The final 2 weeks prior to our departure were not the most ideal conditions for preparation for a major expedition, as we found ourselves extremely busy at work. I've had a series of meetings in Scotland, the Midlands and London in the space of 4 days, whilst Matt was detached overseas, and I heard very little from him for the last couple of weeks. This would be extremely alarming if I didn't know him so well and the confidence that even in a short time scale we would be ready to go. What is guaranteed however in all of this is that our focus remains sharp in the task we are about to undertake.
I sit here reflecting over the last 6 months, and it has been extremely eventful. We were both been deployed in Afghanistan last year during which in addition to our primary jobs we balanced the preparation for the expedition, our off duty time saw us fitting in training when we can. This has ranged from sessions in the gym to pulling tyres over long distances (not to be advised in a hot climate such as Afghanistan although Matt decided that he wouldn't haul tyres). Every so often I have found myself 'day dreaming' looking at my map of the Arctic on my office wall, studying the route again and again, and then having questions that I bounced back to Matt in email tennis. Upon our return to the UK, we have carried out a series of training events, one of them evolving from a discussion we had back in Afghanistan over coffee when the challenge of canoeing the Caledonian canal was born.
This famous route is from Fort William to Inverness, a distance of 60 miles. We decided to try and do it in less than 24 hours; the route follows the man made canal that Lord Telford made in the 1800's incorporating the three major Lochs of, Lochy, Oich and Ness. Finding the ideal conditions for this was never going to happen and when we undertook it in November the weather was not the most favourable. Setting off at 1645 into the dark it proved at times to be very interesting conditions to operate in. Our sense of humour coming to the fore through-out , especially as I fell in trying to get out of the boat on Loch Ness at 0630 in the morning. We reached the end of our journey at Inverness at 1645 the following evening, having achieved our aim and a few tales to tell in the bar.
In December we visited the to the Extreme Climates Laboratory at Portsmouth, a daunting experience for me going there for the first time, especially when looking at the pictures of famous polar explorers such as Sir Ranulph Fiennes that line the corridor into the laboratory. An hour's immersion in a cold water tank gave me a better understanding of how my body adapts to the cold environment and how it reacts when in going into hypothermia. Matt also did this test with me, which in turn gave me an understanding of how he copes in these conditions.
In addition to the usual training, one of my regimes every Sunday was to drag a pair of trusty car tyres on Lossiemouth beach, I would usually spend 4 ½ hours out doing this, luckily with an IPOD to keep me company. I must admit to receiving many strange looks whilst doing this, with many wise comments that I always smiled at.
I drove down from RAF Lossiemouth 4 days ago to my final destination of RAF Brize Norton where I met Matt. It was a beautiful afternoon and the first town I went through on this journey is Elgin, and last night I found myself in the grand surroundings of the Lord Elgin Hotel in the centre of Ottawa for our final preparation before heading up to Resolute at the end of the week.
A week from now we will be on the ice, getting into our daily routine, watching out for each other in this harsh environment. I am nervous, excited and also have the utmost respect for the environment that I am about to enter into. I have no doubt that it will be the most challenging thing that I have done in my life so far, and there is one thing that I can guarantee above everything else, that is, whenever I have worked with Matt we have always encountered something significant, I know that what I will encounter over the next 5 weeks will have something of the same nature. As I end this now, I cannot emphasize how lucky I am to be on this expedition and look forward to sharing my thoughts with you in the future.
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