The Belgian team are promoting environmental awareness

Two Belgian explorers returned home after setting the world record for the longest non-motorised polar expedition without outside help. They travelled more than 5,000km in 74 days.

Adventurer Dixie Dansercoer, 50, and medical student Sam Deltour, 27, used a combination of kites and wind power to propel themselves and their heavy sleds across the Antarctic. They covered an average of 68km a day.

This method of travel combined with the use of other renewable resources throughout the expedition allowed the Belgian team to accomplish another goal: promoting environmental awareness.

"We would just like to show the world that you can do so much with renewable energy sources," said Mr Deltour. "There is the solar energy that provided us with everything we needed. We had music in the tent; I was listening to my iPod all the time, I was reading books on my iPod and listening to, watching pictures from the ones I love. And then there was the wind, you know, the wind is just everywhere, it's all around you and you can harness it."

After four years of preparation, the pair had a rocky start in November 2011 when they were confronted with a zone of impassable sastrugi - ice and snow formations made by strong winds - and overpowering headwinds.

These severe conditions forced the duo to restart the mission at a different starting point after ten days.

Even after overcoming this difficult beginning, Mr Dansercoer said every day of the expedition was still a challenge because they were drained physically and emotionally.

However, Mr Deltour said he and Mr Dansercoer always found a way to overcome these daily obstacles.

"You want to keep going because you set your mind to a goal and you want to reach it and so that's what gives you a lot of energy. And when it's really hard you think about family and friends and that gives you a lot of energy. It's amazing how it works," he explained.

Their initial goal was to travel more than 6,000km, but the pair decided to leave Antarctica once they had broken the world record before the southern hemisphere summer came to an end.

The previous world record was held by Norwegian Rune Gjeldnes who covered 4,800km in 90 days in February 2006.