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devon island and the north pole! - Sun 30th April

Due to the luck of the draw our luck was in this morning as Lucy, Tara, Andrew, Mat, Ady and I set off on the quest to Devon Island on the most beautiful morning yet.
What an amazing setting, such stunning views as we soared through the sky over-looking the most fascinating landscape on the planet, a real eye opener. The soft sound of Tara and Lucy snoring added to the tranquil atmosphere!
An incredible rich group of Spanish business men and women have blown three million dollars on a polar bear watching holiday but there no ordinary campers, they do it in style or should I say luxury! Devon Island has had an influx of carpeted tents, showering facilities, thirty skidoos, padded and seated Komatiqs (missed out there!), marquees, heaters, five planes and enough cognac to drink a bottle each a night! My, my how the other half live!!
After a very intense game of it, we set to work lugging boxes, fixing heaters and snow mowing an area for yet another marquee to be rewarded with a skidoo each to go exploring.
The rest is a blur as we shot across the landscape in to the wilderness (nothing over 35kph I might add!), oops, better get back as we really don’t want to be the polar bears lunch as we know they’re there, their prints are everywhere, exciting.
The Inuit guides there are lovely, they took us to see some seal holes and after waiting patiently for thirty seconds we were interrupted by our return flight over head so had a hair raising ride back to catch the flight home well that’s what it feels like now!

Liane

Exmouth Community College student reaches the North Pole

After many phone calls and much pulling of strings today at lunchtime we got news that there would be space for two people on the flight to the North Pole to pick up Sean and his team. They had reached the Pole earlier in the day after a particularly gruelling last few days with poor weather and difficult ice conditions. The whole Polar Quest student team were overjoyed at the news that they had succeeded in their objective.
Unfortunately due to poor weather and a lack of availability of aircraft this would be our one chance to get a student to the Pole. This was a very difficult decision for the group to make as they have all done extremely well during every activity and so the three party leaders decided that the students themselves must come up with the name of the student to go. The best way they came up with, after a lengthy debate, was that each student would give their companions a ranking of 1 for the person they thought most deserved to go based on their commitment, enthusiasm and dedication to the whole expedition since they started on this journey over a year ago down to 7 for the person they thought least deserved it. On this basis the person with the lowest score would get to go. The person chosen was ……Kizzie.
It should be pointed out that the whole group has done fantastically well throughout this expedition. Everyone has joined in enthusiastically and made the most of the opportunities that have been presented to them. I haven’t heard one disagreement, which considering they have been away for well over a week, a long way from home and been very tired at times is a real crdit to them all. I’m very glad that I didn’t have to choose between them! The way the team responded to Kizzie’s selection was typical of their fantastic attitude – all the members helped us get ready quickly and waved us off from the hotel. Amazing!
Kizzie and I flew out from Resolute at about 2.30 pm for our two hour flight to the Pole. On arrival at 4.30pm local time (10.30pm UK time) on 30th April we flew over Sean and his team then banked steeply to perform a very low pass over the runway that had been marked out on the ice. This banking manoeuvre was then repeated apart from this time we just touched down on the ice to check that it was OK before again taking off and then on the fourth pass we made our landing to pull up right in front of the team. Kizzie remarked that she would never be worried about travelling on a big plane with a normal runway again! She is certainly one courageous girl!!
Meeting up with Sean was a huge privilege for both of us and I think we both felt very proud to be associated with their Herculean efforts to reach the Pole. They have some fantastic stories to tell just one of which involved walking for 34 hours with only small snacks to eat and four hours sleep – they breed these Naval types tough!!
After taking photos for our sponsors we were packed up on the plane and racing along a very bumpy ice runway for take off.
Despite being very pleased to have got to the Pole, all be it on a plane rather than walking (there are limits to my madness), for me the day was tinged with disappointment as we had always set ourselves the goal of getting all the students to the Pole – they certainly deserved that experience. However, the weather got the better of us and I don’t expect that we are the first Expedition to say that, so getting Kizzie there is still a great achievement for the whole team of students, staff and sponsors involved in this project.
Our thanks to you all for making this day possible.
To the student team my apologies for not getting you there, I tried my hardest but it just wasn’t to be but perhaps you have been inspired to come back and try again after meeting the Polar Quest team (even if they are a bit hairy and smelly)

Andrew

Previous Logs

Hi De Hi Campers - Sat 29th April You will no doubt be pleased to hear that everyone has survived their night out under either canvas or snow depending on where they slept. Two options were on offer; two large four person tents or a superbly crafted 4 person snowhole. We didn’t leave until 10.30pm but since it never gets dark that wasn’t really a problem although it is amazing how much kit we needed - four sledges were required to be hauled out to the gorge which is about 2 miles away.
Camping Under the Stars - Fri 28th April No student diaries tonight I’m afraid – we are taking all the students out for a night under the stars instead. Unfortunately our proficiency at building igloos has not improved enough to build an igloo good enough to sleep in and so we will be sleeping in two tents and a snowhole. One tent will be for the girls and one for the boys – we had thought about sharing but the girls are not surprisingly a bit worried about using a pee bottle in public
More Antics from Resolute Bay - Thurs 27th April Unfortunately tonight’s log may be a little shorter than you are used to. This is partly because we are all absolutely shattered after all the exercise, late nights and early mornings but mainly because our very hard working network manager, Sarah Rogers has a blind date. We wish her all the best and hope it goes well. Seriously though, Sarah has had the massive job of uploading all the material and photos to the website as well as keeping me calm when we have had difficulties getting the pictures and messages through. She has worked hard every evening and the team really appreciates her efforts. The postcard is in the post!
Ski Mountaineers Are Us!!! - Weds 26th April Unfortunately the weather got the better of our plans today. The North Pole was not to be as the flat light gave limited visibility for our plane to land. So being full of beans and some strange red juice that I refer to as loopy juice that by the way has become Andrews latest addiction, we needed something exciting to do.
High Praise for Students - Tues 25th April There is praise and high praise and today Geoff who is an Inuit Ranger and a very quiet, unassuming but highly skillful young man said that our students were really tough on our trip out to Griffith Island. They had made full use of their short time there even though the wind was very strong and blowing a lot of snow around but despite it being very cold and uncomfortable on the sledges no students complained about the conditions.
Komatic riding across the Arctic Ocean - Mon 24th April After another hearty breakfast (everyone is well into fried breakfasts now) the day started really well with a trip to the school to see some lessons and have the opportunity to meet students from Resolute Bay. We visited a range of classes from Kindergarten through to senior school and spent recess there with Matt showing off his piano skills and Harry teaching them guitar.
What a fantastic welcome! - Sun 23rd April It’s a chilly morning with poor visibility but that isn’t going to interfere with our morning cross country ski. Everyone’s flying now, either gliding elegantly across the snow (Harry and Kizzie) or flying face or bum first (Lucy, James, Andrew - Davis that is! and even Ady) or flying through the air Liane!! (See photos)
First Day fun in Resolute - Sat 22nd April After our late arrival in Resolute last night we made the decision to make the most of every single moment up here in the High Arctic. Therefore it was an early rise at 7am for breakfast which consisted of a hearty fry up to provide plenty of calories for the days full program of activities. The wind was whistling past the window which was a sure sign that it would feel pretty cold - indeed our measurements of wind speed and still air temperatures showed it to be -32C.
Arrival in Resolute Fri 21st April Have made it to Resolute Bay after a bit of a horror 6 hour flight on a small plane that felt like it was never going to end - it even stopped for fuel on the way!!! Very tired and weary!
Out & About in Ottawa! Thurs 20th April Have safely arrived in Ottawa and are now settled into Adam's Airport Inn all ready for the flight North tomorrow. Temperature in Ottawa is an abnormally high +23C So the students went out in shirt sleeves tonight for tea - some even had shorts and flip flops on.They will experience a huge temperature change tomorrow as in Resolute it is currently -22C.  No more flipflops I suspect!

Thanks!

Now would seem like an appropriate time to thanks all those that have supported this expedition. Even though only 8 students are going to the North Pole, 10 students have made up the team and the two reserves have played their part in supporting the team with both dignity and enthusiasm – thanks to Katrina and Alistair we will be thinking of you when we get to the Pole. Thanks to the students and teachers at Exmouth Community College for taking part in fundraising events that has helped us achieve more than £26 000 towards the expedition. In particular, to Paul Jeffery who has been a massive help and to Pete, Sue, Angela and Paul who served on the PQ Management Group. Sarah Rogers and her ICT team have also been invaluable in helping to build the PQ website and advice and training on the laptops and cameras we have brought with us, as well as keeping the Ice Log up to date. Thanks also to The Pain trust and Adventure Trust for Girls for their financial assistance which has been crucial. Exmouth Town Council have also been very generous along with, ROK Construction, Faber Maunsell, Citizen Project, Ashfords, Fulfords and Bradleys Estate Agents and the Rotary Clubs of Exmouth who have all made donations which are allowing the students this once in a lifetime experience. Our sincere thanks goes to all those individuals and organisations who got involved.

Once we reach Resolute Bay we will be sending daily e-mails to report on the activities that we have been getting involved in so please keep logging on to this space to find out what we are doing. If you want to get in touch with us please e-mail the team - polar.watch