The Wandering Tattler

Akaroa is small resort on a protected inlet on the Banks Peninsula, near Christchurch, New Zealand. There is a Maori marae and a small European settlement. Akaroa is the hometown of Frank Worsley, the captain of Ernest Shackleton's ill-fated ship, the Endurance. Worsley's guidance of the 22-foot tender, the James Caird over 800 miles of stormy Antarctic waters to South Georgia Island was undoubtedly the most brilliant and heroic feat of celestial navigation ever performed by a European. This extraordinary achievement permitted Shackleton to rescue his crew, whom he had left on the shores of Elephant Island, near the Antarctic Peninsula, after the Endurance was crushed by pack ice in 1915. Check out this website or read 'The Endurance,' a fine book by Caroline Alexander that is illustrated by the remarkable photographs made by the photographer on The Endurance and printed from glass negatives rescued from the vessel after it had begun to sink into the icy water.