Intrepid adventurer proves you are never too old
By Margaret Ingram
TO start travelling again after the death of my husband and realising that I would have to be a solo traveller was not an easy decision. However, at the age of 82 I was given the opportunity to travel to South Africa with a small group of 14 in total.
It was a wonderful experience to stay in Wildlife Reserves and go out on Safari to spot several different animal species in the wild.
To walk on top of Table Mountain and to dine in private homes to sample the hospitality and local cuisine was an incredible experience.
Since I have enjoyed a lifelong interest in animals, over the last couple of years I have enjoyed three overnight and behind the scenes experiences in some of our Australian Zoos. Jamala African Lodge in Canberra Zoo, a Zoofari night and day at Dubbo Zoo with my Daughter and Great Grandson, and Australia Zoo was my last overnight stay.
The year that I turned 86, I flew on Rex Air with a small group to Birdsville, we were given a tour of the town, then out to the Big Red sand dune where I walked barefoot on the softest fine sand and sipped wine as we watched the sun dip over the horizon.
Last year at the age of 87 I embarked on my first trip to the Antarctic. On December 1, 2024 at 7:15am, I departed Brisbane Airport on board a Qantas Boeing Dreamliner 787 on a round trip, final destination Brisbane Airport at 10.15 pm the same day!
This 15-hour flight was the most memorable and spectacular flight I have ever been on! The first five hours of the flight passed quickly, we were served food and refreshments and listened to information about the area we were going to experience.
At 12.30 pm our aircraft descended from an altitude of 10,000 feet, and for the next five hours we looked down on the most beautiful wonderland – an incredible world of white, steel grey and blue.
It was spectacular to view the steel grey of one side of the mountain ranges, with white snow ice the other side, and the most amazing glaciers between the ridges.
We viewed the ice shelf that had numerous icebergs that the sea had iced over last winter – it was fascinating to see the icebergs trapped and frozen. Sheet ice at the edge of the sea was breaking up and there several icebergs floating free in the blue water, which merged with the blue sky along the horizon – absolutely spectacular! A truly magical experience.
