Greenland & Iceland

We spent the first couple days of this voyage exploring the North-West coast of Spitsbergen. It is very clear that the bird populations are decreasing as they begin their seasonal migration South, but we still saw a decent amount of bird life as well as lots of reindeer. We also had the bonus of seeing beluga (white whales) which is a fairly rare encounter.

We spent the next two days at sea en route to Greenland. On the way I watched the sun set for the first time in 71 days!! It was so beautiful, and definitely the longest lasting sunset I've ever witnessed! It was hard to tell how long the sun was actually down for because there were some clouds on the horizon, but it definitely set and it definitely rocked! I decided to make the most of the night by staying up late enough to watch the sun rise as well. It never really got dark, just twilight. The whole night was beautiful and when the time did come for the sun to rise there were fulmars soaring the skies to further enhance the experience.

The next day our ship crossed paths with a large group of whales, including a few fin whales - the second largest animal to ever live on earth! This was by far the best sighting I've ever had of a fin whale. They can get up to 27 meters (88 feet) long and I don't think these ones were far off that – they were massive!

August 14, 2011, I first stepped foot on the largest island in the world! I was so excited to be in Greenland and really enjoyed taking it all in. During our landings we saw Musk Oxen & an Arctic Hare - both Arctic land mammals that aren't found in Svalbard. There were also many fantastic ice bergs that we happily cruised amongst in the zodiaks.

On our final day in Greenland we visited a remote Inuit community. It was great day of walking around, exploring the community, watching the sled dogs get fed and navigating zodiaks through some ice on the way back to the ship. The most entertaining part of this landing was watching the local kids play in our zodiaks at the landing site. At first they were pretty shy about even touching the boats, but before long they were loosening off an anchor line, pushing the boat off shore and even taking out the paddles to push their way off shore. They were completely harmless and basically just having a good time, which entertained many people including our passengers watching from shore.

After Greenland we spent another couple days at sea to get to Iceland. Although I had already seen a few sunsets, it was on the way to Iceland that I experienced pure darkness for the first time in 75 days! Darkness is not something I expected to miss – I'm a big lover of the sun – but after 24 hours of daylight for 2 ½ months it gave me great joy to stand outside and watch the ship cruise through a dark night. Our first couple nights were cloudy, but eventually the stars appeared and I saw the big dipper and a great view of the moon. I have not had the privilege of seeing the Northern Lights, but I am hopeful I'll get that experience at some point over the next 26 days.

Yesterday we landed in Heimeay, Iceland. In the morning we went on a bus tour of the town and in the afternoon everyone was free to wonder as they pleased. I went hiking with two other staff members and had an absolute blast! We were able to climb to the top of two mountains and spent a good chunk of time hanging out and taking in the scenic beauty of this volcanic area. It was a perfect mix of exercise, nature and having fun with co-workers outside of the working environment.

Sunrise after 71 days of 24-hour daylight

Fin whale - second largest animal ever known to exist

Hiking in Greenland

Zodiak cruise amongst the icebergs in Greenland

There were some very cool pieces of ice around!

Inuit kids playing with our zodiak

Lookout on the Inuit community

Heimeay, Iceland - note the narrow entrance to the harbour on the right

We saw many sheep during our climbing, this one was pretty close to the top

Made it to the top!

Svalbard - Voyage 5 & 6

Two more great voyages in Svalbard, the last voyage was the first time we were able to circumnavigate Spitsbergen this season! Next we're off to Greenland & Iceland, as you can probably guess, I'm very excited for that!

Sister ships in port together in Longyearben - the one I'm on this season in front, the one I was on in Antarctica behind

Svalbard - Voyage 3 & 4

All voyages are very unique, however, as you may expect, there are some similarities from voyage to voyage, so here a couple short stories that made these past voyages unique for me.

On many occasions I have announced the opening of the gift shop only to be followed shortly by an announcement that there has been a wildlife sighting from the ship; immediately clearing out the shop. On one particular occasion it was announced that there was a minke whale spotted just off the bow, and like clock-ward this cleared out the shop – rightfully so. This time, rather than stick around for the remaining 15 minutes of opening time, I quickly locked up, grabbed my camera and headed for the bow. It ended up being a fantastic decision because the whale breached several times; far from the usual (still exciting) display of a fin cutting the surface of the water.

On another day I was driving the kayak safety boat, floating off in the distance on my own and keeping my eye on the kayakers. During this time I was visited by a passing seal who popped his head up several times around my boat and looked at me with this smile of curiosity that brought a big grin to my face.

Later on I followed the kayakers to some bird cliffs that we had been to on a previous voyage, however, this was a particularly great day at the cliffs. The day had started off fairly foggy but by the time we reached the cliffs the sun was shining and the sky was opening up and revealing the towering cliffs with very abundant bird life. Definitely one of those moments to just look back and appreciate the beauty of nature.

Zodiac Cruising

Mother & 1st-year cub

The breaching minke whale

My curious friend

The bird cliffs from the story above

Ship cruising a fjord

We love those zodiac cruises!

Classic

Impressive machinery from the mining days

Svalbard - Voyage 2

Our next voyage was a photographic tour, which meant there was opportunity to learn more about how to use my new SLR camera. It also meant there was an unbelievable amount of photographic equipment on board; it seemed pretty much everyone had a long lens the size of a telescope and many others to go along with it. I'm starting to get a better appreciation for just how advanced photography can get. The priority of the photographic tour was to find wildlife, so there were significantly less shore landings and more time spent searching for polar bears. The searching paid off in quite a few cases, one time in particular when we found a mother polar bear with two cubs on the ice.

At first they were pretty far away, but we spent the better part of a day observing them from the ship, slowly getting closer and closer without scaring them away. After a spending a good amount of time observing the mother polar bear patiently watching over a seal breathing hole, there was a sudden gasp of human excitement as we witnessed her pounce on a seal as it surfaced. The white ice surface was quickly stained with red as the mother and cubs devoured the seal. After their meal the bears relaxed on the ice for a while and it looked like the excitement was over...but this was not the case. Just after our dinner time was announced, I stayed outside with the few remaining observers and the bears started play-fighting with each other on the ice. First the mother was wrestling with the cubs and then the two cubs carried on wrestling each other. It was very entertaining to watch and brought me great joy to see these wild animals having so much fun together in their natural environment.

One day we did a landing near a popular site for walrus to haul out. Typically we beach the zodiacs after getting everyone ashore and the drivers will join one of the group walks to the walrus. This time, however, a group of young male walrus were swimming around in the water near the zodiacs with very mischievous looking behavior. So rather than join a walk, I stuck around the beach and watched the walrus with some other staff members. It didn't take long for one of the walruses to strike the back of a zodiac with his tusk, puncturing the pontoon. This immediately caused the group of them to scatter away in a hurry just like teenage boys after doing something bad.

The group of walrus returned to the boats pretty quickly and we wasted no time getting the zodiacs away from the beach to prevent another strike. Thankfully the zodiacs have multiple chambers, so we were able to drive the injured zodiac back to the ship and our logistics manager promptly repaired the hole. Bummer about the hole in the zodiac, but it was quite the experience to witness!

Meal Time! Polar bears eat a ringed seal

Two very distinct types of rock

The group of "sub-adult male" walrus approaching our zodiacs

Walrus assessing the damage he just caused this zodiac

Looking back on our landing site where the walrus have taken over

Pathway left behind the ship

More bears!

Svalbard - Voyage 1

On our last night before passenger arrival, I left the ship with another staff member to hike up a mountain in Longyearben. It ended up being quite the educational stroll as he taught me loads about the landscape and flora as well as shared numerous random stories of his experiences in the polar regions. From the top we were able to see nesting auks in the bird cliffs just below us, and later on we heard some interesting screaming sounds which led our eyes to an arctic fox in the distance. The landscape was beautiful and the lookout gave us an excellent birds-eye view of Longyearben. We began our hike around 10pm, and once the clock struck midnight we decided it was time to start heading back down. The way down went significantly faster as we were able to bum-slide our way down much of it – time efficient and loads of fun – best way to the bottom!

The next morning our team did the final preps for passenger arrival and in the afternoon we met our first group of explorers for the season. The wildlife took very little time to deliver excitement; on our first day we cruised by a walrus hauled out on an ice flow, and on our second day we spotted a polar bear walking along the ice edge. The coolest part for me was that I was just as excited as the passengers about the sightings because both sightings were a first for me too!

On the last day of the voyage I was assigned the role of driving the kayak safety boat. This involves taking the kayakers and kayak guide to wherever they want to paddle, help them load into their kayaks from the zodiac, and then keeping within a good distance of them while they're kayaking so I can quickly assist them if the need arises. While we were out kayaking, the other staff were on shore doing a landing with the rest of the passengers and were chatting over the radio about spotting a pod of beluga whales off the coast of their landing site. There was a brief feeling of missing out because we weren't able to see the belugas from where we were kayaking, but this quickly changed when a staff member radioed me to say the pod was heading directly for us! It was a fairly large pod, over 20 whales, and they were surfacing all around us. I got some amazing sights of them, one in particular that swam right past the bow of my zodiac and then looked back to check me out. Fantastic end to my first voyage in the Arctic, and many staff members made sure I knew how lucky I was to have that experience with the belugas – especially my friend who usually drives the kayak safety boat!

Lookout over Longyearben - well worth the hike up!

Bum-sliding our way back down

Crossing 80' North - the furthest from the equator I've ever been
Rather than take the picture alone, I asked one of the top polar bear researchers in the world to join me (he's quoted in an article July's Nat Geo)

Difference in vessel size!

Glacier meet rock

Zodiac cruising (note black dots in sky above!)

Puffin - one funny looking fella

Cruising some bird cliffs

Exploring near 14th of July glacier

The belugas from my story above

Bergen

Following my season in Antarctica, I was thrilled to be offered a position in the Arctic this season! I will have the same duties as last season, only this time the setting is Spitsbergen, Svalbard, in the European Arctic.

I was flown in to Bergan, Norway which was an interesting place to check out. Since then, I've spent the last 6 days setting up the ship, which for me mainly involved assembling zodiacs, moving boxes and, most time consuming of all, setting up the on-board gift shop that I am running.

We have now entered the zone of 24-hour daylight, which is very bizarre to get used to. Tomorrow the rest of the expedition staff will board the vessel to make the final preparations for our first voyage. The day after tomorrow, June 9, our first round of passengers will board the ship for a once in a lifetime experience (at least for most people) exploring the natural beauty that is Spitsbergen.

Walking the old streets of Bergen

Yes, those buildings are a leaning!

Antarctica

Shortly after my last post, I started working in the tourism industry on an expedition vessel. My primary job was driving a zodaic to take passengers from the ship to our landing sites and taking passengers on zodiac cruises around icebergs, looking for whales, checking out historical sites and observing numerous wildlife in it's natural environment. Yes, I actually found a job where the most significant job experience I had was my teenage summers spent driving the water taxi at our family cottage! Unfortunately I didn't keep up with my blog during my adventures, but I did send an email home to friends and family mid-way through my season, which is posted here:

Things have been most enjoyable on this end of the Earth...all that time spent driving boats has certainly paid off with this job! I am now 5 weeks into my 3-month position on board an expedition ship bringing tourists to Antarctica, South Georgia & The Falkland Islands. If you´re interested, here´s a little more detail about how my time is spent...

We typically spend the first two or three days of a voyage at sea, much of that in the Drake Passage. After that, depending on the length of the trip, we spend a minimum of 4 days doing shore landings and zodiak cruises. During shore landings I am usually one of the three or four zodiak drivers that transport the 100 or so passengers to shore, 10 or 12 at a time in the zodiak. The odd time I am assigned another role, such as catching the boats when they arrive at shore. After everyone gets to shore, I am usually assigned a certain area to patrol, making sure passengers don´t wonder off too far or get too close to wildlife or historic buildings. Sometimes I am simply free to roam around, keeping my eyes on passengers, and listining out for any instructions given to me on the radio, such as returning to the beach to bring the first load of passengers back to the ship.

We also do a lot of Zodiak cruises, where we generally launch 8 or 9 zodiaks and take out everyone at once. There were some really cool moments on this last voyage, including seeing a large chunk of glacier ice come crashing into the water as we watched from zodiaks, which sent a fairly large wave our way that I had to motor away from, and later, head straight into. Another day we were on a whale watching zodiak cruise and, after having a couple fairly close encounters with humpback whales, we saw bubbles appearing all around our zodiak. I quickly recognized what was happening and fired up the engine to speed out of there. A few seconds later two large humpback whales surfaced directly where our boat was.

I am also responsible for running the on board gift shop, which I generally open once or twice a day as long as the daily excursions allow for it. Often times people just browse around and basically hang out, which can be a good opportunity for me to chat with them. I´ve got to know many intersting people this way; most of them very well travelled. It´s putting some good thoughts in my head for where I might travel to next!

My last voyage flew by, it was a lot shorter than the one before being only 8 days instead of 18, but still I can´t believe I´m back in port already. Half our team switched over before beginning this previous voyage, including the expedition leader. It was sad to loose team members who quickly became my friends on the first two voyages, but it´s great to meet new people with different experiences and qualities, and I figure it´s also good experience for me to work with as many different people (and management styles) as possible. I am enjoying working with the new team and we all get along great.

Our next voyage is called ¨Crossing the Circle.¨ It´s another trip to the Antarctic Peninsulla but this one is a bit longer, with 7 days of landings in Antarctica and 5 days spent at sea. Our passengers from the previous voyage disembarked the ship about 6 hours ago and our new passengers board in less than 2 hours. Not a whole lot of time in between, but all part of the fun!

Exploring AntarcticaIn my element driving the zodiac!

Breathtaking icebergs

An old whaling ship in South Georgia

King Penguins with Fur Seals in the background

That's me landing a zodiac in some surf with staff catching