Day 1

We arrived at the Oslo airport for our flight to Svalbard with plenty of time to spare. I had some tax to claim back from the tax refund counter and found that the counter was waaaaaaay at the other end of the terminal. It took me almost 10 minutes to walk there, only to find a queue ten miles long. I waited for half an hour and advanced 5 inches in the queue. Eventually I read a sign that told me I needed my passport. Surprise, surprise, Lidia had my passport back at the other end of the terminal. So I took the ten minute walk of shame back to our check in counter. By this stage we were running out of time, so I forgot about the tax and we checked in. Next step: security. We had to remove all electronic devices from our bags, so I took my iPad out of my backpack and went through security. Of course, my backpack was pulled aside for further inspection and the officer pulled everything out of my backpack to get to my camera, pulled it out and sent my backpack back through security. By the time I got hold of my backpack and repacked it, time was really running short. We started to high-tail it to the gate and as we were belting through the duty-free area, I asked an attendant if I could claim my tax back on this side of the terminal. She pointed to a book store and said yes. Lidia kept walking and I went back to the book store. Amazingly, there was no queue, so I quickly pulled out my receipts, forms, and passport, and presented them to the shop owner.

“Do you have the goods?” He asked. “They’re on the plane in my luggage” I replied. I explained about the massive queue outside and he said “but you have to show the goods. It’s part of the process.” Ah, the Scandinavians and their obsession with sticking to the rules. “I know” I replied. “But if I waited in the queue outside, I would have missed my plane.” “But it’s part of the process!” He stated yet again. “Yes, I know. I’m very sorry” I said, while he begrudgingly processed my tax refund.

After successfully claiming my tax back, I waited in the queue to go through passport control. We are flying from Oslo to Longyearbyen. Both of these places are in Norway. Why passport control is required for a domestic flight is a mystery that eludes my understanding. Anyway, I passed through passport control without being arrested or deported and made it to the gate on time. While at the gate, Lidia recognised three people. Amazingly, we had sat next to them in a café in Oslo the previous day. We introduced ourselves. Another ridiculous coincidence. We had now met 5 out of the 187 passengers on our cruise in Oslo the day before we left.

After an uneventful 3 hour flight, we landed in Longyearbyen. This place is a tiny little village in the middle of nowhere, up near the Arctic circle. Its claim to fame is that they have a seed bank there that stores seeds from every country in the world in a secure, underground vault, that would be used should there be an apocalypse.

We boarded the ship and were given our onboard identity cards. These cards are your passport, credit card and room key and are required every time you leave the ship for an excursion. It was impressed upon us to look after them carefully. Anyone who has read my blog in August last year where we cruised the Kimberly may remember that I lost my ship card 5 minutes after boarding. This time, it was Lidia’s turn. We were called to muster and Lidia started running around the room in a panic. She had lost her card 5 minutes in. I helped her look for it everywhere, but couldn’t locate it anywhere. Eventually Lidia asked me if I had my own card.  I checked, only to find that I had hers in my pocket. It was mine that was missing. Eventually we found it in a jacket pocket I’d hung up in the wardrobe, so the crisis was averted.

We finished the day out with a lovely meal, but haven’t yet seen any polar bears.

Day 2

We slept very well, despite the fact that it is daylight 24 hours a day here. Our tv screen tells us that sunset is 2:00am and sunrise is 2:00am. Not sure how they work that out.

We were called to the lounge in groups in order to undertake a biosecurity check. The idea is to take all of the outer gear you plan to wear on the onshore excursions so that they can check it for biosecurity hazards in order to protect the delicate ecosystem here. I quickly grabbed my pants, beanie, scarf and the little bag that contained my wet weather pants. Lidia and I popped down to the lounge to have this gear checked. There were two expedition leaders at a table that were free, so we headed over to them for our checks. I presented my gear to a lovely young woman for inspection. I reached into my bag to retrieve my wet weather pants and promptly withdrew a handful of dirty jocks and socks and dumped them on the table in front of her. I had mistakenly taken my laundry bag down, rather than the bag containing my pants. You could have probably fried an egg on my face; I was so embarrassed. I quickly stuffed my undies back in the bag and got out of there post haste.

That afternoon we were slated to have our first shore excursion, however unfortunately the conditions did not allow it. Apparently an ice shelf had built up along the shoreline, making it unsafe to land the zodiacs. You would have thought that would happen all the time up here. If we’d all brought the hairdryers from our rooms we could have taken care of that ice I reckon.

No polar bears today.

Day 3

This morning I managed to get my first photograph of a walrus. I walked into our room just as we were passing two of them off our balcony. It’s not the greatest photo, but it’s a start!

We then set off on our first expedition. We geared up and headed down to the mud room to board our zodiac, which is like a rubber dinghy. When we arrived in the mud room, I couldn’t find my wet weather pants, which I was sure I had placed in my locker down in the mud room. I ran around in a panic, also realising I’d left my phone in the room. I asked the attendant if I had time to go and get my phone (I needed it for landscape photos) and he said yes. I hurried back to the room, grabbed my phone and then shot back down to the mud room, only to find that Lidia had been shuttled onto a zodiac without me.

The ship faded away into the fog as we drifted away on our zodiacs. It was like we entered a different world. It was quiet, eerie and freezing cold. Massive ice floes and icebergs floated around us, many of them moving past quite quickly due to the various currents running underneath. The drivers of the zodiacs tried to pick paths through the moving maze of ice floes. Some they could push out of the way, and others they would beach themselves on and have to either back off or use ice picks to dig their way out. Many of the ice floes looked small on top, but had massive icebergs underneath. It was a slow and tedious process and we spent the next couple of hours trying to navigate through the maze so that we could get to an ice shelf, a huge cliff of ice 270 kilometres long that looked like it belonged in a Game of Thrones.

It was absolutely freezing out there. I really could have used my wet weather pants. We didn’t quite make it to the ice shelf before we had to turn back, but I did get some good shots from afar. I also managed to get some shots of Lidia in another zodiac, with my phone. After we returned I realised that my wet weather pants were in the backpack on my back.

We embarked the ship and headed straight to the café for a hot coffee. It took Lidia two hours to thaw out.

That afternoon we took off for a second zodiac tour. This time I was totally organised and Lidia and I managed to get into the same zodiac together! We set off to the shoreline where we managed to see a walrus haul-out! There was a huge pod of walrus laying all over each other on the shore. We had to float downwind from them so they couldn’t smell us, but boy could we smell them. The stench of a thousand years rolled over us as we sat in our dinghy. It was well worth it though, since we got some great photographs.

Then it was back to the ship for a hot shower and a drink at the bar before dinner.

Still no polar bears.