A homeschooled student from Tauranga is among 25 students selected from hundreds of applicants across New Zealand to attend the Antarctic Heritage Trust Young Inspiring Explorer Summit.

“People from all over New Zealand were selected and flown down and they were teaching us about Antarctica while at the same time giving us science experiments and games,” says Jack Barnes.

The Young Inspiring Explorer Summit, held in Christchurch last month, is run by the Antarctic Heritage Trust in partnership with the William Pike Challenge.

“We were delighted to receive our biggest number of applications from students around New Zealand to date,” says program coordinator Tedi Robinson.

“It was an educational weekend, we got to see inside the lives of Antarctic explorers,” says Jack.

“None of us had met before, by the time we left, it felt like we’d known each other for years.

“Now that I have finished the summit and have given a presentation to a community group, I’ll be able to be part of the Young and Inspiring Explorers alumni.”

Being alumni of the Summit and having completed the pre- and post-Summit work, opens up many opportunities in the future for further experiences with the Antarctic Heritage Trust.

The Trust runs Inspiring Explorers Expeditions to sub-Antarctic and Polar Regions as well as New Zealand-based expeditions.

“When I’m 18, I will be able to go on trips to South Georgia, and the Falkland Islands and have the opportunity to do all sorts of cool experiences with the Antarctic Heritage Trust.

“I'm hoping that when I'm 18, I'll be able to go down on one of the young inspiring explorers’ expeditions and learn more about Antarctica.

“I hope to work for the Antarctic Heritage Trust someday, ideally down at Scott Base as a researcher or pilot or something that would be quite cool.

“The weekend was a great experience for me and I got to learn a lot with a group of others from all over New Zealand,” says Jack.

“We heard from William Pike about how he survived the Ruapehu eruption.

“We survived an Antarctic snowstorm, met huskies, and went for a ride in a Hägglund, which are a tracked, reticulated all-terrain carrier and are used in Antarctica to transport people and cargo over snow and ice.

“We did a walking tour of Christchurch Antarctic sites, did some really cool Antarctic-related science experiments, and lots more,” says Jack.

“I got to meet huskies and penguins and do some really cool activities and learn a bunch of stuff about Antarctica.

“We learned about the five best Antarctica explorers.

“We got to learn about the climate in Antarctica, meteorology, geology, all sorts.

“We got to learn about Scott’s crossing of Antarctica.

“Scott was an English explorer who was a part of the race to be the first person to the South Pole.

 “It’s a really cool organization that helps enable younger kids to learn more about Antarctica and become better explorers and inspire young people to get out into the world and do cool stuff,” says Jack.

The Antarctic Heritage Trust’s goal is to grow the next generation of explorers, with the mission of conserving, sharing, and encouraging the spirit of exploration, says program manager Mike Barber.

The Antarctic Heritage Trust looks after 5 historic huts and 20,000 artifacts belonging to famous Antarctic explorers, including Carsten Borchgrevink, Sir Ernest Shackleton, Robert Falcon Scott, and Sir Edmund Hillary, says Mike

“All of our Young Inspiring Explorers were so engaged, and a pleasure to have with us,” says Mike.

“I sincerely hope to see them all apply for one of the Trust’s Inspiring Explorers Expeditions to Antarctica one day.”