Still undergoing full-time rehab, White Island survivor Kelsey Waghorn is amazed she’s on track to achieve a goal she once thought impossible.
At the end of the month, the marine biologist from Whakatane, will be among 21 young New Zealanders visiting the sub-Antarctic island of South Georgia for a two-week research mission.
Waghorn was one of 47 caught in the White Island eruption of December 2019. She received serious, full-depth burns to almost half her body.
“If you told me two years ago I’d be preparing for a trip to Antarctica, I’d have laughed in your face,” she tells the Weekend Herald. “I can’t even regulate my own brain, how can I sail to the other side of the world?”
Waghorn is still receiving treatment for her injuries, balancing recovery from a recent surgery with groundwork for the trip.
She was selected by the Antarctic Heritage Trust - which held an open call at the beginning of the year - in June. All aged between 32 and 17, the group includes school sports captains, young artists and scientists. Each brings a unique set of skills and challenges to the trip.
“This trip is something my old self would have jumped at,” says Waghorn.
“It’s so me… but everything I’ve been through over the last three years, it adds a layer of difficulty.”
Having spent almost a decade working as crew for small boats, she has a lot of experience to offer, but recently this has taken a backseat for recovery and rehab. Currently she advocates for PTSD care in New Zealand.
Waghorn thanks her dad for encouraging her to apply for a place on the expedition. She didn’t expected to hear back, barely reading the details.
“The more I found out about it, the more I thought this could really lead into something. I’ve been out of work for the last few years, because I’ve been full time in rehab because of the eruption. All dad’s badgering clearly came from a place of love.”
Waghorn will be part of a research team, collecting data for the MetService in an attempt to understand the region’s weather and ocean conditions. They’ll be using both cutting-edge instruments and historic devices, not unlike those used by explorers Shackleton and Worsley, when they were shipwrecked in the region.
It’s given Waghorn an opportunity to dust off her marine charts and MetService reference tables, saying it was a trip that combines all her interests.
“It’s so up my alley it’s not even funny.”
The remote island in the south sea is home to one million king penguins, and 50 per cent of the world’s elephant seals.
Although Waghorn knows that she will face difficulties that other team members will not, she says it is even more important that she seizes the opportunity to take part in the trip.
Her medical team has given the all clear and Waghorn says she has a “panic sheet” of exercises she can do.
“Coming back from this to take part in this trip is massive. That’s part of the appeal.
“Just because of your PTSD doesn’t discount you from a once-in-a-lifetime trip like this. You just need more preparation.”
After what she describes as a rough few years of rehab the trip seems like she’s achieving a goal that once seemed impossible.
“I’ve always dreamed of travelling to Antarctica,” she says. “And south Georgia’s bloody close!”
Waghorn’s experiment is one of several research projects being undertaken by the 21.
It will be led by expedition member Kelly Davenport, 27, who works in aviation forecasts for the MetService in Wellington.
Four of the group will be part in a historic mountain climb to Mt Worsley. It was unclimbed until 2018 and the team will be the first New Zealanders to scale the 1105m peak named after Frank Worsley, the Christchurch-born captain of the 1914 Trans-Antarctic expedition.
Millie Mannering, 24, is one of the four climbers - although she emphasises it is not yet a done deal.
“There is still limited information about where we are going and so many unknowns.”
As it is such a remote mountain, they only have the briefest sketches to go by. However, as a former Blake ambassador with a sponsorship from Rolex, she is used to throwing herself into the unknown. Mannering has spent time guiding in the New Zealand sub-Antarctic islands, diving in the Falkland Islands and Canadian High Arctic research station, but South Georgia is a new destination for her.
As one of only a few young New Zealanders with the specific skills of sub-Arctic mountaineering, it’s unsurprising she already knew some of the expedition members.
“I’m good friends with Sam [West] who is also in the mountaineering team. I’ve been on many climbing and ski touring missions with him already,” says Mannering.
“We have the makings of a strong and cohesive team.”
The four mountaineers will be led by Kiwi mountain guides Dean Staples, the first New Zealander to climb by the north and south aspects, and Lydia Bradey, the first woman to climb Everest without oxygen.
As a joint expedition that brings together both established and aspiring explorers, the setting is important.
Travel is also a dream for one of the youngest members of the expedition.
Rykien Amaitu, 17, captain of the U18 Papatoetoe Panthers and current pupil at Tangaroa College in South Auckland, says he has ambitions to see the world.
“I’d love to travel, but I’ve never been further than the South Island,” he says.
Amaitu was awarded a place on a student science programme in the US, but was unable to take up the offer when the Covid pandemic happened.
His form tutor encouraged him to apply for the expedition with the Antarctic Heritage Trust .
“I think I can bring humour to the group as one of the younger team members,” says Amaitu, who had the opportunity to meet the other explorers for the first time in June.
At an event held by the trust and expedition partners MetService and Royal Society Te Apārangi, at Hillary House in Ōtara, the team were briefed on the mission and their part in it.
Trust Executive Director Francesca Eathorne says, “This expedition will connect these young people with Shackleton’s incredible legacy.”
The climb takes place close to where Shackleton, Worsley, and James Crean arrived in 1916, shipwrecked and looking for help. After 16 days and 1200km at sea in a lifeboat, they found rescue on South Georgia. In doing so they saved the lives of all 27 of their ship’s crew.
“It’s a spirit as critical in the 21st century as it was more than a century ago – particularly for our young people who face a rapidly changing world,” says Eathorne.
The team will sail to South Georgia on the Magellan Explorer between September 30 and October 14.
