Andrew Bayly has been in training with his son for the tricky expedition to the North Pole. Photo / www.flickr.com/photos/jamesbayly
Andrew Bayly has been in training with his son for the tricky expedition to the North Pole. Photo / www.flickr.com/photos/jamesbayly
National MP Andrew Bayly is aiming to be one of a select few to reach both the North and South poles.
The MP for Hunua and avid mountaineer sets off next week to "complete the double" - a 10-day, 120km trek to the northernmost point of the earth.
Fewer than 50 people are believed to have achieved the feat, beginning with English explorer Robert Swan in 1989.
Bayly has been dragging around the tyre 'Ted' in preparation. Photo / www.flickr.com/photos/jamesbayly
"It's just a natural progression," said Mr Bayly, who climbed Mt Cook and Mt Aspiring in New Zealand before heading to Antarctica to hike to the South Pole in 2012. While he was there, he also climbed three mountains including the highest peak Vinson Massif.
He expected the North Pole trip to be trickier because of shifting, cracking ice sheets.
"The issues we have got to contend with are two-fold. You've got these big pressure ridges, which are basically ice sheets smashed together, so you've got to find your way over the top of that.
"The second and probably bigger issue is you'll get breaks in the ice, where there is basically sea. And when you come to those you have to work out whether you'll go left or right. Being a good National person I'll always go right."
The MP, a former British and New Zealand soldier, was not deterred by the death of experienced English explorer Henry Worsley in Antarctica in January. Worsley caught an infection while trying to cross the continent alone.
"He was a really strong, hard nut, but he just literally walked himself to death," Mr Bayly said. "He pushed himself excessively. You've just got to be prepared to say no."
The MP for Hunua is an avid mountaineer and has been working hard to get fit for the journey. Photo / www.flickr.com/photos/jamesbayly
Three flights are required to get close to the pole. Mr Bayly will travel to Oslo, Norway, then on to the island of Spitzbergen, before being dropped at a Russian base on the ice.
Accompanied by his eldest son James, 20, and an expedition guide, he will be pulling a 40kg sled through the snow. To train for the expedition, he has been dragging a car tyre, named "Ted", along rural roads in his Hunua electorate.
"When you're out walking for that length of time around Karaka ... you get some pretty odd looks and you build up an affinity towards your travelling partner," he said.
Mr Bayly is using the trip to raise $10,000 for the preservation of kokako, an endangered native bird found in the Hunua Ranges.
