Day 1, 7/2 Tuesday. Sunny. Relaxing on board.
Took a photo of the cleaned-up room. Peeking into other rooms too.
Only now I realized that our room is for 4 persons. It has 4 closets.
On each bed, a notebook, and a strange looking water bottle that smells of plastic. Our second set.
There are 2 stations of drinking fountain on board, which I filled my own water bottle.
My partner went into town today and bought a collection of different beers.
Today's buffet lunch is quieter. The mushroom soup is very good, and I had 2 cups.
We sailed out after all passengers arrived.
The new ones had to go through all the drills and safety talk.
A group of about 14 Chinese, who don't all speak English.
Another pair of Chinese ladies with doubled eyelids, plastic noses and big cameras and selfie sticks. They speak English. One of them has nails 1" long.
Later we were told that the trip after next, the whole ship was chartered by a Chinese group.
Oceanwide has a sales person in Shanghai, apparently doing very well.
No wonder of the Chinese signs. No guides speak Chinese.
Day 2, 7/3 Wednesday. 5°C. Overcast. Hornsund.
Breakfast found some red chilly paste, congee and fermented tofu.
Morning, Burgerbukta. Zodiac cruise. Beautiful wide glacier front. Quite some birds: Skua, Eider, Glaucous, guillimot.
The highlight is a school of at least 7 belugas. Close enough to show in my old phone.
Lunch: more Chinese flavored port-chop and chow-mian noodles. I like the pumpkin soup.
Afternoon: hike at Treskelodden. I'm dismayed that the 2 selfie Chinese ladies joined the hike, and having a stick on all the time, until at the end when Misha talked to them.
The hike itself is short but beautiful.
We went up a ridge and walked till it merges into the mountain, and then retraced our steps back.
Tons of purple saxifrage.
View on both sides of the ridge into peaks and ices, occasionally a blue pond.
Recap. Misha talked about the whales we might see here, how to distinguish them: the spray, the fin, and the tail.
Same dinner as last week.
After dinner, one of the guests, Pieter, gave a presentation on his vision of the Arctic. I missed this talk.
Took a motion sickness pill. It's a long sailing tonight in open sea.
Day 3, 7/4 Thursday. 2°C. Overcast.
Bear Island (Bjørnøya).
We arrived at Bjornoya ~8am. Anchored at a bay called Sorhamna.
Most of the island is a wildlife sanctury, not open to public.
In fact, the entire island will be closed to the general public starting end of this year.
On top of it, this island is often shrouded with rain/fog and strong wave.
Being so isolated, far away from other land, it gets no shelter from wind and current.
We are very lucky to be able to come here, and the wave was decent enough for us to launch the zodiacs.
We sailed along the ship south all the way to the southern tip of the island, Stappen, along vertical cliffs.
At the southern end, it's a birds' paradise. So many birds: on the rocks, on the water, in the air. Feels like a different world. Cocophany of sounds.
Saw
Northern Garnet and puffins close enough for my phone.
A shipwreck. Tiny waterfalls. Quite a few "arches".
Fog made the whole place more mysterious.
Some wave. In fact, I got dosed on the way back, almost soaking wet and cold.
Back on ship, changed clothes. Warmed up with hot soup and lunch. Washed.
Afternoon: landing on Bear Island. This is even rarer.
Claudio contacted Bjornoya Meteo, and we were allowed to visit their station at the north end of the island.
I saw a flurry of passports at the front desk, after lunch. Didn't understand why then.
Turns out hotel crews wanted their passport stamped at the post office there.
A long line at the post office for folks writing postcards, stamping postcards/passports, and buying souvenirs.
A couple of guides brought a case of wine and another case of I-don't-know-what to the station.
We are the first group of people they saw this season.
This silly "meteology stone" has painted:
Warm Stone = Sun
Wet stone = Rain
white stone = Snow
Cannot see the stone = Fog
This is the oldest prison hut in the whole of Svalbard that is still standing.
Hammerfesthuset is maintained by the Mayor.
Later, someone found puffins on the cliffs just left of the station.
We all went over. A lot of puffins. We were able to get very close.
These photos are from my old phone.
Puffins are just too dorky, but addorable.
Day 4, 7/5 Friday. 12°C, decreasing clouds.
Hopen Island.
Morning: landing at the south tip.
Koefoedodden, a hunting site full of whale bones.
Guides set up the perimeter and we were allowed to walk within. However, I got yelled at before I even reached one of those posts.
Here, among the grassy slopes, we found
Hyperborea Saxifrage,
scurvy grass (which is common and grows much bigger on bird cliffs),
Snow Buttercup, a few poppies in buds.
Afternoon: Hopen Radio, another meteorology station. Manned by 4 people.
We were allowed to bring onshore 20 people at a time.
This time I learned my lessons, and brought a few post cards and my passport to get stamped.
Again, we were the first group of people they saw this season.
Eider ducks set up nests right next to the buildings. They are so tame.
3 dogs in 3 separate dog houses. They provide the polar bears alert, which is said very common.
There's a separate hut for sauna.
Once we returned to the zodiacs, did a cruise under the nearby bird cliffs.
Quite a lot of birds.
My partner went for kayaking this afternoon.
Dinner: instead of lamb shank of last week, we had lamb rack. The rest of the menu is the same.
We sat with a company manager who is monitoring the hotel service.
According to him, our ship carries frozen food and alcohol for the entire summer season.
They came onboard in Netherland. They resupply fresh fruit and vegetable at Longyearbyen (or whatever major city of each trip). The hotel staff stay on for an whole season.
Unlike the expedition guides, who can join one trip or another.
For this week, we have 2 new guides replacing 2 left.
Day 5, 7/6. Saturday. 2°C, overcast. Edge Island (
Edgeøya)
Early morning zodia cruise to see walrus on ice.
Then swap with the other half of the passenger to walk onshore at Andreetangen.
The walrus were trying to get on shore, so the guides chased us off the shore.
They still didn't come on land, probably we were still too close.
Later, we heard that, the reason we came here, is that they got a report of 250 walrus were spotted here.
Well, we saw maybe a dozen.
Walking around the spit. A pond. Grassy ground, a bit wet. Skua nest in the middle.
Checked out the trapper's hut.
My partner spotted a yellow flower on a low ridge.
Took a couple of photos.
Arctic Cinquefoil.
It turns out that these are the the only photos of this species during the 2 weeks.
I transfered them to Ian's laptop after dinner.
Someone spotted
Steller's Eider. I didn't see one.
Back on the ship.
Peter Prokosch gave a lecture on "The East Atlantic Flyway of Coastal Birds". He brought a few books with this title, and left one in the libray.
A few key species he and his colleagues were tracking since the 80s was
Pink-footed Goose.
Starting from
Wadden Sea, all the way to Russia's Zevernaya Islands, with a military outpost that's out of reach for public.
He talked about trapping and concervation effort, and the concept of of Linking of Tourism and Conservation.
After lunch, someone spotted a bear (or 2) from the bridge.
So, no landing. All on zodiacs trying to look for the bear.
It took awhile. When you are on water, you are too low. If the bear walk behind some low rocks, he's out of your line of sight.
Also our bear was inside the boundary of a bird sanctuary, we were not allowed to get close to shore.
Finally, he came out of the sanctuary and came down to water. He was eating something, with a bit of red near his nozzle.
At some point, an artic fox ran across behind. I missed it.
After the recap of the day, we had a BBQ outside at the heli-pad. Exactly as last week. Free drink.
This time, I knew better. Wear one more layer, sitting outdoor for my dinner.
Yvonne and a few passengers moved their food into the bar and ate inside.
After dinner, the Dutch gentleman talked about his 40+ year of visit to Svalbard.
Some old post cards and photos. In the beginning, no gangway, using rope to get on/off theship.
Passengers help to do chores on ship.
Unfortunately, his English is not the best, I didn't get all what he said.
Day 6. 7/7, Sunday. Rain, wind, fog. Hornsund.
Our wake-up call said "Welcome to another day in the Arctic", no more "beautiful day".
Morning, instead of the southeast side of Spietsbergen, the ship moving into Hornsund to seek shelter.
No activity. Lectures:
Misha on animal sound - his master's thesis
Annalou on ice
Misha is a very good speaker. Funny, clear. He should be a teacher.
We anchored in Samarinvagen in Hornsund. After lunch, my partner and some other brave passengers went for a zodiac cruise.
Without rain pants, and my old rain jacket seems leaking, I decided to stay put.
Koen gave another photography lecture (very similar to last week's 2nd lecture).
Afterwards, the documentary movie
Polar Bear, in the voice of a female bear from her beginning to her leading her own cub. It's very well done. Beautiful scenary, good story telling. Hint of global warming made the bear's life more difficult.
Popcorn was distributed.
Between the breaks, or during the lecture/movie, I'd head out to take photos whenever the rain seems to stop.
Hornsund is utterly beautiful.
As we sailed out of Hornsund, I went out from time to time to take photos.
Sat with David from London for dinner. For him, Hopen is the highlight.
He scoured the trip offerings for 18 years in order to visit Hopen. Finally he was able to land on Hopen, very happy.
Day 7, 7/8, Monday. 3.5°C. Overcast.
Bell Sound.
Morning landing at Fagerbukta. Icebergs in water and on land.
Funny name for this wide glacier: Recherchebreen.
A few of us, including the bird conservationist Peter and his son, hiked up a hill. Much better view. Moss campion. Melting creeks. Birds above. A reindeer carcass.
Back on the beach, tasted oyster plant leaf.
Lunch: Tom yum soup. I had 2 cups. Different from last week.
Heard that a guest got stuck in the mud. 2 guides managed to pull her out, but without one boot. She walked back with one boot.
2:30m, 14 people who signed up for long hikes disembarked earlier to do a one-way trek to Bamsebu where the rest of the passenger would land later.
Estimated 16Km. Led by Ornithologist and assistant expedition lead Christopher (French, not as likable as Claudio).
Saw a herd of reindeers with a baby. Plover? Sand piper?
More campions, some loudswort.
Poor Werner (South Africa) followed us in a Zodiac. It was pretty chilly.
He spotted fox more than once, and radio-ed to Christopher.
But too far for us to see.
However, our long hike was cut short by stream crossing.
Christopher called zodiac to ferry us across.
The wave was higher now. In the end, we were ferried back to the ship.
Total maybe 6.5Km.
Those who stayed onboard weren't able to get out at all, because the wave turned worse.
Alan gave a lecture on Fridtjof Nansen's Fram expedition.
During the recap, the dive team showcased what they found: a very heavy glass sphere, completely empty. Similar to
Vitrovex.
There's a serial number on the housing. The ship contacted the vendor. But was not told who bought it.
Tonight's dinner menu is different from last week's. This leg has 1 more day than the last one.
Day 8, 7/9, Tuesday. 6°C, overcast. Billefjorden.
Skansbukta in the morning.
My partner got a blister yesterday, so opted for kayaking today.
9 hikers this time. Magan, the young lady who lost her boot yesterday came along.
Her jacket and pants still had mud prints from yesterday, after washing.
Her luggage didn't arrive with her. Her jacket and pants were borrowed from her hotel in Longyearbyen.
We walked up a hill, passed a small waterfall, saw a reindeer and a lot of reindeer fur on the grass on lower slopes.
The red circle on the right photo is where we reached.
Nodding Campion, Ross' Sandwort, more hairy lousewort, a lot of Mountain Aven, quite a few flowering poppy, some bright yellow mushroom.
The best is the view from higher up.
We could also see the mining site across the water.
The Spanish couple requested to visit the mining site.
Thankfully, no one in this group wanted to do polar plunge.
Because we were already late. Christopher radio-ed Claudio. Yes!
This is rather fortunate. Because I saw the only Boreali Jacob's Ladder on this trip, and also saw an arctic fox. He's almost all black (it's said to be a blue morph).
We were ferried across the water on zodiac.
Peeking into the trapper's hut: 2 candles on table, a log book on the side. Plates and glasses on a shelf.
The twisted rail track went into the cliff.
The fox ran over the track right in front of Christopher.
After lunch, it was zodia cruise at Adilfbukta. Last activity. No landing.
Nordenskiöld glacier sets the background.
I forgot to bring my phone, so these photos are from my partner.
Thanks to Ian and Carole in our dingy, we were able to see some of these not-too-common birds:
A
King Eider flying with a flock of common Eider, and a
Long-tailed Skua who is very graceful.
The guides were very taken by a
Ringed Seal (the smallest, supposed to be a rare sighting).
A bit choppy today. We all got some splash of water.
Chilly in the wind. In fact, had to send back a couple of passengers back to ship before continuing more crusing.
Checked out some small bird nesting cliffs.
Sailing back to Longyearbyen, we went by
Pyrameden, an abandoned Russian mining town.
Sara, who has lived in Longyearbyen for 12 years, gave a talk on its history out on the deck behind the bridge.
She's a good speaker.
Recap of the trip. The left blue image is the advertised itinerary, the plan A.
The right is the actual itinerary.
Again, Juan played his excellent slide show of this trip.
Same dinner with the hotel crew running through the dining room with the cheers from all tables.
Exchanged survey for 2 beer vouchers.
Copied Juan's slide show to my microSD.
After the dinner, Ian and Carole gave a talk on the plants we saw during the last 2 weeks.
I contributed one photo.
Learned a lot. Survival methods of arctic plants: hair to create air pocket for warmth; multiple propogating methods; facing the sun.
I'm not sure if I saw these two:
Cerasrium regelii and
Sagina nivalis
Again, the practice of parking the ship at the dock in Longyearbyen.
Day 9, 7/10, Wednesday. 7°C, overcast. Going home.
Tagged the luggage, put it next to the front desk where all the other bags were.
Disembark with just day pack ~9am.
This concludes our arctic cruise of 2 weeks.
8/15 Saturday. Belltown Block Party. Mural artists live painting on large wooden canvas.
They were just starting when we walked to the waterfront around 1pm.
By the time we came back, ~4:30pm, some were near finished.
It was very lively. Vendors, visitors.
One block was reserved for strange bikes and 2 unicycles. Anyone can try one of those. Looks fun.
2pm, Duwamish River boat tour. Suprised to see all the sandwiches, and spring rolls. Free. Soft drink too.
There were also interpreters of ~5 languages.
Various agencies spoke of their partnership in cleaning up the river.
The worst contaminants were dugged out (see the left photo where they were piled on, waiting for transport).
Some were encased with gravel or other materials.
With all the noise of engine, people, food, kids, hard to hear.
They were around to answer questions, which I find more useful.
A nice day out on the water.
Afterwards, I walked to South Lake Union Park to checkout the installations of this year's Seattle Design Festival.
