It was tremendous fun writing this book. My research took me to Norway and Tasmania and gave me an excuse to find out about wild locations I hope one day to visit in real life. I’ll get to Gjoa Haven yet! While in Oslo I was granted access to the unpublished English translations of the expedition diaries of Hjalmar Johansen, Kristian Prestrud, Olav Bjaaland, Sverre Hassel and Captain Thorvald Nilsen. I am very grateful to Geir Kløver, the director of the Fram Museum, for his generous assistance in this regard. It was such a privilege to get a sense of these thoroughly regular guys who achieved wholly extraordinary things. To find myself aboard the Fram, to set foot below decks and let my imagination loose was utterly sublime. And how fortunate to access the fascinating resources within the museum’s collection covering all of Roald Amundsen’s many remarkable journeys. What a extravagant pleasure for an Amundsen enthusiast hungry to learn so much more.
While in Tasmania I had the good fortune to meet Rod Ledingham who has been travelling to Antarctica since 1966. Rod’s excellent book, The ANARE Antarctic Dog Driver’s Manual, filled gaps in my research with practical advice drawn from Rod’s many years’ experience working with sledge dogs in Antarctica. It’s a great shame I could not share more of the fascinating detail contained within this volume around sledge lashings and knots, the fashioning of whips from seal skin, and how to make a raft from sledge boxes and tent poles when floating out to sea with your dogs on an ice floe. The era of sledge dogs in Antarctica may be over but hopefully I’ll find an opportunity to weave Rod’s sledging wisdom into another tale!
Heartfelt thanks to my early readers Helen Cunningham and Hilary Stichbury; my wonderful editor Kate Whitfield who knows just when to add and when to cut; my illustrator Sarah Lippett who, despite being terrifically busy with her own second book, was happy to take on Amundsen and his ninety-seven dogs; and to Andrew Lumsden (aka Te Radar) for sharing such enthusiasm for Amundsen and lending support to my other Antarctic ambitions.
Pawel, my life’s companion, must be credited with constantly pushing me beyond the limits of what I consider possible and into the realm of ‘what could be’ – not an easy task. It is inspiring (and certainly frightening) to be with someone whose work ethic, energy and commitment to excellence would challenge Roald Amundsen himself! Thank you for a colourful life full of spontaneity, love and laughs.
And to my two beautiful boys, Kazimierz and Zygmunt: I hope you can see the simple truth at the heart of this story – life is what you make it.