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Archive for category: Antarctic Blog

Hot Tips for a First Trip to the Ice

November 18, 2019 - Antarctic Blog, News Story

I’m a planner. A list writer. Someone who gets deep satisfaction from seeing everything on my to-do list crossed off. So naturally, ahead of my trip to Antarctica I’ve been making lists for weeks. Lists of things to pack, to buy, to remember to do before I go.

For me, part of the mental preparation ahead of a big trip is knowing I am as organised as I can be. This trip is different though. There is so much that I don’t know about what I will be doing, and then there’s the fact it’s Antarctica! A totally unknown environment for me. Sometimes I forget that I have no idea what it’s really like down on the Ice even though I’m living and breathing all things Antarctic for work most days. Read enough of the stories about the early explorers and it can feel like you are right there with Shackleton and his men. (I re-read South by Shackleton this year – I think it might be my favourite book about Antarctic exploration)

Given that I am surrounded by a team of incredibly experienced people on the Antarctic campus where our offices are based, I started asking people for their hot tip for a first trip to the Ice.

It was fascinating hearing the myriad of responses from those who are Antarctic veterans (like my team leader Al who first went there in 1987) and those who had more recently done their first trip.

What surprised me was the range of responses from the extremely practical to the more ethereal.

Antarctic Heritage Trust

Francesca getting kitted out for her trip in specialist Antarctica NZ clothing and gear.

Below is a collection of hot tips for my first trip to Antarctica. What you would add?

Little Luxuries

A hot tip passed to me by two of my female colleagues – take a mini hot water bottle for when you are camping out. Apparently it’s the ultimate luxury to have it in your sleeping bag after a cold day out digging snow!

The Must-haves

As it’s 24-hour daylight at the time of year we are going an eye mask is a must. Particularly for those days camping out. The body’s hormonal triggers that we normally get to tell us it’s time for sleep won’t function in the usual way so an eye mask will help ensure you can doze off.

To quote one of our Inspiring Explorers who recently returned from Antarctica – “gloves, gloves and more gloves”. Luckily Antarctica New Zealand supplies us with eight pairs of gloves of different varieties. On advice, I added an extra pair of fingerless possum fur gloves, good for keeping your hands warm but enabling you to do data entry at the same time.

The other essential item is sunscreen. It’s easy to get burnt in Antarctica so liberally applying sunscreen will be a constant for me with my fair skin. A good dose of chapstick and moisturiser will be key too as Antarctica is so dry. It’s easy to forget that it’s the world’s largest desert.

One for the Girls

Practise with your She-Wee. A hot tip I got from a very experienced colleague was to get a She-Wee well ahead of your trip and practise with it in the shower. Very practical and helps you get used to peeing standing up (it’s all about relaxing). I think the toileting situation is something that a lot of women are anxious about (I definitely am!) but it’s something that has to be dealt with. Using a She-Wee once you have your many layers of clothing on is a different thing altogether so I look forward to getting some hot tips on how to do that best when I’m on the Ice.

Be Prepared for the Plane Journey

We travel on US Military planes like the C17. They are big, loud and basically a cargo plane so not designed for comfort. Some of the great advice I received is take noise-cancelling headphones (especially if you are sensitive to noise), a good book to read, music or podcasts to listen to or some work to do. I’m actually finishing this blog while on the plane.

Don’t sit in the front row by the toilets (literally the worst seats on the plane). Side note: yes that is exactly where we are sitting! There’s a constant queue of people passing in front of me and a strong whiff of scented room spray every time the door swings open.

Whatever you are expecting – it’s not that…

A number of people commented that time runs differently on the ice. That what you would expect to do in a day here you can’t do there. Everything takes longer to achieve. Just putting on your clothing can take 20 minutes and good luck if you are walking out the door and realise you have left your [gloves, hat, drink bottle] in your room and have to return for it.

Just clomping on to the plane with our huge ECW (extreme cold weather) jackets and boots is cumbersome so it’s already shown me how you have to take extra care with how you move, and where you put your feet and your gear.

I like the way my boss described going to Antarctica. He said, “It’s so alien a landscape – you really can’t prepare for it.”

The other piece of advice that resonated for me was “don’t expect too much, let it come, let it happen.” Perhaps it’s normal to expect a lot on a trip to the Ice so I liked the advice to manage your expectations and just be present in the moment with whatever is in front of you.

A hot tip I thought was a really good idea was to go out for a walk and orient yourself once you have completed the Antarctic Field Training. Walking up Observation Hill or similar and getting your bearings is a good way to get a sense of this magnificent place.

Say Yes to Everything

One piece of advice that was common from those who had travelled many times to the Ice and those who only ever had one trip, was say yes to everything! Most people are down there for such a short time that the advice is to pack in what you can. There are always people heading out to do interesting things and are happy for people to tag along. While I am there primarily to get my job done I do hope I can say yes to things I never thought I would do.

Finally, “don’t forget to enjoy yourself” is worth mentioning. It’s easy to get caught up in all the planning and trying to get work finished before heading away that I needed to remind myself that this is going to be an amazing experience and to ensure I relax and enjoy it.

Now that I am on the plane (fingers crossed no boomerang flight) it’s all starting to feel very real. In a few hours I will be landing in Antarctica – the world’s most extreme environment. I’m only there for a few weeks; already I have met people heading down for months. My Great Uncle Leon used to go down on the first plane in and last plane out. I would have loved to have asked him what his hot tips were for the first trip.

Antarctic Heritage Trust

“Gloves, gloves and more gloves”.

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An Invitation to the World’s Most Extreme Environment

November 9, 2019 - Antarctic Blog, News Story
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Antarctic Conservation Update August 2019

August 7, 2019 - Antarctic Blog, Uncategorized
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Off to the Seaside

December 20, 2018 - Antarctic Blog, News Story

Although my time working around Scott Base has been incredible, the portion of my trip which I was really looking forward to was the 11-day trip camping out in the field. This was divided between Cape Royds – the location of Shackleton’s Nimrod Hut, and Cape Evans – the location of Scott’s Terra Nova Hut.

I had heard many great things about Cape Royds: the hut, the Adélie penguin colony and the possibility of seeing the open sea. I was certainly not disappointed.

Mike Gillies

Shackleton’s Nimrod Hut, Cape Royds

Shackleton’s Hut at Cape Royds is set in a stunning location. The hut is a lovely design, with gable ends and open-plan inside. At one end is a beautiful ‘Mrs Sam’ cooking stove which would have created a lovely warm ambience over the long Antarctic winter.

The first day we arrived the sea was open, clear of ice. The water was a very dark royal blue, different to what I’m used to seeing in New Zealand. The next day however, the wind changed and blew the loose pack sea ice back south therefore choking the area of McMurdo Sound around Cape Royds, and removing all signs of open water as far as we could see.

Mike Gillies

Looking out to McMurdo Sound from Cape Royds

The hut is situated near an Adélie penguin rookery. The proximity of the rookery to the hut gives the whole area a real sense of life – watching the penguins go about their lives is a constant source of amusement.

During our three days at Cape Royds, Martin, Nicola, Lizzie and I completed a range of maintenance and monitoring tasks including: snow shovelling, timber moisture measurements, hut structure and artefact collection monitoring, and collection of hut environmental data.

Mike Gillies

Inside Shackleton’s Hut

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Evans Heaven

December 20, 2018 - Antarctic Blog

Cape Evans was next up on our Antarctic field trip – we spent seven busy days here.

Scott’s Terra Nova Hut is set in a lovely location; under the shadow of Mt Erebus, with a view to the Royal Society mountains in the distance across McMurdo Sound.

Antarctic Heritage Trust

The conservation team spent seven days at Cape Evans working on Scott’s Terra Nova Hut

The hut is a large gable-ended structure, with a lean-to off the side, which was the stables for the Expedition’s ponies and mules. The interior of the hut is divided up into different spaces to suit the needs of those on the expedition, including: darkroom, bunks, kitchen, Officer’s dining area, and laboratories for the range of science research done.

We had a range of tasks to do while at Cape Evans, including similar monitoring as with Cape Royds, but also a couple of different jobs such as fixing a leaking flue issue, and re-wrapping and hand stitching the ponies’ fodder bales with new hessian (a great experience for all!).

Mike Gillies

Scott’s Terra Nova Hut

When reading Scott’s diaries of his Terra Nova Expedition one gets a real sense of the hive of activity the Cape Evans hut must have been. It’s easy to imagine the men sitting around the table with the acetylene lights illuminating the hut and listening to lectures and discussions on a wide range of topics from each other, or playing football outside during the mid-winter twilight.

Mike Gillies

The team – Nicola, Lizzie, Martin and Mike

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Ducking for Cover

November 27, 2018 - Antarctic Blog

A large focus for the AHT team over the last couple of weeks has been catching up on jobs associated with the TAE/IGY Hut, also known as Hillary’s Hut. Hillary’s Hut was part of the original Scott Base. It was built under the leadership of Sir Edmund Hillary during the Commonwealth Trans Antarctic Expedition/International Geophysical Year 1956–1957.

This hut was lovingly restored by the team at AHT during the summer of 2016/17. It now serves as an opportunity to experience Scott Base as it was 60 years ago. The hut is filled with artefacts from the early years of the New Zealand Antarctic Programme.

Chris Ansin

Hillary’s (TAE/IGY) Hut with the junction box and linkway in the foreground

With the restoration of Hillary’s Hut, the team at AHT also built a replica junction box, which attaches to an original section of corrugated iron linkway, and onto the cold porch of the hut. The recreated junction box and linkway floor was plywood, so this week I was tasked with building duckboard similar to what would have been around back in the original Scott Base.

Opening the junction box front door for the first time and experiencing the small space of the linkway with its low passageway and dim lighting really gives the visitor insight into a different world, and is a great entrance into the hut itself.

Mike Gillies

Linkway at Scott Base

The original Scott Base was a series of prefabricated ‘huts’ separate from one another, but joined together with covered linkways. The linkways consisted of corrugated iron passageways, with square plywood junction boxes wherever two linkways met.

Mike Gillies

Junction box plywood floor before installation of new duckboard

There were multiple reasons for these covered linkways: they allowed Scott Base personnel to walk between buildings without being exposed to the Antarctic weather; in the event of a fire separate buildings with non-combustible passageways meant a fire could be contained to one hut only; and they allowed services e.g., electricity and communications, to be run between different huts. However, because Scott Base is built on scoria, personnel needed a flooring of sorts to walk on between buildings when travelling through the linkways. Walking on scoria all the time is no fun.

The solution: duckboard!

Kim Westerkov, Antarctica New Zealand Pictorial Collection

Before: The original linkway duckboard

Using historical photos of the duckboard in the original Scott Base such as the one above as reference, we scaled the measurements, selected matching timber and confirmed how it was constructed. 

Mike Gillies

After: The linkway after the installation of new duckboard

The end result – a nice new walkway in the entrance to the hut, in keeping with the original linkway duckboard.

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Sugar Sugar

November 22, 2018 - Antarctic Blog

Carbs, fatty protein, sugar, fat, a bit more sugar – sound like a recipe for happiness or hospitalisation? The diet of the sledging man in the early 1900’s revolved around a pretty limited menu. Here’s what Campbell’s Northern Party were eating in 1911:

Food Oz/per person per day grams
Biscuit 17 482
Pemmican 8 227
Chocolate 3.14 89
Sugar 2.16 61
Cheese 1.5 43
Raisins 1.5 43
Cocoa 0.7 19.9

 

Antarctic Heritage Trust

Heritage carpenter Martin conserves a sledge box

That’s only around 960g of food per day. Per day! When you are hauling your share of an 1163lb (1/2 a tonne, or 528kg) sled for at least eight hours a day. To put it another way, your breakfast and lunch and dinner combined is an 8oz wodge of meat with a 25% fat to meat ratio; a couple of chunky sized Cadbury’s chocolate bars, a couple of packets of crackers, a quarter cup of sugar and one of those small boxes of raisins you used to pack in your school lunchbox. Breakfast, lunch and dinner, every day, over and over again.

Antarctic Heritage Trust

Sugar was a particular treat on the Ice in the early 1900’s

Sugar was a highly prized commodity, and it was served out in lumps. For a special treat on your birthday, you might get an extra six lumps of sugar and another serving of chocolate. In the AHT conservation lab this week we have been working on some worn and weathered boxes of Tate sugar, and wondering if they ate the six lumps in one go or saved them up for a morale booster during the long hours of sledging. We know what we’d do, how about you?

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An Update from Port Lockroy

November 15, 2018 - Antarctic Blog, Conserve, UKAHT

Trust Programme Manager Al Fastier joined the UKAHT Port Lockroy Conservation Team under the Trust’s partnership to share its conservation knowledge and expertise developed during the Ross Sea Heritage Restoration Project. The team will spend five weeks at Port Lockroy and will undertake emergency repairs, do a full architectural survey, install solar power and schedule future conservation work.

The historic Base A, also known as Bransfield House, was built at Port Lockroy in 1944 as part of Operation Tabarin, a secret war time operation to establish a permanently occupied British base in Antarctica. The base was first conserved in 1996 and is now a living museum, a post office and a shop selling Antarctic souvenirs, which helps to fund the conservation project.

Base A at Port LockroyUKAHT

Base A at Port Lockroy

Challenges include living on a small 3 square acre island, working within a Gentoo penguin colony, snow and, at times, rain. Al said it is a fantastic location to work, with this historic hut being surrounded by snowcapped mountains rising steeply from the sea and with the hut that is rich in artefacts giving the site a real spirit of place and a strong connection to the past.

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Antarctic Field Training for Beginners

November 14, 2018 - Antarctic Blog

This has been a busy second week, with a lot of the work focussed around the TAE/IGY Hut. However, the highlight for me this week was attending Antarctica New Zealand’s Antarctic Field Training (AFT). This is a course which all event members participate in and is designed to equip people with the basic skills required for overnight camping in the Antarctic.

Antarctic Heritage Trust

Conservation Ambassador Mike Gillies in front of Mount Erebus

We began by setting off under the leadership of Chris, our resident West Coast ANTNZ field trainer, in a Hagglund along the Ross Ice Shelf. After about half an hour of putting along we reached the AFT camping site. There were seven other participants on the course, all from a range of backgrounds and nationalities: scientists studying seals, a member of the Antarctic Society, and a new ANTNZ staff member.

Mike Gillies

Field training camp

Our first task was to erect the Scott Polar tents; a tent design which hasn’t changed a whole lot in a hundred years. The next task was building a camp kitchen, which would also allow the group to get out of the wind and weather. We decided upon the ‘spa pool’ design. In other words, dig a round pit with a bench seat big enough to sit a dozen people, and then cut blocks of snow to build a wall surrounding the pit to keep the wind away. The group ‘dug into it’ and after an hour we had our home-away-from-home!

Mike Gillies

Having a well deserved rest after building the camp kitchen

Dinner was cooked on Primus stoves; all manner of dehydrated backcountry packet meals were on offer – Sweet and Sour Lamb, Beef Curry, Chicken Tikka Masala – yum, yum! The cloud cleared during dinner and provided a great opportunity for taking photos of Mt Erebus and the surrounding landscape.

Mike Gillies

Camping out in front of Mount Erebus

Then it was time for bed. Now for the million dollar question…? Was I warm enough while camping at -15C on the ice. Yep, absolutely. ANTNZ has a sleeping bag arrangement which is second to none, and if anything, I was too hot and wouldn’t have minded if the temperature dropped a little more during the night!

Mike Gillies

Time out in the camp kitchen

The next day it was up for a quick cuppa and porridge. After breakfast we packed up camp and headed back to Scott Base. What a great experience.

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Peninsula Partnership Update

May 9, 2020 - Antarctic Blog, Share, UKAHT

Over a seven-week period in late 2019, the Trust’s Programme Manager Lizzie Meek, journeyed via South America to the Antarctic Peninsula, to work alongside British conservator Sophie Rowe, surveying the artefact collection inside Bransfield House and the Boatshed, the two remaining 1948 Base A buildings at Port Lockroy.

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Latest Inspiring Explorers Updates

  • Young New Zealand and Norwegian explorers complete epic journey to the South PoleJanuary 7, 2023 - 6:19 am
  • South Pole ReachedMay 1, 2023 - 8:00 am
  • Young Kiwi explorers announced for largest ever Inspiring Explorers Expedition™June 18, 2023 - 4:06 pm
  • Applications Launched for Inspiring Explorers Expedition™ South GeorgiaMay 1, 2023 - 8:00 am
  • Inspiring Explorers™ Programme Manager on BoardMay 1, 2023 - 8:00 am

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antarcticheritage

On arrival in the Antarctic Gateway City of Punta On arrival in the Antarctic Gateway City of Punta Arenas our Inspiring Explorers Expedition™ team went on a fascinating tour of sites with Antarctic significance led by our friends from the Antarctic Youth Coalition, @ayc_puq
Thank you for welcoming us to your wonderful home and sharing many special stories with us!
The team's next flight to the Falkland Islands has been delayed by two days, so they will be spending a little more time exploring Punta Arenas before joining their ship in the Falklands and sailing for South Georgia.

📸 Inspiring Explorers with our Antarctic Youth Coalition hosts. Kelly Davenport and Sasha Cheng with the bow of the 'Yelcho', the ship that rescued Shackleton's remaining men from Elephant Island. Clockwise Henry Conquer, Savannah de Vos, Porohu Hagai Noa, and Lily Green kiss the foot to ensure they return to this incredible region. Cole Yeoman points south to Antarctica. © AHT

Thanks to Inspiring Explorers™ Programme Partners, @metservicenz and @royalsocietynz . Logistics provided by @antarctica_21 .
#inspire #explore #discover #conserve #SouthGeorgia #inspiringexplorers #polar #adventure #Shackleton #thenandnow @sghtnews
So how did Shackleton end up in South Georgia? ❄ So how did Shackleton end up in South Georgia?
❄️During the Trans Antarctic Expedition, ‘Endurance’ became trapped in Weddell Sea ice for 10 months, eventually sinking in November 1915.
🛶 Shackleton and his crew found themselves stranded on ice floes for nearly six months, eventually boarding lifeboats and navigating rough conditions to reach Elephant Island.
The most remarkable part of their story was yet to come.
🌊Shackleton, ‘Endurance’ Captain Frank Worsley, and a team of four embarked on an 800-mile journey in the 'James Caird' lifeboat, braving the roughest ocean in the world, to reach South Georgia Island.
🏔 Overcoming treacherous terrain, Shackleton, Worsley, and Crean crossed the rugged, unexplored interior of the island in one arduous push, descending to safety and civilization at Stromness Whaling Station to raise the alarm.🔔
Read more about the 'Endurance' Expedition on the Inspiring Explorers Expedition™ website (link in bio).
Thanks to Inspiring Explorers™ Programme Partners, @MetServiceNZ and @RoyalSocietynz . Logistics provided by @antarctica_21 .
(Image credits in comments)
✈️ After a long flight our Inspiring Explorers ✈️ After a long flight our Inspiring Explorers Expedition™ team (and all their luggage - yay!) have arrived in Santiago, Chile. ✈️

Tomorrow the next leg of our journey will take the team to the Antarctic Gateway City of Punta Arenas, Chile. 🇨🇱

Thanks to Inspiring Explorers™ Programme Partners, @MetServiceNZ and @RoyalSocietynz . Logistics provided by @antarctica_21 .

📸 (L-R) South Georgia Inspiring Explorers Expedition™ team members Sasha Cheng, Te Aroha Devon, Rose Lasham, Jenny Sahng, Savannah de Vos, and Henry Conquer in Santiago, Chile © AHT

To keep up to date with all Inspiring Explorers Expedition™ updates, follow our socials or visit our website (link in bio).

#inspire #explore #discover #conserve #SouthGeorgia #inspiringexplorers #polar #adventure #Shackleton #thenandnow @sghtnews
🧊❄️ Days of Ice will illuminate �Tūranga 🧊❄️ Days of Ice will illuminate �Tūranga in Ōtautahi Christchurch, 2-8 October!

During this event, visitors will have the opportunity to embark on a captivating audio and visual journey through 'Aurora Waiata' an installation crafted by artist Jason O’Hara. Made possible by @antarctica.nz�, O'Hara's imaginative and poetic response to the Aurora Australis will bring the experience of the southern lights - Tahu-nui-ā Rangi, the great fires of ancestors whose canoes ventured far to the south - to the community, making it a highlight of the Days of Ice.

Every day during lunchtime, two remarkable films will be screening: 'Te Whakairo - Ngā Kī o Te Tai Ao - The Carvings Carry the Stories of the World' and 'Antarctica from Above' narrated by Lucy Lawless. The latter film explores Antarctica’s Ross Sea Coast and stunning Subantarctic islands in a visual symphony.�
��
�And don't miss '�Explore Antarctica' on Saturday 7 October! Bring the kids along to participate in story time, penguin origami, face-painting, and meet the huskies on the Library Plaza.

��#discover #inspire #explore #conserve #daysofice #awesomeantarctia #exploreantarctia
“It is in our nature to explore, to reach out to “It is in our nature to explore, to reach out to the unknown” – Shackleton

🌟 Today, we bid farewell and wish the best of luck to our incredible team of 22 young New Zealanders embarking on a journey to honour the legacy of one of the greatest explorers, Sir Ernest Shackleton. 🌟

Their expedition will take them from New Zealand to Santiago (Chile), then to Punta Arenas in Southern Chile, and finally to the Falkland Islands. From there, they'll board Antarctica21’s Magellan Explorer and set sail to South Georgia, a land rich in history and natural wonders.

We are thrilled to be able to share this expedition with you, as we honour the centenary year of Shackleton’s final expedition (the 'Quest'). Join us in wishing the Inspiring Explorers™ team good luck for their incredible journey! 🐧

Thanks to Inspiring Explorers™ Programme Partners, @MetServiceNZ and @RoyalSocietynz . Logistics provided by @antarctica_21 .

📸 The Trust’s Inspiring Explorers Expedition™ team ready to depart Auckland airport ©AHT

For South Georgia Inspiring Explorers Expedition™ updates, follow the link in our bio
We are proud to partner with MetService on our Ins We are proud to partner with MetService on our Inspiring Explorers Expedition™ South Georgia to create an extraordinary opportunity for our Inspiring Explorers™ to delve into scientific outreach projects that touch on a range of subjects including climate change, meteorology, marine science, and polar history.

MetService Meteorologist and Inspiring Explorer, Kelly Davenport, will lead a science programme utilising MetService’s world-leading technology, including Mangōpare Temperature Sensors which take sub-surface ocean temperature profiles, to gather data and help achieve a deeper understanding of the area’s weather and ocean conditions.

One particularly exciting aspect will see our Inspiring Explorers™ take weather observations and create their own short-term weather forecast predictions using both modern and heroic-age techniques.

Our partnership with MetService sees our team working at the intersection of innovation and exploration, offering our Inspiring Explorers™ an unparalleled opportunity to make a lasting impact. The story they tell will connect climate change effects in the Deep South to impacted ocean and atmospheric circulations that lead to increasingly-severe weather around the globe. Stay tuned for updates! 🚀🔬🌏

🎥 Inspiring Explorers™ Kelly Davenport and Lawrence Rothwell testing MetService’s Mangōpare Temperature Sensors in Wellington harbour. © Coastguard New Zealand

Thanks to Coastguard New Zealand for enabling our Inspiring Explorers™ to test MetService’s Mangōpare Temperature Sensors before departing for South Georgia Island.

#inspire #explore #discover #conserve #SouthGeorgia #inspiringexplorers #polar #adventure #Shackleton #thenandnow @metservicenz @coastguardnz
❄️ Check out the first images of Scott's 'Terr ❄️ Check out the first images of Scott's 'Terra Nova' hut at Cape Evans on Ross Island after the long winter! We are very happy to learn that it is in great shape with no damage inside or out.

This is one of five historic Antarctic explorer expedition bases that Antarctic Heritage Trust is proud to care for and was used by Captain Robert Falcon Scott on his British Antarctic 'Terra Nova' Expedition 1910-1913. Our team of conservators is busy putting together the final plans to return to Antarctica for the summer season of monitoring and maintenance of these important historic sites.

We are grateful to @Antarctica.nz for their support and for capturing these first images of the hut.

📸 Scott's 'Terra Nova' Hut, September 2023. © Ed Anscombe/Antarctica New Zealand

#conserve #inspire #explore #discover
It’s almost time for the Inspiring Explorers Exp It’s almost time for the Inspiring Explorers Expedition™ – South Georgia to depart, so how are our Inspiring Explorers feeling about the upcoming expedition?

🌟 Lily Green shares her excitement, "As soon as the countdown hit 20 days, I realised it’s really going to happen, I’m about to set off on an adventure of a lifetime. I feel so grateful to have this opportunity and I can’t wait to take on every challenge, friendship, personal development, learning opportunity this trip throws at me."

🌿 Jenny Sahng adds her perspective, "Excited to be going straight from advocating for a safer climate future for New Zealand, to experiencing the ecosystems at the very front line of climate change - South Georgia! I feel energised to hear about how South Georgia's biodiversity was able to bounce back after decades of decimation due to whaling and sealing. Success stories like South Georgia are powerful for motivating the public to get involved in protecting the very environment that we all rely on. We can harness an explorer mindset to explore different ways of working together in local and global communities, in order to find collective, equitable solutions to the biggest challenge of the 21st century: climate change."

🌊 Kelly Davenport can't wait to get started on the science project, "I can't believe I'm heading to South Georgia so soon, it's really a trip of a lifetime! It's so exciting to be gathering ocean and meteorological data in such a remote and beautiful region. In our changing world we may not have the answers to the environmental concerns yet, however by gathering more data like what we are collecting in South Georgia we can gain a greater understanding of what is going on."

The Inspiring Explorers™ will participate together as a group, cruising in Zodiac boats, visiting king penguin rookeries, seal covered beaches, and the many important historic sites on the island, several of which are forever connected to the story of Sir Ernest Shackleton. They will live the explorer mindset, demonstrating curiosity, resilience, leadership, and teamwork along the way.

The team head away on their adventure in just two days!

(Image captions in comments)
Antarctic Heritage Trust is bringing our fully imm Antarctic Heritage Trust is bringing our fully immersive Virtual Reality experience of Sir Edmund Hillary's Antarctic Hut to HB Memorial Library in Gisborne 🙌

Explore Sir Ed's hut through this ground-breaking VR experience and celebrate New Zealand's first presence in Antarctica. Don't miss out!���
�
��Free for all ages 9 and up, no bookings required. Please allow 15 minutes for each VR session. See you there! 🌍🏔️❄️

10am to 4pm
Tuesday 26 - Friday 29 September
HB Williams Memorial Library, 34 Bright Street, Gisborne

��📸People experience VR ©AHT��

#hillaryshutvr #virtualreality #hillary #vr #heritage #conserve #inspire #explore #Antarctica #discover

@duluxnz @staples_vr @autuni @htcvive @antarctica.nz
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    Antarctic Heritage Trust

    Antarctic Heritage Trust
    Administration Building, International Antarctic Centre
    38 Orchard Road, Christchurch 8053, New Zealand

    Antarctic Heritage Trust

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    Administration Building, International Antarctic Centre
    38 Orchard Road, Christchurch 8053, New Zealand

    © Copyright 2023, Antarctic Heritage Trust – Registered Charity: CC24071
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    © Copyright 2023, Antarctic Heritage Trust
    Registered Charity: CC24071
    Terms and Conditions – Privacy Policy

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    NZAHT ExteriorSledging team outside Terra Nova hut, Herbert Ponting
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