Drive across the Nullarbor Plain to Perth, go deep-sea fishing, photograph wild animals in Africa, go to Antarctica and get close to the penguins, get my wife Louise on a small plane to Flinders Island and take my son Tom on an Australian adventure, maybe one day.

So, when Louise, said "I've got our Christmas, wedding anniversary and birthday presents sorted", at first I was wondering where she was keeping the boat and the motorhome stored.

"How about, flying somewhere you want to go?" she asked.

Ok, I was ready for the punch line, "it's a long 12.5-hour flight, and we need no luggage!"

Many places went rushing through the mind. Thailand to see Ben and our granddaughter Peta Louise, maybe England to see cousin Elaine and get a Cornish pasty from Mevagissey or Queensland to see family and take Tom to the theme parks.

I was thinking "do we really want to get on a plane with all this COVID stuff going on? NOT really no, but it sounded interesting. The answer was of course YES, I'm up for a surprise, I think".

"How about we go away for a weekend and head down to Antarctica?" Louise asked.

"Um... yeah, that would be nice, I've always wanted to go there, but it takes a couple of days to get there, and only a weekend?" I replied.

One place I've always wanted to go to, is to photograph the ice, penguins and seals. The two-day boat ride with good weather would be perfect, however, this was a different trip.

Louise had booked us two seats on a Dreamliner 787 flight to Antarctica, flying out of Hobart.

A unique trip, that allowed us to see the white wilderness of the Antarctic region from a warm cabin with all the constant refreshments.

The endless view of snow and ice.

The hard part was deciding on what camera gear to take. Which bodies, how many, do I take the long 400mm lens, or the 80-400mm zoom, maybe the 200-400mm.

No, can't take a long lens, I'm in a window seat.

I decided on my D500, and with help from Andrew at Nikon, borrowed a mirrorless Nikon Z6, (yes it's a nice little camera) added my favourite 24-70mm and 80-200mm lenses, spare batteries and loads of memory cards. I figured with the crop sensor and larger raw file size, I'd be ok.

Our day started at Hobart Airport for check-in at 5am, with security checks and last-minute paperwork to be checked off. Wearing a face mask throughout the flights was mandatory.

Louise and Paul , are masked up and ready for adventure.

We had to fly to Melbourne first, to join the Dreamliner 787, as it could not take off from Hobart with full fuel tanks, but could land with what was left after the flight.

Boarding at 6.30am, taking off into the clouds heading north, it seemed a quick flight, landing in Melbourne on, to an overcast day, but we hoped that the weather would improve. Through the arrival gate, across the hall, and straight into the departure lounge, this was the easiest transfer I've ever had.

Louise Scambler, at an empty Tullamarine airport, in search of good coffee.

The terminal and gate lounges weren't hectic at all, it was a weird feeling of emptiness. Due to the COVID-19 restrictions, shops and cafes were closed, even no vending machines, so no chance of a last-minute good coffee or snacks.

Louise let me take the window seat, armed with the camera, and she sat next to me in the centre, then we exchanged at the halfway point for the aisle seat and adjacent seat for the rest of the flight. We still had a good view, as you could move around the cabin and lookout

Halfway through journey: Seat A swaps with Seat D Seat B swaps with Seat C

There are 19 planned routes to match the day's weather conditions, and our weather was amazing to say the least. We had the best day that Casey Station, recorded for a while, as the temperature was a minimum of -3.2 and the day had a sunny maximum of 1.7C. Made the cabin even better.

With a distance of 3842 kilometres from Melbourne to Casey Station, the next four hours were time to watch the latest movie, have some snacks, try the premium wines, or maybe just rest the eyes for a quiet moment.

Snack time, a box of different pies

The cabin suddenly erupted with excitement, with the sound of cameras and people getting their first shots of a couple of icebergs, then the full impact of Antarctica struck. The ultimate view of the continent of ice and icebergs appeared, and it seemed endless. The pilot took us down to 10,000ft and slowed down to give a better view and smoother flight.

First glimpse of Antarctica at 10,000 feet.

Onboard were Antarctic experts who gave information about the current view out the window as we flew over, one fact that did stand out, was the average annual temperature ranges from about 10C on the coast to 60C at the highest parts of the region.

Did you know? Antarctica is almost twice as big as Australia, but only 2 per cent is ice-free. It holds 70 per cent of the planet's fresh water and 90 per cent of the planet's freshwater ice. The average ice sheet is 1.4 kilometres thick.

It was exciting as we flew over Casey Station, trying to see any people, but no such luck. The captain made radio contact with one of the scientists below, who gave an insight into the current research, living conditions and general life down there. It was very interesting to hear about all the different things they do and how they cope with the weather conditions.

Casey station, one of Australia's three permanent research stations, is a mere 3422km from Hobart.

The area around Casey is home to tens of thousands of birds, we did look for some of the locals, the Adelie penguins, emperor penguins, elephant seals and Leopard seals, but reckon they were camera shy that day.

We continued up the coast where you could see rock through some of the snow and ice. The pilots looped around particular areas as the experts gave further information, and banked so both sides of the plane had views. Then came the turn-a-round spot, time to give up the window seat and move.

Not just snow and ice, hills of rock also.

The colours of the ice and water were amazing. Icebergs of various sizes had broken off, making patterns in the cold blue sea. Iceberg cliffs looked only small, but probably many metres high.

Some of the patterns in the snow looked just like ripples you see in the sand at the beach, but again were probably metres deep. Even though the view was predominantly white ice, surrounded by blue water, the shadows in the snow and ice gave no impression of depth.

Icebergs broken away

Our expedition was coming to a close, we had to return to Hobart, dinner was served, and the ice flows only appeared in the drinks, back to reality. Another milestone was the Dreamliner would land in Tasmania for the first time, and by a Tasmanian pilot, Captain Jonathan Phillips.

Back home, the Dreamliner 787 landed at Hobart Airport

A good landing, everyone cheered, but due to the size of the plane, we had to park at the end of the taxiway, and be bused back to the terminal, ending our day around 10pm.

The flight was a 9500-10,500 km round trip.

We certainly didn't think the Antarctic continent was that big. But you can fly over it for hours and still be looking at the ice, it's a huge place.

We were very privileged to see this amazing place, and would recommend Antarctica Flights to anyone.

I didn't get to photograph any penguins up close, but it was a visual treat to the eyes, the beauty of emptiness and cold, a sight not visible anywhere else in the world.

One day, I might book the cruise ship cabins and take Louise to meet the penguins. Thanks for my present, Louise, loved sharing it with you.

Paul Scambler, senior photographer