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Svalbard August 2013

Helen Rose Hill Diary

Having left the North Cape in Norway, the ship sailed northwest to Svalbard. Svalbard is an archipelago and Longyearben is the main settlement on the largest island Spitzbergen. It is only 800 miles from the North Pole and at latitude of 79 degrees and on a level with North Greenland. There is very little time difference from Norway as it is the same line of longitude as mainland Norway. I had not thought of this but the further north you are the less time difference there is when travelling east or west as it is round the top of the globe!
Longyearben is primarily a coal mining settlement and the land is inhospitable although rich in minerals. Spitzbergen is unevenly covered by snow caps from which many glaciers flow into the fjords. The town looks Scandinavian with wooden houses and a wonderful museum of arctic life and mining. Surprisingly, at this latitude there were lovely little, low growing arctic/alpine flowers. The Lutheran Church is worth a visit as the most northernly church in the world and I was welcomed with coffee and cake as the service had just finished. The town has glaciers around it and we saw an arctic fox running around. Huskies are the working dogs here and rarely kept as pets but they are very friendly. Last year, the ship could not dock at Longyearben due to pack ice but the guests did see many walruses. The ice pack varies from year to year. There is an airstrip now so the islanders are not completely cut off in wintertime. Here, the Midnight Sun is visible from April 20 to August 22 and I have been told that in the four dark months, there is a blue haze from the ice and also the Aurora Borealis known as the Northern Lights. I have seen them in Scotland at Corrour
The pilot had boarded the ship before Longyearben and stayed with us until we left Svalbard to head south. Our next port of call was Ny-Alesund, the polar research station on the south west coast of Spitzbergen. It is home to about 35 people all employed in its prominent international scientific research centre. It has the most northern post office in the world! The wildlife here is polar bears and visitors must not walk beyond the confines of the town unless accompanied by a worker with a rifle. The Arctic Terns are fierce here protecting their nests and everyone was ‘dive-bombed’ by them. I could not get past them to take a photo of a herd of reindeer at the end of the street! Ny-Alesund also has a history of coal mining but this came to an end after a disastrous accident in 1962. There is a statue here to Roald Amundsen, the great Norwegian Polar explorer.
Overnight, the ship sailed onto the highlight of the entire trip, cruising in Magdalenafjord on the north west coast of Spitzbergen and our most northern point. It was worth going on deck at 5.30am to see this spectacular fjord surrounded by fabulous glaciers, towering rock faces and steep, rugged mountains. William Barents was the first to explore this fjord in 1596. The ship sailed to the end of the 8km long fjord and did a 180 degree turn to leave. I was told that this is the last year that ships will be allowed to sail into the fjord due to the pollution from them. It was cold on deck and a woman standing next to me looked inadequately clad. I asked her if she was cold and she said ’No, I am fae Aberdeen and we are used to this weather!’
We sailed south after delivering the pilot back to Longyearben and a day and a half later arrived at the Faeroes. The more I write about this, the more I realise how wonderful the cruise was and I would do it again.
Coming attraction; Faroe Islands (part three of the Norwegian cruise odyssey)
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