Day 4

We woke to the most magnificent day in Svalbard. 10 degrees, sun shining, no breeze. Our ship was anchored in a harbour surrounded by white capped mountains.

We were to go out on a shore excursion this morning to see a trapper’s hut and, hopefully, some wildlife. We donned all of the one hundred layers of underclothes, clothes, jackets and lifejackets, ready to go. At the last minute, we hear an announcement. Apparently, the bear scouts have been out and spotted one, perhaps multiple polar bears only one mile from the hut we are to visit. This made me extremely excited. Briefly. Unfortunately, the presence of these bears precludes any visit to the area for safety reasons. Now I came up here to see the bears. Surely, we should be going toward them, not away from them!

Anyway, they moved the ship further down the shoreline and changed our excursion to a zodiac cruise of the area. We didn’t see any polar bears, but we did see a beluga whale, a minke whale and a lot of local birds, including eider ducks, guillemots, and pink-legged geese. Those of you who read my Kimberley posts last year, will no doubt remember the hilarious joke I made to the ornithologist at the time. We were looking at terns and he was explaining their migratory habits. I asked him if they migrate in pairs, because “one good tern deserves another”. Obviously, he found this side-splittingly funny. Well, this trip, I have again produced ornithological comedy gold. Our expedition leader this morning explained that there are two different types of eider duck and how to tell the difference. She wasn’t sure which type we were looking at, so I said “that’s ok. They’re bound to be eider one or the other.” The next gap in this text is intentional, to give you time to stop laughing….

During our zodiac cruise, we stopped at a waterfall, which I was able to pop my hand under to taste the glacial water. Tastes the same as any other water. We then drifted into the calm waters of a cove, surrounded by snowy mountains reflected in the water. The beauty and majesty of this place was breath-taking. Our guide spotted some pink-legged geese on the shore and drove in for a closer look. Unfortunately, the water was too shallow, and she ground the propeller into the rocky seabed. The sound wasn’t good and she raised the motor slightly and carefully got us out of there. She explained that her boss had proudly shown her the new propeller on her zodiac that very morning. She raised the motor all of the way out of the water to check the damage and found that there were pieces missing from the prop. Uh oh. Another new propeller required!

After lunch we cruised north for a few hours until we reached the edge of the polar ice cap. We could see the actual edge of the ice pack as we approached. This was the highlight of the trip so far. The ship was an ice-breaker, and carved through the floating ice platforms like a knife through butter. The sound of the ice breaking as we sliced through it was like lightning crackling and we stood on the bow of the ship and watched the giant cracks appearing in the massive ice sheets as we ploughed through them one after another. As we sailed, the ice sheets closed behind us as if we had never passed. We traveled to 80 degrees north, until there was nothing but ice all around us for hundreds of kilometres. We ended up about 1,000 kilometres from the North Pole. This was truly one of the most overwhelming experiences of my life. We drank champagne while enjoying the horizon to horizon views of the polar ice cap. I have never been so isolated from civilisation.

Still no polar bears.

Day 5

This morning we woke to a magnificent view in stunning weather. Visibility was perfect and as we drifted slowly into a bay, the imposing and expansive Lilliehöökbreen glacier came into view.

During the morning we geared up and took a zodiac to the shore, where we took a hike up a steep rise to view the glacier from across the bay. While we were up there, we came across three young, male reindeer grazing. I think it was comet, vixen and dasher, but I can’t be sure. At this time of year, being Summer, they have brown, molting coats and brown eyes. In winter, their coats turn snow white and their eyes bright blue.

After returning to the ship, the captain repositioned close to Lilliehöökbreen glacier and we set off for another zodiac cruise. We were first out and the Expedition Leader, Michael was our guide. We drifted up to the face of the glacier, which is 22 kilometres long and up to 160 metres high. As we sat there, amongst the floating chunks of ice, we could hear the glacier carving. It was like listening to a thunderstorm. Suddenly, with a thunderous crack, a huge piece of the glacier carved off and plunged into the ocean, creating a building-sized splash and sending a wave of water around the face of the glacier in both directions.

Michael fished a massive chunk of ice out of the water and placed it on the foreword locker, which was directly in front of me. I broke a chunk off and popped it in my mouth. It was very refreshing. Then we took off to check out a dark blob that Michael had spotted. He kicked the motor into high gear and as he did so, the massive chunk of ice slid off the locker and slammed into my knee. Michael threw it overboard fearing a law suit.

We made our way to the blob, to find that it was a young walrus enjoying the sunshine on a floating ice floe. I managed to snap some great pictures of him lazing about.

Back aboard ship, I waited in nervous anticipation for the call to participate in the polar plunge. They had setup a marina on the rear of the ship so that those with more guts than brains could strip down and launch themselves off the ship into the icy waters of the Arctic Ocean. Zodiacs cruised around, pushing huge chunks of floating ice out of the area so that these crazy people wouldn’t jump onto an ice floe.

So I finally received the call and was in the first group to take the plunge. I made my way down to the marina at the rear of the ship, passing the ship nurse on the way, whose services I hoped I wouldn’t need. I was already shivering while standing in the line, wearing a robe with my togs underneath. I stood with a lovely lady we had met a couple of times over dinner: Ellen from Miami. She was about to back out when I sidled up next to her and inadvertently convinced her to go through with it. The crew strapped a harness around each of us: presumedly so that if you have a massive coronary in the water they can haul you out like a sack of potatoes. I gave my phone to the Hotel Director, Jorgen from Switzerland, so that he could take a video of the event.

The time came and Ellen and I stood together on the pontoon of a zodiac and leapt in together. I executed a perfect bomb, which unfortunately splashed Arctic water all over Jorgen’s immaculate uniform and the lady sitting behind him! I had to wait for Ellen to climb the ladder before I could exit the freezing water and as I waited I could feel the cold seeping into my bones. I finally climbed out of there and threw a waiting glass of scotch down as quick as I could to warm my insides. Then it was back upstairs for a hot shower to thaw myself out.

The polar bears continue to be elusive!