We spent a quiet night sailing in the quiet waters of Stor Fjorden. The occasional kaboom against the sides of the ship letting us know that the ship was once more in waters with ice. It is comforting to know that there are expert officers and crew taking good care of us as we try to get some sleep in this magical place where the sun does not set. The surrounding beauty is like a powerful magnet, and tearing oneself away is difficult. Many of us are already somewhat sleep-deprived, but that is alright because we can catch up when we get back.
We head for Russebukta, and upon arrival a scout Zodiac is sent out to assess the landing. From the bridge we comment on the amount of ice along the coast, so we are not surprised to hear that a landing will not be possible here. But, Plan B is quickly in place and we will soon enough arrive to our next stop. In the meantime, it is an opportunity to hear a presentation.
We soon arrive at Ardalsnuten and here a landing is possible. In no time at all the fleet of Zodiacs are shuttling us across the blue waters, under sunny skies, to the landing. Today the options are for three types of hike – long, medium and short. The tight knit groups head off with their guides, for we are now in Svalbard-mode and must remain close to the naturalists at all times. Along the way we have good views of a number of birds and, probably most importantly, reindeer. They are quietly grazing on the patchy pastures as most are still under snow and ice. All around us we are surrounded by beautiful landscapes of rising mountains with their tops lopped off. This island was under ice a long time ago and that is what gives the mountains this particular ‘table top’ appearance.
During lunch we are on our way again; there will be no further landings as we have quite a way to go to our planned destination for tomorrow. There are another couple of presentations which further our knowledge of the area and give us new perspectives on global issues.
The sunny skies light up the huge fields of ice we encounter throughout most of the late afternoon and evening. There are so many types of ice and the forces at stake shape the icescape; we see grease ice, fresh ice, first year ice, glacial ice and older ice. Occasionally we come upon tracks, sometimes from seals and sometimes polar bears. But the pressure ridges make finding these magnificent predators very difficult.
It has been a stunning day in the wondrous Arctic; what a privilege!
