Discovering the “Discovery” – a trip to Dundee
The St Andrews 2014 Antarctic team is getting into the expedition spirit – excitement is rising, count-down is on…. Less than one month before take-off from Scotland. Lynsey kicks off our St Andrews student expedition blog:
As our final pre-Antarctica activity, we travelled across the Tay to Discovery Point in Dundee to learn about the RRS Discovery’s role in Antarctic exploration in the early 20th Century. We were welcomed aboard for a tour of the ship from Brian Kelly, our guide for the afternoon, as he showed us all the different parts of the ship, telling us about how it was constructed, how the Crew would have navigated on board and how the ship would have coped in the icy conditions as it 
reached Antarctica.
Below deck we learned more about how the ship was powered (a LOT of coal!), what the men on board would have eaten and received a tour of both the cramped hammocks of the Crew’s quarters, and the much more lavish Officer’s cabins. Standing on the ship and imagining what it must have been like for the men being away at sea for years at a time certainly made us appreciate the bravery and dedication of Scott, Shackleton, and the rest of the men on board as they set out to undertake the first scientific research of 
Antarctica.
After our tour of the ship, we were free to look around displays in the exhibition, which featured many hands-on, interactive exhibits that helped bring the expedition to life. Jars of samples collected on the trip, examples of the clothing they would have worn, and displays dedicated to explaining the success of the ship’s design were all highly informative and really helped put into context everything Brian had told us on the tour of the ship.
We came away from the Discovery with a real s
ense of perspective and new found appreciation for the hardships endured by those on board in the depths of Antarctic winters, as well as a renewed sense of excitement for our own trip, and got us wondering what discoveries we will make as we head to the polar South in just four weeks time.
On behalf of all the students, I would like to extend a special thank you to Brian Kelly for his fantastic tour, and for answering all our questions during our visit.
Lynsey (Senior Honours student)