BREAKING THE ICE

Before the world had heard of Scott and Shackleton, another explorer hatched a plan to spend a year in Antarctica. He was Carsten Borchgrevink, and he and his team proved it was possible for humans to survive the Antarctic winter.

Southern Cross ship leaving Hobart, Tasmania

The Southern Cross expedition

Carsten Borchgrevink and nine others spent a year in Antarctica, cut off from the rest of the world.

Southern Cross expedition scientific staff

The first people

Carsten Borchgrevink’s shore party were the first people ever to live on the Antarctic mainland.

The first buildings

Cape Adare is one of Antarctica's harshest places, but the expedition's buildings have survived for more than a century.

Ole Must, William Colbeck and Persen Savio with puppies

The first dogs

The Southern Cross was the first expedition to use dogs in Antarctica.

Anton Fougner, Hugh Evans and William Colbeck at work in huts on Southern Cross expedition Cape Adare

The first winter

The men of the Southern Cross lived through 72 days of total darkness.

Louis Bernacchi taking readings during Southern Cross expedition

Science

The Southern Cross scientists assembled data from a part of the Earth that was then largely unknown.

Exploration

The expedition's attempts to explore the ice taught them about Antarctica's deadly storms and fickle sea ice.

Terra Nova Northern Party members Victor Campbell, George Murray Levick and Raymond Priestley prepare to leave Cape Adare, 1912

A Second Team at Cape Adare

In 1911, Cape Adare became home to the Northern Party of Captain Robert Falcon Scott’s Terra Nova expedition.

Torb Prytz at Cape Adare C AHT Lizzie Meek

Antarctic Heritage Trust

Antarctic Heritage Trust is a New Zealand-based charity with a vision of inspiring explorers.

BREAKING THE ICE

The Southern Cross expedition

Carsten Borchgrevink and nine others spent a year in Antarctica, cut off from the rest of the world.

The first people

Carsten Borchgrevink’s shore party were the first people ever to live on the Antarctic mainland.

The first buildings

Cape Adare is one of Antarctica's harshest places, but the expedition's buildings have survived for more than a century.

The first dogs

The Southern Cross was the first expedition to use dogs in Antarctica.

The first winter

The men of the Southern Cross lived through 72 days of total darkness.

Science

The Southern Cross scientists assembled data from a part of the Earth that was then largely unknown.

Exploration

The expedition's attempts to explore the ice taught them about Antarctica's deadly storms and fickle sea ice.

A Second Team at Cape Adare

In 1911, Cape Adare became home to the Northern Party of Captain Robert Falcon Scott’s Terra Nova expedition.

Antarctic Heritage Trust

Antarctic Heritage Trust is a New Zealand-based charity with a vision of inspiring explorers.