9th – Extra large drinks needed

I woke up with the wakeup call and panicked for a few moments until I had confirmed that there had been no northern lights sighting during the night. I obviously didn’t miss out on anything, then.

Sunrise.

After breakfast the crew readied a landing at Blomsterbugten where we would have a walk and see some lakes and such. The way it works when travelling like this in the Arctic is that the bridge (crew/staff) scouts the area for polar bears, and when they OK it a few guides go into zodiacs, do some scouting along the coast and while they do that a boat with several guides go to land, scout about on shore and set a perimeter.

Everything was going as planned until the scouting party reached the shore – a quick glance to the side and they turned back to the ship. As the ship doesn’t have a bear radar they are limited by line of view, so when a bear lies behind a mound and only raises its head when people come within a minute’s walk, things can quickly change.

At the time of writing a few weeks ago a polar bear was shot which (naturally) got quite a lot of attention worldwide. What seemed to have happened (no official statement had been released yet) was that a group of guides went through all the necessary motions to secure a landing site, but as opposed to our situation they didn’t see the bear until it was too late.

So the walk got cancelled and changed to a zodiac cruise. All zodiacs were quickly lowered into the water and everyone got loaded into them as quickly as possible. As I had been part of one of the first groups going out, we were puttering about in the water looking at icebergs just waiting to get permission to go to the bear. When we were all ready we lined up in an orderly fashion and slowly passed by the bear getting a much closer look than any of the other sightings. Having passed it I got ready to put my camera away but it turned out we just circled around and passed another time. We ended up passing by 3 times before the bear got tired of the attention and got up and lumbered away.

They look small at a distance but put a zodiac in front and they turn out to be quite large.

Structure in ice.

Relaxing and enjoying the day.

Getting up and you get a sense of how large and powerful they are.

There's always time for a yawn.

More ice.

During lunch we went deeper into the fjord, passing beautiful small and large icebergs on the way until we reached the end and could see the Gerard de Geer Glacier. Having no point of reference it gets really difficult to estimate distances; some thought we were 500 meters away, being aware that distances are hard to estimate I guessed a generous 2km but it turned out we were about 3 nautical miles away.

Arctic fish?

Gerard de Geer Glacier.

We went out on another zodiac cruise in the afternoon where some of us were lucky enough to see a musk ox relatively close by the water and not running away. That was really nice! Other than that we sailed around and got to see some beautiful ice, the biggest berg app. 45 meters tall, calculated volume was 500.000-600.000m³.

Musk ox up (relatively) close.

Blue colours.

Difference in colour and structure in an iceberg.

45 meters tall.

Coming back to the ship once again we had dinner followed by live music in the bar by the crew band The Monkey Eating Eagles. In the mean time we are relocating once again, further south to Segelsällskapet, and with the nightly northern lights watch. Regarding the latter I don’t have much optimism due it being being overcast.

8th – Let there be light!

Despite my low expectations a call for a northern lights sighting went out around 0030 and people quickly came out to have a look. While the sky wasn’t completely dark (we are still too far north for that) we did have a great view of some slightly pale but very active lights. They were mainly green but did have edges of red appearing now and then. At 0200 it had all disappeared again and hoping no more would show up I followed the rest of the remaining people and went back to bed.

We had the usual wakeup call and breakfast and soon we were out on a walk on Payer’s Land. Instead of aiming for a top like our previous walk we would try to get closer to the muskoxen but as they were very skittish our success was limited.

In the morning we had been on the north side of the island Clavering Ø, and during lunch we relocated to the south of the island into Deadman’s Bay for a second walk. There were a few ruins from the original Thule culture, and this is also the site for the Sirius Patrol’s original headquarter. There was plenty of vegetation and plants but very little animal life. Until towards the end when we were returning to the boats when an arctic hare came running by and sat down at a safe distance from most of us. As any other animal in the area it kept a good distance (at least not as far as away as the musk oxen) but it did annoy me that there were other walking groups that were both closer and had better angles to photograph it.

Arctic hare.

Returning to the ship we started moving further south, aiming for Blomsterbugten and the Gerard de Geer Glacier.

After dinner 4 CEOs entertained us with a game of Arctic Bluff with on being the moderator and the other three giving each their definition of the word in question. The words were fairly obscure and the descriptions, true or not, were hilarious. It was also made the more fun by the fantastic dynamic between the guides and the interaction with the audience. It was amazing and it's clear that they truly enjoy working here.

6th – 7th – Crossing to Greenland

We spent two days crossing from Svalbard to Greenland, heading out the night of the 5^th and arriving at our anchoring point around 1630 the 7^th, several hours before the planned arrival. This was possible due to near excellent conditions during the crossing – despite being exposed the seas were calm and we encountered only little swell. The 7^th started with clouds/haze in the distance obscuring the sunrise and it stayed like that most of the morning when we spotted Greenland in the distance. At that point we caught up with the mist and visibility dropped to almost nothing until during lunch when we came out of it and we got our first clear view of Greenland’s east coast. We entered Copeland Fjord and anchored for the day.

Kittiwake. 

Just chugging along.

During the crossing there wasn’t much to do: standing outside hoping for any sightings (we didn’t even have birds following the ship), listening to some of the lectures held by the guides, eating, and waiting. So all in all the crossing turned out to be fairly uneventful though the lectures were quite interesting (Aurora Borealis, Greenland’s history & culture, Arctic wildlife/nature etc.).

First view of Greenland.

Arriving in Greenland we were surprised by how barren it all looked at first; it looks like a mountainous moon landscape, but also animals are low in supply around here – no whales, dolphins or seals, barely any birds and no bears (though the latter wasn’t too much of a surprise). We did get to see a few musk oxen, though they were very far away and barely much more than specs in the distance.

Musk oxen.

From now on, between 2300 and 0500, there will be a staff member on watch for northern lights and of they appear a call will be made over the PA. A short one, and only one. If there goes a call out for a sighting, and it disappears there will be no more calls if a new one appears in the sky later on.

Sunset colours.

5th – Cuddly bears

Just because you are on vacation the weather doesn’t need to be good. We have been experiencing all day with a slight mist and low-hanging clouds, but fortunately only the occasional drizzle.

I got up early in the morning (at 0300!!) to try and see if I could get anything constructive out of the sunrise. The colours were nice but there wasn’t as much as I had hoped, but despite that it did make a nice background for the birds flying around.

Sunrise.

Blue whale.

Back to bed an hour later and up with the rest of the ship at 0700 for the usual morning schedule before finding us in Hamiltonbukta where we took the zodiacs out in two groups: one landed and had a walk near an old whaling hut while the others zoomed about among the ice. After an hour or so we switched and coming out we got to see a young walrus up close resting on a small piece of ice, not doing much else other than keeping a careful eye on us. The group that started in the zodiacs had seen it circling the boats and climbing up onto the ice, showing that seeing wildlife is all about being at the right place at the right time.

Territorial fights and fighting over food was not uncommon to see among the birds.

Young walrus.

Back on the ship for lunch we relocated and in the process we spotted two more polar bears – a mother and her fairly large cub. They were quite far away and they were clearly just lying down resting and cuddling up to each other. That combined with poor visibility and the “must see a polar bear”-stress being over it seemed only a few people came out to look.

So far away.

Having relocated we landed at around 1600 for a walk; there were short, medium and long walks available and the latter would bring you up onto a summit of a nearby mountain/tall hill. It was according to our guide 300 meters and a bit and had the weather actually been nice with good visibility the view would have been spectacular.

 

We were back on the ship at 1845 just making it for dinner and skipping briefing. Dinner was followed by a trip to the bar, and at several occasions we rushed out trying to photograph the dolphins and whales that were in the water around us, all with varying success – mostly very little.

Just a hint of sun came out towards the end of the day.

4th – Going far east

Wakeup call this morning was at 0700 and the first half of the morning was spent on ship cruising along the ice shelf we had reached during the night. We had been sailing all night bringing us all the way down to the south-east coast of Austlandet, the eastern large island of the Svalbard archipelago.

 

After a while the zodiacs were lowered and we went out to see the ice a bit closer from a different – lower – angle, and hoping to see some wildlife in the process. While we did see a few birds and seals rearing their heads ice was clearly the main event.

Seal.

When returning from the 1½ hour quite cold ride we soon after had lunch while relocating a bit back westwards where the plan was to land, do a walk and see some walruses. The plan fell to pieces when a polar bear was spotted close to where it had been planned we were to go in land so instead we enjoyed the view from the ship for a bit before entering the zodiacs and just cruised along the beach where we both got to see the bear a bit closer (though still at a fair distance and falling asleep behind some rocks) and a few groups of walruses that didn’t just lie still but actually were moving around while we were looking. It was theorized that their activity was due to nervousness as the bear might have been closer earlier during the day.

Polar bear.

Arctic terns resting on a piece of ice.

Walruses.

Returning to the ship we had our usual briefing at 1815 but it was cut short by another polar bear sighting: this was more active and actually came down to the beach and walk around so you got to see it from all angles, even if this one also was a fair bit away. The rest of the night was uneventful: spending some time in the bar, having a few drinks and seeing the sunset before going to bed.

Having a walk.

3rd – And so it begins

I woke up at 0330 realising we were rolling quite a bit and that some sliding noise in the cabin had woken me up. A bit of more sliding was followed by a loud bump. I noticed it was my cabin mate’s stuff that had slid off the bed table and fallen onto the floor until I realised that I could still hear my water bottle continue shifting back and forth on our table. After securing it I also noticed that my bottle of “welcome back”-wine had slid from one end to the other on the table, so that got secured too before I returned to bed.

Wake-up call at 0730 and the morning was spent on breakfast and going through the mandatory safety-, security- and behaviour briefings, relaxation, looking for stuff outside and having lunch. Shortly after lunch our photographer held a short lecture on basic principles and techniques of photography, promising a more advanced one later on.

At this point we had arrived at Magdelenefjorden where we in the afternoon went out in the zodiacs and went onto land where we had a walk around. At one point an arctic fox walked up completely ignoring people only a few meters away. They are obviously used to these large numbers of people arriving not being a threat, and soon after it trotted away again. An hour later and change we got back into the zodiacs and went for a small cruise bringing us past a glacier and 3 large walruses relaxing on the beach.

Three walruses.

Returning to the ship we got refreshments while the ship lifted anchor, left the location and continued north, later rounding the northern point and down through Hinlopenstretet (Hinlopen strait) to Bråsvellbreen (Bråsvell glacier) which we will reach for tomorrow morning. The debriefing before dinner was a bit of talk about today, current plans for tomorrow and the captain introducing himself and the other officers. This was followed by dinner, relaxation and live music in the bar.

All morning the weather was grey and overcast not being very promising, but arriving at Magdelenefjorden everything loosened up and the weather improved greatly. The timing could not have been better. When starting our route north the clouds and drizzles returned and the crew is expecting wind and swell being much calmer here and at the destination than it was last night. Last night’s conditions hadn’t been forecast or expected at all, so let’s see how safe tonight’s prediction is.

31st of August – 2nd of September – Being foxy

As my office is closer to the airport than home is and I was leaving on a Friday early evening I decided to grab all my stuff and take it with me to work. After work I jumped onto a train, went to the airport, checked in my bags, went through security, spent time in the crowded lounge (though free food and wine makes everything better) and departed 30-45 minutes delayed.

Having originally a 1½ hours layover in Oslo the delay wasn’t that big an issue, but arriving I realized that my next flight was delayed half an hour, turning it into a complete non-issue. A short visit to the lounge (amazing brownies!) I went to the gate where I met 3 from my previous Antarctica trip, a girlfriend and this tour’s official photographer who I knew from my first Arctic tour.

As the flights was originally supposed to arrive in Longyearbyen at 0040 the delay meant that I didn’t get to the hotel until around 0230. On the Saturday I had a tour with focus on photography starting at 1000 so I went straight to bed. After 5 hours of sleep I crawled out of bed, sorted by stuff and repacked a bit before having breakfast, checking out and getting picked up for the day’s tour.

The weather was grey and dull with the occasional drizzle to light rain (which was better than the 80% that had been forecast). We got to see some viewpoints in and around town, and a few places where there were good chances of bird sightings. We also went past the see vault (which is being restored due to melting permafrost preventing us getting close) and the fire department’s plane training location. Having it close to the airport means that the first sight of some arriving tourists would be what looks like a plane in flames, and adding to that a nearby shooting range first impression would be very interesting). We ended up in Bjørndalen where we had great view of the valley before returning to town, seeing an arctic fox on the way and ending at the hotel at 1600 sharp.

Purple sandpipers.

Arctic tern.

Bjørndalen.

Arctic fox.

I grabbed my stuff, checked into my next hotel and went for a walk where I bumped into the photographer (who, after 30 hours of travelling from San Francisco passed out for 12+ hours when reaching the hotel) and we quickly decided to go and grab some dinner together. I had a short walk afterwards, passed by the shit that at that point had arrived at port, realised that there was no chance of any good sunset tonight and retired to the hotel. An hour later around 2330 I passed out for the day.

The alarm went off at 0900, I grabbed a quick breakfast before checking out and handing my luggage over to the ship’s crew. I went for a short walk, tried to shoot some birds but despite the weather being better than yesterday there wasn’t much going on. I ended up in the North Pole Expedition Museum which turned out to be quite interesting but with a lot of dry text, before finding a place for lunch. I found a café where I had their chili con carne which was closer to “carne con slightly undercooked beans, no chili but otherwise not bad”, washed down with a delicious semi-large soft vanilla bun.

Wandered about a bit after that, found to my disappointment that the photo gallery was closed, and finally got onto the bus, drove to the ship, checked in and found my cabin (back in 327!).

During the guides’ presentation one asked for any repeat customers to raise their hands. Normally they have 10-20 on a tour doing so but this time at least ¾ of the passengers who put them up. The usual safety briefings and welcomes were performed and dinner was served – reminding me why I was so fond of the food here. It was delicious. During dinner the Expedition Leader came over to say hi to us (we who met at Oslo airport) – apparently she remembered us from the Antarctic trip.

The rest of the evening was calm. We were anchored just outside the harbour due to inspections but at midnight on the spot the engines picked up and we left to go north for tomorrow’s program, effectively starting the tour.