Position: Lat: 88.075 South Long: 86.25 West

Miles covered: 29

Total miles covered: 507

Miles to the South Pole: 116

Air temperature: - 20 C / - 25 C

Conditions: Difficult - very strong winds and cold

Thursday's call was later than scheduled due to the team trying to re-adjust their 'walking day' to suit the angle of the sun; it had been right in their faces for the last three hours of their day and this was causing problems.

Their general situation is good. Zoe had been carrying an arm injury, which seems to have improved and she is now using both arms to pole with. Caroline has a sore shin and the others have the odd aches and strains but nothing serious; consequently the evening surgery is thankfully quiet.

Progress has been tough since Monday, with very strong winds hampering their efforts. However, they have now crossed the 88 Degree Latitude line, a significant achievement as this puts them 80% of the way through their journey.

On Monday they covered 10 miles. The temperature was - 25C and the wind, which was increasing throughout the day, averaged 10/12 knots. They had a sunny start which deteriorated and there was little or no contrast later on. Ground conditions were tough with large sastrugi, quite a bit of uphill work and a lot of sticky snow.

On Tuesday they travelled 8 miles battling against very strong winds, gusting at up to 20/25 knots, making it incredibly cold. They had to finish early because of worries about pitching the tent. They had some very large sastrugi but the ice was mercifully hard. While they waited for the wind to abate, they took the opportunity to reset their walking time schedule.

Travelling conditions were slightly less harsh on Wednesday, with the temperature up to - 20 C and the wind back down to 6 knots. The day started off bright and sunny, but ended up with a final two hours of total whiteout, making it very difficult to lead. They covered 11 miles and during the march encountered lots of sastrugi, uneven surface conditions and sticky ice and snow.

Rosie is working on her next piece but has not yet given it a theme or title; as the last 3 days have been particularly tough the focus has been firmly on keeping going. More good news is that the latest camera films are on their way back and new photographs will be appearing in the photo library as soon as possible - possibly at the end of next week.

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