ZECO TRAVEL TALK

Did you know?

In the Heroic Era (1901-22) of Antarctic exploration, many of the British expeditions going south passed through New Zealand, which provided a warm and cordial welcome to the explorers. Frequently, men passing through met women for whom they developed an attachment. On their return from the ice two or three years later, these associations often led to marriages between the returning explorer and the local New Zealand woman. Yet these unions seldom took place on the voyage en route south, for the men realized they faced uncertain futures in the Great White Unknown from which they might not return. Nothing so captures these poignant connections than the instance of Reginald Skelton, the chief engineer on the Discovery expedition (1901-04), who, before he left for “the South,” gave his good watch to the mother of the woman he eventually married, for he did not wish to chance its loss as he was prepared to risk his own life.

Join T. H. Baughman on our New Zealand for the Holidays voyage as he shares tales of the region’s history, combining his scholarly passion with an amazing gift for story telling.