Andrew Denton

Andrew Denton speaking at Mawson's Hut Foundation Event

Surrounded by the fierce Southern Ocean and heralded as one of the final frontiers, Antarctica has lured many an explorer to its ice-clad and windswept shores.

Famed Australian television presenter, producer and comedian Andrew Denton was the special guest at a private viewing of Wendy Sharpe’s Antarctica Exhibition at The Australian National Maritime Museum in Sydney, in collaboration with Chimu Adventures and the Mawson’s Hut Foundation.

Speaking exclusively with e-Travel Blackboard Andrew, a self-professed Antarctica Enthusiast, explains his affinity for visiting Earth’s southernmost continent.

I’ve been informed you’re something of an Antarctica enthusiast. Hosting tonight’s event in collaboration with the Mawson’s Hut Foundation, Chimu Adventures and Wendy Sharpe and then journeying to Antarctica in 2014 on a fundraising voyage must be quite exciting!

When did your affinity with the Antarctic begin?
In 1988, when it was the bicentenary and Channel 9 did a broadcast around Australia and I saw some people talking live from Antarctica and I became fascinated with what it meant to live down there.

What is it about Antarctica that you find so interesting and attractive; what sets it apart from other destinations?
It’s a word that you can’t often apply to anything. It’s a unique place where animals and the environment rule, not us. It is unspeakably beautiful. It changes all the time. There are colours that surprise you. There’s a wildness to it which is exciting because even if you’re travelling in a controlled trip, you know that you’re always, if not on, near the edge.

I’d imagine there would be a lack of fresh produce available, so what do you eat when you’re visiting Antarctica?
Oh, I love a whale. No, every voyage I’ve been on has been very well provisioned. The most important person on an Antarctic station is the cook, as it is with any voyage as well.

The diverse wildlife inhabitants of Antarctica manage to survive the harsh climates and below freezing temperatures year in, year out. Would you ever consider an extended stay on Earth’s coldest continent?
I have a lifetime dream to spend a winter in Antarctica. It might be very hard to do because the only people to winter there are those with practical skills, like a plumber or electricians. I have none of those skills. I can bring some pretty good after-dinner jokes.

Expeditions to Antarctica have been undertaken by a slew of famous explorers and travellers. What do you think is so appealing about this type of adventure?
I often wonder about that. The intrepidness of what they did and the incredible hardships that they undertook, it’s a mindset that seems lost to us now. To me, it’s one of the great questions. What drove these men? When [Robert Falcon] Scott died, when they found his sled, on it were many kilo’s of geological samples. Even though they were walking to their deaths, they still carried and collected these with them. That says everything to me. You know, some of the stuff from his expedition is still being used today for scientific discovery. It’s not lost.

What are your hopes and aspirations for the upcoming fundraising voyage in 2014, celebrating Antarctic exploration and supporting the heritage of Australian Antarctic Hero, Douglas Mawson?
What I hope people will take from it is the joy of the wildness of Antarctica, an understanding of its fragility and an increased sense of our need to protect the last place on Earth we haven’t devastated.

What’s the most amazing sight you’ve witnessed when visiting Antarctica and what do you recommend people see when visiting?
There are so many. I remember walking on an ice flow and there was a break in the ice and literally eight feet away from me, a seal surfaced, he looked up, looked around and had a look at us and then just went down again. It’s that proximity to nature where they’re not concerned about you. That’s the trick, that’s the thing you don’t get almost anywhere else.

Name three essential items you would take when visiting Antarctica.
Thermal underwear. Multiple pairs of gloves. Small flask of whisky.

When you want to forget about ice shelves, wicked winters, whipping winds and whopping waves, where do you visit? What’s your favourite summer escape?
I would actually like to do the opposite and trek the Sahara. There’s something about those extreme climates that I’m attracted to.

Andrew hosts the ABC’s new game show, Randling, which airs Wednesday’s at 9:10pm on ABC1.