Antarctica is without a doubt the most spectacular place I have been privileged enough to visit. Breathtakingly beautiful, unspoilt and untouched by mankind, and very hard to put in word just how amazing this place is; and even more so, the amazing creatures living in this amazing place. One of the most significant achievements from this race is the new ambassadors created as a result. We have been truly privileged and blessed to have been able to take 'very many' steps on these incredible islands, as well as the stunning mainland.

Today was another long day out on the ice. Yesterday I felt like an old Land Rover stuck predominantly in 1st or 2nd gear; however, today was much better and the old Lindie managed a 3rd or even 4th now and then. We spent the day at Deception Island and ran a 3km loop, which I managed to complete 13 times (roughly 40km). I felt much stronger today, probably getting fitter after yesterday's long run - joke!

This place is truly out of this world with simply amazing landscapes, cool creatures and sub-zero temperatures not normal for someone who grew up in sunny South Africa. We have seen quite a variety of animals so far - big blue whale, quite a few humpback whales and a minkie; also a number of leopard seals, penguins and weird sea birds - exactly like those in Happy Feet.

Today was our first day of running; on King George Island, where a number of countries have research bases. We spent more than 12 hours on the ice; however, were quite lucky with calm weather and relatively windless. I set out on a steady pace and managed to stick to my pace for most of the day, completing roughly 60km at the end of the day. Running on, rather in the ice, is quite a challenge; especially as the trail became more slushy and sinking deeper with every step.

Antarctica is really beautiful and I'll ask Lex to show some of my picture to the YO5B class when I get back. We saw a few leopard seals today as well as the first penguins. However, some of the other island have thousands of large king penguins as well as a variety of seal colonies.

It is nearly 2 days since we departed from the Southern most city on the planet, Ushuaia en route to Antarctica. We have been quite lucky so far with relatively calm seas and not too many motion sickness patients; apparently is either 'Drake the Lake' or 'Drake the Shake' - I'm very glad it has been the former so far.

Yesterday we boarded the Plancius, our home for the next two weeks to set sail across the notorious Drake Passage; which is the roughest crossing on the planet, roughly 1,000km before we arrive at Antarctica.

The Drake Passage, named after Sir Francis, is the world's largest uninterrupted flow of water, running in a big circle around the South Pole. The tip of South America, Cape Horn and the norther peninsula of Antarctica, naturally causes a 'rapid' for the circular stream to pass through, which causes all boat traffic passing through the Drake to encounter this massive side-stream and rocking from side-to-side like a massive washing machine...not nice!

It is uber scenic and we had the first of hopefully many whale spottings this morning. The further we sail South it also cools things down considerably. I can't wait to spot the first icebergs, probably late tomorrow - very cool!

We had our final gear check last night and will start running on the first day, weather permitting, with potentially a 100km first day. The main focus areas are to look after your feet and being very careful of the very bright sunlight - most dropouts in the past have been as a result of skin sunburn and eye-burn. The running is all about layering, in order to regulate your body temperature as you start to heat up or outside temperatures drop quickly.

I'm uber excited to get going! I feel humbled and very privileged to be here and see his amazing part of the world.

Thanks for the messages - please keep it coming.

So far so good!

Well here we go again! I must admit, this time I feel less prepared compared to the other three events. My training was going well untill about 4 or 5 weeks ago; however, been slowed down by old niggles and a few wobbles the last month. Anyway, as Bruce Fordyce famously said...rather overweight and undertrained, than underweight and overtrained! I should be ok.

I start the monster journey this morning...flying to Amsterdam, then Buenos Aires, then Ushuaia and finally the two and a half day sea crossing across