by Greta Yeoman
An Antarctic adventurer will speak about his 50 years of trips to the Earth’s southernmost continent on Monday night.
Shaun Norman, of Twizel, who first visited the frozen continent in 1966, will speak at a “Bubbles and Inspiration” event at the Twizel Events Centre on Monday, hosted by Twizel Promotions.
Twizel Promotions manager Bevan Newlands said the promotional organisation tried to organise a range of speakers for its events and Mr Norman, who was also part of the committee, had been asked to speak.
Mr Norman has travelled to the Antarctic 26 times in summer and several times in winter, first as a weather observer and later as a dog-sled taxi driver for scientists travelling to their work area.
His first trip came about after he was selected to be a weather observer on Deception Island for the British Antarctic Survey, but this role was short-lived after the volcano on the island erupted in December 1967.
That did not put him off, however, and he came back as a field assistant with his own nine-dog husky sled team, transporting scientists to their research sites on the southern Antarctic Peninsula.
Within two years he clocked up more than 5300km on his sled.
Mr Norman has also been involved in the building of the South Pole road, guiding tourists and even hunting for meteorites.
His talk on Monday night, which starts at 7.30pm, will involve a slideshow.
Mr Newlands said he hoped the evening would draw a good crowd, as previous events had attracted up to 160 attendees.
Shaun Norman at the Twizel Events Centre, 7pm on Monday, August 20. Gold coin entry.
