Iceland Tour Begins

A couple weeks ago I put the word out that I was looking for someone interested in joining me on a self-guided tour of Iceland. This sparked the interest of Hussain, a friend from university who recently left his job and was keen for some adventure travel. Yesterday morning I disembarked the ship in the port of Reykjavik and headed to a hostel to meet up with Hussain. At the hostel Hussain introduced me to Chantal, a French-Canadian who was on the same flight as him to Iceland. After checking into the hostel, the three of us wondered around Reykjavik and discussed ideas for the week. Hussain and I decided we should rent a car and drive around for 5 days, and after a bit of contemplation Chantal canceled some plans she had made and joined our convoy. We spent some time searching online for the best vehicle/price combination; I wanted a big diesel 4x4 so we could go off-roading, Hussain wanted a Subaru wagon, and Chantal just wanted us to make a decision, so we settled for a Honda CRV.

That night we met up with some of my co-workers from the ship to have one last salute to the Arctic season. We caught the last bus back to our hostel (shortly after 10pm), discussed our plans for the next day, chatted with some other people at the hostel, and called it a night. The next morning after breakfast Chantal & I walked to the rental place to pick up our vehicle. By about 11:45am we were on our way, and by about noon we had managed to get lost. Luckily my job was just to drive, so navigation was up to Hussain & Chantal. Since we were now back in Reykjavik city center, we decided to have some P.B. & J. sandwiches. After this, the real adventure started...

We ended up at the largest Geiser in Iceland (2^nd largest in the world) that shoots water 70 – 90 meters in the air. If you're like me and didn't know what a geiser was until today, it is basically a natural water fountain that shoots water up from the ground. It was an incredible natural awe, but I am a bit concerned that maybe we started the trip with the coolest thing to see here! We also visited some really nice water falls and a national park, all of which are part of the “Golden Circle” which is one of the big things to do in Iceland.

Later on we were cruising along a gravel road en route to our next destination, when we suddenly realized we had a flat tire...luckily the rental car had a full size spare and all the necessary tools, so it was a pretty quick fix up and we were back on our way. Before we knew it the time was approaching 10pm, so we picked up some groceries, checked into a hostel in Borganes, and fixed up a nice big pasta dinner. And now it's off to bed, looking forward to seeing what tomorrow will bring!

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