South Pole ski adventurer welcomed in from cold

IAIN MCGREGOR/The Press

REUNITED: Kylie Wakelin, right, is greeted by her mother Maye Dunn at Christchurch airport.

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Twizel adventurer Kylie Wakelin has arrived back in New Zealand after becoming the first Kiwi woman to ski to the South Pole.

Wakelin was greeted by family and friends at Christchurch Airport yesterday afternoon, just over two weeks after finishing her 38-day trip across Antarctica as part of a Commonwealth expedition.

She was one of seven women in the Kaspersky Commonwealth Antarctic Expedition team who made the 900-kilometre journey to the South Pole.

Wakelin said she was in good health after the trip, having "walked off" muscle strains, blisters and cold-related injuries.

Although she finished the trip some time ago, the significance of her time in Antarctica had started sinking in only on her plane flight home.

"It's just an incredibly beautiful landscape – when we arrived at the pole, I was trying to remain calm, but it was just an amazing feeling."

She had developed strong friendships with the other women on the trip, and was looking forward to catching up with them at acelebration in Singapore in February.

Wakelin, who has worked in ski-touring and mountaineering, said the trip was different from anything she had done before.

"I've been to places where I've been cold, but when it did cool down there, you had such a small window to get warm again before a serious situation developed.

"It wasn't a technically difficult trip, but just endurance-wise, we had 37 days of skiing and one rest day – it really does start to wear you down."

The best part of being back was "definitely free-flowing hot water and mattresses".

Wakelin had already started planning another Arctic trip, but her immediate plans were more mundane.

"I'm going to be meeting prospective employers next week – I'm going to get a haircut and a real job."

- © Fairfax NZ News