Today is Valerie's birthday, the eldest of my lovely children. It must be one of the first time that I don't celebrate with her and it makes me a little homesick. Today is also Nicholas's apposition at St Paul's. He got his nomination for physics, and I am also very sad to miss it. But I know that they are well looked after by Klaus and that they are 100% behind me on this adventure.
We had a good and a bad surprise when we woke up this morning. The good surprise is that the wind has died.The bad surprise is that now a lot of fresh snow is lying on the ground and that it is very tough going. Our skis go deep in fresh snow (about 10 cms), and our sleds don't glide well. It is really hard work. It is probably made worse by the fact that we didn't move yesterday and our muscles are very stiff. However we plough on for 9 hours (I put my skis exactly in Per-Thore's tracks so that they don't sink too much) and cover a respectable 30+ kms. All day the sky has been cloudy nd the light has been very flat, making the snow look a menacing grey. However, as soon as we stopped for the night, the sun came out and it turned out to be a lovely evening. We did some filming.
I must say here that I am unbelievably grateful to Brynje for fitting me from head to toe with their clothes. They are unbelievable. My jacket is totally windproof and very soft to the touch and to wear. The balaclavas, neck warmers, hats and thermals are wonderful, very warm but extremely breathable. And my tent clothes are great. It makes a huge difference to be comfortable and warm in this environment, and the Norwegians certainly have quite a lot of experience in polar expeditions.
We had a good and a bad surprise when we woke up this morning. The good surprise is that the wind has died.The bad surprise is that now a lot of fresh snow is lying on the ground and that it is very tough going. Our skis go deep in fresh snow (about 10 cms), and our sleds don't glide well. It is really hard work. It is probably made worse by the fact that we didn't move yesterday and our muscles are very stiff. However we plough on for 9 hours (I put my skis exactly in Per-Thore's tracks so that they don't sink too much) and cover a respectable 30+ kms. All day the sky has been cloudy nd the light has been very flat, making the snow look a menacing grey. However, as soon as we stopped for the night, the sun came out and it turned out to be a lovely evening. We did some filming.
I must say here that I am unbelievably grateful to Brynje for fitting me from head to toe with their clothes. They are unbelievable. My jacket is totally windproof and very soft to the touch and to wear. The balaclavas, neck warmers, hats and thermals are wonderful, very warm but extremely breathable. And my tent clothes are great. It makes a huge difference to be comfortable and warm in this environment, and the Norwegians certainly have quite a lot of experience in polar expeditions.
my dearest sabine, only now can i leave a comment. it has been impossible before and that has to do i think with my side of the equipment.
ReplyDeleteHow impressed i am and how i can live your feelings as well.
Keep up the good spirits, you seem to really enjoy it. we also at the north pole ended up at a russian research centre. it was like they had departed it on a rush. papers, cups, books, were all still lying around all covered in spindrift and in corridors masses of snow. Tractors, brand new in a shed.
Very bizarre.
you are nearly done i think. cant wait to hear more of the stories.
lots of love,
yoyo