Our Arctic adventure: An overview

Our team from left to right: Gavin (teacher), Graeme (photographer), Richard (filmmaker), Tanya (writer)

How our Arctic adventure came about

Ever since my dear friend, Sue Wight, visited the Arctic in 2007, and I saw her photos and listened to her animated stories about a wondrous world of ice and snow, I have fantasised about traveling to the far north to experience and photograph its wilderness and wildlife. 

Imagine my ecstasy, then, when one of my closest friends, Gavin McCormack, phoned me to say there was an opportunity to go to the Arctic with him and a small team to put together a series of videos, filmed on location, that will form part of a unique series of lessons for Upschool that educates children all over the world for free about the wonders of the Arctic and the importance of taking care of the planet.  As photographer, my role would be to take great photos for use in the the Upschool blog, media articles and lesson resources.  It was a dream come true.

To make this project a reality, we've partnered with Aurora Expeditions, a wonderful, friendly and dynamic Australian company that specialises in small ship expeditions to the remotest parts of the planet. They too are passionate about sustainability and conserving the world's wild places, and have been nothing short of amazing in all the help and support they have given us to make it all possible.

Highlights of our expedition

We arrived back from the Arctic just a few days ago and it was even more mind blowing than I hoped for.  Here are just a few of the highlights...

• 7 unforgettable encounters with polar bears, including a mum and its cub.
• Getting within metres of walrus and puffin in our zodiac.
• Sublimely beautiful icebergs, sculptured by nature, that were veritable works of art.
• Waterfalls cascading from the ice cliffs of the world's 3rd largest polar cap.
• Breaking our way through sea ice that extended as far as the eye could see as we travelled further north than our expedition ship had ever been.
• Being blown away by the exceptional calibre of the experts on board and getting to interview them as part of our video lessons.
• Discovering that my photographic hero, landscape extraordinaire Peter Eastway, was one of the expedition crew on the ship and getting to photograph thousands of kittiwake with him while lying on our backs under a bird cliff.
• Aurora's amazing expedition ship: the ultimate combination of extreme functionality and maximum comfort.
• Lazing in the jacuzzi on the ship's open deck, watching the Arctic scenery pass us by.
• Taking a team plunge into the arctic ocean, just 1100 km from the north pole, with chunks of sea ice floating nearby.

A slideshow of our Arctic adventure

Enlarge the slideshow in the bottom right corner.

Posts related to our Arctic adventure

Getting ready

Researching content for our Arctic lessons

Getting my photography juices flowing for the Arctic

Arctic farewell picnic

Getting there

Building team spirit in Singapore on the way to the Arctic

Singapore to Oslo

Arriving in Longyearbyen, gateway to the Arctic

In the Arctic

Introducing the star of our Arctic expedition: The Greg Mortimer

Exploring the Arctic by zodiac

Exploring the Arctic through landings on shore

Arctic scenery that took our breath away

A wonder world of sea ice just 1100 km from the north pole

Close encounters with great white bears

Other animals we saw in the Arctic

Birds we saw in the Arctic

Creating video lessons on location in The Arctic

Getting home

A long and very winding road

Journals

Journal of our Arctic adventure (written by Tanya)

Journal of our Arctic adventure (written by Aurora Expeditions)