It is always easiest, especially when you kept a daily journal, to start at the beginning of the trip and write a chronology. That may yet happen, but let's see if we can at least get some info to you without dates and times.. Maybe some planning and prep first, though: packing. I got a box jammed with diving gear during the week prior to leaving and had to pack that: dry suit, neoprene head cover, fleece-ish foot covers, cream colored glove liners, blue rubber gloves, shoes (?, turns out you put those in the flippers), and full body fleece garment. So, I was packing to snorkel (I have my own snorkel, thanks to Greg Wright), spend a few days in temperate Oslo, then also colder Longyearbyen, on Svalbard, and then to be on a cruise for 8 days, and then also go right from the airport to the Finger Lakes for a family vacation. I managed to jam my checked bag with stuff and be 6 pounds under weight, and took a jammed camelbak and then my laptop in its case.
Glossary/Geography Primer
Spitsbergen: This is the Dutch name for the largest island in Svalbard, an archipelago in the arctic between Norway and the North Pole.
Svalbard: the entire archipelago. population 2600 or so. from latitude 74 to 81 degrees latitude. It is an unincorporated area, administered by Norway, but actually an international territory where anyone with a passport is welcome to come and work/live. Currency is the Norwegian Krone (about 8.45/dollar). Inhabited by humans off and on since the 1600s, more regularly since coal was discovered (basically falling out of the ground) in the 1800s. The current administrative arrangement started in 1946, and most of Svalbard was made into parks and protected areas. Any evidence of human existence predating 1946 (even metal cans) anywhere on Svalbard is protected as cultural artifacts (don't touch that rusty can! I'm not telling you again!).
Longyearbyen: the largest town and administrative center of Svalbard, home to the main port, airport, and satellite stations. It is named after an American coal baron (Longyear) who bought the coal extraction operation from the regional company in the early 1900s and was soon beset with labor strife from his profit-maximizing business practices. The American way - exploit the workers and get things named after you.
Trip Data/Factoids:
MODES OF TRAVEL: On my trip from Oslo to the Finger Lakes, I started out on foot, walking to the train station from my hotel, then took a fast train to the airport. I flew to Newark (8 hours), had to take a monorail to the hotel shuttle pick up, took a shuttle to my car, and then drove slightly over 5 hours to our cottage. I never felt tired, though I dozed a few minutes on the plane.
WHAT TIME IS IT?: I am pretty sure it never got dark on the flight over, so I didn't experience night/darkness from June 17th until the first night back in the US on July 1. It didn't bother me at all, but I occasionally found myself contemplating what I was going to do with my evening when it was 10:30pm or later. I would just go to bed as quickly as I could once that dawned on me. It would be very easy to overdo it at that latitude in the summer.
RUNNING: I ran every day I wasn't on the boat, including in the afternoon the day we returned to Longyearbyen (the 29th). The best run was along the Oslo waterfront, then up to the Vigeland Sculpture Park, across to the Bislett Stadium, where I ran two laps on the famous track, site of many world record setting performances, then wound my way back to the hotel. Most of the runs were about 6 miles. I ran the morning I left PA and the next day after I'd arrived in Oslo, and the morning I left Oslo (a really good run).
Wildlife (non-bird) spotted on the trip (spoiler alert): 3 Polar Bears, 12 or so Walruses, 10-12 seals (I thought I would see many more of them), 2 blue whales (first time), 2 Minke Whales (I thought they were seals), 30+ reindeer (I almost collided with one running the second morning in Longyearbyen). People I was with claimed they saw an arctic fox running around on some distant cliffs, but I never spotted it.
Books read in the two weeks (4): I finished Eileen, by Ottessa Moshfegh (good, but strange), Hillbilly Elegy by J.D. Vance (meh), Climate of Hope by Michael Bloomberg and Carl Pope (an excellent survey of the issues of climate change and how to tackle lots of them locally), and Lincoln in the Bardo by George Sanders (a masterpiece, but also strange), which I mostly read on the plane from Oslo.
Museums visited: Munch Museum and Natural History Museum, Oslo (had a great exhibit on Svalbard), and the Svalbard Museum (interesting) and North Pole Expedition Museum (way too detailed) in Longyearbyen.
Notes: Oslo is quite expensive. The average dessert at restaurants was over $10 and small, and I usually spent between $40 and $50 for my evening meal. Longyearbyen was a bit better.
Hotels: I stayed on the cheap. Citybox Oslo was a basic place with quiet rooms, good beds, but not much furniture. Suited me as I was not there to stay in a room all day. In Longyearbyen I stayed first at the Gjestehuset 102, which was slightly more than a dorm with shared bathrooms and the luxury of a sink in the room. Not quiet. When I got back I spent one night in the Coal Miner's Cabins, even barer bones, with no room sink, no desk. Both places had EXCELLENT breakfasts.
Somewhat funny story #1: Whenever I traveled to New Zealand, my golf shoes always got great scrutiny and almost always were cleaned by immigration and customs agents at the airport even after I'd spent hours trying to get any dirt or organic matter off them. As I read about this trip, they said I would need my boots cleaned before and after going anywhere in the arctic. I took my hiking boots and scrubbed and picked at them, finally satisfied after 90 minutes of intense concentration. Once I got there, no one ever looked at my hiking boots. What they did care about were the rubber boots, given to me on the boat, I used every time we went ashore from the boat; we had to step into disinfectant before and after each trip. I was never sure, as someone familiar with aseptic technique, whether we were supposed to scrub the boots before or after we disinfected them, and neither was anyone else, as people were always doing it both ways, which surely wasn't that effective in the end.
Now, the chronology. There really isn't any other way to do this trip correctly, as the context of everything is important, and I did a lot of stuff.
Day 1, Saturday June 17th:
Saw a black bear cub that almost ran onto I-80 near the Hickory Run exit. I took that as a good harbinger on a trip I wanted to see bears. Otherwise the trip to Newark was interesting only as the hotel I contracted to park my car at was hard to find, on a feeder road off the last exit before some toll. I watched "Get Out!" on the plane and was only able to sleep a little as the tiny woman next to me kept bumping me with her arms.
Day 2, Sunday, June 18th, Oslo.
Other than not having many agents at the passport control station, the arrival of the plane was uneventful and the airport easy to maneuver in. I found the Flytoget, the airport express train to the city, and paid with a credit card at the turnstile right after getting 3000 krone from an ATM around the corner. I was able to send emails while on the train and announced my arrival, and then had no trouble finding my hotel a short walk away from the station. My room was ready even though it was only a little after 9am, so I checked in, unpacked a little and then rested a bit, trying to elevate my feet before I ran.
I ran just after noon, following the walkways around the waterfront to the south and west, occasionally dealing with more people than I wanted, but it was eventually very pretty and relaxing, covering about 6.5 miles (I screwed up the timing/GPS picking through the crowds). I cleaned up and went downstairs to the restaurant on the street level of the hotel. I got a veggie pizza, which turned out to be huge, and managed to eat it all (I was skeptical at first) before going on a 2 hour walk around the city and harbor, starting with the Opera House/Ballet.
The weather was nice, about 70, nice breeze, and sunny. I liked the look of the square in the last of the photos, so I went back there to eat around 7pm. It was a nice enough restaurant, and the waitress spoke perfect English. I finally asked her about that, and she was from Vancouver and wanted to stay in Oslo as she'd met a guy she quite liked. The meal was good but expensive. That was pretty much all my human contact for the day and I was in bed by 10pm.
Day 3, June 19th, Monday.
Monday was my only full day in Oslo the whole trip, so I had to get a lot done. I had an enjoyable run that included the Vigeland Sculpture Park and Bislett Stadium (a photo I got off the internet), though with almost no people at either place while I was there. Almost every part of the city was well-maintained and pretty. There were lots of cyclists on the bike paths, but riding very seriously and fast, not like the old bike cruisers in the Netherlands.
After a breakfast of yogurt and granola (with honey) with a smoothie, I headed out to find the walkway along the Akerselva River, which would take me part of the way to the Munch Museum.
It was a very pleasant walkway (though it is hardly a river - small stream more like it), and I hated leaving it in order to head over to the museum, which was on the far side of the Botanical Garden. I found my way into the garden and walked through it. There weren't many blooming bushes or blazing flowers, but it was quiet and nice. The Munch Museum is a disappointing structure, but the art inside was really nice. It started with a movie during which I fell asleep (only at the end; I was woken up by everyone getting up and leaving). There was a special exhibit with some philosopher's quotes in each section. It didn't take me long to get through it. In fact, it was so fast I want back to the beginning to make sure I wasn't missing anything (I had, but not much). SFS#2: I neglected to pick up a guide, and there was absolutely no information near any of the paintings. I grabbed one the second time through and all it had was the names of the paintings, which were almost what I would have called them, like "Fallen Tree" and "Shady Spot in the Woods." So, not helpful.
My return to the Botanical Garden found some herb gardens and aromatic flowers on the way to the National Museum of Natural History, which was right there. It was so low key it almost felt like I had gotten in by mistake because no one thought it would be interesting. It was, though. Nice fossils, gems, crystals, and on the second floor a great exhibit on my destination of Svalbard. From there I returned to the river path and to a Thai restaurant I noticed on the way. It was a little after the usual lunch hour and uncrowded, and the food was good (green curry with tofu and a ginger beer). My next goal was to cross town and find the National Gallery, which I assumed would be an art museum. There was no direct way, so I meandered through the curvy streets thinking I was heading the general direction. The streets got narrower and narrower until they were like alleys, and I came to a T with a park in front of me. I could go to the left (which seemed like the correct way), to the right, or through the park. I went into the park. SFS#3: As my eyes adjusted to the shade, I was ecstatic as I saw a monkey bar with special pull up grips. Even though my stomach was full from lunch, I put some of my stuff down and ripped off a quick set of 12 pull-ups. As I recovered, I looked around and saw more bars, including what looked like dip bars and more pull-up bars in the upper part of the park not far away. I walked over and did a set of dips and then turned to do some pull-ups, but there was a short, chubby guy, who looked like he might be Indian, hanging on the bar. He had a really ugly striped sweater on. I tried not to laugh as I walked over to yet another set of bars that wasn't as nice to do the next pull-up set, then headed back to the dips, where the Indian now joined me! We spoke briefly and determined to do them together, but not facing each other, which would be too silly. I could hear him grunting and he didn't last long. I finally got to use the good pull-up bars and did a 3rd set of dips before heading on. I hope I inspired him to keep up with things and imagine I made them look easy enough for him to give them a go.
My elation of again doing pull-ups outside in a foreign capital city overcame my sense of direction and I headed out of the park to the right, still on narrow streets. As I strode along, pretty sure I should be at the museum by now, I noticed a large cemetery on my left. I kept walking and then thought, that place is so big, it should be on my map. I looked where I thought I was and no cemetery was there. I put the map back and pressed on, but after another few minutes, I came to the end of the cemetery and there was still nothing like an art museum around. I looked at the map again, and the giant cemetery revealed itself in just the opposite direction I'd meant to go. I was very close to the Bislett Stadium again, at least a mile northeast of the museums. I picked my way back and tried to follow the signs, which were vaguely helpful, and the amount of road construction was staggering. I found the building but could not get anywhere near what looked like an entrance to a major museum because of construction barriers, so I kept walking around the very large complex until I had gone 3/4 of the way around. There was an entrance! It was locked! SFS#4: The National Galleries are closed on Mondays! Another American arrived at the same time and told me I should take a ferry to the three maritime museums across the harbor, but I didn't feel like doing that. My feet were pretty sore and museumed out.
To my right was a big building with gardens: the Royal Palace. I decided to walk around there instead. It is the only national palace or leader's home that has grounds open to the public in Europe. The gardens had several ponds and there were a bunch of women sunbathing as I crested the hill above them. They instinctively (I presume) put on their clothes and got ready to leave as I got close enough to see they were wearing bikinis. The palace had guards standing at stations who occasionally did showy marches around. Otherwise it wasn't very exciting except as yet another nice green space in the city.
After leaving the grounds I tried to find a new way back but ended up at the waterfront with the rush hour crowd. It still was neat walking around and I saw a lot of the same places I did Sunday. After a brief respite, I walked out of the hotel to eat and was promptly pelted with a cold rain that showed no signs of letting up. Rather than go back and get a jacket, I soldiered on, thinking there was a restaurant just down the block, but it was all retail there. I kept walking briskly, getting wetter, going down more and more disappointing blocks until I found one of the main drags, but every place there was a chain like TGIFridays. I wasn't going to settle, and kept pressing around, but then caved and settled for what looked like a Japanese restaurant. They had a bunch of loud parties and I almost went back out into the rain to try somewhere else when they finally seated me. I almost got a nice vegetarian meal, but then I noticed they had a grilled duck with pancakes, a meal I'd had with the Wakelys in Bermuda that was really good. It was good here as well, as was their excellent and very accomplished mango pudding which came with a separate no alcohol mojito, a dish of cut apples, a specially treated small piece of mango on a small spoon (good), and some delicious ice cream. I was pretty pleased when I went back out into only a light drizzle for the fairly long walk back - I'd covered a lot of ground in the rain! And there was a perfectly fine Asian restaurant about 60 yards from the hotel in a different direction I saw to my chagrin on my walk back!
I repacked and got everything set so I could get up and run in the morning before heading to airport at 7:30 for my flight to Longyearbyen.
Day 4, Tuesday, June 20th:
I got up before 5am and ran out the Akerselva path and was surprised to find several decent sized waterfalls along it. I only went up it a mile or so and it was really a neat thing to have right near the center of a big city (only ran 4.3 miles or so total that day). Hardly anyone was around at that hour (6am). I rushed into the downstairs restaurant at 7 and found a long line of Chinese/Asian tourists all ordering at the same time at top volume with the clerk at the counter yelling at them to only speak one at a time. No way I was dealing with that, so I went back up and got my stuff, ate an energy bar, and left for the airport. I would eat there after getting through security.
The train was easy, but my passport wouldn't scan at the automated check-in (I think it is the apostrophe), so I had to wait 30 minutes in line while only one person checked in people with problems. Finally I zipped through security with my shoes on and could get some food. I went into the first food store I found and paid $15 for a yogurt and smoothie. SFS#5: right next door to that food stand was a grocery store (!) that sold just as good yogurt and smoothies for less than half the price. Norway! I ended up sitting near the front of the plane in an upper class seat - no wonder the ticket was so expensive - which also got me a bonus cheese wrap (a thin, nearly undetectable layer of cheese in a brown tortilla) on each leg of the flight and extra leg room (about two full inches). We stopped briefly in Tromso, a lovely town on the northern coast of Norway, to go through a passport check and reboard the plane for the rest of the flight. I learned the guy I was sitting with was a hiking guide from Seattle who worked for an international touring group looking to offer hiking in Svalbard. He was going on a hike as soon as he got to Longyearbyen, which got me excited. The view was great from the window seat on the journey - still loads of snow in the mountains.
The difference between Longyearbyen and Tromso was stark: just loose rock, dirt or snow everywhere in Longyearbyen. The coordinator for the diving aspect of the trip, Faith, was standing near the luggage carousel as I walked into that part of the small airport. I introduced myself just as she got a call from another client for the trip who was trapped on the east coast of the US by storms and would arrive the next day instead. Faith is always cheerful and she helped me get on the correct bus into town and paid for me. She was hosting a dinner for all the divers the next night at 7:30, which was the only thing on my schedule until our departure Thursday afternoon.
The bus dropped everyone else off before my hotel, which was the last stop, all the way up a long hill from the town, which was set in a valley criss-crossed with glacial run off streams. The hills were black, all loose rocks and dirt, with patches of snow on them. The hotel was up a little hill on the left side with a fairly high metal stairway up to the door. I left my heavy bag at the bottom, not sure where I would be staying. Turned out it was up the stairs, so I had to climb them with it after all. A Svalbard tradition is taking off your shoes and walking around inside anywhere in socks, so I did that, but kept my shoes with me, as they looked nicer than the others.
I was quite keen to get out and hike yet that day, and I looked and there were several short hike options. The clerk seemed not too enthusiastic, but she looked for me. She told me all the short hikes were cancelled that day due to lack of interest. When I pressed her to set something up for me the next day, she said she was going on her break in 30 minutes and I should look everything up online and she would schedule it when she got back. It wasn't the kind of customer service I was hoping for, but I did what she said.
She came back from her break about 20 minutes later than she said, and in the meantime I'd decided I wanted to do the hardest thing they had on the schedule, and, because she wasn't turning up, I had gotten as far into the booking that I was ready to push the "BOOK" button on their website when she walked in. She fussed about it for a while and said her computer didn't seem to be working now, so I told her I would just book it myself, and I did. She didn't tell me the offices of all the outdoor guiding companies all close between 4 and 5pm, the time she was on her break. I was a little unsure things would work out; there were two more slots left on the tour, so I was pretty sure it was going. It was just a question of if they'd get the booking the next day when they opened. I had back-up plans in case.
I went out for a walk instead, all the way down the hill and through the town to the edge of the fjord. This fjord was a tiny fjord off a huge one, and it ended just past the town in a really large area of mud flats. Across the fjord were a few larger mountains; I was going to climb to the top of one of those mountains the next day.
Nearly every building in the town looked slapped together on flimsy bases (I would later find out they were built that way because the ground tended to move on top of the permafrost). There were quite a lot of boxy two and three story buildings around once I got back into town, and there were only a few patches of green moss or lichens to break up the monotony of the rocks and dirt. I reached the main road at the bottom and walked down that to another road that looped back, by the church, to the road to my hotel. I suspect I walked about 4 miles, and as I approached the junction with the other road up the hill, I was pretty sure I saw Faith standing there (she has a distinctive silhouette topped by a mess of reddish hair). I was correct. She was out for a walk with two other explorer/divers, Larry and Olga, from NYC, who were staying at the hotel Faith occupied. They were avid photographers, and Faith said sometimes reindeer would be in the area. I was incredulous and scanned all the slopes without spotting any. What would they eat here? I was, of course, wrong, and I saw quite a few reindeer in town after that, and almost always had close encounters with them as I was running (I didn't mean to, but they aren't too bright). Faith and I talked a while as we strolled and my bladder was ready to burst. I made it back without accident and one of the shared bathrooms was open for a prodigious pee. I went across the street to the Coal Miners Cabins restaurant (I would stay there when I got back), which had a limited menu without vegetarian option, but I was not going to walk down to town again (it was over a mile to the edge of town), so I got the fish and an apple crumble, all of which was good. Back to read and go to bed.
Day 5, Wednesday, June 21
I slept fitfully, as the neighbors were talking and there were lots of other noises, all of which settled after 1am. SFS#6: I got up and during my usual shuttling back and forth to the bathroom pre-run, heard a woman's voice say, "Excuse me, sir?" Realizing it was directed to me, I turned around. She motioned to me to come, and said, "Do you know this man?" I said, "I don't know anyone here." I kept walking, though, and I looked in her room, where another young woman (they both looked no older than 20) was giggling. It had four beds set up as bunk beds, and on the lower bunk, to the left, was a large, bearded man curled up in a fetal position, wearing shorts and a t-shirt, sleeping soundly on top of the blankets despite all that was going on. Somehow he'd gotten into their room during the night and fell asleep there!! He looked vaguely like a guy who'd checked in with another young woman about the time I arrived, but I wasn't sure, so I begged off and chuckled to myself as I walked down the hall. I suppose I should have rousted him out of there, but that never occurred to me at the time.
Otherwise I was a bit obsessed with pooping as much as possible before I went on my all day trip, where it would be very hard to do so. Things were not going well; it was the weirdest time ever for me to have an issue like that, which is a once-in-a-decade sort of event otherwise. It wasn't that I couldn't go; it was I didn't have to, which never happens. I ate a big breakfast after my run down the hill and around town and back, about 5 miles. I was happy to finally get some cereal, which was good, and got all ready to go.
There were two women in yellow coats waiting in the driveway to our hotel and another person by themself up a little bit. I walked over to that person; at first, I thought it was a remarkably handsome young man, but then I realized it was a woman who managed to get all her hair under her hat. I eventually asked her what she was waiting for and it was my trip, which was a relief. Even if they didn't get my booking, I could go along for sure. Carrie was an American from Texas who was now coaching women's soccer for a club team in Denmark (apparently one of the best ones). She immediately reminded me of a young Heather Wagner and I hoped we would kayak together.
The van to pick us up was about 20 minutes late. A scruffy man named Jasper got us in and drove back down the hill to pick up a few more. The two girls in the yellow, who did not look fit, were also coming along. We arrived at the headquarters, which was a larger room with some benches. We met the other guide, a very pretty German girl named Katja, and she and Jasper got us all our gear and showed us how to do everything. We would wear dry suits and skirts to kayak over and then change into our hiking clothes for the hike. Usually these all day things are billed as taking 10-11 hours and then take 7, but they said it might be as long as 12 hours(!). My only concern was getting to that dinner at 7:30, but I was sure I could be a bit late.
We walked out carrying lots of stuff to where they stored the kayaks. After a briefing, I did indeed get in Carrie's kayak, taking the rear since I have a lot of experience with sea kayaking. That didn't matter much, though, as the rudder wasn't set up right (my fault?) with too much slack in the wires, but with making constant adjustments, we made it across and had to keep slowing down to allow the others to catch up.
The kayakers assembled. Courtesy of Carrie.
After pulling the kayak on the beach, we took off the dry suits and hung them up on some racks. It took longer than it should have, and then Katja gave us a polar bear safety briefing while loading her high-powered rifle. Jasper also had a rifle. It wasn't that dangerous, but we knew what to do if anything did happen. So we set off. The ground had a little more green in it than Longyearbyen, and right away we saw a few reindeer, including a new baby. It was steadily up hill, but not that steep, with lots of rocky areas and little streams to maneuver around. Generally people kept up. I tended to stay near the front. Occasionally Katja, more so than Jasper, would stop and talk about the landscape, the history, or the flora. Eventually it came out she was a geologist, so I then peppered her with many more questions which often prompted her to stop and explain things to the rest of the group. One thing that bothered me was tromping through the mushy ground, leaving (at least for me) huge foot prints. I mentioned this to Katja and she said it was no big deal. They did the hikes fairly regularly and you could not see where other people had been most of the time, so the ground did seem to repair itself.
It got rockier and rockier, with less soil and mosses as we headed up. We weren't going that high; the highest point in all Svalbard is only about 1700meters, and this mountain, Hiortmountain, was supposedly about 1000m high. We could see one of the mine entrances on the side of a steep grade - I wouldn't have wanted to make that walk over and over again. Katja asked us as we got to a flatter area if we wanted to eat lunch then, at the top of the next section, or wait until the top? I thought I wanted to wait until the top, but it might be a lot windier. We opted for the next area and headed there. We spread out on the rocks and made our lunches, which were like MREs: little bags we poured hot water (from thermoses we carried) and mixed them up - mine was lentils and quinoa and was really good. Katja mixed up hot black currant juice, which was supposed to be high in energy, and we idled and ate cookies. It was a long break, and I took advantage and walked off to pee.
We assembled, finally ready to press on. Confronted by the steepest pitch yet, I listened as Jasper said he was going to lead a path through the snow in a switchback fashion up the steep part to the far left side, but we could get there however we wanted. I was off at a crack then, heading straight up the snow to the point he singled out. No switchbacks for me. It was hard going, as the snow was pretty deep - three feet plus in parts. I was getting winded, but nothing I couldn't handle. Still I looked to the left and there was a strip of rocks that went to the same place we were headed. Some people were following me, and kind of keeping up, so the pressure on me was building. I decided to slant to the left to the rocks, thinking they would be easier to negotiate than the deep snow. As I pressed in that direction, my left foot kept crashing deep into the snow on the downhill side of me. I was struggling with how to handle this when it went even deeper, to my hip, and I could feel my foot quickly freeze into place. To pull my foot out would pull it out of the boot, which I might not be able to get out! I dug furiously with my hand to try to loosen it, but I could see it was in blue ice and not moving. I mentioned to someone in ear shot my foot was stuck in ice, and before I knew it there was Katja, and she quickly freed me using both her hands. I sheepishly thanked her and was able to keep going to the rocks, still followed by a few people. I got to the rocks with a huge sigh of relief, but this was also no bargain. Each rock was very loose and most of them were fairly big, the size of a throw pillow or so. I had to scramble up using my hands a lot of the time and the rocks kept sliding out. The people who followed gave up and started back into the snow, connecting with Jasper (I presume). I kept going. It was really hard, something I almost never experience. I was tremendously happy to reach the top and raised myself to my full height with my chest out and breathed deeply. I looked behind and there was no one. But where were they going? They were heading for a point about 150 yards to the right of where I'd finished, completely avoiding all the tough terrain I'd ascended, and several were already there! I'd either misunderstood or Jasper's pointing was a bit off. So I quickly scampered across the rocks and stones to where the others were waiting for the last stragglers. I said, "I thought we were supposed to meet over there! That's why I went that terrible way." No one said much and Jasper just seemed to shrug. I was fine with the whole thing; it is not often my physicality is tested.
The view was nice. We'd reached a ridge that fell off on the other side and there was a small pond where the ice had melted on that side. To the left, the ridge went up to a lower peak. To the right it went up to Hiortmountain. Most of the ridge was covered in snow. It was time to summit.
The last photo is of the next stretch, but after we'd made it back down. At this point, I was gung ho, but I could sense not everyone was all that keen on pressing on, especially Katja. We set off, with me right behind Jasper, occasionally with one of the other hikers getting between us as we tried to get the best footing, either on the rocks, which were smaller than my rough patch, but still loose, or snow of depths up to 18 inches or so. We crossed a patch of mud, and as Katja, who was in the rear, walked across it, the whole bit of mud started to slide slowly down the hill. We stood watching it for a while, an area about the size of two beach towels slowly moving down. At about this point, Katja stopped and stayed with one of the yellow-jacketed girls from the Gjestehuset 102. I was oblivious; once I get to a certain level of discomfort hiking, I much prefer to stay at that level than rest. Fortunately Jasper was fit, and the two of us now went at a steady, but sustainable, pace the rest of the way, up pretty steep pitches in the deep snow to the top. An older couple hung right with us (I might have been older, for all I know, but they looked older than I am), which really impressed me. But by the end, Jasper and I had opened up a good gap, and we high-fived when we reached the rocks piled where people "summited." To me, it looked like we needed to go higher, so we did and it was a nice area of foot deep snow, soft and wet, with panoramic views. I made a few snowballs and was accurate enough to just miss the people struggling up the last bit. It is not often I feel so satisfied by an activity, but this did it. My feet were cold and wet from all the snow that got in through the tops of my boots, which are otherwise waterproof, but I knew they would warm back up on the way down. We took pictures and waited for everyone to be ready to descend.
There was a pleasant young man who was along as part of guide management training, and we went down quickly together. I learned I could take huge strides in the snow and keep my balance and, though he was fast, I was able to stay close and we talked about politics and how I felt Norway's government seemed to actually care about its peoples' lives and well-being and made that its highest priority. We found Katja and the yellow jacket girl and waited for everyone to catch up, which took a while. My feet were still cold, and I hoped we would get moving.
After we got past the next rocky section, Katja and I were in the lead. It was a snowy, steep hill, and she was moving fast down it and I was bobbing around her while doing my giant steps when she suddenly sat down and started to slide. I'd been hoping someone would do it for a while, and I followed her path and then, as she slowed and veered off, slid past her and rocketed the rest of the way down that hill. Now THAT was fun! My pants were not waterproof and my butt and underwear were wet, but it was well worth it. We stood smiling as a few others followed us on their backsides, but most continued to walk. The next pitch was where I'd climbed over the rocks after getting stuck. I tried to slide again at the top, but there were too many rocks under the snow. When I tried to get up, I hit a patch of ice and took a snow splashing fall. Undeterred, I was down again as soon as possible and kept sliding over to the rocks. I had to stop twice and run sideways to the left to find clear paths, but it was glorious fun.
The photos above were taken after I'd finished sliding. I wasn't ever ready to take videos when people were doing it.
The rest of the walk took us down a steeper and muddier way to the beach. Katja talked a lot about the geology and we had a good time (I kept whining about her taking us through all the wet mud when my feet were cold and wet. She said many of the men she guides try to act tough but then start to whine. She offered me dry socks, but I was fine), but it is not worth recounting here. We got back into our kayaks and entered a very different fjord than we'd crossed in the calm morning. There was now a heavy wind in our faces and good level of chop in the water. At least the rudder was working, but I was fascinated to find it was hard now to keep up with the other boats we'd so easily outstripped in the morning. I am a very strong kayaker, and even with little effort can keep things moving, but now I was occasionally having to gear up just to stay close to the front. Katja stayed with us while Jasper coaxed the yellow-coated girls on the way back. We got stuck in shallow water and had to be pulled in by Katja to my embarrassment, and then we set about cleaning everything up. I'd not paid much attention to my watch since we'd started walking down and assumed it was around 6, but it was already after 7! With all the gear stowed, we climbed back in the van and were driven back. I still had to get to dinner. I didn't shower - just changed a bit and walked down, getting to the restaurant a little after 8 after having trouble finding it and asking someone, who just pointed in the general direction and said, "Red!"
The table was full, but they made room for me and I was able to order the off-the-menu vegetarian meal of lentil stew. They were a lively group and many seemed to know others. I was excited to tell them about my adventure, especially the sliding on the butt, and they enjoyed it. We got our plans for the next day and I was finally able to go back to the hotel. This was one instance where I was thinking as I was walking about how now I could sit down and read for a few hours until bed time and then realizing it was already 10:30!
Day 6, Thursday June 22nd
I knew the previous night was my last internet for a while so I ended up staying up to 12:30 sending out photos and emails. I slept better and actually needed my alarm to wake up. The one guy I'd walked with had pointed out a trail along the hill parallel to the main road to the airport, so I ran almost to the end of that, which was a good 6 miles. Just as I stopped, Carrie called to me from a bunch of people waiting at the hotel. She was off on another hike. I was wearing shorts, and it was really cold and windy. She mentioned that and I told her I was fine but I would have been better off with more clothes on. My only time pressure was to check out and get my bags to Faith's hotel by 11am. I barely made it. Now I had several hours to kill.
Faith had showed me the town rec center so I walked up there (it was about a mile) to see if I could work out there (I was wearing workout clothes as part of my layers). I went inside and there were a few people in jackets looking at the message boards but no one at the reception desk and no apparent way to signal to someone I wanted to chat. The people in jackets started to leave and I asked them if there was anyone around. They said no, they'd come trying to go swimming and there had been no one in the lobby the whole time, so they were giving up. I gave up, too. From there I went to the Svalbard Museum, a very modern building near both main roads. I had to put on shoe covers, rather than take off my shoes. It is not a big place, but it had nice exhibits on mining, polar bears and wildlife, and other settlement activities and efforts. I tried to imagine what it would be like if one spent one's entire life in that ecosystem. I bought some souvenirs and left. Faith had also been there showing Alice, one of the younger divers, around.
Time was crawling, so I went in nearly every store and looked around but bought nothing. I noticed a Thai restaurant (!!) and ate lunch there and got some ice cream, trying to eat slower to take more time. I was going crazy walking around and wanted to just sit somewhere and read, but there were no benches outside I could find. I decided there would be someplace to sit at the harbor and walked over there. It was a much shorter walk than I thought, and I was amazed to find a huge cruise ship docked there. I could see our ship out in the fjord. If it was in line, it was 3rd, behind a medium sized cruise ship. I sat down on a bench near a hospitality tent for the cruisers and started to read. It was around 3pm, and our boat was to load at 4. I kept waiting for the big boat to leave, but it didn't. So around 3:45 I got up and walked around to see if something else was going on. I was about to sit back down when I saw Faith's hair on the other side of the dock from where I'd been. Thank goodness I'd gotten up, as everyone was over there while chaos apparently reigned. I gathered finally they were having to take our luggage to the ship on rubber motor boats (henceforth zodiacs), and then they would take us the same way. I was not all that keen on the plan, but it wasn't like there were options. We learned how to put on life vests, verified our luggage, and lined up for the zodiacs. I waited with some of the divers for the last boat.
It was a fun little ride out there and I did not get wet. We got on and a steward named Maya took me to my room. There was one big bag in there that wasn't mine, but no one else. I unpacked a bit and had a look around. It wasn't bad, and I had a nice view from the window.
We were called over the PA to come to the 5th floor observation lounge. They did roll calls to make sure everyone was there for the mandatory (a word used perhaps 100 times) safety briefing, talking about the life vests, the life boats (they were pretty amazing), and evacuation procedures. They let us go back (at one point I think we were all in our life preservers sitting around - we were - see below) and then return for further orientation. That lasted until the call for dinner. The divers tended to sit in a strip of tables in the middle, usually by a small Russian man who never spoke but always gave a wave when he left. I am embarrassed to say now, but Faith mentioned I could get seconds if I wanted, so I said sure, and the woman who'd showed me my room brought out another bowl of vegetarian pasta, but I could tell she wasn't all that comfortable with it, so I never asked again (that was made easier by my being unable to do any substantial exercise while on the boat). While we were waiting for dessert, they said over the PA they'd spotted the spouts of whales, so we rushed up to the viewing decks in time to watch two blue whales swim along.
I'd never seen blue whales before, so that was exciting, but they didn't do much more than swim, which is fine. We got a signal this cruise line knew what they were doing next, as they brought all the desserts up to the lounge so we could eat them there. We had a meeting about the diving, and at some point I learned the other bag in the room had been there by mistake, so I had no roommate, which was spectacular!
Here I add another feature: the official trip log's summary and comments, either copied and pasted (and maybe edited a bit) or summarized: start: 78deg, 14' N/15deg, 37'E. Temp 4C. One detail I forgot was a toast by the Captain (Alexey, Russian). Here is a photo from the safety briefing: As you look at it, I will tell you about half the boat's 100 or so passengers were from China, accompanied by only one young interpreter.
Day 7, Friday June 23rd
I put on a scopolamine patch once the boat started to move. I have only had a problem with motion sickness after brutal days of roller coaster riding, and even then it was mild, but I didn't want this trip affected by nausea. I think the patch was the cause of a rough first night, as my throat was dry and sore, with lots of post nasal drip, but I was also worried I might be getting sick. I was dead asleep when they gave us a ship wide wake up call at 7:30. I did a few warm up exercises and then went to breakfast. I didn't see any muesli, but there was some cold oatmeal and fruit and yogurt, so I was happy. I felt a lot better after I ate, especially after I started a personal tradition of chugging a glass of orange juice on arrival and putting the glass right down on the service counter where I'd picked it up, saving carrying it around.
From the restaurant we returned to the lounge for briefings on safety, caring for the ecosystem, polar bears, and maybe other things. The we practiced putting on our diving gear, which is complicated and has to be done correctly. It was then lunch time, and after eating their buffet, I tried to lie down, but they called us tell us there was a dead polar bear and some seals out on some ice. I couldn't see the bear well (I had small binoculars) but saw the seals. I adjourned again to my room, but then I could hear them drop anchor and call for the divers to be ready to depart in 15 minutes! I did as much as I could as quickly as I could and then went to the diving staging area and managed with the kind help and patience of many people to get everything on properly. And then we waited. And waited. Finally, we were in the zodiac heading out, Leslie, Teresa, Diane, Faith and me.
For whatever reason, I became aware of how congested I was. I was sure it was that patch, but I wasn't ready to give up on it yet. Still, when I put my mask on and tried to breathe through the snorkel, it was very uncomfortable with a stuffy nose, even though with the snorkel I wasn't breathing through my nose. I was still gung ho, but this was pestering me. Finally we slid into the water near some ice floes and I was able to paddle around. It felt right away like I had a leak into my neck, but that settled and we all climbed onto an ice floe and posed for pictures. This was what made the snorkeling worth it. But just as quickly we were told we had to get in the boat and head back. Apparently they'd radioed that one of the women was too cold, so we had to return, but I think it was all a mistake.
SFS#7: We now had to get back in the boat. They'd shown us a video earlier, and I was sure I'd have no problem. I was not the closest to the boat when they told us we had to go, so one of the women tried to get in with the help of the petite Australian dive assistant, Yoly. It did not go well. I am not sure if much more than her shoulders got out of the water. I said to Faith, "Would it help if I got in to pull you all up?" She thought so, so I paddled over and did what they'd showed me and popped right into the boat on my stomach. It is not that easy maneuvering in the boat with your fins on, so we struggled to get them off (because of my big shoes, they were a terror to get on and off). Once that was done, we pulled each one out with Faith pushing from below. No one stuck the landing, and almost every one was approaching hilarity, none more so than Faith, during which, and for some time after, I had an unstoppable belly laugh going. Faith took the photos of me here, with exception of one on Faith's camera taken by Yoly while we were on the ice.
Another zodiac came over and they asked if we could go on a quick cruise around, as it was very pretty. Some wanted to go right back, so we split up and I got into the zodiac that toured. After we got back to the boat, I got undressed with minimal problems and stored some of my stuff in a zodiac and others in a locker there. This was our "test dive" to work out issues. My only issue was wanting to do it much longer and to work on my breathing with the snorkel.
We had our first daily wrap up briefing, in which they discussed the events of the day and what the plans were for the next day. After dinner and some chatting, we got started on the CME, which was good, but we were constantly interrupted after a delayed start getting the slide show set up.
Ship's Log: 79deg, 14'N, 15deg, 37'E, 4C. Cloudy. The ship would be cruising in Smeerenburgfjorden, named after the 17th-century Dutch whaling station here, while we attended the morning’s program. This entailed a buffet breakfast, receiving our rubber boots, and the necessary safety briefings about Zodiac operations and polar bears.
Day 8, Saturday, June 24th
I got up around 7 on my own and did some exercises, then walked out and around the ship. The view out my window was fascinating, and I was excited to get out, as we were now surrounded by ice!
From this point on, I loved being out on the deck and walking around more than any other activity. To see the ice getting smashed, to hear it happening, was great. I recalled my joy at smashing ice while walking to and from school as a child; on this scale it was super entertaining. I had to go to breakfast, and then we tried to fit in another lecture before another polar bear talk, and then I was back out looking at the ice. We planned more lectures after lunch, but before we could get started, a bear was spotted. I am not sure how good their eyes or binoculars are, but it took us about an hour of sailing until anyone from our group saw it, and that was with zoom lenses 18 inches long and huge binoculars. That bear was not interested in being seen and was moving fast away from us. I caught a few glimpses with my binoculars, but there was no way I could get a photo from that distance. After he moved off, we started the talk, but then there were walruses. Once the lecture was over, another bear was spotted, but this time he was walking in front of the boat and in no hurry. I could see him with the naked eye, though still a hundred or more yards away. I am way too shaky to hold the camera steady on the long zooms, but I was lucky enough to get some good shots and videos. There was a sense of elation among the passengers. At least we saw some bears!!
Ship's Log: 80deg, 3.9'N, 13deg, 13'E, 5C, Clear. Observation of surrounding beauty of the Arctic Ocean was interrupted at 3pm by the announcement of Michael, our expedition leader: “Ladies and gentlemen, we have spotted a bear!” Everybody rushed to their cabins to dress up and grab a camera. Meanwhile our Captain Alexey was slowly and gently leading the ship forward towards the bear trying not to scare him away. The bear was walking pretty fast in a Northern direction. We managed to approach approximately 100-150 meters to him and take some good pictures. The bear did not feel like posing for us, so our meeting did not last long. It was an exciting day on the ice despite never leaving the boat.
Day 9, Sunday, June 25th
I stopped my patch since the water was so calm and I felt much better. In addition to the mucus, it also made my mouth taste sour. I slept the best I had in a while, perhaps as a result. The boat spent the night in an absolutely beautiful spot, and it was a stunning day. I went out in the morning before breakfast when no one was around and took some photos from the back of the boat:
After breakfast we donned our rubber boots and went out on the zodiacs. It was my first time on land since we'd started the cruise. The weather was still beautiful. We went to an old whaling settlement and toured it before watching and photographing 5 male walruses lying on the beach nearby. We were very careful not to touch anything or to make much noise.
That trip took the rest of the morning. After lunch we got a quick lecture, and then they called us for a briefing. We were not allowed to snorkel, so we went on a zodiac cruise to a beautiful glacier. Michael, the trip leader, was our boat guide, and initially we had to go back and forth while he straightened out problems with boats, including him getting on another zodiac and fixing the engine. It is one of the most beautiful places in the world, and it was about as nice a day as possible. We saw some seals swimming and that distracted people for a while. Then we got to the glacier, which was spectacular, but I never got to see any calving, though we heard it a few times later on. There were lots of small and larger pieces of ice floating about.
As we turned to head back we cruised along the far side and I had someone take some photos of me. Other boats kept getting in the way, but in the end they were all fine in their own way.
About this time Michael got on his walkie talkie and started talking about a polar plunge. I perked up but didn't say anything. Then he put it to us on the boat as a challenge: each guide tries to get the most people on the boat to do a polar plunge, which in this case was going swimming, getting your head under, on a beach near an old graveyard. No one seemed interested, so I said, "Are you serious? Because I'll do it." We discussed whether we could stop and get swimsuits, and Michael agreed. Otherwise I would have had to go in my bikini underwear, which are smaller than most speedos, and I wanted to be able to have someone shoot a video of me doing it. We still enjoyed our cruise and then Michael took us to the boat. I ran in and changed as quickly as possible, and a few others joined us from other boats. We left without one of the women who snorkeled who'd said she would do it, too. She was only mildly miffed.
It wasn't a long ride to the beach, and I got out and started getting undressed and found someone to work the video, a young America who'd said she would do the polar plunge but then didn't, while some of her friends did. I was about halfway done and going as fast as I could when suddenly there were some whoops and a young man who'd been in our boat sprinted across the rocks and into the water to much applause. I was still getting layers off when an Italian girl in a one piece, swim cap and goggles went in much slower and with much shrieking. I thought I would be the third as I approached the water, but the rocks were much sharper, slipperier, and colder than they looked, and while I was wincing my way, the doctor suddenly appeared next to the nearest zodiac, and shouted, "Who wants to see a naked doctor!?" He took off his underwear and quickly moved into the water and dove in as I got closer. It was taking me forever, and now he was in my shot and coming up with everything showing. I passed him as he stood up for the last time and dove in. It wasn't that cold, but I didn't linger; I didn't want the girl to have to keep running the video as her friends were nearly ready. It took me a long time to get back out, but at least I did it. I got dressed and we didn't stay much longer. I never saw the graveyard. People were pleased I'd done it, and so was I. I'd wanted to jump off the boat, but they said we weren't allowed to do that!
SFS#8: Olga, whose photo of me is below, was originally from Russia. She liked to tell jokes, and this one was really funny: Vladimir Putin decided to make a public appearance and went to a school to discuss the glorious history of Russia and its current government. The class had students of 13 and 14 years old. They listened quietly as he spoke, and then Putin asked, "Does anyone have any questions?" A boy in front named Sasha stuck up his hand and asked, "Why does this government say there are no Russian troops in the Ukraine when it seems like there are quite a lot?" Everyone seemed a little stunned Sasha would ask that, but Putin smiled, and after chuckling a bit, said, "Let's take a break, and while we are on break I will talk with Sasha and answer his question, as I am sure you would rather go outside and play." After they returned from the break, Putin again went to the front of the class and asked if there were any questions. A girl to his left named Masha raised her hand. Putin looked at her and said, "Go ahead." Masha asked, "Yes, where is Sasha?"
Ship's Log:Position: 79°43.4’ N / 011°02.2’ E, Wind: light air, Weather: clear, Air Temperature: +8°C. Today we woke up to a stunning weather, beautiful calm seas and a sunny morning. We went ashore on Amsterdamøya, to visit the remains of the 17th century Dutch whaling station Smeerenburg (“Blubbertown”). Some of the house remains were still covered in meltwater, but the foundations of the blubber ovens were easy to see from a safe distance (they are black, and almost like concrete from the reaction of the boiling blubber with the sands). We split up into three groups and we took turns to go a see a group of Walrus hauled out on the beach. The males were very relaxed and did not mind us coming in up to 30m, enabling marvelous pictures of these magnificent animals. During the walk on the beach we saw all the wood that drifted all the way from Siberian forests to the beaches of Svalbard, but unfortunately it wasn’t the only material present on the beach, there was also some rubbish washed ashore that came drifting North with currents. On our way back we picked up some of the plastic garbage and brought it back to the ship to be discharged in Longyearbyen.
After a zodiac tour of a glacier, we decided to stop at Gravesneset where many early whalers and sailors found their last resting places in the 17th-19th centuries. Some brave ones decided to defy the cold Arctic waters and go for a swim.
Photo courtesy Olga Torrey. The point is arguable, but this is about as bad as I can look with my shirt off. I am sure there is a better photo out there somewhere.
Day 10, Monday June 26th
This was the only time I went outside to exercise on the boat, going to the front deck to do some warm up and other exercises for running. We did some orthopedics lectures after breakfast. Again we were interrupted, this time by a bear, which I was well-positioned for and more ready for the long shots. I got some good photos of him swimming. It wasn't long after he left that one of the dive guides pointed out a bear swimming in front of the boat. I counted it as a second one, but it might have been the same one. If the latter, he covered some ground. We sat down for the lecture and were called again with a par of walruses, who proceeded to swim and frolic around the boat for well over an hour. Some of what they did was very funny, and they seemed to very much have a love/hate relationship. When you look at the gallery below, the last 4 polar bear pictures were taken by Michael Green, one of the dive guides, and are spectacular.
Later that morning the boat stopped. While we were at lunch people passed around a video of the captain walking on the ice next to the boat. Were we stuck? Did we have to turn around? They announced a briefing right after lunch. The answer was a surprise: we were going to be allowed to go walk on the ice and frolic for 15 minutes! As one of the "divers," I put on my dry suit and all the gear except for a mask, hoping they would also allow us to jump in. They made it clear that was absolutely not an option once we got out there. Instead I took photos while lying on my back, and we threw snowballs and posed for group photos. The Chinese pretended to be pulling the boat with a rope attached to the prow. It was good fun, but it was hot in the suit. I got cautioned for opening one of my zippers, since I was wearing it for bouyancy in case I fell through the ice.
The guides all had their rifles and were on the lookout for bears, and we weren't allowed where the ice was softer, but they otherwise let us have at it. It was one of the things about this trip that took it to the next level, and apparently they rarely get a chance to do it.
I had time then to work on my photos and videos, and then we had a quick lecture set before meeting about tomorrow. That night was the big barbecue on the back deck just below my room. I was curious as to the food, and there wasn't enough to sustain a vegetarian, so I ate some of the ribs (good) and a sausage in addition to various salads. As people finished up, the staff started to play their music louder, and some of the ladies in our group started getting down. Anyone who really knows me knows I love to dance, but I am fickle, and it took me a while to warm to it, as they were mostly playing Latin music I'd never heard before (there was a group of Colombians on the boat as well). It was still more fun than sitting in my room, which the very shy Alice opted to do early on. Some of our group were real show-offs, including the big doctor, Eric, and our lecturer, Karen, who even got me to dance with her (I am out of my element dancing with someone else...) twice, and Annie, with whom I danced once. The highlight for me was when I started faking my way through a semi-salsa, and one of the male Colombians made a point to say, "Man, you're a good dancer," to me (he was sincere). I didn't stay up late, but a lot of people did, as the party moved back to the observation lounge. My only regret from that night was not trying to dance with a beautiful Italian girl who was with the guy who sprinted into the water. She could really move, and her smile would have lit up the sky in the winter up there. I must also mention the captain came down and danced some with the Colombians and the staff were the wildest participants when not up a deck smoking.
Ship's Log:
- Date: 26.06.2017
- Position: 79°54.4’ N / 013°12.3’ E
- Wind: E - 2
- Weather: clear
- Air Temperature: +4°C
A glistening icescape met the drowsy eyes of the early risers this morning. At 05:00 the sun was shining and the scenery surrounding the ship was nothing short of incredible. However, by the time Sebastian brought a good news about 09:30 that he found a Polar bear in front of Raudfjorden. Lucky enough for us, the bear was hunting the seal on the edge of the sea ice. However, the polar bear ran out of luck to get his breakfast, and missed catching the seal who escaped into the water. But we were able to spend about one hour wandering with this Polar bear on the sea ice edge and enjoy the icescape with an impressive mountain range as a backdrop.
At 11:00, our expedition team discovered two Walrus in front of the ship and drifting at sea. Captain Alexey sailed the ship carefully and slowly to get close to the Walrus. Everyone got their camera quickly and watched the Walrus play around the ice pack. It was breathtaking to watch the Walrus climb up the ice and listen to them breathe. It was a very great experience to watch Walrus eye to eye and close like this.
Of course, being in the pack ice didn’t mean that we could rest and so after lunch the expedition team offered an amazing experience along the sea ice pack. Captain Alexey sailed the ship deep into a piece of a ice sea professionally. After the expedition team did all the safety checks, all of us started to "disembark" on the ice sea and walk above the Northern Sea. This is a unique experience to walk on the thin sea ice and take a picture with the ship at sea level. Thanks for the hotel team who served us a glass of wine at the end of this wonderful day.
At 18:00 we were invited down to the aft deck for our special Arctic BBQ. The hotel team had prepared a real feast of meats and salads and with complimentary drinks, and the party soon got underway with dancing continuing late into the evening. A great end to a great day! Throughout the evening we sailed further South to our destination for tomorrow, keeping an eye out for any whale blows from the lounge before retiring to our cabins for the night. Many people stayed up well into the night to enjoy the endless sunshine on this glistening sea scape. It had been a truly wonderful day.
Day 11, Tuesday June 27th
During the night, the weather got rough and the boat was moving up and down way more than usual. I was a little unsure, but decided to put a patch back on. After breakfast we did a landing near an old marble quarry and then a hike, the first of those. It was a longish walk, several hours, but with lots of stops. I forgot how wet you could get on the zodiacs and had to change into dry pants when we got back.
At a meeting after lunch they told us we could go snorkeling again. They had a place with a lot of ice bergs near a glacier. I was excited and much calmer as we headed out, and this time I took my camera which claimed it was waterproof but I had never tested it. The divers were also snorkeling around a moderate-sized iceberg when we got there and I took lots of pictures while floating around. At one point I got on an underwater step and dove off three times, the first time dislodging the snorkel, but from then handling it well. I tried to climb up on the other side and slid off, and then was told by one of the guides not to try to get on it anymore. I was bitter when I saw all sorts of photos with the divers on it and jumping off, etc. It was fun, but it would have been fun to swim around more and explore, too.
We got in the zodiac and had a nice tour of the glacier and some of the really quirky ice floes and bergs around it. There was also a bird cliff just near the glacier, but I am not bird guy. That night we did lectures until 10:30!
- Ship's log, Tuesday June 27th
- Position: 78°57.3’ N / 012°01.9’ E
- Wind: S - 3
- Weather: overcast
- Air Temperature: +3°C
After a night with a little more swell and wind than the last couple of days, it was time to walk off the BBQ from yesterday at Ny London on Blomstrandhalvøya. In three groups we explored the remains of the marble mining operation and rusting machinery that Ernest Mansfield had brought up here between 1911 and 1920. It was nice to have Frigga around as she studied the history of the various mining operations on Svalbard for her PhD and was able to tell us more on the Northern Exploration Company and the quarries, machinery and railroad tracks as well as on the various reasons for the marble mining to stop. Now we know that the names Ny London and Camp Mansfield (which can be read over the door of one of the two huts) are not from the early years, but from later date and given to the places by the Norwegians. And that 4 of the 100 year old huts have been transported to the other side of the fjord and are also still in use as research stations in the settlement of Ny Ålesund. From Ny London all three parties explored the tundra and hills around the settlement, were the Purple saxifrages and Moss Campion were coloring the tundra nicely. Most of the hikers saw a lovely reindeer calf with its mother grazing behind the oldest (summer) quarry (which was neatly and straightly cut, in comparison to the jitty-handcut winter marble quarry). Some hikers also saw some blue whales in the Kongsfjord and breeding Long-tailed skuas on the tundra.
In the afternoon we explored the bay in front of the 14th of July Glacier with lovely bergy bits, some washed up on shore, and even some small blue-ish icebergs. In two groups we explored the shores of the bay. A group walked up to the “hanging gardens” of wonderful Arctic flora on the rocks along the beached brash-ice under the Kittiwake colonies first. A second group started off in Zodiacs exploring the nearby bird-cliffs where Guillemots, Glaucus gulls and Puffins were nesting and where quite a large group of reindeer was grazing. It was quite an adventurous cruise due to the currents, swell and 12 knots of wind coming from the glacier. Halfway through the expedition, the groups swapped and by six o’clock everybody was back on board for a recap on Reindeer and the blue color of glacial ice, as well as the briefing for tomorrow. We missed this while snorkeling. First I heard of it now...
Day 12, Wednesday, June 28th, last full day at sea
Today our first activity was a hike, and it was rainy most of the time. We hlked up the side of a glacier, the moraine, to get a good look at the glacier, and then back and across the tundra back to the boat.
There were less people interested in diving/snorkeling in the afternoon. Most of us were satisfied and didn't want to get our stuff wet again. So we went on another hike. This one was fun; the guide was a saucy, cute enough English girl, Sara, and we went with her into the center of the island while the other groups worked their way up the beaches. We got a small bunch of reindeer to keep approaching us, all while the others never got near them. It was a pretty island, if not a pretty day, and the beaches had unique rock formations. Kevin, one of the doctors with us, traded his jacket for one of the Chinese men's to much frivolity. I can say it never would have occurred to me to do that, but I like my jacket a lot.
Back on the boat we were getting ready to be done the next morning. The captain came by for another toast, then there was dinner, where they brought out all the workers for us to thank and applaud. SFS#9: This is a no one but Terry story. While eating, not knowing they were going to be bringing everyone out, I really had a lot of bowel pressure, so I excused myself and ran off to my room. There ensued perhaps the greatest expression of flatus ever (at least from an otherwise healthy human). At one point I had a fart last nearly 20 seconds (watch your watch for 20 seconds. It is a long time), longer than any I could ever remember, and after another short, loud one, ANOTHER 20 second fart!! I was laughing in disbelief. There should be a recording crew following me at all times just for moments like that I'm sure other people would love to share. After I went back to the room to finish packing, we met again for one last time in the observation lounge for a slide show by Faith. It had a few from this trip, and then a promo for a trip to Antarctica, during which there was footage of Faith being pulled into a zodiac by loudly laughing men that made me very amused, having done it twice myself.
- Ship's log: Date: 28.06.2017
- Position: 78°31.0’N 012°50.6’E
- Wind: ESE- 3
- Weather: rainy
- Air Temperature: +3°C
We woke to grey skies and a slight drizzle of rain, but this was certainly nothing to worry about, after all, this was expedition cruising! A little bit of unfavourable weather could only add to the atmosphere and dramatic quality of our pictures, after all we were meant to be in the Arctic!
The plan for this morning was a landing at Gjertsenodden in St Jonsfjord.
We landed on a flat sandy beach, where vast tracts of moraine left behind by a retreating glacier have formed a rolling and hilly terrain behind. Frigga and Sasha set off with the long walkers, aiming for a distant ridge, shortly afterwards the medium group set off and finally the leisurely walkers strolled along the shoreline with Lynn paying close attention to the wonderful flora that was now beginning to bloom. There were a few reindeer on the slopes, some of which were very inquisitive and came remarkably close and one of the groups even managed to get a quick glimpse at an Arctic fox before it darted up the hillside. For the birders amongst us there was great excitement at spotting the Svalbard rock ptarmigan, this is a true Arctic bird as it does not flee to warmer climes to escape the harsh winter like most. Most of us had a look at the very small trapper's hut which was just set back from the shoreline, looking out over the fjord, but one thing was for sure we all took time to stop, listen and enjoy the fabulous views and sounds of the Arctic.
All safely back on board we enjoyed our last lunch on the Plancius, meanwhile the ship made her way to Poolepynten which was to be our final landing of this exciting expedition. Poolepynten is known for its haul-out of walruses and we all hoped that luck would be with us today and we might get another good view of these incredible creatures. However, as so often happens with expedition cruising we were forced to turn to Plan B when on arrival at Poolepynten we noticed that the walruses were no longer ‘at home’ and the beach was in fact empty. Plan B involved sailing south to Tordenskioldbukta where we could do a landing and short hike. Tordenskioldbukta is known for its wide open plains, open bays and high density of reindeer and this is exactly what we got. On arrival to the bay we split into three groups, one of which ambled along the coast line with Frigga exploring the various archaeological artefacts, whilst the other two groups headed slightly inland in search of reindeer and any other wildlife they might be lucky enough to stumble upon. The reindeer were incredibly obliging, stopping and posing for everyone’s photos at close range and at one point even appeared to follow us on at our exploration. Despite having to resort to a Plan B this afternoon, this site seemed to be the perfect way to end the voyage as in many ways it seem to encapsulate the ‘best of the Arctic summer’; green, lush tundra in bloom against a backdrop of snow topped mountains, dotted with reindeer and birdlife.
As soon as everybody was back on the ship, it was sadly time for the Plancius to lift anchor and head towards Longyearbyen.
No sooner had we got a hot drink to warm ourselves was it time to head back up into the lounge for our final evening briefing. After a toast from the Captain, there were thanks to all of the people who made the trip so enjoyable, followed by all the information we need for our disembarkation. Our last dinner was full of talk and laughter and we moved from the dining room to the lounge, enjoying our last night on board, but still remembering to pack our bags for their early departure from the ship.
Day 13, Thursday, June 29th
Back to a land-based life. It was hard to leave the relaxing, entertaining cruising lifestyle behind. We put our luggage in the halls so they could transfer them again by Zodiac (again, bigger boat at the dock). I went to the bathroom after breakfast and the steward came in the room while I was in there and started stripping my beds, though I shouted to let him know I was busy. I could understand and donned my life vest wistfully. There was a light rain and gloom over Longyearbyen. Chaos reigned again at the dock as we thought there was a special bus for the divers, but we then had to absolutely cram onto another bus. Our stop was the last one and I got out only to find my bag was not in the chamber. We drove back to the Svalbard Hotel stop and it was sitting along the side of the road there! Then, when we got to Coal Miners, I was not able to check in. I left my big bag there and took my backpack and computer bag and walked down the hill to the Svalbard Hotel. Faith and the rest were all in their lounge, also unable to check in to the apartments she'd booked for us to spend the day in. Finally we got our stuff inside a room, though I won't go through all the hassles, and I walked down to the North Pole Expedition Museum. I had to take off my shoes and left my jacket at their counter, and made my way through. It was very dense with information (including many old, verbose newspaper articles), mostly about failed expeditions and rescue attempts which often led to rescue of the rescuers. I went to the grocery store and got some skyr and a smoothie for cheap and ate them outside on a log for my lunch. I went back and got my bags without seeing anyone, and by the time I got back to Coal Miners, I could check in. I'd thought about doing something the rest of the day, but I didn't want to do any more than go on a run and take a shower. The run was ok, but there was a brutal wind especially on the way back. When I ate dinner, the Russian who sat with us nearly every night was there and gave me a wave. I had almost the same meal as last time, but salmon instead of cod. I went to bed at 9:15, and wore ear plugs, as it was noisy until around 10:30. Slept well then.
Day 14, Friday, June 30th:
I ran 6.27 miles all around town and back up the hill. It was not as cold as forecast. I got breakfast, waited a while, then checked out and sat outside reading and waiting for the bus. It came, wasn't crowded, and got to the airport ok. That was crowded, but no problems with plane (Sara, the guide was also on it) and got to Oslo right on time. There was a long wait for my bag, then I took the train back and checked in. I went out quickly to try to find a place to eat on the water and ended up walking well over a mile to a place on the waterfront pier, Albert's Bistro. It was French, and I had to sit right by the hostess station, but the food was good. It took forever (nearly two hours), and then I had to walk all the way back, though even after dessert I stopped for ice cream.
Day 15, Saturday, July 1.
The night was good. I got up before 5 and did a run out the waterfront again, and this time I felt great, smooth and ran a fast pace without much effort. I was very pleased. I got ready to leave and tried the restaurant downstairs and they were closed this time (didn't open until 8 on Saturdays), so I ate breakfast at the airport again, but this time we were in a different section without the grocery store. I had to wait a long time to check in again, but security nice and fell asleep in waiting area before boarding. I had nice seat mate, watched King Kong: Skull Island and read Lincoln in the Bardo. It took a long time for luggage and shuttle at Newark, but finally I was in the car on the way to the Finger Lakes. What a great trip!
I hope you enjoyed this. It was a lot of work. I always love compliments, negative and positive.