June 07 - Svalbard

June 07 - Svalbard 

Arrived in Kapp Lee Bay overnight to 100% visibility, yay! 😀


In contrast to yesterday what a great morning it turned out to be.  Zodiacs to the beach and, although a little wet and choppy, off for a hike over the hills.  We hadn’t walked far before coming across our first of four groups of reindeer.  We approached slowly, trying not to startle them, and, as they didn’t seem too perturbed, we managed to get reasonably close, which was fantastic. These were the first we’d seen with a decent set of antlers, making them look much more like I imagined them to be (still the wrong colour though! 😂)  

There was some beautiful scenery and even more wildlife further into our hike, more Reindeer, Snow Buntings, Purple Sandpiper, Ptarmigans (the Svalbard chicken), an Arctic Fox, Brent Geese, and Walruses. Even though we didn’t manage get photos of all it was the best morning so far (even for those of us that had a bit of ‘fun’ in the mud!)    

The Walruses, which had blocked our original drop off point, were all huddled together on the beach, about 150 of them, with a few more in the water.  It’s probably the largest group we’ve seen so far and it certainly makes for an impressive sight.   

This afternoon wow!  How quickly things can change!  An Arctic fog appeared from nowhere and promptly put paid to all organised activities.  So, instead of our planned zodiac trips, we headed south towards our next destination.  This didn’t quite work out either, with pack ice and sea swell putting paid to any more activities today. Oh well bring on tomorrow!


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Sept 27 - Perugia (Day trip to Spoleto)

Image
  Sept 27 - Perugia (Day trip Spoleto) Off to Spoleto today, an ancient city in the foothills of the Apennine Ranges.  Divided into the medieval upper town, and the predominantly modern lower town, our initial goal was to head up to the fortress at the top of the hill.  In theory this was going to be relatively easy as the town has installed a number of escalators all the way to the top making it an easy ‘climb’. However, signage to said escalators being non-existent, we found ourselves wandering around town for ages before finding our way up.   The fortress, the ‘Rocca Albornoziana’, was built in the 14th century and was originally part of a fortification system constructed by the church to strengthen its military power.  Today however, it houses the ‘National Museum of the Duchy of Spoleto’, although in more recent times it was used as a prison.  Having some great views of the city and the local countryside it also overlooks the magnificent 13th-centur...
Read more

Sept 28 - Perugia (Day trip to Assisi)

Image
  Sept 28 - Perugia (Day trip to Assisi) Having experienced some pretty steep hills yesterday, today, on arrival in Assisi, we took the easy option and got the bus to the top of town before strolling down! 😊 On a recommendation we first visited a couple of churches in the upper part of town.  Both nice, although nothing spectacular, but considering where we were, i.e. Assisi, I suppose we were both thinking they’d be a little bit special (sorry St Clare! 😊 ) Walking through town though was very nice, really ‘Olde Worlde’, with some great piazzas, cobbled lanes, some Roman remains, and, because it’s in the hills, lovely views of the local countryside.  It’s not often that I’ll mention food on here but today we found a sensational restaurant, overlooking the walls of the city and just metres from the Basilica of Saint Francis, we chose it simply for its location. The food however was superb and, considering its setting, it was no more expensive than most other places w...
Read more