The Explorer May 2023
The Inspiring Explorers Expedition™ team at the South Pole. L-R: Bengt Rotmo, Marthe Brendefur, Laura Andrews, Mike Dawson, Nigel Watson. © AHT/Mike Dawson
This edition of The Explorer reports on the significant achievement of the Inspiring Explorers Expedition™ team, who successfully reached the South Pole in January 2023. Nigel Watson, the former Executive Director of Antarctic Heritage Trust, has been awarded the prestigious New Zealand Antarctic medal. In addition, HRH The Princess Royal visited New Zealand in February 2023 to mark the centenary of the New Zealand Army’s Royal New Zealand Corps of Signals.
The Trust’s On-Ice Conservation team spent seven weeks in Antarctica undertaking maintenance work on the historic explorer bases of Captain Robert Falcon Scott, Sir Ernest Shackleton, and Sir Edmund Hillary. The Trust also launched applications for its ninth Inspiring Explorers Expedition™ to South Georgia Island at a dinner hosted by Hon Dr Duncan Webb.
Other updates include the appointment of Mike Barber as the Inspiring Explorers™ Programme Manager, the addition of Adelma Matthews as the new Public Engagement Officer, and several new members joining the Board. The University of Canterbury bestowed an honorary Doctor of Commerce on Trust Chair Mark Stewart.
The Trust also became the New Zealand distributor of ‘The Worst Journey in the World: The Graphic Novel’ and has processed 159,000 images to date as part of its image asset transition to the online database Recollect. Lastly, the Trust expresses its appreciation for supporter Matthew Rose’s fundraising efforts as he walks the length of New Zealand’s South Island on the Te Araroa Trail, raising funds for ten charities, including the Antarctic Heritage Trust.
