Trip to Svalbard

June 7-23, 2003

First question is “where is Svalbard?” It is an archipelago in the Barents Sea - above Norway between 74 and 81 degrees North and 10 and 35 degrees East. The largest island is Spitsbergen. Why did I want to go? Having been to the Antarctic I was intrigued when I heard about this trip - also being organized by Doug and Gail Cheeseman. Having been near the South Pole - why not go to the North Pole! Also the wildlife - both mammals and birds was most exciting to look forward to. So I signed up and so did Nancy Hay and once again we were room mates.

Saturday June 7 We left SFO at 9:25 PM with no problems. Our flight was to Munich and then on to Oslo - we flew Lufthansa. Security is an unpleasant part of traveling but went fairly smoothly. The flight was full so no extra seats. I had an interesting man sitting next to me. He was German and first apologized for his poor English (which was excellent). Then he said something a little strange. He always asked to hold hands with his seat mate when the flight took off. I wondered if he was a fearful flyer or what but he later said he had started the tradition when he first flew with his daughter when she was 2 (she is 16 now) and he has never had a seat mate refuse him. I think he is a little superstitious but that is fine. We didn’t talk much after that and he slept most of the night and so did I. We arrived in Munich at 5:35 PM on Sunday where we had to go through passport control but fortunately we did not have to get our luggage. We left Munich at 7 PM and arrived in Oslo at 9:15 PM Sunday night about 15 hours since we left San Francisco. We checked into the Radisson Hotel which was walking distance from the Airport. While landing I noticed how much green surrounds Oslo - lots of cleared green fields that are in the midst of solid forest of what look like all the same species of trees.

Monday June 9 We had a lovely buffet breakfast where we met a few of our fellow travelers. Nancy and I had joined up with a birding friend Harriet and the three of us took the train to downtown Oslo to tour the city. We had made plans to join a 7.5 hour tour and we were assured that the meeting place across from City Hall was very easy to find. (Incidentally - the Nobel Peace prize is presented in this City Hall.) The train ride was wonderful - clean, efficient and fast. We drove through green fields in 20 minutes to the heart of the city. We had no trouble determining which stop to get off and we thought we knew just where to walk. But we took a wrong turn some place and saw a bit more of the area than we planned. Consequently we were 15 minutes late for our tour and the boat had already left. Well we talked to the people and they arranged for us to come back in an hour and take another boat that would meet our tour at the bus and we could have the rest of the tour. She reduced the price a bit and introduced us to a young woman who would be our special guide until we got to the main guide. So while we were waiting we went off to tour a nearby castle and fortress (Akershus Slott) that dates from the 1200’s. It was most interesting. We also learned a bit of Norway’s history which is very much tied up with Denmark and Sweden. Then we went to our personal guide and had a shorter boat tour of the fjord which was very sufficient and then we met the bus and tour guide at the museum. We had lunch there - a hot dog wrapped in a potato pancake - very good but our first introduction to how very expensive everything was going to be in Norway. In this area we visited the Polarship Fram and the the Kon-Tiki Raft. We were able to walk inside the Fram and it was very interesting to imagine how the crew lived. The Polarship Fram has advanced further north and further south than any other surface vessel. Roald Amundsen went to the South Pole with the Fram in 1910-1912. The Kon-Tiki Raft was in another museum and it was almost unbelievable to imagine that ship on the seas. Thor Heyerdahl was a brave man. We next went to a Vikingships museum where several of the 1000 year old ships were displayed. They had been buried whole and that is how they were preserved. The Norwegian Folk museum had several antique wooden houses from all areas of Norway including a timber Stave Church from the year 1200. The houses were all moved to one area so we could see somewhat how people used to live a few hundred years ago. We also got a history lesson about several things. It was interesting to note how small the beds were because the custom was to sleep sitting instead of laying down so several family members would sleep in the same bed. Then we went to the HolmenKollen Ski Jump which had a beautiful view of Oslo after we climbed to the top of the jump. They also had a museum there telling of the history of skiing in Norway - a 4000 year history! Our final stop was the Vigeland Sculpture Park where we spent an all too brief time. What an interesting variety of human sculptures expressing the cycle of life and all aspects of human relations and emotions. It was a great tour of Oslo and for one day we saw quite a lot. We took the train back to our Airport Hotel and enjoyed a dinner in the dinning room although we were a little shocked at the prices. I had one glass of wine and a plate with some vegetables and a delicious piece of salmon and the dinner was $45. Norway is not cheap! Even post cards were between 1 and 2 dollars! Off to bed in order to be ready for our next day’s adventure!

Tuesday June 10 Up for a pleasant buffet breakfast at the hotel and then we walked to the airport to catch our flight to Svalbard. Security was minimal but going North of Oslo is not a common trip. First we flew to Tromso and then to Longyearbyen, each flight was about 2 hours and we were fed on both flights - I can see weight gain is going to be a problem! Tromso is an university town in the north west part of Norway - about 70 degrees north - a surprising place to live. There we had to get off the airplane with our carryons - turn around in the airport and get back on by being checked off a written list. Not very efficient or explained. Our group pretty much filled the plane. Then we flew on to Longyearbyen - a small town on the largest island, Spitsbergen. A bus meets us and drives us to the dock where we board the Polar Star and get our cabin assignments. Nancy and I had a small cabin with a shared bath. When we were shown our cabin and opened the bathroom between the two cabins we were greeted by a stench from very brown water standing on the floor! They promised to clean it up and fix the plumbing but meanwhile we and the other couple thought about airing out the cabins and having to use that bathroom and we were not too happy. Fortunately the hotel manager (he was the person in charge of all the facilities on the ship) agreed with us and since the cabins were not being used to capacity we had the option of being moved. The other couple was moved to another cabin on the third deck and Nancy and I were moved up to the fourth deck where we also had a private bath so all came out very well. Several other people had to be moved at various times throughout the trip. We were very careful about using the toilet and we had no problem. Apparently the toilets are vacuumed flushed and they have had problems with them. The Polar Star was built in Finland in 1969 and worked as an icebreaker in Sweden until 2000 when she was converted by a Canadian Company to an expedition cruiser. The top was removed and the facilities were built. It is a very comfortable ship. They have cruises in the Arctic in the summer and then move to the South for Antarctic cruises in the Southern Summer. The captain is a Norwegian - a delightful young man who “looks” like a captain of a ship. The hotel manager and the chefs are from Canada, and the housekeeping staff and bartender are from the Philippines. After getting our cabins settled we met the staff - both the Cheeseman staff and the ship staff and then we had a “disaster” drill by putting on our life vests and going to the assembly place. With that out of the way it soon was dinnertime and we had the first of many excellent meals. Every dinner was outstanding and it was hard not to overeat (I gained 5 pounds in the two weeks I was gone.. oh well!). Each dinner started with soup and then a buffet salad bar. We then had a main dish choice of fish, meat, or vegetarian. We put our order in at lunch time. We always had dessert. Lunch was similar - starting with a soup and then some hot main dish. Breakfast was a buffet with fruit, yogurt, cereal, toast, eggs, and bacon/sausage. Also each afternoon there was some snack available - like cookies, brownies and so forth. We did not go hungry and of course we needed all that food because it was so very cold!! Usually around 2 degrees Centigrade (35 degrees F) and with the wind chill factor it was very cold outside on the deck while watch the wildlife or riding in the zodiac. After dinner we had a lecture from our guide Vidar Bakken - an ornithologist and marine ecologist at the Norwegian Polar Institute. He explained the geography of Svalbard to us. Afterward we went to our cabins to sleep our first night on board. It was hard to get used to sleeping while it was so bright outside. We had darkening shades on the cabin windows but we finally had to tape them against the wall in order to keep the sun from shinning into our room. Finally we slept!

Wednesday June 11 We are awaken each morning with Doug on the sound system. This morning we we up at 6:30 and breakfast at 7:00. All breakfast are buffet and plentiful. We are in Bellsund Fjord at about 77.5 degrees North. (Longyearbyen is at 78.5 N) These locations will not mean much with out a map but basically during our 11 days we started at Longyearbyen cruising south along the coast of Spitsbergen stopping when possible. We cruised south to the island of Bjørnøya (Bear Island) spending a day there. Then we cruised north-east until the pack ice stopped us when we headed west to Spitsbergen and cruise south along the eastern coast - around the tip up to 80 degrees North and then back to Longyearbyen. After breakfast we loaded up in the zodiacs for our first cruise and landing. We are able to get very close to the cliffs where thousands of Brünnich’s Guillemots are nesting. In the arctic the birds have to nest on cliffs because unlike the Antarctic there are predators here - namely polar bears and Arctic foxes. We were able to land and walk a bit and saw two Reindeer and a Purple Sandpiper and Snow Buntings. The Reindeer are much smaller than one would expect only about 3 feet tall at the shoulders. They seem to have very short legs. The ones in the Arctic are a subspecies that have adapted a thick coat and hairy muzzle. After a while we returned to the ship and continued cruising north then east in ice and then into fast ice. (Fast ice is sea ice which remains attached along the coast.) Our ship is an ice breaker so we were able to go into very thick ice. As I understand it the ship goes up on top of the ice and the weight of the ship cracks it and makes a channel. I believe that about 6 feet is the maximum thickness of ice it make break. There are stabilizers and propellers on either side in the front that kept our ship very stable. On our way we saw Bearded Seals and then Ringed Seals. Ringed Seals are usually found in the fast ice where they maintain breathing holes digging into as much as 6 feet of ice whereas the Bearded Seal is usually near the edge of pack ice (chunks of ice). Our ship kept going through the ice until its limit and then we stopped in the fast ice, lowered the gang plank and went out for a stroll! It was an eery feeling to be walking on an ocean covered with ice - it was about 6 feet thick - you could see the edges where our ship had broken through. It was a beautiful sunny day and the scenes where just gorgeous. I took a lot of photos but I have to say that they don’t do justice to the beauty we saw. Of course many of the mountains look the same - all where covered with some snow and there was lots of ice everywhere. After a while we loaded up the ship and left. It took the captain an hour to turn around and then get out of the ice. Backing up is very slow and very hard for the ship to do. On the way out we pass an Eider Island where there is a large colony of Common Eiders nesting. There is a man who gets a license from the government to collect eider down from the nest for commercial use. We had a couple of lectures that evening but I was too sleepy to attend so I went to bed and to sleep a little early to finally catch up on my sleep.

Thursday June 12 Today we are in Hornsund fiord on the western side of the Southern tip of Spitsbergen about 77 degrees North 160 degrees East. We do a zodiac landing after breakfast and see thousands of birds nesting of the cliffs, Black-legged Kittiwakes, Barnacle Geese, as well as Northern Fulmar around the ship. The field was a brilliant purple with the purple saxifrage flower. We saw a surprising number of flowers that added a welcome spot of color in the brown fields. At all times on our walking there was a perimeter of four people with high power rifles keeping a sharp eye out for Polar Bears. Polar Bears can appear around any corner or swim up from the ocean with surprising speed. Every years some careless person or persons get killed by a polar bear. We never had a close encounter and I’m not sure any of our travelers could have shot a bear anyway. Gail said she couldn’t - she’d just use it to hit it over the head! Once when Ted stumbled and fell and someone cautioned him about shooting his foot he said the gun wasn’t loaded anyway. Apparently flares are the best way to scare away the bears. Anyway we returned to the ship and cruised a way and then stopped at the Polish Research Station to walk to a colony of Little Auks. We saw several reindeer on our walk plus thousands of Little Auks (Dovekies). We went back to the ship for a late lunch and the ship started cruising deeper into the fjord. On this excursion I had to admit that my boots were leaking. (Our landings were all wet landings - you got out of the zodiac into the water and then walked -or scrambled- up to shore.) So I got out my trusty roll of duct tape in preparation to repair them. But then I thought of something and I went and asked the hotel manager if he by any chance had any extra boots for people in my situation. He said he had a surprise for me as he took me to a closet where there was a four foot stack of boots neatly stacked on their sides. We went through many to find the perfect fitting pair and I was set for the rest of the trip. But I was still able to use my duct tape because later the top of my hiking boots pulled away from the sole so I had to tape them together to use for the rest of the trip. With two less bulky items to have to bring home in my suitcase I had plenty of room for souvenirs but ironically on this trip I didn’t buy any - there was nothing particularly appealing and what they did have was far too expensive - so the main souvenir was chocolate made in Norway! So as I was relieved about my boots we kept pushing into the ice when finally... “bear”. Ahead of us was a polar bear with her cub. We watched them for a long time and they watched us. The cub would run off and play and then it seemed as if the mother called it back. It was a lot of fun and exciting. When we reached our ice limit we turned back and then headed south towards Bjørnøya (Bear Island). There were several lectures - I attended some and slept/read during others. The staff is all very knowledgeable and very interesting but sometimes it is hard to stay awake in the fifth deck darkened observation room while the ship gently moves forward!

Friday June 13 Our ship headed towards Bjørnøya overnight and soon we encountered lots of ice. But we finally found a spot on the Island where we could land. It was very clear and calm. We could see the peaks of the mountains and where told the area was seldom without cloud cover so we very lucky with our views. Soon after breakfast we entered our zodiacs for our landing. Then we divided into the slow and the fast group for our escorted hike to the top of the bird cliffs. For once I wasn’t at the end of the line because I went with the slow group and that was just my speed. We hiked up hill about 2 miles with a 500 feet elevation gain over scree (loose rock on a steep slope) and snow so it was a challenge but well worth while for the views alone. At the top we could get very good views of nesting Little Auks, Brünnich’s Guillemots, and Kittiwakes, it was wonderful. Also along the way and at the top was a wonderful display of wildflowers in many different colors, purple, yellow, white - so beautiful. I loved the whole scene, but it was very windy and cold so after eating part of my lunch I headed down hill with a few people. Somehow about four of us lost our guide and since we knew to go downhill and we could see our ship we thought there was no problem. But finding our footing was not always easy and finally Nancy and Judy were at a steep part covered with scree that I just knew I couldn’t do so I went back up the hill until I found Tim who had a GPS and knew where the “trail” should be. So I followed him and eventually made it down to the shore. Meanwhile Nancy and Judy continued on their self made trail and had quite an audience at the shore watching them in preparation for any necessary rescue. But they made it ... hardy hikers that they are. We sat at the water’s edge and rested and ate our lunch and then went out on a zodiac ride looking for puffins, just as we were going to give up 3 flew right in front of us. Then we continued on to the next landing site where we were faced with another tremendously steep hill in order to see some fossils. I started up the hill and within 5 steps I knew I could not make it so I gave up along with a boat load of others. We came back to the ship and warmed up and cleaned up. Meanwhile the others continued up the hill but I later heard that most of them gave up eventually too. Vidar had said it was just a short distance but the “Cheeseman mile” has now been superseded by the “Vida kilometer”. These fast and long legged people are not to be believed when they talk about a short hike! Long day - great hike, wonderful dinner and then bed!

Saturday June 14 Today is a travel day. We are “working” the ice looking for Polar Bears and Walruses as this is the only way we will see them. We varied from about 75 degrees North to 77 degrees North - at about 19 degrees East. We had hopes of going to Hopen Island but we did not make it - too much ice. We had some interesting lectures and just as one was finishing we finally heard the good call “Polar Bear” so we all bundled up with our warm clothes and went out on deck to see first one and then two Polar Bears on the ice floes ahead of us. It was a mother bear with her 1 and a half year old cub. We continued working our way through the ice and got closer looks at them for about two hours. The cub seemed to be playing and once slid down a snow bank. We were close enough to see the black skin underneath all the fur and also notice how big their feet were - like snow shoes. The bears look very yellow against the very white snow. As I was watching the bears an ivory gull flew right through my binocular view - a nice way to see a new bird. In the evening we had a barbecue which was delicious - how beautiful the scenery was but it was cold enough that several of us ate inside in the observation lodge. It was a nice evening and we relaxed and visited for some time in the lounge. The lounge on the 5th deck has windows surrounding three sides so you can be inside warm and cozy and enjoy the incredibly beautiful snow, ice, mountains outside. Kittiwakes and Fulmars followed our ship especially when we were ice breaking as that stirred up a lot of good food for them. It was a lovely day and evening.

Sunday June 15 We are cruising Northwest towards the southeast side of Spitsbergen - about 76-77 degrees North. The ice is very thick so we are very slow. Vidar gave a lecture of marine mammals which was very interesting. Some of us took an engine tour - it had been postponed from yesterday. The engine is essentially the same as from when it was first built in 1969. We went clear down to the first deck and saw the various parts to see. It was interesting. After lunch we are close enough to land to have a zodiac tour. We get very close to the cliffs and enjoy the huge number of birds nesting high on the cliffs, fulmars, kittiwakes, guillemots, and glaucous gulls. There are at least 500,000 Brünnich’s Guillemots nesting here. Soon we hear from another zodiac (they all carry radios) “bear”. Around the corner near water’s edge on dirt is a Polar Bear! So we don’t land there today but we do watch the bear for a long while and he watches us and walks along the shore. He sure is big and lots of photos were taken - white against brown shows up very well! Finally we leave and head back to our ship which has moved - it is a long cold ride back sitting on the edge of a rubber toy boat! Along the way we see several very artistically shaped ice bergs some which had a large group of auks sitting on them... very pretty. Back on ship after warming up we are once again treated to another Polar Bear sighting but this one doesn’t stay around long and swims away. Had an excellent dinner - I had fish. Every dinner was wonderful and I never tired of the fish - each night was different. Then we watched a video of the 2000/2001 Antarctic trip that Steve and Debbie Thompson had made, humorous and very entertaining, well done. This was followed by an interesting lecture from Art Ford on the plate tectonics that formed the Arctic Ocean. Off to bed while the sun is still shinning...

Monday June 16 We sailed all night around the tip of Spitsbergen, the seas are surprisingly rough considering how stable the ship is. It is very cold and windy as I try to do my 20 minute walking, lapping around the 4th deck. I have to do this each day when we don’t do enough landing and walking. It is so cold that I end up doing some of my time on the treadmill in the “gym” I do at least 10 minutes on the machine several days but it is so boring. I finally find I can read a book that I am holding so that helps and one day I was even able to do 15 minutes. We are now heading north around 78-79 degrees North. We were not able to stop because of heavy winds and sea so we continued on to Ny-Ålesund - about a four hour journey. The scenes were beautiful and clear. We had a two more lectures on using Photoshop. We learned how easily photos can lie! After lunch we pull into the dock at Ny-Ålesund - a former mining town and now mostly a research station. Ny-Ålesund was founded in 1917 by coal miners from the Norwegian town Ålesund. The first coal period persisted from 1917 until 1929. The site became worldwide-famous in the years 1926 and 1928, when two airship northpole expeditions started from here. They have a statue to Roald Amundsen who started his polar flight from here. We wandered around the town - there was a small museum and a small store. They have a post office with claims of being the northern most post office in the world Located at the high latitude of 78° 55' N, 11° 56' E. I mailed a few postcards from here - the only time to mail cards on the trip other than in Oslo before we left for Longyearbyen. We saw an Arctic Fox here - a cute small animal. We saw lots of nesting Arctic Terns, and Long-tailed Duck, Purple Sandpipers, Barnacle Geese, Snow Buntings and Grey Phalaropes, a rich birding place. After about 4 hours we returned to the ship and continued on - after our captain got us unstuck from the mud at the dock. It took skillful maneuvering and some time to get clear and then we head North. We had an excellent dinner - I had fish again - and we celebrated Judy’s and Pam’s birthdays which was fun. The seas are slightly rough tonight but we watch a video of the most recent Antarctica trip and then off to bed.

Tuesday June 17 1:30 AM finally Walruses! Fortunately Nancy heard the call come up and she shook me awake and we quickly dressed in many layers of clothes and went out on deck to see a pair of walruses very near. They were so close to the ship that we could smell them!! We watched and photographed them for a while and then back to bed to sleep until breakfast call. The ice is very thick as we try to push to Moffen Island and eventually the captain decides it is too thick so we turn back and head to another island, Fuglesongen (Birdsong). We are at about 79 degrees north. We found a spot to land from our zodiacs but it was very steep, very slippery, and very rocky and would require a slow and careful walk while watching the ground the whole time. Some of us asked for a zodiac cruise instead and we cruised close to the shore and enjoyed seeing thousands of Little Auks nesting high on the cliffs. We also got very close looks at the Puffins - and some beautiful scenery with Barnacle Geese in the background. It starts gently snowing which only adds to the beauty. We return for lunch and spend the rest of the day exploring on ice trying to go as far north as possible. 79 degrees 55 minutes is as far as the fast ice allows us to go so we come back and continue through the pack ice. We continue to see lots of Walruses - usually 2 or 3 at a time. They are just laying around on the pack ice. Sometimes they plop into the water but they mostly just watch us as we go by. We continue to push north and finally we reached 80 degrees north! This seems to be a magical goal for travelers. In fact we later all get a very elegant certificate stating that we made it to 80 degrees North. We are only 600 miles from the North Pole! Kind of exciting!! We take lots of photos, individually and with groups including a good many of us. Late to bed tonight and I slept very soundly.

Wednesday June 18 Slept later this morning - until 7:00 and then we lingered over breakfast. It was very cold outside and snowing besides which made the decks very slippery so I had to walk on the treadmill - 15 minutes - very boring. Too bad they don’t put it in front of a window so you could at least watch the scenery. We were continuing south through heavy ice so it was slow. It was so beautiful to watch as we broke through the ice, snowing and foggy. We saw a few more walruses ho hum! Maria gave us a lecture about Arctic exploration and since she is a Russian she included a lot of information about Russian exploration - it was most interesting. She is a very good lecturer, I enjoy listening to her. After lunch we anchor near Smeerenburg (Blubbertown) which is an abandoned Dutch whaling settlement that was used in the early 1600’s. There isn’t much left there but we walked around and looked at what was there and enjoyed close looks at more birds. It was now full sunshine and so pretty. The zodiacs cruised through the ice floes back to the ship and head deeper into the fjord. Soon in the calm seas the barbecue is fired up and we have another delicious dinner. Some folks sit out on the deck where summer clothes are almost in order. We sit around until 10:30 or so enjoying full sunshine and good company. Finally we realize we need to get some sleep - good thing we have darkening blinds on the window or it would be too hard to sleep.

Thursday June 19 We wake up this morning with the news that it is 6 degrees Celsius! A real warming trend from the 1 and 2 degrees on past days. It is clean and sunny so we once again try going North through the pack ice to Moffen. Saw more Walruses but I mostly read. I had finished my mystery books I brought so I read Nancy’s book “The Voyage of the Narwhal” by Andrea Barrett. It is a book about a exploration in the Arctic in the mid 1800’s so it was very absorbing to read while in the Arctic. What an ordeal those early explorers had to survive with their equipment. Anyway we continued working the ice, saw more walrus, ringed seal, bearded seal with pup, polar bear. I read, napped, walked outside in the very cold weather and went to a lecture on Global Warming. Eventually we anchor in Magdalena Bay with spectacular scenery and calm seas. After dinner we watch three great videos, the 2002 Galapagos trip, a Cheeseman trip to Baja California, and a video of the seals in Antarctica. Then off to bed to prepare for our last day aboard ship!

Friday June 20 We awaken to rainy weather and eventually we anchor in Krossfjorden near the 14th of July Glacier. (No one knows for sure why it is called that but July 14th is the national day of France.) We board our zodiacs for a wonderful zodiac cruse first along the slopes and then along side the glacier. The slopes had wonderful Pink-footed Geese flying in and around along with guillemots, kittiwakes, puffins, and a reindeer. Wonderful scenes. Then we quietly cruised along the edge of the glacier - but not too close as we could hear the cracking. The shapes and color of the ice was just beautiful. Eventually back to the ship for lunch and we cruise southwest and anchors off the island of Prins Karls Forland. It is very rainy but we load up the zodiacs and go ashore for one of those long rough walks to see a large colony of nesting guillemots. Then we have a long hike back and now we are all soaking wet. In addition the long zodiac ride back to the ship gets us even wetter. So we have to hang our stuff all over our cabin and even in the hall because we have to pack before we go to bed because we are leaving the ship early in the morning. Warm showers felt good (we always had plenty of water because the ship makes the water from the sea water). Then we dress up in clean clothes and head for the Captain’s reception in the lounge and the Captain’s dinner. We toasted and thanked the Cheeseman staff and the Ship staff and the Captain. A few poems were read and we all had a good visit. The crew and staff were all excellent - all the service was well done and people were very friendly. It was a great group and a great trip. We had a wonderful dinner and then had to go pack before we could go to bed about 10 or 11.

Saturday June 21 We woke up at the usual time and noticed that we were at the dock in Longyearbyen. We had thought we were going to have to anchor further out and zodiac into shore. But we were able to dock and walk down the gang plank. Some of the group had left early in the morning for a 4:30 AM flight but we chose to stay overnight in Longyearbyen so that we could take a 2:00 PM flight to Oslo. After our buffet breakfast we stood around on the dock - it was raining - waiting for the bus to drive us into town. The bus was late but eventually it arrived and drove us to town. It was too early to check in so we stored our suitcases and said hello to some friends who were there waiting to go on the next trip. This trip was so popular that the Cheeseman’s did a second one. It was interesting that on our ship out of some 60 people only 6 had never been on a Cheeseman trip before. Almost everyone on the trip had been on one of their Antarctic trips. I’ve been on 7 of their trips - all great. After a while we went for a walk to one end of the town. You can’t walk outside of the town limits without a riffle to protect you from the bears. It was obvious that a lot of people hike or bike into the back country this time of year - my what hardy souls they are. It was very cold but we enjoyed the walk, especially because we saw a Ptarmigan pair as well as the Ringed Plover and several Snow Buntings and a courting pair of Purple Sandpipers. Then we turned around and walk to the other end of Longyearbyen about 3 miles. There we got some lunch and did some shopping. I didn’t buy much in the way of souvenirs as everything was so expensive and I also didn’t find much that was appealing. I ended up buying chocolate bars made in Norway for David and a few other people. I was a little disappointed as I would have like to get a few tokens but I didn’t. I did get a polar bear purse for Sophia and a puffin toy for Vincent so they are taken care of. On the way back to the hotel we had a close encounter with a reindeer - well close enough to get a reasonable photos. We checked into our nice room and then went downstairs for tea which also included a waffle - you make it yourself. The irons are hot and the batter is waiting for you, it is very thin. You pour a bit on and it quickly cooks and then you can put jelly on it and roll it up and eat it. Delicious. I could have called that dinner but I didn’t. We decided to eat dinner in the hotel thinking that was easy but we hadn’t made reservations and that seemed to be a problem. There were plenty of empty tables and they were still empty when we left so we did manage to get served. Nancy had the buffet but I had salmon which was delicious. The vegetables were delicious and perfectly cooked too. All the food has been good but again I noticed how expensive it was - that dinner, plus a glass of wine and a dish of ice cream cost about 45 dollars. That is more then David and I pay for the two of us - even for the same kind of food. Oh well I was on vacation!!

Sunday June 22 A wonderful Norwegian style breakfast buffet - cold fish, cheese, bread (all the bread we ate on this trip was excellent- even on the airplanes) and the usual eggs, cereal, fruit and so forth. Then we packed up and checked out but still had time to walk into town again and check out the stores to see if there was anything else we wanted to get - but there wasn’t. There was a large cruise ship at the dock - 300 people in for a day trip. It felt cold but actually it was 8 degrees Celsius but it was windy so I was glad I had kept some arctic clothes unpacked. We had a bus take us to the airport where we checked in. We were told we had to go through customs at Tromso. I asked why and she told me that Svalbard was a duty free area - I still didn’t understand because I thought it was still Norway and she said it was “no man’s land” - governed by Norway but not Norway. So we loaded up with almost no security checking and we were served a lunch. Two hours later we got off at Tromso, collected our baggage, walked past a customs guard, put our luggage back on a conveyor belt, stood in line and got on the same plane. What a waste. So on to Oslo being fed a small meal again. When we arrived at Oslo I did check to see if I could take the earlier flight in the morning but was told both flights were fully booked. It was the start of vacation time in Europe. So we walked across the street to our hotel, checked in and then went for a small dinner. I had a club sandwich but you have to be careful, in Norway they include a fried egg in the sandwich in addition to turkey, bacon, lettuce, and tomato. But I got mine without the egg and enjoyed it. Then to bed.

Monday June 23 Nancy was up at 4:30 and left at 5:00 for her early morning flight. I got up at 5:00 and went across the street to check in and then came back for breakfast and checking out. Then I went to board. There was more security this time and when my back pack went through she asked to check it. She finally told me she was looking for scissors but I told her I didn’t have any but of course she had to check everything anyway. Good thing I was early. She finally said she must have picked the wrong bag! What does that say about the secure system! Pretty good flight to Munich, we flew over Sweden and I could see the many mountains and a large lake with a city along its shore. The scene was lovely. Arrived in 2 hours or so to Munich where I again had to go through first a passport check and then security - a pat down and scan search. I had to wait four hours for the flight to SFO - I finished my book and ate the canned tuna I had brought with me - couldn’t face any airport junk food. Finally I boarded and headed home for San Francisco - it was a long flight - I read, dozed, watch a stupid movie and finally we arrived to SFO - 22 hours since I had gotten up in the morning. I quickly went through passport control and then had to wait almost to the end to get my suitcase. Every suitcase on the belt had an yellow security tag meaning it had been opened. What really annoyed me was my zippers were apart. I had used twist ties to keep them together but the German security did not bother to put them back in. Fortunately nothing was lost. I doubt it would do any good to complain but I am tempted to write a letter. Well then I went through customs having to declare my food item - chocolate but it was quick and then in the arrival lobby was the happy handsome face of David. It is always good to see him.

It was a great trip - now I have been to both “ends of the earth”. I loved the scenery, the adventure, they wildlife. It is truly a beautiful world.

Penelope Bowen

6/28/03

These are the Birds I saw in Svalbard:

Northern Fulmar Fulmarus glacialis

Barnacle Goose Branta leucopsis

Pink-footed Goose Anser brachyrhynchus

Common Eider Somateria mollissima

Long-tailed Duck Clangula hyemalis

Great Skua Catharacta skua

Parasitic Jaeger Stercorarius parasiticus

Great Black-backed Gull Larus marinus

Lesser Black-backed Gull Larus fuscus

Glaucous Gull Larus hyperboreus

Black-legged Kittiwake Rissa tridactyla

Ivory Gull Pagophila eburnea

Arctic Tern Sterna paradisaea

Purple Sandpiper Calidris maritima

Common Ringed Plover Charadrius hiaticula

Ruddy Turnstone Arenaria interpres

Red Phalarope Phalaropus fulicaria

Common Murre Uria aalge

Thick-billed Murre Uria lomvia

Razorbill Alca torda

Black Guillemot Cepphus grylle

Atlantic Puffin Fratercula arctica

Dovekie Alle alle

Snow Bunting Plectrophenax nivalis

Rock Ptarmigan Lagopus mutus

25 species 11 new ones for a life list of 2053 species.

Mammals I saw:

Polar Bear

Arctic fox

Svalbard Reindeer

Walrus

Ringed Seal

Bearded Seal