Antarctic winds whip up snow at Scott's Cape Evans hut,
where restoration work has just started. Photo by Antarctic
Heritage Trust.
A New Zealand-led group racing to beat inhospitable
elements and preserve four historic Antarctic exploration huts
has embarked on its most ambitious project yet.
The Antarctic Heritage Trust will spend an estimated $NZ18
million over the next six years restoring the hut at Cape
Evans erected by Captain Robert Falcon Scott in 1910, along
with the 9000 items still inside.
It was a popular misconception the hut and its contents had
been frozen in time, Christchurch-based trust executive
director Nigel Watson said in Dunedin yesterday.
So far, conservators had encountered floods, snow drifts and
something unexpected in the driest continent in the world -
high humidity - caused by 40 cu m of ice freezing and thawing
below the hut's floor.
The ice has now been removed.
Mr Watson said he was in awe of the "stunningly clever"
results conservators were achieving, including rebuilding
broken bottles and jars, repairing torn paper labels and
drying out wooden storage crates.
"I am amazed at their skills . . . and their passion and
enthusiasm for what they are doing in a logistically
challenging environment."
Mr Watson was in Dunedin to update the 2008 Antarctic
Conference on the trust's work.
The trust was established in 1987 to conserve Carsten
Borchgrevink's hut at Cape Adare, Scott's huts at Hut Point
and Cape Evans and Ernest Shackelton's hut at Cape Royds.
By the early 2000s, the trust realised it was losing the
battle, he said.
"The rate of decay was exceeding the rate of conservation."
An intensive conservation project was launched by Princess
Anne in 2002 and, since then, the restoration of Shackelton's
hut and 4500 individual items had been completed.
The project had attracted contributions from many
governments, corporations and individuals, Mr Watson said.
"The unique history of the huts resonates with people. "These
are international heritage sites but that brings with it
international responsibilities."
The huts were not owned by any person or any country, but the
New Zealand Government issued permits and keys to tourists
and scientists wishing to inspect them, he said.
About 30,000 tourists visited the Antarctic annually, but
fewer than 1000 visited the Ross Sea area.
However, the Internet had brought a new generation of
"virtual visitors" for the huts, and renewed interest in the
conservation project, he said.
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