But when the compass started spinning on a recent Qantas Boeing 747-300 flight over the icy continent, former John McGlashan College pupil Hamish McMillan said there was a buzz among the 300 passengers.
The 18-year-old was one of four New Zealand pupils who won a flight over the Antarctic after competing in the Royal Society of New Zealand Realise the Dream competition.
''It took us four hours to fly down to Antarctica, but the plane was set abuzz before we even reached the sea ice around the continent, as we flew over the magnetic south pole and we watched our compass wander, completely lost.
''The excitement built and the atmosphere on the plane was electric as we dropped to the viewing altitude of approximately 3050m and got our first view of the sea ice and coast of Antarctica.
''[The Antarctic] really is the world's last great wilderness, with nothing but ice with the odd cliff and crevasse fields as far as the eye could see.
''From the plane, the scale of the place becomes apparent, as we only saw a tiny corner of Antarctica and it was unbelievably huge.''
He described the flight as ''the trip of a lifetime - a scenic flight over the world's last great wilderness, Antarctica''.
Mr McMillan won the trip when his project on the measurement of a gene in 126 bees from feral hives and 114 bees from managed hives was selected for the national final of the Royal Society of New Zealand Realise the Dream competition last year.
He is studying at the University of Otago and wants to forge a career in medical research.
