Antarctic Peninsula 2020

The 2020 Inspiring Explorers Expedition™ team travelled to the Antarctic Peninsula in early March aboard a Quark Expeditions vessel, the Ocean Endeavour. The expedition was led by Marcus Waters, the Trust’s General Manager Partnerships and Commercial, and ably supported by Olympic kayaker Mike Dawson, who joined for his second Inspiring Explorers Expedition™ as kayaking mentor. 

The team included five Inspiring Explorers selected from nationwide applications, two students from Sir Edmund Hillary Collegiate and their Deputy Principal under an ongoing partnership. Three official supporters of the Trust joined the group as full fare-paying passengers. During the voyage, they experienced the challenges and rewards of kayaking through pristine playgrounds of whales and seals, navigating between icebergs, and exploring glaciers and penguin colonies.

They faced a further challenge on the return from their Antarctic expedition as the COVID-19 pandemic escalated and brought about worldwide travel restrictions, and country-wide lockdowns, including in Argentina, which meant disruption to their journey back to New Zealand. The team managed this situation with excellent spirits and came together even more so as a team during an uncertain time, arriving safe and well six days after their scheduled return to New Zealand.