Howdy,

The 4 Deserts Grand Slam is in the bag!!!!

Overnight the ship moved back to the relative protection of Deception Island to an area called Telephone Bay. Had we stayed where we were last night we would have been in for a very rough time and missed the chance for another Stage.

The zodiacs got us ashore round 9am and we were immediately out of our life jackets and gumboots into the trusty Salomon’s and micro-spikes. A 3km circuit was laid out; taking into consideration & diverting around a large Weddell Seal. What was amazing was the different kinds of snow we were running across … from 12+inch (>30cm) deep dry crumbling, to powder lying on ice, to hard surface that you would crunch through and there was essentially nothing underfoot; some that would pack down and other that had no ‘stick’ to it all … it was incredible!!!

The wind at sea-level was around 25knots however winds coming down off the mountains (called something like Catabatic??) were bloody freezing cold and increased throughout the morning. Today was the first day that I needed to wear my balaclava with built in neoprene mask and ski goggles.

The boys & I managed to cover a respectable 9 laps, chalking up 27km’s before crossing the line and having the “The Last Desert” Antarctica medal with the blue ribbon placed around our necks … what an awesome moment. The medal will go nicely next to the medal from Jordan (green ribbon), Gobi March in China (Red ribbon) and Atacama Crossing in Chile (Yellow ribbon).

Still to come in 2 nights will be the 4 Deserts medal which has a black ribbon, and then the set will be complete!!!

Obviously, in dreaming such a plan as chasing the 4 Deserts Grand Slam I had imagined hundreds of times what that moment would feel like. As each race had come & gone it meant a step closer to the goal, but at times it had also felt like a step ‘away’ from something. Certainly has been a strange process to allow to unfold and to try and not ‘make it’ something but to just allow it to be …

Would I be excited?
Relieved that the pain had stopped?
Sad that the dream had come full circle and was finished?
Would there be any regrets?
The inevitable question: So what’s next?

Well, I can tell you that it was none of those things … the moment was almost in slow motion and I was overwhelmed with an inner sense of peace. It was like taking that breath and “all was good in the world”.

It’s only about 8 hours since kissing my medal (it was bloody cold as it had been sitting in sub-zero!! J) and no doubt in the coming days, weeks and months there will be little insights, lessons and questions bubbling to the surface but for now I am very grateful and in no rush to push for any answers. It’s time to let my knee & hip rehab and take it all in.

There are a few people in particular that I really want to acknowledge: to my family for your unwavering support & belief in me & my crazy dreams; to Lynda & the Central Chiropractic crew (everyone who is part of it!!) who have tolerated my comings & goings. To my training buddies Rob Gray & Hayden Bromley who patiently listen to my stories; their friendship is fantastic. To Richard Tann who played a foundational role in the early couple of years.

Thanks again for your support, encouragement, friendship.

We have turned north and have sighted the last iceberg about 2-hours ago. The captain is racing 2 cyclone systems, trying to get us far enough away from the destructive tail of the first and to just skim the front of the second larger one as we cross the Drake’s Passage. The weather is predicted to be relatively low-key (read “only” 6m swells and waves that hit the windows 5m’s up the side of the ship!! Or come over the bow and hit the upper decks) for about 24hrs then things might get a lot trickier from there on in … before we hit the protection of the Beagle Channel on Monday night.

Antarctica really is a spectacular & pristine place --- the last untouched place on earth and deserves the protection of the Antarctic Treaty up to and beyond the current agreement which runs out in 2041(?).

Shall hit home on Friday morning the 14th.

Bretty x

Having a briefing as I type this … ship can safely have us ashore with wind speeds of around 25 knots … today we’ve had over 50 knots. Weather forecast across the Drake Passage is horrendous so the captain is going to try and get us back across the Passage before 15 meter swells and bigger waves.

This morning a zodiac almost flipped so that is when the expedition leader decided it was way too dangerous. We moved to another location but were not able to stay as there is an official Brazilian visit tomorrow so we had to move on. Couldn’t visit the Chinese base called “The Great Wall” as there was huge waves hitting the shore.

Have spent the whole day inside a washing machine … how does one describe what it feels like??? Shall try:
Picture lying with your head towards the bow (front), feet toward the stern (rear) and being thrown in every direction … the ship was rolling left and right, raising up & down with the swell, tilting forwards & backwards. The most disconcerting feeling is when you drop 2 – 3 storeys off the side of the wave whilst your heading is lower than your feet so you feel like you’re falling backwards!!!!

The ship Captain, Kelvin, the ship expedition leader, has decided that for tomorrow we are heading back to Deception Island. The wind is predicted to lighten off around 5am so we may get to go ashore and try and get 6 – 8 hrs in. We have been asked to be dressed and ready to go by 8:30am. The main concern is to get across the Passage after one cyclone and before the second … if we don’t time that correctly things will get messy!!!!

We (most of us) are keen to get a decent run in so that the year can be rounded out in style!! But, we are in Antarctica which is the coldest & windiest place on earth …. So nature will get to decide how the day unfolds. We would love to have one last chance to run across a finish line and have that medal hung around our necks; but, if it’s too rough that’s cool too!!!

The ship has just hit a more open area and we are rocking like all hell has broken loose …time to get off as the nausea is rising!!

Bretty x

Howdy,

Today

Howdy,

There is so many things that I

Howdy,

This is going to be VERY brief as the ship is rocking and rolling like crazy and we

Howdy,

Have held off on writing a blog because every time I look down and focus on anything I feel like being sick!!! We