Antarctica is the world's southernmost continent. It is also the coldest and driest place on earth. It contains approximately 90% of the world's total ice. If this was to melt it the world's oceans would rise by over 50 metres. Antarctica is also much colder than the Arctic, with an average annual temperature of -50C. Because it is so cold there is very little rain making Antarctica the world's largest desert.

Desonie, Dana 2008, Polar regions: human impacts, Chelsea House, New York.

You can find the South Pole on a map at 90 degrees south, and it is only a very special band of explorers who will ever get there. Early in the 20th century a group of explorers from all around the world - Britain, Norway, and Australia - risked their lives to penetrate as far as they could in this harsh, cold world. 

Sir Douglas Mawson, 1882-1958, holds a high position among the ranks of Antarctic explorers. His heroic achievements were both many and varied. In the Antarctic he located and charted the South Pole region. This exploration ultimately led to Australia's control of forty per cent of the continent. In 1911 he led the Australasian Antarctic Expedition which led to his epic sledge journey in 1912-13 and an eventual knighthood on his return to Australia in 1914.

Mawson, Douglas. The Home of the Blizzard: the story of the Australasian Antarctic Expedition, 1914-1914. Facsimile edition, Wakefield Press, 1996.