MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Games Queen's Baton en route to Antartica

The Commonwealth Games Queen's Baton is on its way to Antarctica on board the Australian ice patrol flagship “Aurora Australis” after having visited Oceania and the Pacific islands.

It's the first time Antarctica is included in the Queen's Relay Baton tour.

The baton was delivered to the deck of the research ship, by helicopter Friday afternoon before the vessel set sail from Hobart, Tasmania for the icy continent.

Australia's Governor-General Michael Jeffery came to Tasmania for the event, presenting the hi-tech baton to the Australian Antarctic Division before it began its two-week trip to Casey Station.

Major-General Jeffery said it was fitting the baton went to the icy continent for the first time because in 1930, when the first Games were in progress in Canada, Antarctic explorer Sir Douglas Mawson was in the prime of his career and on his way back to Australia after one of his many Antarctic visits.

Australian Antarctic Division director Tony Press said it was a "very exciting time", not only to carry the baton on board but to draw attention to the ice drilling, human-impact studies and airlink preparations that were under way in Antarctic.

"We are really, really excited about this, it's just a fantastic opportunity to showcase the Australian Antarctic program and it's going to be a great year at Casey and to have the baton with us is just fantastic", said Marilyn Boydell head of Casey Station.

The baton will travel more than 180,000 kilometres and visit all 71 nations of the Commonwealth in one year and one day leading up to the March 2006 Melbourne Games. This is a world first, as no Games relay has ever visited all member nations making the Melbourne Queen's Baton Relay the world's longest and most inclusive.

Last early September the baton travelled to the Falkland Islands.