Our team plodded forward an additional 8 kilometres yesterday.

Uphill.

Pulling heavy sleds.

Amidst a vast field of sastrugi.

What are sastrugi? They are like crisply frozen shark fins that stick up out of the icy surface in a beautiful but irritating manner. Sastrugi are formed by the wind and can occur anywhere along the ice cap. Their artful appearance may please the eye, but their rigid formations hinder any hope of smooth advancement.

In other words, progression is slow and heavy, but each expedition member holds optimism for the eventual wind that will appear.

Dixie phoned this morning from their current camp position:

N 61° 35 39

W 46° 54 02

The team ambitiously awoke today at 05:00 with the distinct sound of a breeze. They made themselves ready to break camp by 06:00, just at the moment when a fog bank rolled into their vicinity and the wind dropped. They decided to proceed anyway by sled hauling and increased their motivation by reflecting on yesterday's magical encounter with a rare colourless rainbow.

The privilege of their current situation does not escape Seb, Joke and Dixie. Spirits remain high. Energy and health are good. All is well.

Please follow their continued progress via Expeditions Unlimited with its LiveExplorer feature.