What is it like to win a trip to Antarctica?

After our incredible experience flying to Antarctica in one day thanks to Antarctica Flights, we ran a competition to give a lucky Places We Go viewer (and friend) the chance to win a trip to Antarctica. On board a Qantas 747, departing from Melbourne, this is the ultimate scenic flight – to the final frontier and back in less than one day! 

Our winner was Vicki Fuller from Victoria, and we absolutely had to know what her experience was like. When she returned, we pounced on her for all the details and thought we would share them with all of our travelling community as well! 

Vicki, you were the lucky winner of two seats on an Antarctica Flight recently! First of all, how did it feel when you were told you had won?

At first I thought it was a prank call but once I realised it was true I just couldn’t believe it.  Even the fact I was actually speaking to Jennifer from Places We Go was amazing.  I was just about dancing around the room and couldn’t wait for my hubby to get home to tell him!

The prize included two seats in Economy Class Standard seats on board the one day flight from Australia to Antarctica, on board a Qantas 747. When did you travel and who did you take?

I took my hubby, John, and we went on February 12^th 2017.

Tell us about your feelings prior to the journey – what were your expectations and what did you envisage it would be like?

It was very hard to envisage what it would be like, due to it being such an extraordinary place, but we looked up everything we could about Antarctica and the flights themselves.  The anticipation was almost as good as the actual trip.

Now having made the journey, can you sum up the experience?

Fabulous from beginning to end!  You can watch as many documentaries as you like but actually seeing it with your own eyes is beyond description.  It is so vast!  The aeroplane was really comfortable, the staff lovely and the experts on board were very interesting.

What was the undoubtable highlight of the journey?

Hard to say but possibly the first sighting of Antarctica.  Just a few icebergs at first, then lots of broken ice before reaching the land itself.  Or seeing Mount Erebus and one of the Australian bases (one of the ladies on board had a son there!).  Everything was awe inspiring.

Was it easy to see the view and what kinds of things did you see?

The view was excellent from when we had our window seat (everyone swapped half way through) and even when we didn’t people were only too willing to let you share their view.  The seating was very well arranged, we had the two aisle seats for half of the journey, then two window seats on the way back.

What was the camaraderie like on board?

Excellent, everyone was very excited and happy to be there.

What was the service like on board?

Also excellent. All staff were very friendly and helpful, the food was great and the experts were very informative.

What surprised you most about the experience?

How slow and low the plane seemed to go to give everyone a very good view, due to the plane dipping it sometimes appeared as though you were looking up at the mountains instead of down.

How did it compare to other travel experiences?

We haven’t had much travel experience but this was very, very different!  The scenery was so vast and varied, from pure white everywhere to bald rocky mountains plus it was pristine and the commentary on board was very educational.

What is your advice to others who are considering booking the same trip?

We were extremely lucky to have won this trip but if we had paid for it we can honestly say it would have been worth every cent.  It was so unique and educational and we would highly recommend it to anybody.