Not many people get to return a piece of history back to its rightful home.

But that’s exactly what National Museum of Australia (NMA) conservator Daniel Bornstein had the opportunity to do.

He was one of eight “young” explorers who recently took part in the Antarctic Heritage Trust’s Inspiring Explorers Expedition.

Daniel was the only Australian among a team of New Zealanders, who were all selected from hundreds of applicants from all over the world.

He made his own coat, a replica of the ones explorers wore in Antarctica 100 years ago.

Daniel’s group were tasked with conserving a copy of the book The Count of Monte Cristo to explorer Captain Robert Falcon Scott’s hut.

Missing its cover and a few pages, the well-thumbed-through volume was covered in sooty fingerprints and smelt strongly of the seal blubber that fuelled stoves and lamps used by explorers.

The book was given to the Antarctic Heritage Trust by an anonymous donor who received it as a school prize in 1965.

Daniel said the book was an important object in the hut.

“It relates to the recreational time that they (the explorers) had,” he said.

Daniel, alongside a conservation technician at Canterbury Museum in Christchurch who was also part of the program, conducted stabilisation treatment on the book.

“It’s an intervention treatment. We took what are the signatures of the last few pages that had separated from the book, and we stitched it back in place,” Daniel said.

“We humidified and flattened it – and made sure it was safe for the rest of time.”

Daniel said it was exciting to work on preserving the books’ signs of use.

“That was a really exciting thing to work on,” he said.

Working with objects from Antarctica is something Daniel does in his everyday job at the NMA.

“But to actually return it, there are very few people that have had the opportunity to do that,” he said.

Daniel said walking into the hut, it felt like “the guys have gone down the street for a pack of smokes and will return any minute”.

“It’s not been used for a purpose for more than 100 years,” he said.

“They’ve kept it exactly how it was, our leader said it was like walking ‘the spirit of the place’.”

Daniel said the conditions outside were harsh that day, after a spell of good weather.

“It was -10 degrees, and the wind brought it down to -40,” he said.

Daniel said when they walked into the hut, they could smell tar and wood.

“Just to feel sheltered from that wind, there was a warmth even though the door probably hadn’t been opened for a few months,” he said.

“These really human places being maintained in these non-human environments. It’s such a beautiful place.”

His love for Antarctica was ignited early in his photography career when he had the opportunity to work with originals from Herbert Ponting and Frank Hurley’s expeditions with Scott and Ernest Shackleton, and that love was reignited recently when working on the Australian Antarctic Division Collection at the museum.

Canberra Daily would love to hear from you about a story idea in the Canberra and surrounding region. Click here to submit a news tip.