While it was hailed on its return to Britain in 1904 as a triumph both for scientific research and geographical exploration, Captain Robert Falcon Scott’s Discovery Antarctic Expedition had an inauspicious beginning.

This photograph of the Discovery departing from its New Zealand base, Lyttelton Harbour, for Antarctica was taken on 21 December 1901, and shows the masses of well wishers who lined the wharves to see the vessel and her crew safely on their way to ‘Farthest South’. The expedition, planned on a grand scale by the Royal Society and the Royal Geographical Society, was to be the first official British exploration of the Antarctic for 60 years, and was reflective of the resurgence of international interest in the secrets of the still largely undiscovered continent.

Amidst the patriotic fervour, cheers and excitement in Lyttelton that day, a young Able Seaman, Charles Bonner, climbed atop Discovery’s mainmast in order to return the applause of the crowd. Moments later he fell to his death. This tragic event cast a pall over what was a momentous occasion, and it by no means marked the end of Scott’s troubles with the expedition. Indeed, in Antarctica he and his men were beset by all of the trials common to those venturing through the punishing polar climate - trials augmented by their lack of experience with skis and dog-sleds, and their unfamiliarity with their harsh surrounds. Yet, in the face of blizzards, disorientation, ice-strandings, falls, death and disease, Scott and his men achieved much, relit the public imagination, and thereby launched what would come to be termed the ‘Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration’.

Archives New Zealand’s Christchurch Regional Office holds extensive records relating to New Zealand’s involvement with Antarctica. This image is courtesy of the Canterbury Regional Council Collection at Archives New Zealand Christchurch Regional Office [Archives Reference: CH519/510].

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