I am now officially bricking it. Ho ho, we all thought, lets go to Baffin Island, it will be fun. Oh yes, bound to be a bit chilly, but nothing too brutal. Well, according to the weather forecast, its expected to be -61C on Sunday when we set out. That's with the windchill taken into account you understand. Only -30C otherwise. Still, it will be colder than the freezer in your kitchen. Exposed skin will go black after a few minutes and any minor problem can become life threatening very quickly. Suddenly this jaunt has got very real. None of us going on this trek has ever experienced anything like the conditions out there.
After the months of preparing to go to Baffin, there are only a few days left before we fly out. It has become impossible not to think about it anymore. I don't suppose I have trained enough and I am nervous to say the least.
Any last minute donations will be much appreciated. Click here to go to the Justgiving page. Be generous.
Thanks to the nice people at Spinvox, I will be updating the blog every three days or so while I am trekking across the ice. I will ring a special number from the satellite phone we will have and Spinvox converts by voice message to text. The results are not perfect, but they are not bad (see below).
I think they call this sort of thing a "Once In a Lifetime Adventure", because you would have to be insane to do it twice.
So please keep coming back to this blog to check up on our progress. Assuming I get back with enough fingers to be able to type, I will provide a transcript of my Ice Diary when I return. Until then, thanks for reading and wish us all luck!!
1 comment:
Darling Andrew, Yes i know.. i have a lot to answer for.. it is all my fault that you are going to the Arctic tomorrow... but worry not fair boy, for I shall keep you safe and sound, scare away those nasty bears and read you all bedtime stories when the wolves are howling...
We have come far havent we! Not only did we have the biggest and most impressive party Kensington has seen since King Henry VIII's summer bbq (thanks to Amika and RClub), but we have raised an enormous amount of money for the Mitchemp Trust, secured public interest in the issues associated with young teenagers and the positive methods in dealing with them, and also pushed ourselves to realise that we ARE capable and we SHALL succeed...
The team has seen people come and go, but tomorrow shall see only the most acutely dedicated, determined and utterly crazy Arctic novices take on this challenge! Andrew and I will be sharing tents with: James Ashton from the Daily Mail, Jason Colchin-Carter (Ethical Investor), Jamie Walker (Director of RClub.com), photographers Mark Johnson and Ben Wright, Nick Gold (Celeb/Restauranteur) and AJ (professional explorer) ... And what a family we are!... the emails today have had us all picking up our kidneys and wiping our tears... Call it nerves but why is it that every thing tastes more intense, the sun is blessing us and there is a surreal calm in the air... I want to say thank you to Andrew for being such an amazing friend and doing such a grand job ... He has even agreed to upload to this blog every couple of days or so while we are on the ice(via satallite phone) and give the low down for our supporters back in the UK... So guys, see you tomorrow at 7.30am outside terminal 3 departures, Heathrow.. OOOps.. nope sorry.. i am giving you a lift arent i!?! best i dont forget hehehehe!
luv ya Percy...
Your faithful friend aka Golden Baps, Lydia...
xxxx
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