Dutch woman reaches South Pole by tractor

Manon Ossevoort arrived at the South Pole on Tuesday after traveling from Europe, through Africa and finally across Antarctica on a red Massey Ferguson tractor. The 1,500 mile (2,414 kilometers) trip across the largest mass of ice on earth from Russia's Novo base to the Pole took 16 days. "It's quite emotional, I'm very happy", Ossevoort said to AFP by satellite phone shortly after completing the trip. "It feels quite magical really, to have made this happen and arrived here." Now Ossevoort has to race back to the Netherlands to make it home to her partner and 10 month old daughter in time for Christmas. Ossevoort began her trip in 2005, taking four years to drive from the Netherlands to Cape Town at the southern tip of Africa. When she got to Cape Town, she missed the boat that was to take her to Antarctica for the final part of her journey. She returned to the Netherlands and spent the next four years working as a motivational speaker while trying to get back to her journey. Thanks to sponsorship from Massey-Ferguson and other companies, she finally made it. She was accompanied by a team of 7 people. This includes a crew who are filming a documentary of the journey.