Want to go to the Sub Antarctic?
Look out for the Enderby Trust Scholarships – they may pay up to 70% of your expenses!
Formed in 1998, the Enderby Trust is named after Charles Enderby, a cooper (wooden barrel maker) who embarked on several exploratory voyages in Antarctica and the southern oceans during the 1830’s. The trust, which is named so to acknowledge Enderby’s geographical study and exploratory activities, works with Heritage Expeditions who provide travel for successful applicants on their polar research vessel Spirit or Enderby. It is envisaged that after their trip their experiences and enthusiasm will create further awareness and appreciation of the subantactic area.
It is very easy to apply for a scholarship. All applicants (aged 18 - 30) need to do is write up to 400 words about why they are fascinated about the subantarctic area in the Pacific Ocean they wish to visit.
The 2009 closing date is October 30, however people who are interested future scholarships should contact the Enderby Trust on enderby@hotmail.com or write to the Enderby Trust at P O Box 29 529, Fendalton, Christchurch, 8540
Showing posts with label heritage. Show all posts
Showing posts with label heritage. Show all posts
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
A Busman's Holiday - or What it is like at the Other side of the World
When holidaying at the other side of the world, it is only natural to compare everything with home. Indeed, there are many similarities between New Zealand and the Baltic Sea Countries – including Finland and Sweden - our dependence on the water, the influence of glacial activity and our awareness of our heritage.
We took the local ferry from Tallinn, Estonia, across the Gulf of Finland to Finland’s capital Helsinki and wandered around for awhile, climbing up the many stairs to the Lutheran Cathedral which gave us a grandstand view of the city – plainish buildings, where the old and the new seemed to blend in together. We took a boat tour, gliding upon still grey waters (not a white cap in sight) past wide waterside promenades flanked by very expensive apartments and hundreds of wooden day sailing boats, and cruised past the ports where 2 icebreakers sat, waiting for winter.
Out to the islands now, small low and smooth mounds, not mountainous as ours are - covered with small industries, houses, and past the Suomenlinna island fortress World Heritage site in Helsinki harbor. The Swedes built it in the mid-18th century, when Finland was under Swedish rule. Because of the weight of the last glaciations the Baltic Sea bed and the islands are still rising - from 1 – 8 millimetres per year in some areas. The Baltic sea is fed by much fresh water from it’s surrounding countries, which makes the salinity so low that some freshwater fish can be found in it, while others, such as shrimp, are not.
Later we boarded the Silju Symphony overnight Ferry to Stockholm, Sweden. Entered through a door on the side of the ship and almost fell into to a one street Shoppers’ Paradise. Families fed their children at the many restaurants then herded into the large stores grabbed the huge industrial trolleys to stock up on duty free beer and liquor, clothes and handbags. The nightclub rocked, old and new danced til dawn (well, there was no dark) and yours truly settled down with a cocktail in the bar at the bow to enjoy viewing the Kvarken Archipelago, another World Heritage site. Alas, all there was to see was the blue/grey waters and fog!
Breakfast time and the sky clears as we glide through the Stockholm Archipelago on the coast of Sweden. One of the largest archipelagos in the Baltic Sea it consists of approximately 24,000 islands and islets. Once many of the islands were inhabited, then people moved to the cities for work. Today holiday homes litter some of the larger islands, while closer to Stockholm people take the ferry to dine at the one of the many island restaurants and watch the cruise ships sidle by.
It was interesting to note that there was much pride taken in the fact that, many places, such as Suomenlinna island fortress, and the Kvarken Archipelago, are proudly announced as being UNESCO World Heritage sites. Finland has seven World Heritage Sites while Sweden has fourteen, including the Naval Port of Karlskrona late 17th-century European planned naval city.
So why are there so many world heritage sites here? The countries surrounding the Baltic Sea are very serious about preserving their waterways and heritage.
The World Heritage Convention plays a very important role in preserving our world for the future. It was adopted in 1972 by UNESCO (New Zealand became a signatory in 1984) and seeks to encourage the identification, protection and preservation of cultural and natural heritage considered to be of ‘outstanding value to humanity’. Its list of 851 sites of 660 cultural, 166 natural and 25 mixed properties encompasses 141 countries.
Australia has seventeen listed sites, with the Sydney Opera House being the latest edition at this year’s July conference in Christchurch.
There are three World Heritage Sites in New Zealand, where I live.
They are Te Wahipounamu – South West New Zealand, the Tongariro National Park, and the New Zealand Sub-Antarctic Islands consisting of five island groups - the Snares, Bounty Islands, Antipodes Islands, Auckland Islands and Campbell Island. Amongst other notable assets 126 bird species breed on these islands, including 40 seabirds of which five breed nowhere else in the world.
Because of the increasing evaluation and monitoring workload, it is very difficult for a site to get on the World Heritage list. The first step is to put forward an inventory to be considered for the Tentative List.
This year, after much public consultation, New Zealand put up eight sites. They are the Kahurangi National Park, Farewell Spit, Waikoropupu Springs and the Canaan Karst System, the Waters and Seabed of the Fiords of Fiordland (Te Moana o Atawhenua) - an addition to Te Wahipounamu - South-West New Zealand World Heritage Area, the Napier Art Deco Historic Precinct, the Kerikeri Basin Historic Precinct, the Waitangi Treaty Grounds Historic Precinct, Kermadec Islands and Marine Reserve, the Auckland Volcanic Field, and Whakarua Moutere, or the North-East Islands including Poor Knights Islands.
Now that I am back at home by our own beautiful waters, and know that New Zealand has not been slack about recognizing about it’s heritage and it’s beautiful islands I can relax. And look! There are internships, volunteer job opportunities and school projects listed on the Unesco Site! What a great way help preserve our valuable earth! This could be the beginning of a new adventure….
References include: http://www.doc.govt.nz http://whc.unesco.org, http://whc.unesco.org/en/108#work (for job oppportunities)
We took the local ferry from Tallinn, Estonia, across the Gulf of Finland to Finland’s capital Helsinki and wandered around for awhile, climbing up the many stairs to the Lutheran Cathedral which gave us a grandstand view of the city – plainish buildings, where the old and the new seemed to blend in together. We took a boat tour, gliding upon still grey waters (not a white cap in sight) past wide waterside promenades flanked by very expensive apartments and hundreds of wooden day sailing boats, and cruised past the ports where 2 icebreakers sat, waiting for winter.
Out to the islands now, small low and smooth mounds, not mountainous as ours are - covered with small industries, houses, and past the Suomenlinna island fortress World Heritage site in Helsinki harbor. The Swedes built it in the mid-18th century, when Finland was under Swedish rule. Because of the weight of the last glaciations the Baltic Sea bed and the islands are still rising - from 1 – 8 millimetres per year in some areas. The Baltic sea is fed by much fresh water from it’s surrounding countries, which makes the salinity so low that some freshwater fish can be found in it, while others, such as shrimp, are not.
Later we boarded the Silju Symphony overnight Ferry to Stockholm, Sweden. Entered through a door on the side of the ship and almost fell into to a one street Shoppers’ Paradise. Families fed their children at the many restaurants then herded into the large stores grabbed the huge industrial trolleys to stock up on duty free beer and liquor, clothes and handbags. The nightclub rocked, old and new danced til dawn (well, there was no dark) and yours truly settled down with a cocktail in the bar at the bow to enjoy viewing the Kvarken Archipelago, another World Heritage site. Alas, all there was to see was the blue/grey waters and fog!
Breakfast time and the sky clears as we glide through the Stockholm Archipelago on the coast of Sweden. One of the largest archipelagos in the Baltic Sea it consists of approximately 24,000 islands and islets. Once many of the islands were inhabited, then people moved to the cities for work. Today holiday homes litter some of the larger islands, while closer to Stockholm people take the ferry to dine at the one of the many island restaurants and watch the cruise ships sidle by.
It was interesting to note that there was much pride taken in the fact that, many places, such as Suomenlinna island fortress, and the Kvarken Archipelago, are proudly announced as being UNESCO World Heritage sites. Finland has seven World Heritage Sites while Sweden has fourteen, including the Naval Port of Karlskrona late 17th-century European planned naval city.
So why are there so many world heritage sites here? The countries surrounding the Baltic Sea are very serious about preserving their waterways and heritage.
The World Heritage Convention plays a very important role in preserving our world for the future. It was adopted in 1972 by UNESCO (New Zealand became a signatory in 1984) and seeks to encourage the identification, protection and preservation of cultural and natural heritage considered to be of ‘outstanding value to humanity’. Its list of 851 sites of 660 cultural, 166 natural and 25 mixed properties encompasses 141 countries.
Australia has seventeen listed sites, with the Sydney Opera House being the latest edition at this year’s July conference in Christchurch.
There are three World Heritage Sites in New Zealand, where I live.
They are Te Wahipounamu – South West New Zealand, the Tongariro National Park, and the New Zealand Sub-Antarctic Islands consisting of five island groups - the Snares, Bounty Islands, Antipodes Islands, Auckland Islands and Campbell Island. Amongst other notable assets 126 bird species breed on these islands, including 40 seabirds of which five breed nowhere else in the world.
Because of the increasing evaluation and monitoring workload, it is very difficult for a site to get on the World Heritage list. The first step is to put forward an inventory to be considered for the Tentative List.
This year, after much public consultation, New Zealand put up eight sites. They are the Kahurangi National Park, Farewell Spit, Waikoropupu Springs and the Canaan Karst System, the Waters and Seabed of the Fiords of Fiordland (Te Moana o Atawhenua) - an addition to Te Wahipounamu - South-West New Zealand World Heritage Area, the Napier Art Deco Historic Precinct, the Kerikeri Basin Historic Precinct, the Waitangi Treaty Grounds Historic Precinct, Kermadec Islands and Marine Reserve, the Auckland Volcanic Field, and Whakarua Moutere, or the North-East Islands including Poor Knights Islands.
Now that I am back at home by our own beautiful waters, and know that New Zealand has not been slack about recognizing about it’s heritage and it’s beautiful islands I can relax. And look! There are internships, volunteer job opportunities and school projects listed on the Unesco Site! What a great way help preserve our valuable earth! This could be the beginning of a new adventure….
References include: http://www.doc.govt.nz http://whc.unesco.org, http://whc.unesco.org/en/108#work (for job oppportunities)
Monday, January 22, 2007
DO YOU REALIZE THAT ANTARCTICA’S ICONIC TREASURES COULD DISAPPEAR WITHOUT OUR HELP?
Remember reading with fascination the success and demise of Sir Robert Scott when he reached the South Pole? And the triumph of Sir Ernest Shackleton when, after his ship ‘Endurance’ was broken up by Antarctica’s formidable ice, he rescued all his crew from certain death?
Today there is considerable interest worldwide, to visit the Huts of these heroic explorers on site. Especially as it's so easy to travel to Antarctica.
However, to protect the huts, much preservation work needs to be done. $16 million’s worth, to be exact. New Zealand Government and the Antarctica Heritage Trust have contributed $7 million, and Prime Minister Helen Clark has asked British Prime Minister Tony Blair to cough up the rest. But so far, no go.
But then, why should Britain cough up?
Could it be because British born Scott, for the first time ever, contributed a massive amount of scientific, meteorological, biological and geological information about Antarctica?
Or maybe because Anglo/Irish born Shackleton explored a vast area of Antarctica, and, against everything that Antarctic threw at him, ensured that his crew came home?
Does it matter that the beginning of the 20th century, Britain’s Most Heroic Age of Exploration was focussed on Antarctica?
On 1910 the world will be celebrating the centenary of Scott’s Terra Nova Expedition. There will be considerable attention on Antarctica; in particular Scott’s hut at Cape Evans, from where he and his team departed for their final, fateful journey.
What would happen if, in spite of the considerable preservation effects of the freezing Antarctica weather, Scott’s and Shackleton’s huts disintegrated to piles of rubble?
What would our children, and their children think? That Britain does not care about its heroes??? That Scott’s and Shackleton’s work was not valued? That role models are not important?
I feel so strongly about this - we must keep our heroes and historical icons alive for our children to benefit from in the future.
How can we make Britain sit up and listen?
Here are my suggestions – I am sure you have more!
Write to PM Tony Blair
Write to the World Monument fund – they are on the web
Write to the British High Commission.
Tell everybody – in fact, pass this message on!
Post your ideas on this site! Lets get action! Preserve the huts on Antarctica! Start now! Tell me what you are going do! We’ll get Britain on board yet …..
Today there is considerable interest worldwide, to visit the Huts of these heroic explorers on site. Especially as it's so easy to travel to Antarctica.
However, to protect the huts, much preservation work needs to be done. $16 million’s worth, to be exact. New Zealand Government and the Antarctica Heritage Trust have contributed $7 million, and Prime Minister Helen Clark has asked British Prime Minister Tony Blair to cough up the rest. But so far, no go.
But then, why should Britain cough up?
Could it be because British born Scott, for the first time ever, contributed a massive amount of scientific, meteorological, biological and geological information about Antarctica?
Or maybe because Anglo/Irish born Shackleton explored a vast area of Antarctica, and, against everything that Antarctic threw at him, ensured that his crew came home?
Does it matter that the beginning of the 20th century, Britain’s Most Heroic Age of Exploration was focussed on Antarctica?
On 1910 the world will be celebrating the centenary of Scott’s Terra Nova Expedition. There will be considerable attention on Antarctica; in particular Scott’s hut at Cape Evans, from where he and his team departed for their final, fateful journey.
What would happen if, in spite of the considerable preservation effects of the freezing Antarctica weather, Scott’s and Shackleton’s huts disintegrated to piles of rubble?
What would our children, and their children think? That Britain does not care about its heroes??? That Scott’s and Shackleton’s work was not valued? That role models are not important?
I feel so strongly about this - we must keep our heroes and historical icons alive for our children to benefit from in the future.
How can we make Britain sit up and listen?
Here are my suggestions – I am sure you have more!
Write to PM Tony Blair
Write to the World Monument fund – they are on the web
Write to the British High Commission.
Tell everybody – in fact, pass this message on!
Post your ideas on this site! Lets get action! Preserve the huts on Antarctica! Start now! Tell me what you are going do! We’ll get Britain on board yet …..
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