June 10 - Svalbard

 June 10 - Svalbard 

Up for the final day. We are at Recherchefjorden which is a fjord just below our final destination and disembarkation tomorrow. The morning trip was out to look at the glacier which was different again and just as beautiful. This one ran down to a pool of water, possibly an inlet, but almost a lake. To me it looked like two glaciers had formed this plain which we walked across, but I am not a geologist - maybe U3A could offer a short course? Anyway there was a large plain leading to the inlet of water which was full of sea ice and then behind was the remaining glacier. There was a bit of mud around but nowhere near like the other day but a warning sign left by a previous group methinks - two boots and a marker board sticking out. Once again the wildflower, Saxifraga, everywhere. We saw lots of birds again, guillemots, purple sandpipers, kittiwakes, and Eider ducks flying. We also saw fox tracks and a few Reindeer up on the slopes, and then some dropped antlers on the beach. A very nice morning.   

The afternoon activity was a wandering hike excursion in the local hills. We came across a couple of old hunters wooden cabins nearby, still in pretty good nick though, and up for rent!.  Not for me though I must admit. I know, call me ‘woosy’ if you will, but I prefer my toilets to be inside and without Polar Bears knocking on the door! 😀


There were also some remains of a very old but short lived coal mine.  What a place to try and mine!  Cold, desolate, remote, four months without sunlight, these original pioneers were certainly tough, if not foolhardy as well 


More Reindeer on our walk but also a couple of Parasitic Jeagers.  The birds name, Jaeger, is derived from the German word Jäger, meaning "hunter". This name comes from the fact that most of the food it acquires is by robbing other birds of their catches, nice eh?  We’ve seen these birds a couple of times in action before, and it’s quite a sight, however, they’ve always been too quick to photo. 

Captain’s drinks on the helipad this evening finished off what has been a really nice day but also has been a fantastic cruise. 


Longyearbyen tomorrow and Sunday and then back to Oslo. 


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