Heathrow airport – assemble the troops, farewell loved ones, and finally discover just how much your rucksack weighs!
11.00pm
Board F155 to Keflavik, dinner of cold Haddock in white sauce with garnishes. Annoy hostesses for coke/orange juice.
11.55pm (local time)
Arrive Keflavik. Greeted by an immense USAF base, not another commercial plane to be seen.
Queue for immigration (through the Duty Free), unfortunately no room for the statutory allowance of 12 bottles of alcoholic beer though Toblerone/Cognac among others.
Queuing aided by sudden discovery that boarding pass was not in fact JUST boarding pass but also the ticket → trek back a few sorrowful souls to reclaim those vital documents (imagine being stranded here forever!!). Some even left passports too.
24 July 1985
A few hours later.
The coaches are located, trailers found and loaded and expeditionaries packed in. A short detour to pick up X-country skis and we’re on our way!
At various intervals during the journey (i.e. every petrol station) – a short break to refresh the drivers, find out there isn’t a loo and buy premature stacks of stamps and postcards.
10.30am A short stop to see the icebergs scattered on the pro-glacial lake of Europe’s biggest glacier – and a taste of civilisation in the other hordes gathering around.A quick word with the drivers by our venerable leader and we’re on our way. Right up to Base Camp.
11.45amArrive at base camp, unpack the buses and pile the luggage. The first light drizzle since our arrival.
Pot noodles, and cups of tea along with the first ‘welcome’ (?) delivery of Healthy Life Biscuits, John West pate and our daily Mars Bar to tide us over until dinner.
The each group depart to set up camp. Us geomorphs – to recce a suitable site for immediate permanent camp (2 weeks) as a base for our exploits.
A river terrace a little way upstream from base camp, partially sheltered, flat and slightly less rocky than base camp was reported a suitable and, after a quick general briefing, the geomorphs, led by out indomitable leader Ian Galbraith, accompanied by aide-de-camp Greg Englefield trudged down and along till we reached the site.
General stores were collected from Base camp and ‘dinner’ (dehydrated beef and onion stew, baked beans and Smash followed by a ‘spoonful’ of tinned fruit cocktail) beautifully executed on 2.5 temperamental Primus stoves by Liz.
Then ‘orienteering’ for all, the speed of which was more determined by good eyesight and tailing skills around a twelve marker course in order to determine that ‘RAY WARD IS FAB’ wasn’t quite right.
Having returned to camp, weary and eye-sore, we discovered that Ian had dug our trench and we set about pitching our tarpaulin to complete our ‘piéce de resistance’ loo with a view – which became increasingly difficult to use as various members fell down the sides. However topped with a survey flag and supplied with ‘Bless You’ Jey cloths it was comfortable and nonetheless very beautiful.
FINALLY BED
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