Farthest points

[skyking1]

That's cool, Winemaker.
kcowan I was not terribly far from Holberg at the Port Hardy airport. It was the customs-lite fuel stop on the way to Alaska. They would let you flight plan in, land, get fuel and drain your personal tanks on a secure apron, all without a full meal deal customs inspection.

 

[kcowan]

Yes skyking1. Apparently you can drive from Port Hardy but not when I was there.

 

[skyking1]

When you were there they preferred no one could drive there, international security and all

 

[DougJohnson]

North: 82º North, just short of the ice pack.
South: Palmer Station, Antartica
East: Agra, India
West: Mount Everest (miss closing the world circle by about 300 miles)
Highest: Pang La pass, Tibet (17,076 feet, breath taking in several ways)
Lowest: Dead Sea (-1410 feet)
Remote: Pitcairn Island (South Pacific)

-- Doug

 

[braumeister]

Remote: Pitcairn Island (South Pacific)

There must be a great story associated with your visit there. Can you share it?

 

[Gumby]

There must be a great story associated with your visit there. Can you share it?

I'm also interested in hearing about that, and I would guess many others are too.

 

[MuirWannabe]

Yes. Also, more about your highest point, and north south points. Impressive!

 

[DougJohnson]

Yes. Also, more about your highest point, and north south points. Impressive!

The story on all of them is pretty simple. DW and I are addicted to National Geographic Expeditions. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/expeditions/

They are a major example of BTD, but we have never regretted a nickel of it. They have access to the most amazing places and people.

Pitcairn was a stop on one of their South Pacific cruises. I loved the Nordoff and Hall Bounty trilogy since I was a kid. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bounty_Trilogy

When the chance came to visit Pitcairn, I jumped at it. I was hosted by a descendant of Fletcher Christian.

The north and south points are similar. They have a cruise up the coast of Norway which just keeps going north and ends up around Svalbard.

Pang La pass overlooks Everest and we went up there for sunrise. See attached. That NatGeo trip was led by Peter Hillary, the son of Edmund Hilary.

I could go on for hours, but you get the idea.

-- Doug

 

[skyking1]

Thanks for posting that link and sharing, Doug. I went to polar and see a bunch of trips that appeal to me.

 

[MuirWannabe]

Yes, thanks. I’ve desired to take a trekking trip of some sort to the Himalayas. Natgeo may be a good way to go. I’m sure you treasure these experiences with DW

 

[Mr Gadget]

I guess Denali up north, inside the straight around the southern tip of Chile, but I had 47 countries flags on my retirement plaque. I ended up circumnavigating the planet over 6 months duration, but I flew home after the Persian Gulf 'War' the opposite way my ship had been sent. That was after 3 months at sea straight. Never did a sub, but have been to Death Valley and have only one continent missing, Antartica.

 

[Bamaman]

1. Furthest North -the Fjords of Norway

2. Furthest South - Aruba and Curacao--just off the coast of Venezuela

3. Farthest East - Budapest (Cannot go there now due to all the refugees flowing in.)

4. Farthest West - Kauai, Hawaii

5. Highest point - Grossglockner High Alpine Highway (south of Zell-am-Zee, Austria) 14,000'--second highest point in Europe

6. Lowest point - 100'+ Night diving on San Clemente Island 60 mi. off the coast of San Diego.

7. Most remote - The middle of the Atlantic Ocean on one of two repositioning cruises to Europe.

Our trip into St Petersburg on 6/2/2022 was obviously cancelled. Plan B is touring London and flying to Milan and driving north into Switzerland & Austria--The Alps.

 

[braumeister]

The story on all of them is pretty simple. DW and I are addicted to National Geographic Expeditions. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/expeditions/

Another vote for NatGeo. We have done several of their cruises with Lindblad https://www.expeditions.com and definitely got our money's worth. Extremely well organized and great fun. We have another one booked for 2023.

 

[Ronstar]

The story on all of them is pretty simple. DW and I are addicted to National Geographic Expeditions. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/expeditions/

-- Doug

Thanks for posting! NatGeo Expeditions looks like the way to go to far off places where we don't know the culture, geography well enough to journey on our own.

I'd like to start by circumnavigating Iceland.

 

[Gumby]

I also looked at the NatGeo site and I'm intrigued by several of the trips. You're a good spokesman for them, DougJohnson.

 

[skyking1]

Isn't he though
Ronstar, that was the cruise that caught my eye too. Scotland, Faroes, and Iceland By Sea.

 

[athena53]

Not as exotic as some, but:

North: Kulusuk, Greenland (day trip from Reykjavik)
South: Rio de Janeiro
East: Kathmandu, Nepal
West: Hawaii

Highest altitude: Tiahuanoco, Bolivia 3,870 meters (2,404) above sea level
Lowest altitude: no idea!

Overseas Adventure Travel is another good tour company for unique destinations and hard-to-reach spots. Tiahuaneco was on their tour of South America and the Galapagos (which unfortunately got cut short 2 years ago after the first week in Bolivia). Bonus: they don't charge a single supplement. Major advantage for those of us who travel solo.

 

[hiker88]

North: Nordkapp, Norway
East: Athens, Greece
West: Sydney, Australia
South: Punta Arenas, Chile
Highest: Mt Whitney, California(14505ft)
Lowest: Badwater, California(-282ft)

 

[f35phixer]

NORTH - Halifax, Nova Scotia
SOUTH - Guantanamo Bay, Cuba
EAST - Haifa, Israel
WEST - Maui
HIGHEST - Haleakala 10,023 Maui - the bike ride down was so FUN !!!
LOWEST - Death Valley
REMOTEST - Middle Atlantic

 

[DougJohnson]

I also looked at the NatGeo site and I'm intrigued by several of the trips. You're a good spokesman for them, DougJohnson.

The cruises are very different from the big ship cruises. There is no casino. Very little on board entertainment of any kind other than lectures by first rate experts on the area you are traveling. NatGeo photographers accompany most trips.

Night life is slow. Maybe a movie with popcorn. Day life is something else. In remote areas, they load up the Zodiacs for ice berg or wild life viewing. Or maybe landing at some interesting spot. In more civilized areas, you'll dock and tour with excellent local guides. Because the ships are small, you'll not be competing with a couple thousand of your best friends.

Also, because the ships are small, they can get in areas the big boys can't. They can also change schedule as things happen. One day, there was a school of feeding dolphins. Stop the ship, load up the Zodiacs.

Some people love it. Some people hate it. You couldn't get me on a big ship with wild horses.

-- Doug

 

[braumeister]

Some people love it. Some people hate it. You couldn't get me on a big ship with wild horses.

Exactly the same here. We have also had some wonderful, unplanned detours from the published route. Well worth it, especially for the opportunity to get into some tiny harbors, such as in southeast Alaska. Both NatGeo photographers and highly experienced naturalists on most cruises, so you can learn a lot.

 

[Gumby]

The only cruise we've ever taken was the Inside Passage of Alaska, on a ship that held about 120 passengers. The was a library/lounge, and naturalist/cultural talks for entertainment. No Broadway shows, no casinos, no pools, no shops. We went ashore in small, out of the way places and stopped for interesting sights. Once, the captain turned the ship around and followed a pod of orcas so that we could all get good pictures. We just loved it. I too have no interest in a regular cruise ship. In fact, the only cruises that have been on my mind are going down the Dalmatian coast to Greece on the Sea Cloud sailing ship in 2023 if we can, and a river cruise on the Rhine and Danube

 

[OldShooter]

I also looked at the NatGeo site and I’m intrigued by several of the trips. You’re a good spokesman for them, DougJohnson.

We took a land NatGeo trip several years ago in Ethiopia. It was the best organized and operated tour we’ve ever been on, by far. In two instances they found availability of better hotels than we were booked at and instantly switched the plan. We were accompanied by a guy who was the tour manager as his sole job and he by a local “fixer” as support. DW had been reading the NatGeo brochures for years and really wanted to try them

That said, we will never go on another one. It was hideously expensive, with profits to NatGeo, to a US domestic tour operator, and to an Ethiopian tour operator who actually did most of the work. The trip was a week, and the following week be spent on a private car tour in the North, accompanied by a guide and a driver, and it cost half what the NatGeo group trip cost. NatGeo was wonderful but not a good value. About the ship offerings your affiant sayeth not.

 

[braumeister]

NatGeo was wonderful but not a good value. About the ship offerings your affiant sayeth not.

Conversely, I know nothing about the land expeditions, but I do think the Lindblad/NatGeo cruises are a good value. I've compared them with other companies that run similar size ships, and they're all roughly in the same ballpark.

 

[athena53]

The only cruise we've ever taken was the Inside Passage of Alaska, on a ship that held about 120 passengers. The was a library/lounge, and naturalist/cultural talks for entertainment. No Broadway shows, no casinos, no pools, no shops. We went ashore in small, out of the way places and stopped for interesting sights. Once, the captain turned the ship around and followed a pod of orcas so that we could all get good pictures. We just loved it.

UnCruise? I've taken 6 cruises with them!