Day 26 - Polar toilet crisis

Well the honeymoon is definitely over, I was beginning to think this polar exploration was easy, I had reached day 20 and I was feeling strong and the days were passing quickly, I kept urging the team to do more distance each day. Then on day 22 I was struck with a stomach bug/upset of some sort and my world fell apart, stomach cramps, hot sweats, the sudden need to....well you know! Not that I want to go into the detail here on the finer points of polar toilet habits, but whole chapters and internet discussion forums exist on the topic, all I can say is dropping your sallopettes in minus 32c, 3 times a day is a death wish. If your toilet paper blew away, you could be in all sorts of trouble whilst waiting for assistance.

The worst of it has been that I have had to limit my food intake, to allow whatever it was to 'pass', this has had a huge effect on my strength, which in turn kills the morale. Those 2 days were awful, the hours just dragged by.

Now it is day 26, and everything is fine, my strength is back, and I can hardly remember what I was whining about. Only 2.5 days to go until we reach the Thiels mountains, we have had nothing to look at for 15 days since we saw Pirrit Hills so this is very motivating. Also we will reward ourselves with another rest day.

Also in 2 days, we shall have passed half way, I can't believe we have done over 500km. If all goes well, only another 26 days left. The weather has closed in today, and we are stumbling blind through a whiteout, its impossible to see the sastrugi and we all fall several times a day.

The food has become very tiresome, we have now eaten every variety we have with us, I don't think I can eat another yogurt coated raisin for as long as I live, but I still have over 30 bags left. There is quite a good trading market going on between the four of us, currently yogurt raisins are not worth much, and Nescafe Mocha sachets are at a premium, but as people denude their raisin stocks, and in the last week all they will have left are frozen cashew nuts, I'll flood the market and make a mint. I haven't told anyone about the 1.5 ltrs of Baileys I've been carrying with me.....maybe they will name a mountain after me or carry my sledge the last 100 miles for just a sip (need to defrost it first though).