W... What is this? Is this some kind of a joke? A practical joke? Is Victoria Island just toying with us, or did the unthinkable just happen? Was Victoria Island actually KIND to us today? Surely not. But, we can't ignore it, we can't stop grinning, everything went so suspiciously in our favor today. "Oh, SUCH a good day!" I forget how many times we have said that to each other today. Lets break it down, and revisit each joyous element of Day 35.
So we started the day on the top of the Platea...READ MORE >>
Day 34: Mud like we've never seen [1st Jul 08] Comments (6)
As I type this, I'm listening to my iPod, sitting on the front of the PAC, legs swinging idly, wearing nothing but Icebreaker leggings and a warm dry pair of socks, feeling the glorious warmth of the sun soak into my rather pale skin. At the other end of the cart, Clark has the vestibule folded right back, transforming the pokey little kitchen into a platform commanding a splendid view out across, and down over the Arctic tundra expanding outwards towards the apparently limitless blue horizon. T...READ MORE >>
Just clambered into our PAC tent, 7:20 pm, at the end of Day 33. There was a moment today when this moment could have been rather different - somewhat colder and less homely - but we'll get to that later. We managed a spirited 7.68km today (as-the-pack-rolls, shown on our modified bike computer we call the PAC-o-meter). To our great joy, just managed to reach the start of an esker (An Esker is where a river used to flow underneath a glacier, and now the glacier has long since melted, all you're ...READ MORE >>
Day 32: Into the Hills! [29th Jun 08] Comments (7)
My early morning pee was cut short by a gathering of curious caribou - the trend continued much of the day, we are seeing quite a bit more wildlife up in 'the hills' than the week prior in the desolate lowlands.
Vaguely filled with a hearty breaky of oats and coffee we set off for our first solid day of mountain hauling, determined to make a dint into those km separating us from The Kuujjua. The weather, although windy, remained clear and sunlight even came to warm our spirits from time to ti...READ MORE >>
Day 31: One third the way there! [28th Jun 08] Comments (7)
We've just set up camp in what has to be one of the most beautiful campsites we've had yet. Just 20m away is a medium sized lake, frozen over except for its vibrant blue perimeter - a few meters of crystal clear water ringing the lake, from which Clark just went and scooped up enough water for dinner and breakfast, and the terrain is firm pebbly tundra that could almost be a farmers well kept meadow, into which the bear alarm tent pegs slid with ease. It looks, as Clark pointed out, exactly like...READ MORE >>
In July 2005, two young Aussies Chris Bray and Clark Carter plunged inside the Arctic Circle to travel unsupported across Victoria Island, the world's ninth largest and largely unexplored island. After 58 days of hauling, paddling and dragging 250kgs of gear behind them in their home-made aluminium kayaks with fold-down wheels, they were only 1/3 the way across! It was such an incredible adventure though - including wolves, polar bears, artefacts, blizzards and unseen landscapes - that they vowed to return. After two years of thought, The iiNet 1000 Hour Day Expedition is shaping up for May 2008.
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[30th Jun 08] Comments (5)
