Two days to go...and counting!

My stomach is in bits, I'm not sure if its due to the over indulgent send off I had on Sunday eve or apprehension that I will be leaving in two days to finally embark on a journey of a life time. Perhaps it's a combination of them both.

Anyway, I've a few people to thank here, a few people who have supported me in one way or another over the past few years.

My Uncle John who has supported me non stop through the whole thing, Rachel who supported me through my training and had to put up with a lot of crap when I broke my collar bone just before crossing Greenland, David who provided us with excellent training in Norway, Sjur for his essential expert advice on clothing and equipment, Max who has had to put up with my loud thoughts at work, Nessa for listening to my gripes and getting me so drunk on Sunday that I spent the whole of Monday suffering, Brian for giving me the often needed reality check and Sean, for having to tolerate a less than diligent work effort over the past year. At the risk of sounding like a gushy Oscar winner, I'll stop there, but loads more people have supported me in one way or another and greatly deserve thanks – you know who you are, thankyou.

We fly out from Dublin on Thursday eve and should arrive in Punta Arenas, Chile, around 2pm on Saturday. We'll then set about making final checks on all the gear we shipped, review our food rations and then pack the sledges (or Pulks as we call them). As soon as the weather allows we'll board the big Russian Ilyushian cargo plane for the last leg of our Journey to Patriot Hills camp in Antarctica.

Check out the Ilyushin here, and learn more about Patriot Hills here.