Wow does time fly!! It feels like I have been away for a month already with everything that has been squeezed into the past few days but in reality it has only been just over a week. It was just last Thursday I was boarding the plane in Brisbane. I was so eager and ready to go! Here I am sitting in my Hotel Room in Husavik typing this

Words of the week – WEE & Pinch… Some advice when visiting New Zealand – when anyone says there is going to be a ‘WEE PINCH’ this means there is going to be some HUGE HUGE HILLS THAT WILL put you in the hurt locker.

Well here I am about to begin my 5th multi stage ultra marathon… if you told me last year after race 1 in Namibia that I was going to be continuing on this year with more races I probably wouldn’t of believed you. But turns out I actually love this ultra running thing so here I go again, but this time it is even further. Yep it is the same amount of days but an extra 73km’s

In December 2018, Jacqui Bell weaved her way through the waist-high snow of Antarctica to complete the final leg of the Grand Slam and ultimately, become the world’s youngest female to do so. Wearing a Megaport badge on her beanie, and flying the flag for Australia, Jacqui pushed through gruelling conditions to get to the finish line.

It is 4pm and I am currently sitting in the library… bit of rare place for me to be hanging out but this is where the ipads for blogging are setup. I am looking straight out the window as the sea and the water keeps going in and out of view and I start feeling a little sick in the stomach again. Most of us have patches behind our ear to help with the nausea and I am also taking sea sickness tablets but the patches make everyone SOOO TIRED.

I CANNOT BELIEVE I AM ABOUT TO GO TO ANTARCTICA… Lets just let that sink in for a second because I don’t think I really have yet!

In 2 days I will be boarding The MV Placius expedition ship to sail for 3 days down to Antarctica.

You need to make sure you have EVERYTHING you NEED & WANT for the week…if you forget something… you can’t just pop to the shops to ‘buy a new one’!

Well ten days in San Pedro flew by so quickly so I can imagine this week is going to go even faster. It’s nice to think I only need to amp myself up for essentially 5 big days so I am actually happy about the new layout of the race now (241k in 5 days) then a rest day and the final day.

Wow! The year has absolutely flown by! It is not often that I find myself looking back but it really makes me realise how much work has gone into the past year since starting out. To think I am now halfway to my goal of being the Youngest Female to Complete The Grand Slam blows my mind.

Every time a competitor (especially a girl) is coming up behind me and passes me, it hurts my soul a little but I am forcing myself not to push it too early on this time, I cannot handle a repeat of the Long March day in Namibia – better to be 10 minutes slower each day rather than cook myself and be 10 hours slower on the long march day ha!… Wow, I think I am learning…ha

Summing up the first race is not easy! The whole experience – the people, place, culture, pain, what I learn’t… I could go on all day but no-one has the time for that Ha! Ha!…and if you know me you know I could talk with a mouth full of marbles under water.

I am in a tent with 8 people – the tent is more of a sand pitt due to the doors of the tent just being constantly open so the wind just drags it in. My position where I am set up is right in the firing line Ha! Ha! It is 6pm here on Saturday night and the sun is still going strong and the wind even more so!