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, announced the good news that we were heading to Alkefjellet for our first stop of the day. A series of bird cliffs where thick-billed murres (Brunnich’s guillemots) make their home, this has long been a favourite for many of the staff on board, and today we realised why. Circled by thousands of birds, both the thick-billed murres, whose nests rest precariously on these jagged cliffs, but also those who make the murres their prey, arctic skuas and glaucous gulls; there were also kittiwakes and a double take confirmed that there were perilously balanced, nesting barnacle geese; Alkfefjellet is an area of profound natural wonder.
My binoculars helped me spot an arctic fox on the snow field - others with binoculars were able to see it but it was difficult with the naked eye.
With murres floating towards the ship on the last vestiges of ice, many of us had to look twice thinking that they were penguins who had gone terribly off course - but with the ability to fly.
After several hours drifting along these geological marvels with fog at one end and sunshine at the other we left. As we motored away Dimitri finished his interrupted lecture from the previous day on animal adaptations in the arctic. It was then the Captain’s turn to take centre stage as he pulled our ship into a particularly stable piece of fast-ice. The first time for many,even staff, we were given the opportunity to walk out onto the ice itself. With gunners marking a perimeter, just incase bears wanted to join the party, everybody walked out and felt what is was like to be in the environment of the polar bear or a ring seal - even the crew managed to get out onto the 25 cm thick ice, snapping pictures with their flag.
Once we were back on board, and after hot chocolate and kahlula, we turned towards the ice cap of Bråsvellbreen. Austfonna is the world’s third largest, after Antarctica and Greenland, and one which matches Wales in its size. But no one was quite prepared for the scale of the spectacle until we arrived it was 170 kms long and 40 feet high. In the meantime, our geologist, Bob, explained the basics of our planet’s geology - making it understandable us all. With this knowledge under our belt, we headed into dinner. As course followed course, we could see the approaching line of ice in the distance, beginning as a thin line of white and growing to a wall of white alongside our vessel. A second wonder of the Arctic, these sheer cliffs are run over with fresh-water waterfalls, tumbling over themselves to reach the silver of the ocean below.
We were entranced and the words ‘highlight of the trip’ was on our lips. (today's photo helps explain why) Our evening lecture was postponed so that we could continue to enjoy the spectacular white cliffs and look at the ice which had calved from it - some of it was bright blue and the pieces got smaller and smaller as we moved away from the ice-sheet until we went through the final line of ice chippings and into clear water.