Philly fell in love with all things ice when she began her career as a Glacier Guide in New Zealand in 2014. Many years of ice-guiding year-round by ‘summering’ in New Zealand, then Iceland, respectively, cemented that love. She moved to Norway in 2019 and continued guiding, working her first Antarctic season for the NZ science programme in 2023. Privileged to have worked all over the world, it has become apparent that despite the distance between her ‘homes,’ there’s a clear theme here!
When not stationed on ice, Philly can be found working as a Rope Access Technician, or Industrial Abseiler, in Norway, hanging off buildings and bridges and exercising that head for heights. She’s a climber, skier and DIY enthusiast, ambulance volunteer… and terrible at sitting still.
As a History major (but one who thinks probably Glaciology would’ve been more appropriate), she has a fascination with the stories told by the environment we are exploring and loves nothing more than to share a story or fun fact with guests.
Philly’s most memorable polar experience has been stepping inside Captain Scott’s Hut at Cape Royds, untouched and frozen in time, just as he left it at the start of that fateful Terra Nova race to the South Pole.
Her advice for travellers to the poles is this: embrace that feeling of being so, so tiny in this mighty nature which surrounds us. Embrace the pristine silence, let it take your breath away. It still takes hers away, every time.
