Tracking
the Journey
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Distance to go:
0 Mi
Distance
Ben and Tarka will cover 1800 miles starting from Scott's Terra Nova Hut at the edge of Antarctica to the South Pole and back to the coast again. That's equivalent to 69 back-to-back marathons hauling up to 200kg each (the weight of roughly two adult men) of kit and supplies necessary to survive.
Distances here are shown in statute miles.
El Pinguino and Barnaby Bear (Day 33)
Day 33: S82° 00' 14.04", E169° 05' 31.5"
Duration: 8 Hr 30 Min
Daily distance: 18.4 Mi
Distance to go: 1480.8 Mi
Temperature: -8 °C
Wind chill: -17 °C
Altitude: 177 Ft
As we hauled our way along today I was pondering over the two tiny mascots I'm dragging along with me, Barnaby Bear and El Pinguino, or Mr. Penguin; I've not named him yet.
Barnaby was given to me many moons ago by (I think!) a class at Penair School in Cornwall. He's been on three North Pole attempts from Canada, four Greenland expeditions and a long way up K2 with the brilliant Jake Meyer, so he's a hardened veteran. You'll note he also has a guardian angel pinned to his scarf*.
Mr. Penguin was a gift from my mum before this expedition. His wings are spring loaded, so he clings to the washing line that hangs in the roof of our tent every night.
Neither of them are really pulling their weight. They offer no calorific value. They can't do anything about wildly proliferating bacteria in my gut. They can't navigate, they can't melt snow, they can't recharge the Ultrabook or the satellite phone. As far as I can tell, they're both deaf, blind and mute. The reason they're here of course, is to lift my spirits. I think of my mum every time I lie back in my sleeping bag and see the penguin latched on to the roof (often swaying and wobbling wildly in high winds).
The human spirit; the will to continue striving and believing often against the odds (or perhaps always against the odds: as Pema Chodron cheerily put it, "Life is like getting into a boat that's just about to sail out to sea and sink") is a difficult thing to calibrate and measure, unlike watts or joules or nautical miles, but more than anything it's what fuels us out here.
Today was an absolute belter. The headwind we've had for days now finally fizzled out to the faintest breeze in our second hour, leaving us with near-perfect conditions. As a result, we cranked out a 18.4 mile (29.7km) day today, a new record by quite a stretch and something we're both pleased with, particularly as we're still pulling 140kg or so each, which I'd say is approximately 1.2 sumo wrestlers per sled.
*Speaking of angels, Tarka and I are both into logic and reason, and I'm afraid to report there's not been much banter of a spiritual nature in the tent. I said a couple of weeks ago that I thought our 62GB SD cards worked like magic as I simply couldn't get my head around how I could fit almost all of my music collection on one of them, and then wipe it clean and use to to store photographs or HD video from our camera. Tarka gave me his Spock look and explained that there's no magic involved at all, just electrical currents and crystalline structures.
P.S. feel free to suggest a name for Mr/Mrs/Miss Penguin and we'll pick a favourite this time next week.
Comments
# Alyxia Lyons, November 27th 2013
My daughter Alyxia makes us check your blog every day first thing when we wake up. She’s 6 and just captivated by your journey and learning about Antarctica.
She suggests “Icey” for your penguin’s name.
# Nora Wolfe, November 27th 2013
Since he is going on this trek and most likely will go on many more, how about naming him Trekkie?
# Tor Bertin, November 27th 2013
Levick, after the researcher on the original Scott Expedition who studied the continent’s penguins.
# CaninesCashews, November 27th 2013
Wow another great mileage day - it just keeps going up!
The contributions for the penguin’s name come from my children - ‘Polar’ from my son and ‘Flipper’ from my daughter.
Keep knocking over those miles and stay safe.
Gav
# Carlos, November 27th 2013
Congratulations for the almost 30 km. covered!!
My suggestion for the penguin’s name is Tenzing, just like Sir Edmund Hillary’s native guide.
Hope this little penguin is your emotional Sherpa, always helping you to carry on.
Best Wishes
# Sheila England, November 27th 2013
I love the Pema Chodron quote. I’m going to post it on my FB page. And the conversation between you and Tarka sounds just like my husband & I. (I am an artist, and he is a nuclear physicist, currently working at NOAA with weather satellites.What a pair…) My kids always say he is Spock, where I am more like McCoy.
Naming that little guy is a tough one. Must pick a good one.
Sleep well,
Sheila
# Stefania, November 27th 2013
Hi Ben and Tarka!
May I suggest for Guido the Penguin?
“Guido” is a classic Italian name but it is also the verb in the first person “I drive” ... so, the penguin will guide you in the expedition ...
it is understandable what I wrote? ....
Hmmmm .... sorry for my english .... !
# ale, November 27th 2013
PINGU
but I also like PEMMICAN :-)
p.s. pingu is a boy! ;-)
# Suzanne, November 27th 2013
Love to read your blog. You could call your penguin Great Scott.
# Simon, November 27th 2013
Guys,
We are really impressed by how the last 10 days have seen both real progress in miles, but also progress in your morale. Keep it up. We’ll be drinking a toast to you on Saturday at Andy’s sisters wedding. Thinking ahead and the book deal I recommend the Penguin assumes the name Parka: comes before Tarka, is warm and protective and writes brilliantly: Parka Pen…guin.
# Tony Muilenburg, November 27th 2013
How about Icicle Ike for the penguin? I am a computer engineer, and I still feel like getting the electrical currents and crystalline structures set up to store billions of bits of data on a card smaller than my fingernail is like magic :) Way to go you mileage monsters! If you get five days ahead, does that mean you can ditch some food? I guess Murphey’s law says that you would be hit by a blizzard if you did that :p
# Peaks, November 27th 2013
Penguin’s name… How about “Scott”? :)