Tuesday 10th July

Lucy: Monday night was a late night, because the leaders had been informed by the captain that we would be breaking through the pack ice at 2 in the morning. My trustworthy alarm woke me up bright and early, I put salopettes on over my pyjamas and was ready to break through the ice. I went upstairs a bit early to see the ice-breaking status, while Liss was still asleep (Liss: as usual!!!). But to our surprise, the Captain was wrong and we were actually going to be breaking through the ice 5 hours later! So we trudged back to bed (or as some did, fell asleep on the sofas in the common room!)

But we did get there at mid-day, and it was beautiful. We had to settle the boat for about 1-2 hours so the ice could freeze around us. The ice-sheet stretched for miles on end, but it's stability was so erratic. There were pools of water leading down to the ocean bed in some places, but then a metre away there was ice 60cm deep! It was quite smooth, unlike the iceberg the BBC went on. It was crammed with large boulders of snow!

The captain originally said the water was safe to go on, so people put on the orange, survival smurf (hehe) suits and were lifted down in a crane, 2 at a time. I went down with Becky (Team Effelence) and it was a thrilling feeling! Knowing there was 600m of water beneath our feet was amazing. It was very funny on the BBC footage of Verity singing "I'm on top of the world!"



Unfortunately, the ice was deemed unsafe before everyone (including Liss) could go on but it was a beautiful environment to be in.

Later on that night, we sailed to Moffen Island, home to a large walrus colony. The sailing conditions were too rough to go ashore, but the walruses sat in large groups so we could see them very clearly. They were very large, and obviously very powerful! The weather was so rough, that nearly everyone was either sick or in bed!
Liss: I was both =S

The pack ice was a highlight of the trip and everyone was honoured to be standing there. Liss and I reckon we were the youngest people from Yorkshire to go to 81 degrees North. And Liss is perhaps the first person ever to wear their Pajama's at Pack Ice!



Pajamas && Walking Boots - A Very Good Mix