Today is the day! I feel a great mix of excitement, nerves and anticipation. In just a few short hours I will enter a whole new ice world, which is Antarctica.

This afternoon we will board a polar-capable aircraft and will land on a blue-ice runway at Union Glacier on the Antarctic continent.

Weather permitting we will then move by Twin Otter aircraft to the Base Camp on Mount Vinson. And from there we will see what the weather has planned for us in the coming days and set our course accordingly.

To finally be on Antarctica will be genuinely emotional, following many months of preparation and training. The hardest part of any challenge or adventure is getting to the start line. I would not be at the starting line without the rock solid support of my wonderful husband Pete, my kids Tana, Bella and all the good wishes from wider family and great friends. So thank you all for helping me get to this point.

And yes for those of you have asked if I have had a dental check ahead of this trip, then I can confirm yes I have and all is in order. For those who missed it, while climbing on Everest I got an abysses on a tooth and had to have the tooth extracted with a Swiss army knife and a screw driver. YouTube clip if you are brave enough https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_DPqhQl4AM

Onward and upwards!

Here is my Russian Freight plane, capable of landing on ice!