I felt, I was in pardise. day 18

Distance to Pole:777km or just 7 degrees

Had a great sleep last night, which is a hard thing to do here in Antarctic at this time of year. 24 hrs of daylight. I was in a deep sleep dreaming of being on a beach in Spain, the sun, the sand and the warm sea, it felt like paradise, suddenly reality struck as I was awakened out of a deep sleep by Clare. ‘Its 6am your turn to do breakfast.’

The katabatic winds had descended on us today and not a nice day for travelling. Its at time like this you just want to stay in bed.

Expedition life demands commitment that has to be relentless, otherwise you won’t succeed. We have a limited supply of food and time so another day begins.

It was a hard day today as the wind from the pole headed to the sea as if trying to force us back. It hit us head on, the temperature dropped to -34 windchill, so we were forced to stop early just within 500 meters of achieving another degree. We will have to wait till tomorrow to make it to 83 degrees south. Now only 7 to go.

The cold is severe. We all had problems today staying warm especially with our hands.