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Aurora Expeditions · 26 Days
Sail from Hobart in the wake of Mawson’s Aurora to Macquarie Island and the Ross Sea, where the Heroic Age explorers built their huts, then return through New Zealand’s subantarctic islands to Dunedin.
The Voyage
Ross Sea Odyssey is a 26 day voyage from Hobart to Dunedin on the Greg Mortimer, and it goes to the part of Antarctica most British readers know from books rather than holiday brochures. From the Tasmanian capital you head south to Macquarie Island, cross the Antarctic Circle and spend seven days along the Victoria Land coast and in the Ross Sea, before turning north to the Auckland Islands and Campbell Island and finishing in New Zealand.
Hobart is the right place to start. Mawson’s Australasian Antarctic Expedition sailed from here aboard the Aurora in December 1911, and a few months later Roald Amundsen sent the telegram announcing that he had reached the South Pole from the same town. The Ross Sea itself was found by James Clark Ross in 1841, with the Erebus and the Terror, and it became the stage for the Heroic Age: Borchgrevink’s first winter on the continent at Cape Adare in 1899, then Scott, Shackleton and Amundsen setting out for the Pole across the ice shelf. Scott’s and Shackleton’s huts still stand, protected under the Antarctic Treaty.
Aurora hopes to land at some of those huts, around McMurdo Sound and at Cape Adare, as well as at Adélie colonies at Cape Hallett and Franklin Island, the emperor colony off Cape Washington and the face of the Ross Ice Shelf. We will be plain with you: in the Ross Sea the ice decides. Pack ice can close a site for a day or a season, and an experienced expedition team will always choose a safe landing somewhere else over a forced one. The region is a wildlife sanctuary too, protected by one of the world’s largest marine protected areas, agreed in 2016.
The departure leaves in mid December, so on the scheduled dates Christmas falls during the Ross Sea days and New Year at sea on the way north. Aurora, also known as AE Expeditions, includes premium drinks throughout, and the Greg Mortimer carries no more than 130 expeditioners. See what’s included for the full list.
Day by Day
Arrive in Hobart, where an Aurora representative meets you and takes you to your pre voyage hotel, which Aurora will confirm nearer the time. The night and breakfast are included. In the afternoon, collect your luggage tags from the Aurora hospitality desk in the lobby, label them with your name and cabin number, and ask any questions about embarkation. Hobart is Australia’s southernmost capital and has long been a gateway to Antarctica: Mawson sailed from here in 1911, and in 1912 Amundsen came ashore to cable news of his success at the Pole. Spend the evening at one of the city’s restaurants or walking the old waterfront at Salamanca and Battery Point.
After breakfast, tag your cabin luggage and leave it at reception by 11am. It goes straight to the port and will be in your cabin when you board, so keep valuables with you. The morning is free. Once aboard the Greg Mortimer, settle in and find your way around. As the ship sails down the Derwent River, join the expedition team on deck for views back over the Hobart foreshore and, later, the fluted dolerite columns of the Tasman Peninsula. From Storm Bay the ship turns south, on the course Mawson’s Aurora took when she carried the Australasian Antarctic Expedition to the ice.
Three days crossing the Southern Ocean. On a voyage like this the passage is part of the experience, and there is plenty to do: the expedition team hands out tips on photography and birdwatching, and specialists give talks on wildlife and history. Use the sauna and gym, find a seat in the polar library or meet people in the bar. Mawson’s party made this crossing in a wooden ship roughly the length of an Olympic swimming pool, and recorded many whales and albatrosses along the way, so spend time on deck with binoculars or take a cup of tea to one of the observation lounges.
When Mawson’s Aurora reached Macquarie Island in 1911 he described cliffs crowded with penguins and the din of the rookeries, and you can expect the same today. Macca, as it is known, is a steep green ridge in the Southern Ocean, part of Tasmania and a World Heritage site, with about 3.5 million breeding seabirds. Four penguin species nest here, kings, gentoos, rockhoppers and the endemic royal penguin, alongside three kinds of fur seal and a large share of the world’s elephant seals. Kelp forests sway in the shallows. It was here that five of Mawson’s men set up a radio relay station that sent the first messages from Antarctica to the outside world.
Four days south. Wandering, grey headed, black browed and light mantled albatrosses may stay with the ship for a while after Macquarie. Somewhere on this leg you cross the Antarctic Convergence, where cold southern water meets warmer water from the north and the sea temperature drops by about 4°C. The zone is rich in food, so look out for porpoising penguins, flocks of Antarctic petrels and the solitary snow petrel. The Antarctic Circle and the first icebergs follow. Lectures now turn to the wildlife and the expeditions of the Ross Sea coast, and there is time for the sauna, the bar or your photographs.
Seven days planned around ice and weather, so read these as possibilities. At Cape Adare, home to one of Antarctica’s largest Adélie colonies, Aurora hopes to enter Borchgrevink’s 1899 hut. Cape Hallett has a large Adélie rookery and the old station built for the International Geophysical Year, and it is where Greg Mortimer led the 1988 expedition that made the first ascent of Mount Minto. In Terra Nova Bay the fast ice off Cape Washington holds one of the largest known emperor colonies. Franklin Island offers a walk past Adélies to views of the ice shelf. The ship may cruise the 30 metre cliffs of the Ross Ice Shelf and enter McMurdo Sound, past the McMurdo and Scott bases on Ross Island, where the team will try to land at one or more historic huts if the ice allows.
The ship leaves the ice and turns north, with four days to enjoy the Southern Ocean and take stock of two weeks in Antarctica. There are lectures and polar films, and the bar, library and observation deck are good places to compare notes and photographs. Many people keep a journal or mark the route on a chart. Nearing New Zealand’s subantarctic islands, watch for the white capped mollymawk, a large albatross of which more than ninety percent breed in the Auckland Islands, and for New Zealand sea lions and southern right whales.
These islands were reached by Māori navigators centuries ago and are important to Ngāi Tahu, the iwi of the South Island. In the Auckland Islands (Maungahuka / Motu Maha) the team may choose Sandy Bay, where New Zealand (Hooker’s) sea lions breed below a rātā forest in which yellow eyed penguins (hoiho) nest; Carnley Harbour, where five men wrecked on the Grafton in 1864 survived 20 months in the Epigwaitt Hut, whose remains may be seen; or Victoria Passage between Auckland and Adams Islands. On Campbell Island (Motu Ihupuku) Aurora hopes to land at Beeman Cove in Perseverance Harbour and follow a boardwalk past the old meteorological station, through megaherbs such as the Ross lily and Campbell Island daisy, to the nests of southern royal albatrosses, whose wings can span more than three metres.
A final day at sea on the way to Dunedin. Use it to sort your photographs, finish your journal and spend time with the friends you have made over nearly four weeks. Aurora hopes you go home as an advocate for the Southern Ocean and its protection, and that you share what you have seen so that others can one day see it too.
After breakfast you say goodbye to the expedition team and crew and leave the ship in Dunedin. If you have time before your onward journey, the city is worth a look: it was founded by Scottish settlers in 1848, its name is the old Gaelic for Edinburgh, and Scott’s Terra Nova left for the Antarctic from Port Chalmers, on Otago Harbour, in 1910. Aurora advises against booking a flight before midday on this day, in case of delays.
Every Antarctic itinerary depends on the ice, the weather and the wildlife. The Captain and Expedition Leader choose each day’s landings and Zodiac cruises on the spot, so the order of the days and the places visited can change.
Watch
Ross Sea Odyssey sails only on the Greg Mortimer. Aurora’s short film shows the ship you will live aboard for 26 days, from the X-BOW to the observation lounge.
Video: Introducing the Greg Mortimer, from Aurora Expeditions on YouTube.
2026/27 Season
Ross Sea Odyssey has a single departure on the Greg Mortimer, from Hobart on 14 December 2026 to Dunedin on 8 January 2027. That puts you in the Ross Sea in the height of the southern summer, when the sea ice is beginning to break up, the light barely fades and Adélie and emperor penguins are busy raising chicks. On the scheduled dates Christmas falls during the Ross Sea days. Fares start from £27,508 per person twin share, with savings of up to 10% at present. With only one sailing a year, cabins go early.
One departure in the 2026/27 season, on the Greg Mortimer.
| Departs | Ship | Aurora Stateroom from | Balcony Stateroom from | Suites from |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14 Dec 202626 days, Hobart to DunedinSave up to 10% | Greg Mortimer | Sold out | £27,508was £30,564Limited | £46,286was £51,429Limited |
Prices are per person in pounds, two sharing, and include Aurora’s current savings. The Solo column is the price for a cabin to yourself. They are taken from Aurora Expeditions’ UK fares on 3 November 2026. Flights from the UK are not included, and we are happy to arrange them for you. Aurora adjust fares and offers often, so prices and availability can change daily. Call us on 0333 405 0194 for today’s fare and the full range of staterooms on your chosen date.
Your Fare
Aurora’s fares cover more than many people expect, including drinks, landings and your polar jacket. On this voyage the price includes:
Not included: flights to and from South America unless shown above, travel insurance (which must include at least US$250,000 of medical, repatriation and evacuation cover), optional add-on activities, visas and personal spending. A crew gratuity of US$20 per person per day is added to your onboard account, and you can adjust or remove it when you settle up. For suite guests the gratuity is already included. Our Aurora what’s included page has more detail.
Make More of It
The optional activity on Ross Sea Odyssey is sea kayaking, guided in small groups whenever conditions allow, and places are limited. Zodiac cruising, landings, guided walks, lectures and the polar plunge are all included. Read more on our Aurora activities page.
Aurora does not list extension tours for this voyage. If you would like a few days in Tasmania before you sail, or time in New Zealand afterwards, ask us and we can help you plan them around the voyage dates.
| Add-on activity | From, per person |
|---|---|
| Sea kayaking | £1,024 |
Activity prices vary by departure. Places are limited, they are booked with your voyage, and every activity depends on the weather and ice on the day. See our Aurora activities page for what each one involves.
Questions
It is 26 days, starting in Hobart, Tasmania, and ending in Dunedin, New Zealand. Your first night in a Hobart hotel with breakfast is included, and you board on Day 2. The voyage disembarks in Dunedin after breakfast on Day 26. Flights to Hobart and home from Dunedin are not included, so you will need open jaw flights, which we can help with.
Aurora will try. The surviving huts around McMurdo Sound are Scott’s at Hut Point and Cape Evans and Shackleton’s at Cape Royds. The itinerary aims to land at one or more of them if ice and weather allow, but does not name which, and also hopes to enter Borchgrevink’s hut at Cape Adare. The Ross Sea is notorious for pack ice, so no hut visit can be promised.
No. Cape Denison and Commonwealth Bay are not part of this itinerary. The Mawson connection on this voyage is the route itself: you follow the course of his ship Aurora south from Hobart and land, conditions permitting, on Macquarie Island, where his men set up the radio relay station in 1911. The Antarctic days are spent on the Victoria Land coast and in the Ross Sea.
Yes. The Ross Sea lies well south of the Antarctic Circle, so reaching the Victoria Land coast means crossing it. Aurora plans the crossing on the way south after Macquarie Island. How far south the ship then goes within the Ross Sea depends on the ice that season.
There are long open ocean crossings between Tasmania, Antarctica and New Zealand, and the Southern Ocean can be rough. The Greg Mortimer’s X-BOW helps her ride the swell, but bring seasickness remedies. Aurora grades the voyage as moderate: you need to manage Zodiac transfers with help from the crew and walks over uneven, sometimes snowy, ground.
There is a good chance but no guarantee. Emperors are often seen on floes along the ice edge and near the Ross Ice Shelf, and Aurora hopes to visit the large colony on the fast ice off Cape Washington in Terra Nova Bay if weather and ice allow. Adélie penguins are almost certain, with big colonies at Cape Adare, Cape Hallett and Franklin Island.
Your first hotel night in Hobart, the airport transfers named in the itinerary, all meals and premium drinks on board, Zodiac cruises and landings, lectures, a three in one polar jacket to keep, boots on loan, Wi-Fi (slow in remote areas) and port fees. A crew gratuity of US$20 per person per day is added to your onboard account and can be adjusted; suite guests have it included.
Yes. Aurora offers up to ten solo cabins on every sailing with no single supplement, and on a once a year departure like this they go quickly. Other cabins can be booked for sole use with a 50% supplement. With no more than 130 guests aboard, it is an easy ship to travel on alone.
Other Voyages
To go further still, Epic Antarctica: Crossing the 7th Continent combines the Ross Sea with a week along West Antarctica and the Antarctic Peninsula, ending in Ushuaia. For the Atlantic side of the story, Antarctica Complete covers the Peninsula, South Georgia and the Falklands, and In Shackleton’s Footsteps follows the Endurance expedition. See all Antarctic cruises to compare.