guided Cruises To Antarctica & Falkland Islands! Free Catalog.

Explore Antarctica
Spend 6 days on an Antarctica tour. An adventure you will never forget!

Sponsored Links



 

Page Views: 3,044            Last Visit to French Southern and Antarctic Lands: January, 2005      

Countdown 2005 Atop The White Continent!

by SharrieShaw - last update: Aug 25, 2006

As with my 1st trip to Antarctica,
this page is dedicated to both my parents.
Happy Anniversary, Dad & Mom!



Jan. 6, 2005.

As with many of my trips, the flight over Antarctica was merely an "accidental" find.
As you know, I was in Antarctica on the Radisson Seven Seas Cruise in mid-Jan. 2004. It was a trip of a lifetime! For a virtual tour, please visit my other Antarctica page.
Even after many months since the return, I was still checking out the white continent on the internet. I knew there were military flights to Antarctica, but I did wonder if there's any commercial ones heading there. So, one day in September 2004, I simply keyed in "Antarctica" on the search engine & viola, I found this site: AntarcticaFlights.com.au. Of course I was excited! & as soon as I looked at the prices, I signed up on the very day! It was cheap compared to the cruise (you can get on the flight for less than A$1000 but to really see something you have to pay a little more ;-)). As I had been to Antarctica before, I wasn't willing to pay too much for it. I opted for the Economy Standard window seat & was lucky enough to be upgraded to Economy Premium seat (that's a A$900 upgrade)!!! I didn't find that out until I boarded my flight on Christmas Eve in Sydney. Naturally, I was happy!

This flight was to be the icing on the cake! I had completed the 7-continents in a single year circuit upon landing in Melbourne, Australia on Christmas Day, 2004. It had been one amazing year! I began the year setting foot on Antarctica on Jan. 20, 2004 & completed my 7th continent landing within 7 years. & then I started venturing to all the continents again & was able to establish the record of 7-continents in a single year. It had been one awesome & unbelievable year!

Yet, returning to the white continent on a flight added another dimension to the record. That's to see the continent from very different perspective & completes the circle. Not to mention it's a new year's eve flight & being one of the very first to usher in the new year! & a very unique countdown! One that's in broad daylight! The sun never sets there in the summer!


By the way, you don't need a passport to get to Antarctica! Not on this flight.
It was very nice to have my passport stamped while in the British base Port Lockroy & the Polish base Arctowski. So, I don't really "need" that on this trip.
It all began with going directly to the domestic terminal in Sydney Airport & picking up boarding pass at Gate 7. There was a festive mood there since it's New Year's Eve. The flight on QF 2902 (that's on Qantas Boeing 747-400 aircraft) took off at 5 pm & returned on New Year Day at 6 am. There was also a jazz band that went aboard the flight with us. It's a chartered flight by Croydon Travel (http://www.antarcticaflights.com.au/). Since it's a round trip flight, everyone carried only whatever they need for the flight, most importantly the camera!
Our flight path was to be from Sydney towards the South Magnetic Pole (& you are advised to bring a compass so that you can see it spinning when one crosses it!), then Cape Hudson & Cape Washington.
This is a complete different side of the continent from where I had been to in January, 2004.
What did we see? No, no penguins since we were flying quite high. But snow, ice & mountains are common sights. Yet, they are mountains which will never be hiked or conquered by the human race, pure snow & ice that'll have no human's footsteps on. The very last frontier! To see that in person is quite something... & to be one of less than 200,000 in the history of mankind to have ever been to Antarctica is even more amazing. & to do it twice in a year, now... that's something worth living for!
I guess this is how I made my own little difference to have ever lived on this planet!

I'm no scientist, I'm no inventors or saints. But I've definitely been to this world & seen as much as I can; more so than I had ever imagined possible :-))) At the very least, I had seen more than all my ancestors had ;-)!

Is this my destiny in life?
We'll see... we'll see ;-)

> Add to your Custom Travel Guide [What's This?]

SharrieShaw's French Southern and Antarctic Lands Travelogues
Title [Click to view]Travel YearPictures
It's NOT the Everest, NOT Arctic in WinterJanuary, 2005 8
The Legend BeginsJanuary, 2005 8
HAPPY NEW YEAR!January, 2005 8
World of IceJanuary, 2005 8
Sleeping BeautyJanuary, 2005 7

Comments for SharrieShaw about French Southern and Antarctic Lands
Confucius Thu Jul 12, 2007 03:53 UTC
 You're telling me to go south? Actually, I wouldn't mind being in L'Antarctique Francais now as it's so hot in America during these dog days of summer. Well, Beijing isn't much better either. Hey, I ate a pint of mango sorbet today! Wow.
Pawtuxet Thu Nov 24, 2005 13:42 UTC
 Hi..just viewed your page with my husband who was stationed in the Antarctic for a full year....and again for 6 months. We enjoyed your photos. Congratulations on your feat!
tini58de Tue Sep 13, 2005 09:42 UTC
 Truly amazing pics, Sharrie!
Helga67 Thu Feb 24, 2005 22:11 UTC
 Amazing pics, Antarctica seen from the sky on this special day, what an experience!

Find:       Matching:  Advanced