Morning broke, and we all felt tired. Preparations for departure had again continued late into the night. Once you get into a flowing rhythm, it's hard to knock-off before the job is done. The whole team, however, arrived at breakfast on time.

As soon as we awoke, we looked skywards. Then began the guessing game: is the weather good enough for planes to fly? The answer came several hours later: Not today! Hopefully, conditions will improve, and we can airlift to the departure zone on Sunday. Sunday would be good, because we'd be able to make the transit in 2 aircraft flying in tandem, rather than doing 2 round trips with a single aircraft. This would save time, and keep the Expedition team physically intact from the outset.

Today we finished preparing the airdrop containers. These will only be used if we are forced to abandon our objective of remaining unsupported.

In the afternoon we went to a big party for small children. Henrik `Henkku´ Reims, as Expedition leader, shook hands with everybody in sight, regardless of size.

In the evening Mark, our friend from the 2003 Expedition, came to visit us at the packing hall. Mark, in his twenties, is a hunter and works at the local school. He is a trusted friend of the Expedition, organizing material assistance and pulling strings locally. Also, he has proved to be a goldmine of local knowledge. We pick his brains constantly on all kinds of topics: the ins-and-outs of Resolute; the natural conditions we will encounter on the trek; the lifestyles of the local Eskimos; survival skills in cold conditions; even the lifestyles of Polar Bears.

Using the Inuit-Eskimo language and alphabet, Mark wrote each Expedition member's name on his own pulkha, plus a personalized maxim. For example, on Perttu`s sledge Mark wrote: `Pertti. Skiing for cheap thrills´. (A very broad translation, it has to be said, but apparently Pertti is a bit of a miser).

To round off the evening, we decided to throw an ex tempore leaving party. All our equipment is now ready and packed, so no more worries on that score. It feels good to relax a little before the marathon ahead. At the time of writing, the party is just getting off the ground … we might have a bumpy flight tonight, but we'll be up in the morning!

All is still well with the Expedition … until further notice.