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4.1 Getting there
Australian expeditioners have traditionally travelled to Antarctica by ship - about five voyages are made every summer to the Antarctic, Macquarie Island and sometimes Heard Island. Australia is developing its own air link, which will add more flexibility to the time needed to be spent in transit.
Aurora Australis
approaching Mawson. Photo: Wayne Papps
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It is chartered from its owners, P&O Polar Australia, by the Australian Antarctic Division, and its home port is Hobart. Voyages are made during the warmer months, from October to April, to the Antarctic and Macquarie Island (and in some years to Heard Island). Each year between 300 and 400 Australians travel south, with about 8,000 cubic metres of general cargo and 1.9 million litres of fuel to sustain the stations. In 2007, a new airlink between Hobart and Wilkins runway (near Casey station) was launched. Further information on the airlink is available on the website.
- Show students the voyage schedule for the 2006-07 season. Ask students to plot the voyage track on the Australia to the Australian Antarctic Territory map. Then show them the actual voyage tracks. Discuss reasons why the actual tracks are so far from the shore.
- Voyage schedules for all years since 1970-71, and voyage maps since 1995-96, are available on the web. These provide a very useful data set around which to design mathematical and scientific problems and activities.
- Ask the students to identify the hazards for shipping and for aircraft operating in the Southern Ocean and Antarctica.
ISSUE - Flying to Antarctica
AAD staff welcome
the new addition |