And now unstoppable office worker Shaun Menzies, pictured above, with snow caking his beard, is to head north and stand on top of the world.

Mr Menzies, 43, who hails from Waterlooville, will endure temperatures of -30C and risk polar bear attacks to reach the North Pole.

But the father-of-one says the harsh conditions are exactly what he has been yearning for as he pursues his childhood dream of following in the footsteps of the great explorers.

'I always read Ladybird books as a child about explorers like Captain Scott,' he said. 'I always wondered what it would be like to have nothing else but white snow and a blue sky.'

This year Mr Menzies, who grew up in Bernina Avenue but has now moved to Dublin, arrived back from the South Pole in January after he and team-mates spent 58 days pulling a sledge across Antarctica.

He lost two stone on the trip and endured frostbite and a painful foot condition called sloughing, when skin on his feet started to fall off.

But the memory of the South Pole will linger in his memory for ever.

'We saw a dot on the horizon at about 5.30am,' he said. 'It's just a speck, but it gets bigger and bigger.

'When I got there I could not believe how big it was. It's quite a big complex with lots of equipment everywhere and even a minibus.'

Achieving his childhood dream has now spurred Mr Menzies on to tackle the North Pole next March.

He and a group of friends have gathered sponsorship and are looking forward to the challenge.

He said: 'The idea of the North Pole may not be as romantic, but from an explorer's point of view it is actually more challenging.

'Though it's only 52 days, the terrain is very up and down. You have to take a gun with you because you could be attacked by a polar bear. Because the ice is getting thinner with global warming you need to take a survival suit in case you fall in.'

Mr Menzies said one of the greatest things about conquering the poles was the chance it gives for peaceful reflection.

'You don't talk to anyone for hours at a time,' he said. 'So it gives you a chance to reflect on your own life because there are no distractions.'