Why this Aussie couple travelled all the way to Antarctica to exchange wedding vows
By Merryn Porter |
While it is not uncommon to feel like you could go to the ends of the earth for someone you love, some couples are taking that literally.
One Aussie couple has turned their dream of having a wedding ceremony in Antarctica into reality.
Tanya Conole, 48, and Bill Davidson, 57, have just returned from an Antarctic cruise aboard the MS Ocean Endeavour, which saw them exchange wedding vows.
It marked the next chapter of an already epic love story for the pair, who first met more than 20 years ago.
Tanya was on an Australian Navy-run family cruise from Brisbane to Sydney in 2001 when she met Bill, who was a member of the crew, which included her brother.
"Family members are invited onboard for a few days at sea to see how their loved ones work and live," explained Bill. "It allows families to experience life at sea and better understand what we do when we are deployed on operations."
During the cruise, Bill's best mate approached him and said he had to meet Tanya. The pair hit it off, and a friendship formed.
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Whenever Bill was in the same city as Tanya, the two would catch up, with Bill often bringing a slice of Tanya's favourite Black Forest cake.
But just like a good rom-com, nothing happened romantically, with life (each married other people) and their careers, often keeping them apart for long spells.
"I moved to the US in October 2013," said Tanya, who has lived in Texas, Kentucky, Florida and finally Colorado.
"Bill would come over for work at least once, sometimes twice a year. We travelled as friends only, much to people's inquiry."
Neither could pinpoint exactly when they fell for one another.
"It's hard to say when I realised I had feelings for Tanya: it would have been during one of my visits to the US for work [around] 2015-16 or on the flight home," Bill said.
"I didn't act on the thoughts as I didn't think she felt the same way."
Tanya said it took her a little longer to see Bill in a different light.
"For me, I think it became more that I couldn't imagine my life without him in it, and that feeling came after Bill returned back to Australia in January 2019 after a visit," she said.
Tanya was driving 1700 kilometres to her new home in Miami when she realised "how much I had depended on him [and] sought validation from him."
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She confided in a friend, who said "life is short, and sometimes you've just gotta try it and see."
Bill arrived in the US to spend Thanksgiving with Tanya in November 2019.
"Bill arrived on a Friday [and] that was the beginning of our relationship," Tanya said.
"The next morning we left for a holiday and he proposed in the airport lounge."
But within a few short months, COVID had struck and their new life together was ripped apart.
"For the first time in our lives, we didn't know when we were going to see each other again," Tanya said.
The anxiety and tension of the situation caused them to call off the engagement in mid-2020.
"We didn't talk for months กช hard when it is your close mate of 20 years," Tanya said. "But then Bill reached out in December 2021 for my birthday, and I helped him through putting his beloved family dog down in January 2022."
The two reconnected when Bill went to the states in March 2022, but did not get back together.
It wasn't until Tanya came to Australia the following month that things changed จC and quickly.
On Anzac Day 2022, Bill proposed after a home-cooked dinner, as they enjoyed a glass of port and a slice of Black Forest cake.
The couple started making plans to wed.
"An Antarctic wedding was actually our first choice of wedding, but life threw a spanner in the works," Tanya said.
"The plan was for me to return to Australia now that I had US citizenship and could come and go as I pleased. But in August 2022, Bill found out he was being posted to Colorado Springs with the Australian Defence Force."
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So in October 2022, just six months after Bill's surprise proposal, the pair eloped on a beach in Hawaii.
Still, they could not quite give up their dream of an Antarctic wedding.
So in January, they boarded an 11-day cruise to Antarctica, organised by tour operator Chimu Adventures and Intrepid Travel, and on February 2, the couple exchanged vows on Danco Island, watched on by two Chimu Adventures' staff and some very special guests.?
"There was a penguin highway behind us [and] a few furry friends passed by. We like to think they were giving us their best wishes," Tanya said.
Now back on dry land, the pair are looking forward to their life together and relishing memories of their trip of a lifetime.
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"The cruise was an amazing experience and to be married in Antarctica was the icing on the cake" said Bill, who was able to cross sailing the Beagle Channel and traversing Drake Passage off his bucket list.
Tanya agreed. "The wedding was more than what we had hoped for and could have truly imagined. We had only hoped for something on board, a photo or two on the deck with some icebergs in the background.
"But the efforts of Emma and James from Chimu, the photographer, Craig from Intrepid, and John and Lara Eales and their close friends created a fairy tale," she said.
Intrepid Travel's polar sales & marketing general manager Robyn Nixon said Tanya and Bill were among a rising number of couples who were venturing to Antarctica to recite their wedding vows.
"This frozen frontier has become the unexpected hotspot for love birds, with two weddings taking place this season alone," she said.
And it is all part of a rising trend in destination weddings, with couples choosing to save the cost of a big wedding and instead use the money to see the world.
