Southern Lights Flight 2022 and 2023

11/04/2022

And check-out these STUNNING photos just-in from our recent inaugural Quo Vadis Holidays “Southern Lights Flight”!

Benjamin Alldridge Photography love your work!

Ben was one of my five professional photography crew on-board assisting all our guests both pre and in-flight with their camera settings. Here’s how you do it!

Based in Tasmania, Ben specialises in nightscape and aurora photography and knows more about “aurora science” than almost the auroras themselves!

Looking forward to having Ben and the crew join us back on board again in March 2023 when we fly to around 60° south to see and photograph the enchanting aurora australis once again!📷✈️🌌🥂🎉

https://quovadisholidays.com/tours/2023-southern-lights-flight/

info@quovadisholidays

30/03/2022

Anyone with ~10mins spare wanting to hear about my “Southern Lights Flight” from last weekend, one of my awesome Tassie pro photography crew on board, Nick Monk was interviewed on Monday 28th March on ABC Radio by host Helen Shield.

Listen from 0’00” - 18’00” (and after Helen’s intro skip “Sáde” and head to around 4’55” - or listen right through from the start if you want a bit of “Smooth Operator” in your day!)

GREAT work Nick and well-explained how the big adventure all went and all the photography tips. 📷💪

A pity you couldn’t sneakily drop Quo Vadis Holidays’ name in there!😂

Pretty confident you’ll “get the call up” for the next one! 📷✈️🌌🥂👏💪

https://www.abc.net.au/radio/hobart/programs/your-afternoon/your-afternoon/13806270

From around Tasmania, we unearth great music and stories to brighten your afternoon.

27/03/2022

A lovely and very kind testimonial from my good friend and guest Bern who was on our “Southern Lights Flight” with friend Fiona on the weekend.

“What an amazing experience we had Friday night on the inaugural Quo Vadis ‘Southern Lights flight’. My friend had put so much planning into getting this incredible flight off the ground (see what I did there!!). Corona meant postponing from September 2021 to March 2022 …and when the privately chartered Qantas Dreamliner finally left Terra Firma there was a spontaneous round of applause. The joy on board was palpable. Such an incredible energy from the Qantas flight crew and cabin crew, and all guests were buzzing with anticipation at the prospect of seeing the beautiful Aurora Australis. And that moment when First Officer Michael came to Tim an hour before the expected ‘Aurora time’ to say they could already see them - the energy levels lifted even higher. And we were off literally chasing the auroras through the skies. It was crazy exciting.

Tim had thought of everything. 5 professional photographers with experience in Aurora photography were available before and during the flight to help those of us who simply had no idea how to a) use a camera on manual, and b) find the correct settings for getting something representing the Southern Lights. Their patience was outstanding and they were as excited to be there as everyone else.

Astrophysicist Professor Alan Duffy (who I’ll be starting a campaign soon to have him confirmed as the new Dr Who) gave a presentation on all things aurorae to help those of us who came to see ‘green fairy lights’ understand a wee bit about this magical phenomenon. It was super cool having him on board.

And the thing that took the experience to a whole new level was that Tim had not sold seats down the centre of the plane. When we bought our seats you bought them in pairs so every pair travelling together shared a window. Business class and Premium Economy have two seats including one by a window anyway, but in Economy you had three seats between two people. And later, on the way home there was the whole centre section of the plane for people to spread out and sleep. It wasn’t crowded, people weren’t fighting to get near a window and get photos. We all had our own window as a pair and were able to just enjoy the whole experience in the easiest possible way. Tim could have sold every seat and doubled his profits and then some, but his commitment on all of his Quo Vadis holidays is to provide the best experience he can for his guests. And if we had had a full plane I can say that it would have been hideous. The way Tim had put that forethought into ensuring our comfort made all the difference.

Quo Vadis Holidays have trips that go to the Northern Lights in Scandinavia. They stay in ice hotels and have husky sled rides and do all sorts of wonderful things. But I don’t ‘do’ winter. It just isn’t for me. Its tough because I’ve wanted to support Tim’s business since he started and it’s been an ongoing joke between us that I just couldn’t do a winter trip with him. And his other tours are usually when I’m working myself. So when this Aurora Australis trip came about I had to jump on board. And I’m so glad I did. I can’t thank you enough Tim. I came to support you and to see some green lights ….and ended up having one of the most enjoyable and memorable experiences in all of my travels. 💫🌟✈️🧚👩‍✈️🌌🌠”

Thanks Bern for your amazingly kind words and great to have had you and Fi join our inaugural “Southern Lights Flight”! Tim ✈️🌌🥂🎉

27/03/2022

How’s this for the flight path on our HUGELY successful “Southern Lights Flight” from Friday night/Saturday morning!

Departed right on schedule at 8:30pm and had auroras showing already by 10:15pm! A solid 5hrs plus of “aurorae” right up until 3:00am when we headed for home!

An absolute buzz on board the whole plane for this bucket-list ticking flight and even a roar of excited cheers and applause when we hit V1 and Captain Lisa Norman at the helm “rotated” and wheels off the ground of our Qantas 787-9 Dreamliner!

Amazing work by Captain Norman and her First Officer and two Second Officers throughout ensuring the best view of the aurorae for everyone throughout the flight.

No need for guests to rotate their seats at all a HUGE plus for everyone for the many hours of the main show!




(Footage credit: Fiona Barden)

27/03/2022

Veni vidi aurorae-ici!

That time you "hired" a $400M Qantas 787-9 Dreamliner for ten hours for a "flight to nowhere"....

4+ solid hours of stunning aurorae for our 122 guests on board our fully-booked Southern Lights Flight on Friday evening/Saturday morning!

What an incredible adventure for all!

More images to follow but firstly, sleep!!✈️🌌🥂🎉

17/02/2022

Just a few seats left with
Economy class now FULLY BOOKED!

Ready to spoil yourself with a front-row-seat way up at 38,000ft and way down south at around 58º south latitude to view and photograph one of the seven Natural Wonders of the World?!

Having seen the Northern Lights (and Southern Lights) on well over 50 separate occasions I can certainly vouch that they are truly addictive!

These last Premium Economy and Business class seats will go soon as the clock ticks down on our 25th March "Southern Lights Flight".

Come along and be part of the very first and very BEST aurora australis flight ot of Australia this year!

No seat rotation required, keep your booked seat allocation for the entire flight. Double the all-important aurora viewing-time!

[email protected]

https://quovadisholidays.com/tours/2022-southern-lights-flight/

03/02/2022

VERY excited to announce that we've been able to secure on board, FIVE not just good but absolutely best-of-the-best professional landscape, night-scape and event photographers for our upcoming bucket-list ticking "Southern Lights Flight"! All of them are brand ambassadors for different camera companies and all with multiple photography awards and many industry accolades.

Four are travelling up especially from Hobart to be a part of this exciting flight to help all of our guests with their own photography and ensure they also capture stunning images and footage of the auroras.

May I present my expert photography crew for my March 25th/26th "Southern Lights Flight":

a) "Southern Lights Flight" Aurora Photography Crew

i) Luke Tscharke, Luke Tscharke Photogrpahy, Hobart
https://luketscharke.com

ii) Andrew Phipps, Andrew Phipps Photography, Hobart
https://www.eagleeyetasmania.com.au

iii) Nick Monk, Nick Monk Photography, Hobart
http://nickmonkphotography.com

iv) Ben Alldridge, Ben Alldridge Photography, Hobart
https://nightscapephotographer.com/benjamin-b-alldridge-tasmanian-nightscapes/

b) "Southern Lights Flight" Event Photographer

i) Fiona Handbury, The Garage Studio, Melbourne
https://thegaragestudio.com.au

Take a look online at some of the stunning work these five pro photographers I've nabbed for the flight have in their portfolios (and buy their prints or if Melbourne-based contact my good friend Fiona at The Garage Studio for your next newborn, maternity, wedding or event photos!)

Honoured to have such highly-regarded photographers on board as crew for the upcoming bucket-list ticking flight.

Down to the last few seats....be quick!

[email protected]

https://quovadisholidays.com/tours/2022-southern-lights-flight/

24/01/2022

And may I introduce the other highly esteemed and respected captain looking after us in two months, Captain Alex Passerini.

Here's Captain Alex giving a walk-through of the stunning 787-9 Dreamliner we'll be using to take us down to witness the enchating aurora australis!

Captain Alex Passerini is the Chief Technical Pilot at Qantas. Alex and his team are responsible for the development of flight crew procedures used to safely and efficiently operate airplanes in the fleet, deploy new technologies, liaise with manufacturers and the many departments within Qantas that contribute to flying operations. Alex continues to fly passenger flights as part of his role, and is currently flying the 787 on routes such as Perth/London and Melbourne/San Francisco (and exciting charters like ours!)

Both pilots have flown the Antarctica scenic day-flights as well as aurora flights last year so I am delighted to have been allocated two of Qantas' most experienced and highly regarded Captains to be looking after all of my guests and on-board crew for this unique flight.

Down to just a handful of seats available on board now for the bucket-list ticking flight....

https://quovadisholidays.com/tours/2022-southern-lights-flight/

[email protected]