Antarctic Explorers – Thursday 16 May 6pm at Tūranga

The Antarctic Heritage Trust, opens a new window is delighted to present a free evening of film, and a presentation about their work in Antarctica. It is on Thursday 16 May from 6pm to 7.30pm at Tautoru / TSB Space, Hapori | Community, Level 1, Tūranga.

The films that will be shown:

  • The Last 36 tells the story of the Antarctic Heritage Trust’s Inspiring Explorers Expedition to retrace the epic journey of Shackleton, Worsley and Crean, as they crossed South Georgia for the first time in a desperate bid to save the lives of the stranded Endurance crew. James Blake (Sir Peter’s son) captured the adventure on film.
  • Mt Scott: An Adventure to the Antarctic Peninsula. This shares the story of four young Kiwi explorers who travel to Antarctica to attempt a guided ascent of Mt Scott - named for early polar explorer Robert Falcon Scott. Filmmaker Simon Lucas, along with William Pike, Sylvie Admore and Isobel Ewing each faced their own challenges in their quests to reach the summit.

Join staff from Antarctic Heritage Trust and learn about the remarkable legacy the Trust cares for in Antarctica – the expedition bases of early Antarctic explorers including Carsten Borchgrevink, Captain Robert Falcon Scott, Sir Ernest Shackleton and Sir Edmund Hillary. The Trust manages the world’s largest cold-climate heritage conservation project and through this work is conserving the historic huts and the more than 20,000 items left behind. The Trust has a new exhibition Breaking the Ice: The First Year in Antarctica in partnership with Canterbury Museum that will exhibit artefacts from the first hut built in Antarctica – Borchgrevink’s hut at Cape Adare. Hear more about these artefacts at the event.

The Trust also shares the legacy of exploration through outreach programmes and encourages the spirit of exploration through expeditions to engage and inspire a new generation. Its annual Inspiring Explorers’ Expeditions have taken young Kiwi explorers to the world’s polar regions. Meet some of the Inspiring Explorers at this event and hear about how travelling to these remote places for expeditions has impacted their lives.  

Find out more about the Antarctic Heritage Trust

Christchurch's Antarctic connections

Christchurch City Council has a page on our Antarctic relations including a document listing places with links to the South Pole.

The Canterbury Museum has an extensive collection of Antarctic historical resources. The International Antarctic Centre has exhibitions showing past and present life on the ice.

Roald Amundsen
Bust of Roald Amundsen, Canterbury Museum. Flickr CCL-2012-Amundsen

Find information about Antarctica in our collection

Antarctic history resources

Early days in Antarctica
A Digital NZ set of images from the first Polar explorations.
Papers Past
Explore historical news stories related to the South Pole and Antarctica.
Historic Antarctic images
From the Antarctica NZ Digital Asset Manager (ADAM)
Antarctica and New Zealand – Voyages of discovery
Nigel Roberts. Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, updated 24 July 2012.
Antarctica and New Zealand
New Zealand History Online (Ministry for Culture and Heritage), updated 3 February 2012.