Aurora fleshes out its 2021-22 season in Australia

The news was foreshadowed here on Monday.

Hobart departures for Antarctica

CEO Monique Ponfoort said a highlight of the programme will be the round-trips from Hobart to the Ross Sea and Commonwealth Bay.

Ponfoort also said the company’s purpose-built Greg Mortimer will be the first X-Bow passenger ship to sail in both Australian waters and down to the Ross Sea and Commonwealth Bay.

The programme is expected to kick off on July 8 with 13-day voyages from Darwin to Broome and Broome to Darwin.

Greg Mortimer will also make 11-day ‘Kimberley Coast’ voyages from Broome to Darwin and Darwin to Broome from July 20 and a round Broome to Broome ‘Kimberley Explorer’ voyage on August 9.

On September 10 she is scheduled to make a 10-day Broome to Broome ‘Ningaloo Reef Adventure’ voyage.

A 13-day ‘Western Australia and the Coral Coast’ voyage from Broome on September 19 follows, then a 12-day ‘Southern Australia Coastal Discovery’ voyage on October 4.  

A seven-day ‘Kangaroo Island Explorer’ round trip from Adelaide is planned for October 15 and an eight-day ‘Kangaroo Island and the Tasman Sea’ voyage on October 27.

The company will then operate Hobart to Melbourne and Melbourne to Hobart ‘Bass Strait Islands and East Coast Discovery’ voyages from November 3. These voyages include the Great Southern Reef, part of a ‘Hope Spot’ designated by Sylvia Earle’s Mission Blue team.

Mawson’s Antarctica

A 14-day Hobart to Hobart circumnavigation of Tasmania follows on November 15. On December 11 there is a 25-day ‘Mawson’s Antarctica’ round voyage from Hobart and on January 5, 2022, there is a 26-day round voyage from Hobart to Antarctica featuring the Ross Sea.

 On February 26, 2022, there is a 10-day ‘Tasmania South East Coast Discovery’ round voyage from Hobart and, finally, on March 7, 2022, there is an 18-day ‘Subantarctic Discovery’ round voyage from Hobart.

Shark diving

Ponfoort said the programme of immersive, off-the-beaten-track voyages includes paddling in clear bottom kayaks, snorkelling with sea lions and dolphins, shark diving and helicopter flights over incredible waterfalls.