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In search of gold and thrills in the big south
Topic Started: Mar 28 2008, 12:57 PM (243 Views)
Kahu
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In search of gold and thrills in the big south
The Dominion Post | Friday, 28 March 2008


A search for gold in sub-Antarctic waters has produced no treasure except amazing memories.
The No Fat Chicks Tour, for which 50 friends piled on to a Soviet icebreaker and headed south, was organised by maritime entrepreneur Bill Day.

They called at the Auckland Islands, 465 kilometres south of Bluff, in search of the wreck of the General Grant, and then sailed on to Antarctica in search of adventure.

Along the way they hobnobbed with tame penguins, dived under sea ice, and mountain-biked on the Ross Ice Shelf. "It was a fabulous trip," Mr Day said.

The General Grant foundered in May 1866, along with its cargo of gold. Fierce winds blew the ship into a cave, and its mast was pushed down through the hull.

Ten survivors were eventually rescued after a nightmarish 18-month ordeal.

Mr Day's expedition left Bluff in February and arrived back just before Easter.

Those on board included economist Gareth Morgan, his wife Jo, and Sounds Air founder Cliff Marchant.

They spent just a morning looking for the General Grant. "It was never really the focus," Mr Day said. But it was enough time for him to decide he would return for another search within the year. He has made three previous attempts to find the General Grant.

In Antarctica, the group visited the huts of early explorers Robert Falcon Scott and Ernest Shackleton.

It was a profound experience, Mr Day said. "Just to sit at the same table as them, and feel just how cold it really was down there. They were amazing men."

Mr Day did not believe his trip harmed the environment. He said the group had behaved responsibly.

He has said the tour's title was coined over a few beers and set the cat among the pigeons with his female staff.

The brochure for the tour - which cost $20,000 a head - included the question: "How fat can I be and still be allowed to come?" - and the answer: "If you feel you have to ask then you can't come."

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