Antarctic Peninsula 2026

Applications are now open for the Inspiring Explorers Expedition™
Antarctic Peninsula 2026

Expedition dates: 10 January – 10 February 2026

Applications close: 12 September 2025

What was life like for Antarctica’s early explorers? Find out by sailing a historic tall ship to Antarctica.

Develop your ‘Explorer Mindset’, challenge yourself, and learn about heroic era (1898-1922) ships and the incredible Antarctic expeditions they supported on the Trust’s next Inspiring Explorers Expedition™.

Scott and Shackleton’s ships played an integral part in the heroic era of Antarctic exploration. They were an embodiment of the expeditions they supported, with thousands turning out to see them off. They were a home for expedition members, dogs, ponies, and even a cat during their ocean journeys, and where the explorers started to develop their ‘Explorer Mindset’, growing the personal skills and teamwork they would need during their time in Antarctica.

The ships Discovery, Nimrod, Terra Nova, Aurora and Endurance supported important science and exploration, and played a part in some of the most incredible tales of survival.

Step outside your comfort zone to crew a tall ship to the Antarctic Peninsula. You will become part of the crew, helping sail and operate the ship, and on your return you will share your story and the Trust’s mission through our outreach programme.

If you’re curious, and ready to step outside your comfort zone, we invite you to apply.

This expedition is open to New Zealand residents aged 18-30 and will take place from 10 January 2026 – 10 February 2026. Please click here to view the full eligibility criteria.

Apply now for Inspiring Explorers™ Expedition Antarctic Peninsula 2026

Applications close 12 September 2025

Bark EUROPA in background. © Bark EUROPA/Richard Simko

What does the Expedition Involve?

The expedition will be an unforgettable voyage of a lifetime. A select group of Inspiring Explorers™ will sail aboard Bark EUROPA, a three-masted Dutch tall ship built in 1911 and carefully restored for modern exploration.

Departing from Ushuaia, Argentina in January 2026, the team will cross the Drake Passage, one of the most storied and challenging stretches of ocean on Earth. Bark EUROPA operates as a sail training vessel, which means our Inspiring Explorers™ will be active participants in running the ship. You will take the helm, handle sails, stand watch, and experience the rhythm and routine of traditional seafaring.

Once in Antarctic waters, the voyage will take the team through a spectacular and ever-changing landscape of icebergs, glaciers, and snow-covered mountains. You will explore the Antarctic Peninsula, an area rich in wildlife including seals, whales, and large colonies of penguins. Landings and zodiac excursions will offer opportunities to experience the Ice up close, through hiking, wildlife encounters, and moments of reflection in this powerful environment.

While you won’t be visiting the huts cared for by the Trust on this expedition, as they are located in the Ross Sea region, weather permitting, you may still sail past other heritage sites along the way.

Throughout the expedition, the Inspiring Explorers™ will reflect on the legacy of the early explorers who travelled to Antarctica aboard tall ships. On your return, you will share stories from the Ice and help connect others to the importance of conserving Antarctica’s cultural heritage. This experience will also form the basis of a group outreach project designed to inspire and inform new audiences back home.

Your journey will begin with a team-building programme in Christchurch, where the team will come together to learn about the Trust’s mission to conserve, share and encourage the spirit of exploration and prepare for the voyage. A post-expedition debrief will be held in early 2026 to reflect on the experience and explore how you can continue to share your insights and impact.

Because of changing sea ice, weather, and environmental conditions, the route and landings will be guided by the expertise of the Bark EUROPA crew. Flexibility will be essential, and every effort will be made to take advantage of the best opportunities the environment allows.

Read the full expedition itinerary

What is it like sailing to the Antarctic Peninsula?

What is it like crossing the Drake Passage?

Inspiring Explorer Laura Andrews shares her experience with school students. © AHT/Laura Andrews

Outreach

Outreach is a critical part of the Trust’s Inspiring Explorers™ programme. The Inspiring Explorers™ selected for this expedition will become ambassadors for the Trust by sharing their experience with their communities and the Trust’s global network when they return.

You will contribute to a group outreach project aimed at sharing your experience of life aboard a historic tall ship, and how Scott and Shackleton’s ships played an integral part in the heroic era of Antarctic exploration.

Tell us your ideas for sharing your story and this fascinating history – it could be through digital technology, art, music, writing, video, or many other mediums. Tap into your passions and skills – there are so many possibilities!

Forging Connections

The Inspiring Explorers™ programme is more than a voyage — it is a journey of connection, learning, and transformation.

As an Inspiring Explorer™, you will sail in the spirit of legendary explorers like Scott and Shackleton, whose expeditions shaped the world’s understanding of Antarctica. Aboard the historic tall ship Bark EUROPA, you will cross remote southern oceans, experiencing some of the same landscapes that the early polar explorers saw.

The ship will become your classroom, your home, and your platform for growth. From the sails and rigging to the ice and wildlife, every part of the expedition invites you to deepen your connection with Antarctica’s incredible landscapes, as well as the Antarctic Peninsula’s cultural heritage.

You will be supported by the Antarctic Heritage Trust team, who care for the continent’s first expedition bases in the Ross Sea and share the remarkable stories connected to these historic sites. Before departure, you’ll connect with the Trust’s experts to gain insight into the conservation work they carry out at Ross Island and Cape Adare. Along the way, you’ll form strong bonds with your fellow explorers — a team of young New Zealanders united by shared values, curiosity, and a drive to step outside their comfort zones.

This expedition will challenge you, inspire you, and change the way you see yourself and the world. You’ll return not only with unforgettable memories, but with the confidence and purpose to share the legacy of exploration in your own way.

Develop an ‘Explorer Mindset’

Developing the explorer qualities of curiosity, resilience, leadership, innovation and teamwork, our expeditions encourage young people to engage with the spirit of exploration and have the confidence to head into the unknown – to grow an ‘Explorer Mindset’.

Inspired by the achievements of Antarctica’s early explorers to further science, test the limits of human endurance, and explore the unknown, the Trust uses the lessons of the past to help the next generation discover more about themselves, and ultimately, drive change and instigate new perspectives for tomorrow’s world. Our Inspiring Explorers™ are challenged to step out of their comfort zone and develop their ‘Explorer Mindset’ as they join an incredible team of people on this expedition.

Building a Leadership Legacy

The iconic Antarctic explorers Shackleton, Scott and Hillary embodied the qualities of truly exceptional leadership. Their remarkable stories of leadership in the face of adversity have resonated around the world for over 100 years.

The Inspiring Explorers Expeditions™ create opportunities for the young change-makers of tomorrow to connect with and be inspired by the qualities of those heroic Antarctic leaders.

The expeditions provide life-changing perspectives through challenge and exploration in the world’s most pristine and unforgiving environments.

The Trust creates pathways offering Inspiring Explorers™ opportunities that extend beyond the expedition, such as the opportunity to be mentors or leaders on other programmes or gain governance experience through our intern programme on our Board. All Inspiring Explorers can join our global alumni programme.

About the Inspiring Explorers Expeditions™

Antarctic Heritage Trust’s Inspiring Explorers Expeditions™ provide opportunities for young people to experience and challenge themselves in Antarctica and the polar regions. These expeditions connect young people with the legacy the Trust cares for and encourage them to embrace that same spirit of exploration. It is a spirit as critical in the 21st century as it was over a century ago.

Our expeditions also create opportunities for the young change-makers of tomorrow to connect with and be inspired by the qualities of the early Antarctic explorers. The programme draws on the legacies of the great polar heroes to help participants grow an ‘Explorer Mindset’ and foster the Shackletons and Hillarys of the future—the young people who will drive change and instigate new perspectives for tomorrow’s world.

By making the legacy the Trust cares for relevant, we hope young people will identify with it, value it, and in the future be motivated to protect it.

The expeditions not only change participants’ lives, they create a platform to share inspiring stories and experiences with participants’ communities and a wide audience.

Previous Inspiring Explorers Expeditions™

Ross Sea 2025

Eight Inspiring Explorers™ travelled to the Ross Sea region with Expedition Partner Heritage Expeditions, into the beating heart of Antarctic exploration and the focus of the Trust’s conservation efforts.

South Georgia 2023

Twenty-two Inspiring Explorers™ ventured to South Georgia, a remote island steeped in polar history. Their journey honoured Sir Ernest Shackleton’s legacy, marking 100 years since his final expedition (Quest 1921–1922) and death, while also commemorating the close of Antarctic exploration’s heroic era.

South Pole 2022

To celebrate 150 years since the birth of legendary polar explorer Roald Amundsen, in November 2022–January 2023 three Inspiring Explorers™ completed a 1000km guided traverse from the Ronne Ice Shelf to the South Pole.

In the Footsteps of Hillary 2022

In February 2022, three young people from South Auckland, New Zealand summited their first mountain on the Trust’s Inspiring Explorers Expedition™ In the Footsteps of Hillary.

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Mahu Whenua Traverse 2022

In partnership with the Mountain Turk Club, this expedition team completed the new and unique alpine ski traverse in the Queenstown Lakes District of New Zealand, the Mahu Whenua Traverse.

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Antarctic Peninsula 2020

Our biggest group of Inspiring Explorers™ so far journeyed to the Antarctic Peninsula with a focus on kayaking.

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Antarctic Peninsula 2019

Our Inspiring Explorers™ journeyed to the Antarctic Peninsula with a focus on kayaking with our students from Sir Edmund Hillary Collegiate from Otara South Auckland joining us for the first time.

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Greenland Ice Cap 2018

A 560km ski expedition across the Greenland Ice Cap in honour of the 130th anniversary of Fridtjof Nansen’s original crossing.

Mount Scott 2018

The Inspiring Explorers™ ascended Mount Scott on the Antarctic Peninsula, named after iconic explorer Captain Robert Falcon Scott.

South Georgia Island 2015

This first Inspiring Explorers Expedition™ followed in the footsteps of Shackleton, Worsley and Crean’s epic journey across South Georgia Island, honouring the centenary of that crossing following the loss of Endurance and the epic journey in the James Caird to South Georgia Island.