Antarctica Blog - Day 36 - 22nd January 2013
9.30pm GMT/6.30pm local time
I am a happy man guys! Got the food! The pilots managed to land about a kilometre away, I actually spoke with humans which was pretty awesome!
Just got back in the tent and I am sorting my food out and all the ALE staff have written cute notes and put them on everything, it is so lush. The pilots gave me a can of coke as well, so I am about to have a can of coke in my tent, I am so excited!
Just hearing the twin otter and then seeing it come over the horizon was such a an amazing feeling.
I've just smashed a box of Pringles (well they are the Chilean version Crispos) in to me! Nancy the ALE stores manager asked in passing what I am I craving the most and I said crisps, so she has put a whole box in and I have just smashed them in to me!
The ALE guys have put notes on food like: “No stopping til the South Pole!” “Crispos make sastrugi disappear!” and stuff like that, it is so awesome!
All the friends I have made last time and this year at Union Glacier have just been so amazing. Also, I haven’t opened it yet but the chef has given me a proper frozen meal which I am about to eat with the coke from the pilots.
I feel like a new man. I don’t want to get too emotional on you but I have spent the best part of a year planning this expedition and I put a lot of time and thought into my operating systems and preparation. I am so grateful that I still have the opportunity to get to the South Pole because I have put a lot in to this. A lot of people have devoted a lot of time, support and energy and I have invested all of my own money in to this, so having the opportunity to continue is significant. Obviously there’s a part of me that is disappointed that I didn’t do it within my 35 day target and that my solo expedition loses it’s unsupported status but that’s the nature of working in extreme conditions; you can only control what you can control. I am just grateful for all the guys help at ALE and to have the opportunity to finish it.
I have got 6 big days ahead of me to cover the best part of 2 degrees, which is approx 220km so I am going to feed up tonight, sleep gratefully and happily and get up early tomorrow have a big day and hopefully I can share some big numbers with you tomorrow tonight.
Forgive me if it sounds like I am going on but my overriding feeling is gratitude. I know that some day soon I will be able to look back at the last week stuck in the 87th degree sastrugi twilight zone and laugh about it.
I still feel very privileged to be able to ski from the coast of the Antarctica solo, all be it having been supported with a food drop now. It’s still an incredible honour and a privilege to undertake this journey and I am very grateful for all the support of ALE, my sponsors, my friends, my family and all my followers and supporters for helping me achieve this.
#itsnotoveryet
