I woke at 6am to see ice crystals dangling from the roof of the tent. I wanted to stay snuggled in my warm bed but I needed to get up, get the cooker going and melt water for breakfast. I had dreamt that I was gifted 'perspective' by a magical bird, it flew over me and then I was looking at myself through the birds eyes. I sometimes think my imagination is way cooler when I'm asleep and there's nothing to hold it back.
I was behind schedule this morning because of my lack of enthusiasm for getting out of bed, I was still setting up my solar panels when everyone else was ready, oops.
I quickly tied everything down and began to walk to catch up with the team, as I was setting off I noticed a little bird had landed near me. What was he doing on the ice cap?! (I decided the bird was boy) He didn't seem to be in a good way, I picked him up and he was freezing cold.
I snuggled him into my jacket and saw that one of his eyes was frozen shut. The poor little bird died in my jacket. All Ngaio will want to hear about is the animals and so far all I can tell her is a sad story about a frozen bird...
I caught up with the team and was hanging with Holly, I asked her about the trip, why she was here, how she was finding it. Just like the rest of us, Holly came into this expedition with no idea what it would be like physically or mentally. She gave herself confidence by training hard and ensuring she kept a positive mindset so that she was able to make the most of this amazing opportunity. In the two and a half weeks we've been on the ice, she's blinked back tears and fought the urge to curl up in a ball and hide from the reality we face every day (I find this hard to believe because Holly is one tough chick). But she's pushed through the crappy times, put on her superwoman undies and been a frickin awesome team member.
I indulged in an entire block of chocolate today and buzzed along on a sugar high, I sung like a crazy person for 40 minutes haha. We covered 30km today so we are all felling stoked about that! It took us ten hours , there are a few sore feet and tired bodies around the camp. In two days we should reach the summit then its all down hill, in a good way!