It is really tough to get to everything and have time for the blog, too. So we checked out the destination lecturer and then we split up, Larry to lecture number 2, and Monica to work on the blog. Since there’s no satellite internet access north of Geiranger (or in it, for that matter) we’ve been writing and planning so we can post as soon as we get back into range.
This morning we passed Bear Island, named not because it is inhabited by any bears, but because Willem Barents, the Dutch explorer, noticed a polar bear swimming near his ship as he sailed by on the exploration that also gave the Barents Sea its name. He figured that the bear must live on the island, so he gave it the name. Apparently all that really lives there are seals and the odd walrus – oh, and ten very intrepid radio engineers. There is a small radio station, for weather, ship and air transmissions, that is manned by a team of ten people who are there for a year or two before they`re rotated out. We did manage to get a picture of their `settlement`. Doesn`t look like there`s too much to do, other than maybe fish…
A while after passing Bear Island, in a practically flat calm sea (where you can see the reflections of the sea birds as they fly near the ship), we noticed a few ships. One looked very military, and the others all looked very similar - commercial fishing trawlers, we assume. In total we saw about seven in the same general area. The rest of the day was spent sailing up the west coast of Spitsbergen, the largest island in the Svalbard Archipelago, and home to some pretty impressive looking mountains. Even if we couldn’t actually see the tops of them for the “sea fog” along the coast! Toward evening the cloud ceiling lifted and we did get finally get a picture of the coastal mountains. And, although far away and not clear enough to get a photo, we did see a pod of Orcas!
Sunday morning brought us the next “highlight” of this part of the trip, a visit to the Arctic Ice Cap. We had been told that finding the ice cap was a pretty inexact science, usually involving sailing north until you found it, wherever it happened to be, however the destination lecturer said he expected we would find it just north of the island of Spitsbergen. This guy should buy a lottery ticket. The top of Spitsbergen is at 80 degrees north latitude and we “bumped into it” at 80 degrees and one minute north! Actually what we bumped into was loose pack ice floating about a kilometre or so below the pack, which is as close as Captain Glenn was willing to go, but we could clearly see the ice pack in the distance. After seeing icebergs the size of large office towers in Antarctica four years ago, these “bergy bits” were not all that terribly interesting to look at, but it was the idea that we were only ten degrees, or about 500 miles as the crow flies, from the North Pole that felt kind of neat. Interestingly, given how far north we were, it was not that terribly cold, only about 2C and with very little wind, other than from the movement of the ship.
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| At the horizon - the polar ice cap |
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| Our butler, Neil, in the centre |
After sailing back and forth a couple of times, Captain Glenn brought the ship to a halt in order to send out the “rescue boat” with a couple of the ship’s photographers to get pictures of the ship. While they were out there, the boat crew also “harvested” chunks of floating sea ice to bring back onboard. The chunks formed the centre pieces of the Cove and Sunset Bars for the rest of the day. Naturally we had to get our picture taken with one of them. Larry’s finger on the ship’s world map gives you an idea of just how far north we are!
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| At 80 degrees and 1 minute north latitude |
As we spent yet another evening (by the clock if not the sun) at the totally inappropriately named (for this part of the cruise, anyway) Sunset Bar, we noticed a rather odd looking cloud formation and couldn’t resist taking this shot:
And here are a few others from the way down to Longyearbyen:
When we arrived at the Galaxy Lounge for the show, Clark told us that he saw Monica on Crystal TV. What??! Then he explained that she was mixing a drink, and all became clear. Crystal’s video team had been shooting new video when we were on Symphony in 2009, and the guest chefs were featured in the Wine and Food Theme Cruise video. So here’s a photo of the TV screen showing Tony Abou-Ganim and Monica…
Monday morning “dawned” (well not really since the sun never actually sets!) bright and sunny and found us in Longyearbyen, the furthest north town in the world. How far north?? Our guide, a young lady named Tea, commented that Lonbgyearbyen was “beyond nowhere”, to which Larry suggested it is actually about 1000 miles beyond “the backside of nowhere”! She didn’t disagree with that assessment either. The town was originally established in 1907 as a coal mining operation by the American Coal Company. At its height, the company operated eight active mines in the surrounding area, and the town, named after the company president, John Longyear, had a population of about 4,000 people, mostly miners. Today, while there is still one mine in operation (owned by a Norwegian company), the town survives mostly on winter tourism - hiking, skiing and dogsledding primarily - and on the approximately 100 cruise ships that visit between June and August.
Our tour was Leisurely Longyearbyen by Foot, as you might guess from the name, a walking tour of the town. A short bus ride brought us to the top of the hill above the town and, for lack of a better description, the main coal scuttle for the mining operations. A very extensive network of cablecar towers brought the coal in large buckets to this building where it was prepared and loaded on ships. While it has not been used since the late 1980’s, the entire system was given “historical” status and remains standing. From there our tour continued on “downhill” to visit the local church, cemetery and part of the residential district, ending at its bustling “downtown” shopping district. After browsing the shops, and buying a couple of souvenir Svalbard coffee mugs, we were back at the ship in time for lunch.
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| From underneath the coal consolidation building that is now a national monument, along with the towers, cables and 100 of the original buckets used to move the coal |
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| The local church and community hall |
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| Houses - they had a designer pick the colour scheme for the houses, to keep people from getting too depressed in winter... |
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| 'Downtown' Longyearbyen |
We’re leaving at 3:00 this afternoon, with almost 3 full sea days until we arrive in Alesund on Thursday afternoon. Hopefully, we’ll finally see some of those so far elusive whales. On Saturday evening, the Captain spotted quite a number, but most of us were at dinner at the time. The only reason any of us knew anything was happening was the sudden list to port when the Captain Glenn had to swerve to avoid hitting one of them! He explained that at the Crystal Society Party last night. Since then we’ve been keeping an eye out. We hope we’ll be lucky enough to find a few close enough to get a photo.
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| Sailing out of the bay |
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