A team of seven are camped at near Shackleton's Hut, near Cape Royds while they carry out maintenance on the hut and the artefacts inside. Photo / Antarctic Heritage Trust
A team of seven are camped at near Shackleton's Hut, near Cape Royds while they carry out maintenance on the hut and the artefacts inside. Photo / Antarctic Heritage Trust
A team from the Antarctic Heritage Trust are spending their Christmas Day in a remote part of the world.
They're camped at Cape Royds, an area about 35km from Scott base, and home to the historic hut Ernest Shackleton built for his expedition from 1907 to 1909.
The Trust looks after and preserves the artefacts and huts that were left behind by the expeditions of Robert Falcon Scott and Shackleton.
Conservator Nicola Stewart is one of the group of seven on the trip, who are camped about ten minutes' walk from the hut, outside the protected area.
Antarctic Heritage Trust conservator Nicola Stewart inside the hut at Cape Royds. Photo / Antarctic Heritage Trust
They departed Scott Base by helicopter last week and may yet spend New Year there too.
"Very few special actually get to spend Christmas at Cape Royds, so we're feeling very lucky."
Stewart says they're carrying out maintenance work on the hut and also the collections of artefacts and objects that were left in the hut by the expedition.
"We work very hard, it's very long days ... making the most of 24-hour daylight and the time we have, so it's quite intense.
"We usually start at 7.30 in the morning and work right through until 7.30 with a couple of breaks."
But Christmas Day is special - it means a lie in and a day off.
Pancakes, with frozen berries, yoghurt and "strong, real" coffee, are on the menu.
She says they'll also go for a walk.
"There's a headland we like to head to which looks over the ice to the Transantarctic Mountains, and it also looks down into a rather large penguin colony as well. So we'll be able sit there and look at the penguins for a while and watch all their antics.
"It also gives us an opportunity to sit there and to reflect on Shackleton and the men on his expedition as well, who we like to think actually came up to this same spot and looked over the ice towards the mountains and spent their Christmases in the hut as well.
Inside Shackleton's Hut at Cape Royds in Antarctica. Photo / Antarctic Heritage Trust
"It's a pretty stunning place to spend Christmas."
Stewart says they've brought down presents for each other, so there'll be a Secret Santa.
But those won't be the only presents to open today.
"We're really looking forward to opening a Christmas box we've been sent from Antarctic Heritage Trust, which has a big sign on saying we're not allowed to open it until the 25th of December, so we're not sure what's in there, but that's going to be pretty exciting, and a lot of us have presents that our families have given us to bring down as well to open on Christmas Day."
She says they've got very limited communication to the outside world, but they will have the opportunity to call a family member or two on a satellite phone today.
Stewart says the message they'd like to send home is: "We may be a long way away but we're definitely thinking about them and we appreciate their support in supporting us coming down to do the work we're doing for the Antarctic Heritage Trust."
There's also plans to get outside and play a game or two of quoits today, depending on the weather. If not, the seven of them will huddle around one of the computers and watch a movie.
There are some Christmas traditions that can't be replicated though - there'll be no turkey or chicken for Christmas dinner.
"We're so close to a penguin colony, we're restricted, we can't take poultry out with us just because of the possibility of cross-contamination. We also can't take eggs out with us either, into the field."
