Antarctic Peninsula 2026

2026 Inspiring Explorers™ on deck of the Bark EUROPA with Mount Scott in the Background. L-R: Sam Dunlay, Matthew Lynch, Eliza McCracken, Libby Manning, Margot Martin‑Babin, Precious Tupou, Josiah Tualamali’I, Meleki Schuster. ©AHT/Mike Barber

Next Generation Charts the Heroic Era

A group of eight young Kiwis stepped into the world of heroic era exploration as they sailed on an historic tall ship to one of the most remote places on Earth – the Antarctic Peninsula – with the Trust’s Inspiring Explorers™ programme.

This was the first expedition of its kind for the Trust. The team took the helm, handled the sails, stood watch, and learned about traditional navigation aboard the three-masted tall ship Bark EUROPA. Built in 1911, she was similar in age to the ships that carried legendary Antarctic explorers Robert Falcon Scott and Sir Ernest Shackleton south on their expeditions.

Read about their expedition to the Antarctic Peninsula earlier this year!

Read all the expedition updates as the team sailed their way to the Antarctic Peninsula!

Read all the expedition updates

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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.