Innovatia

tions are going to be thrilling and offer so many opportunities for guests to discover the natu- ral and cultural wonders found in the some of the farthest corners of the planet, including our first-ever visit to the Kimberley in Australia. Best of all, guests will be experiencing everything in the company of Expedition Team members who will bring the wonders of each destination to life. “ One of the last true wilderness destinations, the sparsely inhabited Kimberley region can also be explored on smaller vessels without foregoing comfort. True North ships are pur- posely designed to get as close as possible to the wonders of this region, safely navigating the shallow river systems that lead to – and even directly under – spectacular waterfalls like King Cascade. The ships also have an onboard helicopter can carry up to six guests to remote picnic spots and smaller “adventure boats” de- signed to navigate tighter corners to view Ab- original rock-art or swim at cool, fresh water holes. Carrying a maximum of 36 passengers, the trip is a close-and-personal experience, with 22 crew members assisting, informing and guiding activities like fishing and scuba-diving. And despite being a smaller ship, it is still fit- ted with “computer-controlled stabilisers” to minimise seasickness. Both the True North and True North II ships are also available for private charter. Cruises go between Broome and Kununur- ra, in either direction, with passengers disem- barking at Wyndham before transferring to a courtesy coach to Kununurra. Cruises are run from 7 to 13 nights, with a short 4-day cruise from Broome to the Buccaneer Archipelago to see the extraordinary Horizontal Falls. This is

a phenomenon where water rushes through two, short, narrow gorges as the changing tide drops the water level up to 10 metres. For passengers for whom the destination is a high priority, cruises to the Antarctic provide luxury as well as adventure. Hurtigruten Expe- ditions have ships capable of carrying around 500 passengers. They set sail from Ushuaia, Ar- gentina and cross the Drake Passage to the Ant- arctic Peninsula. While they too include a pool and spa on deck, these are naturally closed when the ship reaches the ice, with passengers on board one expedition building a snowman on deck as the ship sailed past the British Ant- arctic base.

The MS Fridtjof Nansen is the latest addition to the Hurtigruten fleet. It is designed with the comfort of passengers in mind, but perhaps more importantly, it is designed to limit the impact on the Antarctic environment. There is a fleet-wide ban on single use plastic, so every passenger is supplied with an aluminium wa- ter bottle and encouraged to reuse sheets and towels to save on energy, water, and detergent, while soap and shampoo are supplied in refill- able in-shower containers. Former passengers, Karen and George Ped- ley, say the fragility of the Antarctic environ- ment was one of the things most emphasised on their trip in December 2022. All clothing to

be worn on shore expeditions had to be taken to a special area on the ship and thoroughly vacuumed, after which it was inspected by staff to ensure it was completely clean. This is to en- sure no foreign seeds or other material are in- troduced. There is also a limit of 100 passen- gers on-shore at a time, so people are assigned to groups and their visits staggered. A screen in each cabin, which doubles as a television, displays the program of events for each day and advises passengers when their group is due to go ashore. Karen and George say one of their most extraordinary experiences was their 3-hour kayak among the icebergs, with whales, seals and penguins bobbing around. The Science Centre is where passengers can view samples of things like krill and participate in real-time citizen science projects. Passen- gers are encouraged to photograph and meas- ure algae when they go ashore, and these ob- servations are uploaded to be correlated with satellite pictures to help scientists verify the accuracy of their data. Any photos of whales and other fauna are also submitted, helping scientists track individual animals to assess mi- gration patterns. The Science Centre also runs lectures on everything from history to climate change. The hybrid electric-diesel model of the ship itself has been developed to minimise its envi- ronmental impact. Sewage management is of major concern in the Antarctic. The MS Fridjhof Nansen deals with this waste by separating liq- uids from solids, processing the liquid so that it is safe to release into the sea, while the sol- ids are stored until the ship is in deep ocean far from shore before being released. One of the lesser-known destinations acces-

INNOVATIA

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INNOVATIA

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