Date: 7th October, 2006
Place: Captain Musick Fund Raising Garage Sale for Kevin's expedition to the South Pole
By: Callum Armstrong and William Barge

Kevin was a Captain Musick Scout in the early 1980’s he is a very adventurous person. A few years ago he and Jamie Fitzgerald rowed the Atlantic in a record time His mother wasn’t happy about him doing this but they decided to write to the Good Morning Show and see what they thought This convinced Kevins Mum to “let” him go.

After he got back they decided to walk to the South Pole and back during the Antarctic “Summer”, no one has achieved this feat he leaves at the end of October and will be away for 3 months.

In the history of Antarctic exploration many people have attempted to reach the pole and many have perished in the attempt The pole is very remote and very cold even when the sun is out it still goes down to minus 50 degrees. Many have used dogs to pull their sledges, in this case Kevin and Jamie are pulling their own 160kg sledges equivalent to one-fifth the weight of a car. On the journey back they will use kites since the prevailing winds blow away from the pole They will spend 75 days on the ice climbing to 2800m/9,500 feet, travel 2200km and face average temperatures of minus 40 degrees The journey to the pole will take 55 days and the journey back only 20 days.

To survive the journey they have been practising in Canada, on the Tasman Glacier, in a freezer in Auckland and pulled tyres all over Auckland and Wellington.

When we interviewed Kevin these are some of the other questions we asked ...

Q: Do you have an escape method if your kite bursts?
A: We will take 4 kites 2 are spares.

Q: Who are your main sponsors?
A: Thermal Heart, Regency Duty Free, North Face, Ozone Kites, MSR, Waikato University, Xtra Broadband and Bearcom.

Q: What did your Mum say about all this?
A: “Oh no not again” (they rowed the Atlantic a few years ago).

Q: How much will the expedition cost?
A: The cost will be more than $450,000 and with that you could buy a house!!

Q: How big are your kites?
A: 9m, 7m, 5m and 3m and they are from Ozone Kites.

Q: How much will it cost if you go over 75 days?
A: USD20,000 per day so we don’t want to be delayed.