North Pole Expedition

I was privileged to listen to an inspirational talk by Louise "Ig-Lou" Allard (pictured right) about her 100+km expedition to the North Pole with the 8-member Australian Polar Extreme team. Upon reaching the North Pole on 18 April 2006, Louise went down in the history books as the first Australian woman, and along with her husband, Wayne, the first Australian married couple, to ski to the North Pole. What an achievement!

The ski trip was a tough and challenging one. The team had a hard time making headway in the first few days, with negative drift taking the team south (away from the pole) at up to 10km per day. Compounding the problems were strong northerly winds and unseasonally warm temperatures, between -5 and -15C, which caused large expanses of open water that both hindered progress and made for exciting travel. Two kayaks towed as sleds were employed on a number of occasions to cross open leads from 2-10 metres wide.
After days of what seemed like futile effort, the wind and drift stopped, the sun came out and the temperatures began to drop, eventually reaching the expected -30C. Progress sped up accordingly and the tight-knit and motivated team finally reached the North Pole, a day ahead of schedule.

In her own words, the expedition was "30% physical and 70% mental." Her personal experience and encouraging message to all present was that you can achieve anything if you put your mind to it. And furthermore, nothing is off limits when you work together as a team!

Spiritually-speaking, we are all on a expedition to eternity. We each need the support of those around us to bring out the best in us. And, knowing that we have God on our side, we can face the future with great confidence.

Luke 1:37 (NIV) ~ "For nothing is impossible with God."