Poolepynten &Alkhornet. It was an overcast morning, with a low ceiling of cloud and some wind. The M/S Expedition was under way to Poolepynten, a small peninsula about two thirds of the way along Prins Karls Forland Island. We disembarked around 8AM at some distance from a couple of old trapper’s cabins. One of them the traditional “A” shape, made from the numerous logs found on the beach itself, which probably came all the way from Siberia on the Arc...

Hornsund, Spitsbergen. Sunday morning met us with warmer temperatures, but with that break it also gave us a bit of fog. However, that didn’t hinder a planned Zodiac cruise along the glacier face of Samarinbreen, on the south side of Hornsund with Sørkapp Land to the south. The wind was calm and the bay was even calmer, giving us a more pleasant look at our surroundings. As we left the ship, we saw that there were many icebergs in the area, so we pointed th...

Russebukta As a full day was planned with early landings I went for a 0630am session in the gym - I need not have rushed even though it was a great session as it was foggy outside and the fog defined the morning. Plans A&B were discarded and we embarked on plan C. Although extended fast ice prevented us from landing at Discobukta, we had the opportunity to enjoy Frank’s presentation “Smile of the Walrus" which examined the natural history of the walrus....

Alkefjellet & Bråsvellbreen. I was awake at 5am, John went to the lounge and returned with a cup of tea! The Arctic sun hanging heavy over the ship this morning, we all rose, chipper and eager for the day ahead. Looking outside, we could still see pieces of ice clinging to the sea’s surface, icebergs and slabs which had only recently come away from their winter home drifting by. An early breakfast was satisfying, especially as our Expedition Leader, John...

At Sea in Southeastern Spitsbergen. Shrouded in often dense fog for most of the morning, we cruised north along the coast of southeast Spitsbergen in search of sea ice, the ideal site for Polar Bears. A number of hours were required to reach the ice edge, hence there was some time to commence our comprehensive seminars at sea, with informative lectures covering the history of whaling and hunting with Natalie and geology with Bob (the latter I missed as with my u...