Even in Antarctica, coronavirus casts a shadow over travellers

On board my luxury cruise ship between Antarctica and Argentina, as it ploughs resolutely through the notoriously turbulent waters of the Drake Passage, the main health concern among my fellow passengers is sea-sickness.

However there's the soothing reassurance of having two full spare toilet rolls discreetly stored by housekeeping in the drawer of the en-suite bathroom vanity.

There's the comforting knowledge, too, that Antarctica is the only remaining continent to have not recorded a single confirmed coronavirus case – or at least that's the case as I write from aboard the ship with every hour providing some fresh, usually disconcerting, news about its spread.

News has reached the sleekly modern, newly-launched Scenic Eclipse, with its onboard helicopter and submarine offering shades of 007, that even James Bond is apparently fallible after his trip to the box office was postponed.

The boundless natural wonders of the so-called white continent over this 12-day cruise now drawing to end have provided a welcome, full-frontal distraction for the 200 or so passengers from the literal ills of the world.

However, there's little escape from the relentless breaking news from the outside world, whether it be via the daily "Australia Today" news summary sheet left outside staterooms or from the wide choice of satellite news channels available on in-room TVs.

There's that nagging, disconcerting knowledge of the return journey home and the potential for temperature checks, the spectre of the flight and the questioning at the airport after landing on Australian soil from the ominously-named Border Force.

Then there's the fear that the onset of even a mild cold may render you a quarantine candidate en route, on arrival or when you return to work.

There are no easy answers but my feeling, as a travel editor and traveller, is that such is the intense passion that Australians have demonstrated for travel in the past decade, that they won't abandon the pastime easily and will find a way to keep seeing and embracing the world.