Nov 30
When I finally opened my tired eyes, I thought I was seeing things; there in front of me was a … PENGUIN!! I blinked again and looked once more, I couldn’t believe it; it was my friend, Polly the penguin, whom I had met the last time I was on Antarctica.
She lay comfortably tucked inside Jon’s down jacket. In disbelief, I squealed,’ Polly.. Is it you?’ I turned to give her a big hug, as she grinned ‘I wanted to give you a surprise.’
‘But where did you come from, how did you get here, what have you been eating, – tell me everything..’
We snuggled into the down, trying to stay warm as we swayed up, down, right and left, dragged along in Jon’s sled… Feeling a little bit guilty that he was pulling the two of us, all his food for 55 days, enough fuel to melt 5 litres of snow every night, clothing, sleeping bag, thermarest, a tent, safety equipment, communications equipment – radios, satellite phone, solar panels, battery packs, GPS, and the list goes on.
Pat, Clare, Shaun and Jon each pull about 85kg each day and I know from pulling my own sled for the last 19 days that it isn’t easy. I can see the strain and pressure on their faces as they haul the sleds over sastrugi after sastrugi… But I want to hear Polly’s story!
