Anne-Sophie Page had no inkling when she was counting whelks on the mud flats of Otago Harbour her scientific experiments would lead to the skies over the Antarctic.
Anne-Sophie and fellow Dunedin secondary pupil Meran Campbell-Hood won Royal Society of New Zealand international travel prizes at the Genesis Energy Realise the Dream Awards at Government House, in Wellington last month.
They recently returned from an Antarctic sightseeing flight from Melbourne to Commonwealth Bay and McMurdo Sound and return.
Meran won the award with her project about minerals in plant growth media, and Anne-Sophie's project focused on mud whelks in Otago Harbour.
The 13-hour round trip on board a Qantas Airbus A380 was the trip of a lifetime, Anne-Sophie said.
"I had no idea when I was counting whelks on the mudflats of Otago Harbour that my experiments would take me to the skies over Antarctica.
"While most high school students spent their summer at the beach, I was flying over Antarctica.
"From the vast stretches of whiteness to the smoke coming out of Mt Erebus, it was absolutely breath-taking.
"A summer of memories that I will cherish for the rest of my life."
Meran was also delighted with the flight.
Despite being covered largely by ice, the continent was full of vivid colour, she said.
"For me, the most amazing thing was the colours.
"They say it's the land of four colours - white, grey, brown and blue.
"The light reflecting off the ice was blinding."
She now has ambitions to visit one of the bases.
"It would be great to experience the atmosphere and the climate there."
