When I was working on the Silver Wind along the Antarctic Peninsula as lecturer for Antarctic history this season, there were two women from XTravel, Queenstown. Because they brought during Covid Lockdowns so many tourists to their homeland or back to New Zealand, they won a trip to the Antarctic. This is how I met them. Because of my talks on the ship, they asked me if I would give a presentation for the local high school in Queenstown. So, that is the way I have been invited.
In July, the time came to travel to Queenstown – organised by the owners of XTravel. On Friday, 28July, I gave a presentation for the Tourism and Hospitality Network on “Antarctic Tourism – the beauty and the controversy”. After 20 minutes presenting, there was a Q&A session that lasted an hour. There were interesting questions such as the training we must do before we go on the ship, and the wildlife and IAATO regulations (International Association of Antarctic Tour Operators). One of the most discussed topics was the management of Antarctic tourism and if it will be prohibited to go down in the near future. Because this is a question expert are just discussing – that I pointed out to the audience – it resulted in a really lively discussion.
On Monday, 31 July, I gave a presentation for the local high school Wakatipu, “Polar history – a lifelong passion”. It is a newly built school in Frankton, and they have 1200 students. The teacher, who organised the event with the XTravel office, sent me some questions beforehand and I put together a 35-minute presentation around the requested topics. 58 students and 5 teachers were present and after the presentation the stream of questions was only ended by the school bell. It is actually not a bell, there is music played.
Some students came then up to the stage where I handed out lots of great presents from our university. My thanks go to Samantha Armitage, UC Science Marketing Coordinator, and Aimee Leigh Claassens, UC Outreach and Event Coordinator. These two women put presents and brochures for me together to take down to Queenstown. The Antarctic Heritage Trust put also together a package to promote virtual Hillary Hut Goggle Experience. In total, I took 8 kg material and presents to the school.
Some students had still so many questions when I handed out the presents, and one student came up to me and asked if I know Trevor Chinn (1937 – 2018), he was the father of New Zealand glaciology. I affirmed that I know the name and that he is highly regarded within the glaciological community. He was her grandfather!
I am grateful for the hospitality X-Travel and the school showed me, and also that I had the opportunity to present my life-long passion, Antarctica, the Antarctic Heritage Trust and of course the SEE and the University of Canterbury
Dr Ursula Rack 
You must be logged in to post a comment.