While overnighting at Hillary House in August 2016, Peter Hillary and his team of drivers showed Sir Edmund Hillary Collegiate students the type of tractors used to get to the South Pole and the clothing worn in Antarctica. The Antarctic Heritage team were raising money to restore the hut that Sir Ed stayed in while in the South Pole.
Taking care of the hut is an important piece of history, Peter said. “Dad often talked about his time in Antarctica and the trip to the South Pole … he saw it as one of his major achievements, saying it was an extreme challenge after Everest. He spent a lot of time in that hut – it was where his office was and where his bunk bed was. I know he wants it saved.”
Peter and his team completed ‘Expedition South’, a 2,012 kilometre trip by tractor from Piha Beach, Auckland to Mt Cook in the South Island, the same distance Sir Ed travelled to the South Pole in 1958.
August 2016
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