A day of rest

Yesterday was an 'official' rest day, we were just over half way to the Pole, though we hadn't seen the sun in a few days, and our spirits were high, if we have made it this far without serious mishap then we have a good shot at the Pole, no guarantees though.

All during our rest day it snowed (unusual for this time of year) and we awoke this morning to a a full on blizzard and in places, 3ft drifts of fresh snow. Usually with skis on I'm very happy with fresh snow but not when hauling a 100kg plus sledge, it sinks down into the snow and it can take all your strength just to get it moving. So much so that today we have only done 16km in 7 hours, our worst day for progress by far.

I'm in the tent now, brooding, a bit home sick for friends and family, you'll have your decorations up soon, chockies on the tree, Richard Elson will be planning his pre Crimbo drinks party, and I won't be there! There is nothing I hate more than missing a good party.

This storm is settled in for the next 4 days which means I have to mentally recalculate my Pole arrival date as we won't be doing 27km per day anytime soon, I have an obsession with making progress and I don't like putting in max effort for little return.

So to lighten my somber mood, I have made some pancakes, melted some CDM into the mix and added a tincture of Tia Maria, the result has been most acceptable. Additionally this 'South Pole' diet programme is a bit extreme, I'm sure I have lost half as stone already, so it won't be long before my body will start using my muscle for food, not a good thing to happen, so now I add copious amounts of butter, salami and cheese to all my meals to raise the fat content.

I am actually quite happy, only 521km (we've done 615km) to our goal, but I'm enjoying the journey far more than I expected, and have found a wonderful sense of peace out here, 8 hrs a day to indulge in my own thoughts is very therapeutic, whilst tricky to get used to at first, I'm actually quite good at it now.

I had a glimpse of home yesterday, when the BBC called me at 530am to see how I was getting on. I did a live radio interview, and just before they put me through to the DJ, I heard the end of the traffic - is that M25 still causing trouble around Leatherhead? I chuckled cacooned in my sleeping bag, poor devils, stuck in their cars on a dark dreary damp December morning.