Alone Australia winner Gina Chick, who survived 67 days in the Tasmanian wilderness to take home $250,000, will join Aurora Expeditions as a special guest for its Antarctica 2023/24 season.
The 52-year-old rewilding facilitator, adventurer, writer and speaker will be interviewed on board by media personality Richard Morecroft.
Chick spent two months in a Tasmanian winter with just 10 survival items and camera equipment to record her experience. Her determination and passion for the natural world endeared her to a TV audience of more than 1.5 million.
Chick’s rewilding programs help adults and kids learn to be at home in the wild, bringing hunter-gatherer techniques into the modern world.
Aurora Expeditions’ guest program also offers other highly-respected conservationists, adventurers, photographers and climate activists who share their expertise.
Greg Mortimer to lead itineraries
Joining them is Greg Mortimer OAM, who will lead the 23-day Antarctica Complete voyage on his namesake ship. It departs Ushuaia on December 27. Passengers will ring in the new year Zodiac cruising amongst the vast ice-covered landscapes of Antarctica.
Mortimer will also lead the 24-day Arctic Complete voyage in July 2024 from Reykjavik to Longyearbyen. It will explore the European Arctic’s west side including the world’s largest fjord system in East Greenland, site of the recent rescue of Ocean Explorer. Expeditioners will spend their time scanning for whales, majestic polar bears and wallowing walrus on pack ice.
“People always ask me why I want to keep doing these trips time and time again,” suggests Mortimer.
“It’s simple – it’s never the same. From the chemistry of the people you travel with to the impact of the weather and the ice, and those things that come along that nature just throws at you. The chance encounters you can have on an expedition are wondrous.”
Auroroa’s guest speakers
Other special guests on the upcoming season include:
- Saunders Carmichael-Brown digital and broadcast presenter who was on the team that found Sir Ernest Shackleton’s famous shipwreck.
- Don Maruska, a Silicon Valley entrepreneur, who encourages people to tackle climate action and to have fun while doing it.
- Peter Eastway, an Australian photographer known internationally for his landscape and travel imagery. He was the author of the Lonely Planet’s Guide to Landscape Photography.
- Richard I’Anson, a freelance travel photographer and Canon Master . He has been in Lonely Planet’s Guide to Travel Photography and featured in TV documentary Tales By Light on Netflix.
- Jett and Kathryn Britnell, professional underwater, wildlife and expedition photographers, scuba divers, writers, speakers, shark advocates, marine conservationists and intrepid explorers.
