Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
January 21
I'm still stuck on the ice at Union Glacier with nothing to do but
recover from some mild frostbite and attend to my badly swollen and
infected toes. It's a good opportunity to drain them of the poison that
has built up, and although lancing my toes is extremely painful, the
relief is immediate. Normally, you would simply take antibiotics and
allow the medication to get rid of the infection, but I do not have that
luxury in this isolated location.
I am enjoying comparative comfort after the hardships of the
Antarctic leg. The vegetable soups and meat stews make me feel
stronger, and being able to sit on a toilet instead of squatting over a
hole I've scratched in the snow is a highlight of my day.
The final leg of this event is the equivalent of running from
Sydney to Melbourne and back again, only through a lot of windswept
and God-forsaken terrain. I am trying to get my head back in the right
space to conquer it. I have to treat it like a mountaineering expedition:
I've reached the summit, but I have to climb back down to camp 4,
camp 3, camp 2 and base camp before I'm finished. I must remember
that it is deadly to relax and become complacent; as soon as you do so,
disaster strikes. Many climbers die on the way down a mountain. Here
at Union Glacier I have befriended a wonderful man, Dr Robert Miller
of Austria, who specialises in rescuing people stranded on Mount Ever-
est. He has reinforced my belief that I cannot take it easy now that the
'summit' of Pole to Pole has been reached. If I don't get home safely, it
will all have been futile. Robert said I have made the right decision to
return to South America to finish the run rather than pretend that the
South Pole was the finish line and go straight home. Not to follow this
run through to the very end would betray my promise, my ideals and
the people I am trying to help.
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