Observations from ‘up north’ – no sign of Prince Harry (yet).
As someone who lives near the south coast of Devon, I probably couldn’t get much further north from the UK than Spitsbergen, the largest island of the Svalbard archipelago. Devon has wonderful sandy beaches, palm trees gently swaying in the breeze and hoards of people in the summer. Spitsbergen has none of these and is so far above the tree line that green is only really seen covering the brightly painted houses that characterise the small former coal mining town. I say Spitsbergen has very few people here….usually there are only researchers, students, some polar travellers and a handful of residents. However, it all seems very different today as I seem to have landed with the worlds paparazzi all trying to catch a glimpse of Prince Harry who also arrived today from Oslo. The photographers have done their research though….they are covering up their cameras so that the lens doesn’t get covered in rime – or it may be they are trying to look inconspicuous so that they can get the shot they dream of. Either way, they still stand out like a sore thumb. If it brings Prince Harry publicity for the Walking with Wounded Charity, great, but it must be a strain living under such an intense spotlight all the time. I hope my Fire Fighters Charity logo on my jacket gets into a shot somewhere as they do such amazing work too without the recognition they deserve. Soldiers and Fire fighters risk their lives protecting the public and our freedom in different ways and both have my utmost respect and admiration. I would love to ski with them for a while as I truly respect what they stand for having come from a military family but I also have an appreciation of how hard it is on expedition without having lost limbs and it is tough believe me. Doing the same thing with prosthetics is really quite remarkable….. Both expeditions (mine and theirs) are leaving from the temporary ice station created by the Russians so let’s see. I should be used to the cold after spending a month up here last year and two weeks on Baffin Island in northern Canada, pulling sledges, skiing and camping in arguably the most inhospitable environment in the world. We also had quite a spell of it in the UK in the winter which helped. Despite this experience, it never ceases to amaze me just how quickly you get cold at minus 21. Nature has this way of luring you into a false sense of security then punches you in the face with a fist of cold. In all honesty though, there is nowhere in the world I would rather be right now than here in the high Arctic. This environment is so brutal, so stark and so fierce that you have to respect it. At the same time the light is so pure and colours so vivid that it surrounds you in a blanket of warmth, beauty and wonder. I arrived here today to acclimatise ahead of the North Pole expedition Im embarking on to raise money for the Fire Fighters Charity who do so much for injured Fire Fighters. I thought I would head down into town and write this note with a steaming coffee and warm chocolate brownie in tow. The walk down allowed me to try out the thermal properties of a new pair of gloves which I had hoped would provide some warmth as well as the sense of feeling needed to pitch tents and make general repairs to kit and clothing around camp. It is always a trade off between these two qualities and these gloves provide plenty of grip and feeling but my fingers were really cold in less than 10 minutes and it’s only minus 21 at the moment. Not a good sign. I think they will be consigned to the bin. Just as well I have five other pairs of gloves – you can’t have too many you know. I still need to get my snack bags ready (the chocolate, salami, cheese and nuts) that keep me going in between meals each day so I had better get on with it. Who knows, I might bump into someone famous doing the same at the local ‘supermarket’. Now that would be a story….
