He paid how much???
As any journey the was back is far less exciting than the way to a destination. MG decides he needs some sleep in time and spends the morning in bed. I get up for breakfast and attend a lecture entitled “Conflicts and conundrums in Arctic Sovereignty”. Interestingly, the ultimate ownership of the north pole and parts of the arctic continue to be a source of debate.
Later with MG out of bed, we return our rubber boots – another sign that our adventure is coming to a close. With the ice long behind us, we spend the afternoon with wasabi peanuts, peanut M&Ms and a classic Bruce Willis movie (which to precedence over a lecture on climate change).
It isn’t until 6pm that the days excitement really begins – an auction for polar bear research. As we settle into our seats (MG and I and our north pole BFFs), a cup of popped corn in hand, we are unsure of what to expect. Within our foursome, we take bets on what the final lot will command. It is an arctic map with our route plotted – complete with the Captain’s signature, the Expedition Leader’s signature, a hand painted polar bear and a painted image of the ship. The lowest guess is $50 and I come in on the high end with $1,000 (originally guessing $5,000, but reproachful comments from MG make me reduce my official bet). We are all shocked when the final bid is $16,000 – making even my $1,000 bid seem ridiculous. While it was for a charitable cause, the bidding between the final two competing for the lot seemed to be more about ego than anything to do with helping polar bears.
Following dinner and drinks at the bar, we head to bed and the ship continues to move south. A quick check at our position shows we are at 73⁰N.