In a land devoid of civilisation, it was the voice of U2 singer Bono that got Jamie Fitzgerald through some of his toughest mental challenges while trekking to the South Pole.
In the almost surreal setting Mr Fitzgerald, 26, had the music on his iPod screaming encouragement to him as he panted through some of the most inhospitable terrain on earth, often during "white-out" conditions.
"It was a song I listened to a lot," Mr Fitzgerald said of U2's Beautiful Day.
Mr Fitzgerald's comments formed part of a talk he gave to Aquinas College students yesterday as he kick-started a tour of 70 secondary schools to give motivational speeches, in conjunction with the University of Waikato.
On January 2, Mr Fitzgerald and Kevin Biggar, of Auckland, became the first Kiwis to trek to the South Pole unassisted, covering the 1100km in 52 days.
It took them two years to plan the trip, partly due to the fact neither had any experience in cross-country skiing or operating in extreme cold.
"There were going to be no dogs, no tractors, no neck massages along the way ... I thought 'let's do it'," Mr Fitzgerald told students.
He tore his hamstrings during the expedition and couldn't return on foot, being flown back from the pole instead. But despite the hardship he faced, he never lost his sense of humour.
Of the iPod, he told Aquinas pupils: "In week two Kevin dropped his iPod and lost it. It was pretty funny when on the satellite phone some time after his mum told him 'keep an eye out for it on the way back'."
Mr Fitzgerald then gave a useful piece of advice to students: "Don't take a white one."
The former Tauranga Boys' College student said he tackled the challenge just as he had all the others in his life - including the 2003 transatlantic rowing race from the Canary Islands to Barbados, which he and Kevin won in record time.
"I'm really passionate about everything I do and we're all passionate about different things. The key is to break big challenges up into manageable sections or it's so unmotivating."
On the ice, for every degree the pair covered, usually taking five days, they would have "a mini party", Mr Fitzgerald said. The reward was instant pudding and a teaspoon of vodka in a milk recovery drink.Mr Fitzgerald, who has a management and communications degree from the University of Waikato, said his 2008 goal is to walk the length of New Zealand on the Te Araroa walkway. Every 50 to 100km, he plans to bring in students.
Polar hero Jamie inspires college kids
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