Tonight Penguin Delta are camped at 87 deg 46 min N, 79 deg 39 min W - another 7 NM; so that's 291NM down and 124 to go.

Today was not a radio schedule day so we do not know why the mileage was lower than they might have anticipated. The ARGOS satellite transmitter unit they fire off every evening with one of 16 messages summarising the status of the expedition stated it was a good day. So reading between the lines perhaps it was a grim start over awkward terrain which then eased up such that by the end of the day they were feeling in good spirits again. At least we know they are currently heading true north so every footstep takes them closer to the Pole - in time, if not in distance given the vagaries of the drift direction.

Now then ... you'll recall from the last update that Penguin Charlie were encouraged to make the most of their expedition record of 9NM in a day - and that at any moment Penguin Delta would cut loose and head north and turn in some big mileages. Well your intrepid reporter was spot on. The very next day Delta knocked out 10NM. Congratulations to Rosie, Sarah, Juliette, Andre, Matty and Denise. It's very demanding work out there doing those sort of distances.

Interestingly the weather has become markedly more manageable than the earliest teams experienced. In terms of temperature (approximate), Penguin Alpha recorded -40C to -20C; Bravo, -35C to -20C; Charlie, -30C to -10C; and Delta thus far, -15C to -2C. Consequently clothing needs change and the Vander wind-stopper, waterproof jackets are proving valuable and as the spring season marches on it is far from impossible they may experience sleet, rain (note the -2C already recorded) and thick (damp) fog (common where the warm, humid air rising from areas of open water is cooled when it meets the colder air sitting over the ice pans around it).

Over the radio last night, the guides and the base support team started to discuss the strategy for the last leg - while Penguin Echo listened too on their radio in their tent during their training exercise in the hills behind Resolute.

The discussion centred around possible pulk weight reductions and longer ski-ing sessions (and therefore the whole concept of the Polar Travelling Day, moving gradually away from the normal daily timeframe of up at 06.00, off at 08.30 and ski-ing till 18.00 etc and start ski-ing for longer periods and allow all the normal timings to become later and later so that within a few days they me be getting up in the afternoon and ski-ing all 'night' - and that's just it, there is no dark night, so it's not an limiting factor and by spending less time in the tent the effects of southerly drift are further reduced). If done gradually the body-clock adapts (as for jet lag) but the time of day (in relation to solar navigation) and the day of the week/date will need some attention too by the base team and the ice team for all the scheduled communications etc!

And that's where Zulu Time comes in, but more of that another day.