Day 17: Waterproof Tent

We're woken at 7am with the smell of coffee in our nostrils. Derek (the cameraman) and John (the sound engineer) have cooked us a full English breakfast. We're all relieved it didn't rain overnight, and it's not as cold as we thought it might be. In fact, we had a really comfortable night.

After breakfast, Kate H is helicoptered in to see how we've got on and to help us collect the gold-bearing rock (remember, the reason we're here?). It's a short walk to where the rock is, and Peter, our guide, knows exactly where to look. There's an old gold mine or two here, but after a brief inspection, it's obvious that all of the gold has already been mined. Mikey L is more successful. He's managed to locate a rich seam of quartz, that's likely to contain some gold. We take as much as we can carry and make our way back to the tent to await the helicopter to take us back to the rest of the team.

It's been a great 24 hours. We survived the night, and we've got what we came for. It's a pity that Kate insists on testing the waterproofing before we dismantle the tent to make space for the helicopter. As I said, it's a good job it didn't rain last night!

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