I thought I would leave you with a quick update just before I jump into my sleeping bag for one last night with a solid roof over my head. The PricewaterhouseCoopers North Pole Expedition officially gets underway in approx 8 hours when we are set to fly out on to the beautiful and challenging frozen arctic ocean to begin our push to the pole.

I have been thinking all night about the last few months, months of hard work and fun times that have eventually lead me to this point and I want to take a moment to acknowledge some people who without their hard work and support I wouldn’t be here.

Firstly I want to thank Tony Harrington and all the team at PricewaterhouseCoppers for their support and belief in me, in particular I’d like to thank James Collins, Manuela Schmidt and Genevieve La Bars for all their efforts over the last few months thank you all so much.

To Peter Jammison and Jon Graham at Telstra a huge thanks must go to you two as well. In particular Jon, thanks for putting up with my endless amount of calls over the last few weeks.
Finally I want to thank the most important people in my life, my family and friends. You all mean the absolute world to me and your love, encouragement and understanding are a continual source of inspiration.

I better go and get some sleep now but John Butler just came on my ipod and I think some of his lyrics pretty much sum up everything.

“I can do anything I put my mind to just all I gotta to do is give myself a half a chance”

Its time to do it!!

Delays are unfortunatly a part of day to day life and up here in the arctic due to the weather and the extremities these delays often drag on, and it seems we are stuck in the middle of one of these very such extended waiting periods.

This is my 3rd time at trying to write this update (my previous 2 long detailed updates were wiped mid way through sending) so I’m a little frustrated. As a result I’ll keep this one short and sharp.

Mechanical problems have delayed the building of the ice runway at Borneo ice camp thus our team and approx 3 other teams have been delayed till the 1st April.

We have have kept ourselves busy with packing, skiing, taking photos and socialising with the vast array of interesting people that migrate up here every year.

Ben (who is an Al Gore climate change represenative) gave a presentation last night to appox 50 people including intenational media, runners in this years North Pole marathon and the North Pole logistic team.

We have finished with our packing now so we just await our flight. Fingers crossed.

I’ve been back in Longyearbyn for the last week and I have really rested and recuperated from my injury and I am feeling 100% and well and truly ready to get back out there on the ice. The team finished the trip in 9 days and returned tired but full of stories. I have to admit I felt very envious that I wasn’t there all the way but Eric assured me I made the right decision as the terrain was very difficult and I probably would have done more damage if I continued.

The weather has terribly cold for the last week as we have been hit by an unseasonal cold snap that has not only blanketed the town in a beautiful fresh cover of snow but plummeted temps below minus 25.

Ben arrived 2 days ago and Sandine our final team member from France flew in yesterday and as normal we got straight to work with packing and modeling gear as our departure date looms.

Yesterday we went out for a training ski around the fjord and it was great for Ben and Sandrine to get on the skis and out in the cold. I used the training run as a fitness test. I put myself through a good workout and walked away feeling great which has given me a boost of confidence.

We had a briefing last night meeting regarding our flight times and it looks like we are going to be delayed till the 29th at the earliest due to some technical problems in setting up base camp but I have come to learn that up here in these extremes you just have to wait things out. The Russians are hard at work trying to rectify the problems with the camp and I’m sure we will be underway soon.

After a discussion with the team I had to make an incredibly tough decision. I could continue on sking taking pain killers and hopfully make it out safely but in what state would I be for the North Pole? Or at this point I could turn back and ski 2 days solo back to Ny-Ålesund – this had it’s own unique risks. as you can imagine it was a decision I didn’t take to lightly but one I knew I had to make myself. I desperately wanted to continue but I had to look at the bigger picture I’m up here to ski to the North Pole and getting there safely with Ben from PwC is my priority so I decided to turn back on my own.

We quickly rejigged our gear and I stood there knowing if I pushed hard all day I should arrive back at the hut that night and then ski back to town the following day. So I said my goodbyes and set off with no tent, stove, or gun (as we only had enough for the team). I took the flare gun in case of a Polar Bear attack. With in 30min I lost sight of the others and stood there on my own, a dot amongst this eternity of white. I felt like I was the only human being on earth it was frightening yet liberating.

I knew that I needed to ski approx 29km but it was mostly down hill but because of my injury I couldn’t ski anywhere as fast as normal and after 2 hours I knew I would have to limit any stops to make the hut before dark. The next 5 hours I just put my head down and went to work picking a spot on the horizon and aiming at that stopping every so often to scan the horizon for bears. I knew that things should be ok up on the ice cap but I also knew when I reached sea level I really had to be on the look out as Polar Bears hunt closer to water. My mind wandered through those hours as I came down the ice cap day dreaming of the most random things but by 5pm I descended through this enormous gully and down to sea level. I had a pretty good idea of where the hut was but no maps
(as I had left them with the team). I was now scanning the horizon every few min with my flare gun in my jacket pocket. It was -30 and I could feel the bitter night cold approaching as the light started to get lower. Now I was getting nervous – every rock in the distance looked like a bear and I would creep slowly towards it until I was sure it wasn’t moving. This went on for what felt like hours. Slowly I made my around a headland to where I thought the hut was but as I came over a small rise there was nothing.

Now I started to panic a little – it was 7pm now and getting darker by the min. I stopped for a bit to collect my thoughts and I told myself out loud to compose myself because there was no point getting upset as I had to deal with this problem. I knew that the hut was on the coast line and I had tried to hug the coast as much as possible so I decided to keep looking for the hut for the next 30min and if I couln’t find it I would continue for Ny-Ålesund which I knew was only 7km away. Although this would mean skiing the last few hours with only a head torch. it would be my only choice

I continued on around the coast and 15min later I came up over a ridge and there 200m away was my tiny hut just sitting there. I let out a bit of a scream and headed over to it. Home. I bust through the door and collapsed on the floor. I had been skiing for over 12 hours with only 2 5min breaks…I was shattered. I got all my gear inside and had a quick meal of chicolate and dry noodles and passed out.

I awoke at 8am the following morning and got to my feet and instantly felt pain. I was so tired last night I hadn’t noticed the blisters on my feet from the epic day before. I tended to them straight away and then ate, packed up and set off for Ny-Ålesund. As I skied away I turned and looked back at my little home high in the Arctic in the middle of nowhere and I thought just how lucky I am to be able to have these experiences. It’s amazing how the simple things in life can be so rewarding. For me to spend 2 days on my own out there in the wild with my own thoughts and making my own decisions has been 2 of the most fullfilling 2 days of my 26 years.

I arrived back in ny alasund late that afternoon and although I felt disappointed that I didn’t get to finish the trip I am proud of myself because I know that although tough I did make the right decision to turn back and hey I had my own little adventure – one I will never forget.

Well so much has happened to me since my last update – injuries, solo skiing, -30 degree days and some of the hardest days both physically and mentally I have ever experienced.

I’ll start where I left off. We camped in the hut on the first night and after a hot meal and a laugh we all called it a night. I didn’t have the best night sleep but this is normal for me early on an expedition as I get back into the routine of things and before I knew it it was 5am and the alarm was going off. I slowly rose and began the task of getting ready for the day. because we were in a hut we were able to move quicker and we took our first steps at 650am just before the sun rose above the mountains. Little did I know at this stage that today was going to be one of the hardest of my life.

Our 1st hour was pretty easy going on icey but flat ground. At -20 degrees it took a while to get warm but as we approached to foot of the ice cap I was well on my way. Thus began the climb, a steady incline that we would remain on for the next 9 hours. we started hauling up the slope when suddenly I stood on a paticular icey section and toppled over. Instantly I felt a strain in my groin and right quad and as I landed I jarred my right wrist. I pulled myself to my feet more embarassed then anything but straight away felt some pain on my right side. I continued on hoping it would pass momentarily however it remained with me as we moved on.

After 2 hours we had our first break and I sat in silence as I consumed my stick of butter hoping I hadn’t hurt myself too much. after 5min we were off again marching up what seemed this never ending white desert surrounded by magestic mountain ranges. This was my first experience on an ice cap and I was blown away. However every step now I was in pain and it was getting worse by the hour. As we climbed higher the head wind we walked into increased and the temp dropped and by mid afternoon it was 26 below. I decided to just put my head down and push through to camp that night.

Our last session that day I was in sheer agony every step and I had to call a halt early. After 9 hours we had marched 27km up hill. We made camp and I got into the tent had a meal and tried to get off to sleep hoping things would be better in the morning. Of course I couldn’t sleep as I tossed and turned my mind racing at a million miles an hour. Again before I knew it it was 5am again. I woke up and started to get ready for the day. I took some pain killers and packed my sled and headed off. Almost instantly the pain was back but I decided to give it a few hours for the pain killers to kick in but after the first session things were again getting worse. Now I had to make a decision.

Well I am finally out here – we flew from Longyearbyn to Ny-Ålesund at 11am today and I have to say it was the most spectacular flight I have ever been on. We were at a low altitude flying through the most amazing mountain ranges and over vast ice caps, it truly was breath taking.

We arrived and got everything together and headed off across one of these massive ice caps towards the mountains. As I was skiing I was looking side to side at this mind blowing scenery with a huge grin on my face it felt so good to be out here.

We reached the mountains 2 hours later and began to climb, now I really started to feel my sled as it pulled me back. We spent the next few hours gradually making our way up and over the range and down the other side. as the light got lighter we decided to pull up at a hut that was close by. We got here and it was unlocked so we have bunked down it what can be decribed out here as luxury. We are sitting here, hot drink in hand, looking at the northern lights. This is hands down one of the most amazing places on earth.