UK woman completes Antarctic expedition
29th January 2012
British explorer Felicity Aston has completed her mission to cross the continent solo, after skiing an impressive 1,744km
The completion makes Felicity the first woman to cross the continent and, according to AP news agency, she is the first person ever to complete the crossing using only her own strength.
Beginning her epic journey at Leverett Glacier, it took Felicity 59 days to ski across the world's most weather-beaten continent to reach Hercules Inlet.
"It's all a little bit overwhelming after days and days of counting the time and the distance to get here. I seem to have got here all of a rush all of a sudden and I don't really feel prepared for it. I mean it feels amazing to be finished and yet overwhelmingly sad that it's over at the same time," she said on her arrival at Hercules Inlet.
Followers have been able to keep up-to-date with Felicity's progress through her Twitter account @felicity_aston. Arriving back in Chile on Thursday, it's clear the explorer was delighted to be in warmer climes: “Breakfast was the stuff my dreams have been made of for the last two months; scrambled eggs, hot bread with melted butter... and strawberries”
Felicity is set to make her way back to the UK on the 31 January, although she tweeted that larger problems lay ahead: “Now for the real challenge – how to fit a whole expedition's worth of kit into one airline baggage allowance...”
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