WELLINGTON, New Zealand - Everest conqueror and Antarctic explorer Sir Edmund Hillary has returned to the frozen continent — at age 87 — for what he believes will be his last time.
Hillary joined New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark and other dignitaries who flew to Antarctica for the 50th anniversary of the Scott Base, which the adventurer helped build in 1957.
"This is probably the last opportunity that I will get to visit the wintery south," Hillary said Friday, the day after he arrived. Hillary helped lead a team to the South Pole in 1955. He was the first person to drive to the pole, using a modified farm tractor...
Hillary criticized Japan for its policies allowing whaling for scientific purposes, and for pushing to revoke the international ban on commercial hunting. The Japanese whale hunting season began recently in waters at the far south of the world. "They just don't seem to have accepted that these creatures, wonderful creatures that they are, should be carefully protected," Hillary said.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070121/ap_on_re_au_an/antarctica_hillary_7