As icebergs towered above David and Estelle Cameron or they gazed at valleys covered in penguins, they had “no idea” the COVID-19 pandemic was rapidly worsening.
The Highton couple sailed the Antarctic Ocean unaware the pandemic would leave them stranded for more than a fortnight when they returned.
David, 70, and Estelle, 68, left Australia on February 28 when the government’s Smartraveller website warned only against travelling to China, then the coronavirus epicentre.
They embarked on their voyage aboard the Ocean Atlantic from Ushuaia, at the southern tip of Argentina, on March 2, a day before the country recorded its first coronavirus case.
Icebergs of every colour from “vivid blue” to “stark white” towered several metres above the ship on each side as they reached Antarctica, David said.
“It’s a sight to behold. We’ve seen a few glaciers in our time but the amount and size of them was unreal.”
One iceberg, 157 kilometres long and 57 kilometres wide, had enough water to keep the Nile flowing for 75 years, David said.
The couple saw Minke whales regard them curiously while in an inflatable boat and a leopard seal catching a penguin.
David also remembered climbing a hill to see a valley that is home to hundreds of thousands of king penguins.
“To the left, right and out to sea, all you could see was penguins,” he said.
The couple had little contact with the outside world except for internet so slow it took 20 minutes to download a single website, David said.
“The first time there was any inkling [something was wrong] is when we headed to the Falklands. That’s when the problems started.”
Falkland Islands authorities turned the Ocean Atlantic away on March 14 and the ship skipped Ushuaia where several vessels waited to dock, David said.
Argentinian authorities denied the ship entry two more times, forcing it to anchor between Buenos Aires and Montevideo, Uruguay, on March 19, along with about 20 other ships, he said.
That day two passengers had a cold, sending the Ocean Atlantic into lockdown until the ship’s doctor cleared the pair of coronavirus two days later, David said.
On March 24 the ship, clean of coronavirus, docked at Montevideo under 24-hour police guard, with passengers ordered to stay aboard, David said.
“We had our temperatures taken twice every day. We ate all our meals in our cabins and tried to keep social distancing.”
The couple forked out $13,000 for a chartered flight, only to be given false hope multiple times.
“The [lack of communication] was the annoying part,” David said.
“We kept getting informed it was going to happen.
“The more it dragged out the more concerned we got, but we never lost faith that we would get home. We had each other and we were OK.”
On April 1 they finally left the ship on buses under a police escort to Montevideo airport.
They flew to Santiago, then Sydney, where the plane landed to rapturous applause from the passengers.
Buses, again with a police escort, took them to a Sydney hotel where they are now in mandatory isolation.
They were keen to return to their home in Highton but David admitted his discovery of a brewery in their hotel would help ease the 14-day isolation.
He thanked family, friends and all levels of government for helping them return safely.
Despite being stranded for two weeks, David said the couple would happily travel to Antarctica again.
“It was an unforgettable experience.”
