Pole to Pole with Silversea - Reykjavik to Longyearbyen

 6/14

We were able to dock in Reykjavik last night and these first photos are from my walk around last night.  These were taken between10 and 11 PM.  There is very little darkness right now.  In a couple of weeks the sun won't set for a bit.  

Rainbow Street

Hallgrímskirkja Church and Leif Erikson statue.

  

Today the in-transit tour was in a super 4x4.  We went to a couple of viewpoints and we went off roading.  It gave us a chance to see an area outside of Reykjavik.  Very barren.  Iceland generates over 99% of its electricity from renewable sources, namely hydroelectricity (approximately 80%) and geothermal (approximately 20%).  We saw the pipelines and some of the plants.

David by the super 4x4 and me with a view of Reykjavik

Lots of beautiful little flowers growing in the rocks.

In this spot we were standing on the North American plate and across the way is the European plate.

We went off road.

We briefly stopped at some hot springs.  

This is Negull (clove in Icelandic)  One of the downtown Reykjavik cats.  

Tonight we had a Pole to Pole dinner with Joshua, our fabulous Future Cruise manager.  He had to get off in Cape Verde for a minor medical problem and finally came back for these last 12 days with us.  We are so happy he is back.

Midnight!!!

6/15

Iceland is fabulous, but no time to post photos today.  

6/16

Yesterday morning I did a boat adventure around Brioafjordur Bay in Stykkisholmur.  First I woke up to these gorgeous views.

Shag

Grey seal

Great Black-backed gull

Black-legged kittiwake

Grey seal

Puffins!

Black guillemot

They took at net to the bottom and served raw scallops and uni.  After the oyster problem in France I chose to just take photos.  They did have some to return to the sea.

In the afternoon I kayaked at Flatey Island.  It was a fabulous afternoon.  Friends on shore took photos of the group.  I paddled with Malcolm, from Santa Fe.

Eider ducks and babies

John and Renee surrounded by gulls

Not a good photo, but a cute little Red-necked phalarope

Sheep

Towing the kayaks back to the ship

This morning we got off at Bolungarvik and I went on a tour to SuDavik to the Arctic Fox Center.  

First my view this morning, day 2 of gorgeousness.  

At the center.

Two females!  Too cute!

In 1995 there was an avalanche and 14 people were killed.  This part of the town was not rebuilt.  There is a park and memorial.

Not a good photo, but a Redwing

Mila did a fabulous talk on the trolls and hidden people of Iceland and their impact.  We went through a long tunnel that had construction slowed until there was a ceremony to ask the hidden people permission.  The tunnel and a house for them at a home we walked by.

  

We stopped at the church and Peter sang 3 songs for us.  There was a memorial outside for those lost at sea.

More Eider ducks.  Some people did a tour yesterday and learned about the Eider duck down.  One of the most expensive down you can buy.

Black-headed gull

This afternoon we went to Vigur Island.  A privately owned island.  It is home to Arctic terns, Eider ducks, Puffins and Black Guillemots. The owners, Felicity Aston, her husband and her son are farmers of the down from the ducks.  I looked on Amazon for a price on a king eiderdown comforter, over $4,000.  

  

The birds naturally shed down in the nests and it is gathered and it is separated so there are no feathers.  There were mamas sitting on nests all over.  One got up so we got to see her eggs with the down around.  They collect it and fill with hay for heat.   

Black guillemots

Puffins

Arctic terns.  We had to carry a stick over our head because they would try to attack. 

One of the seals.

Tonight we are passing fjords as we pass the Arctic Circle.

6/17

A fabulous day!  More to come.

6/18

Today is a sea day.  Yesterday we arrived in Husavik, Iceland in the Arctic Circle.  I took a bus tour to a few different areas.  Views on the way to the first stop.  Geothermal pools.

Our next stop was a hiking area where legends of the Huldufolk (hidden people) abound.  The elves that live in a parallel world.  Some of the rocks are elves turned into rock.

Two of the elf rocks

At lunch by Lake Myvatn there were quite a few waterfowl.

Tufted ducks

Gadwall

Red-necked phalarope

Horned grebe

Female and male Red-breasted merganser

Arctic tern

And sheep

Our last stop was Godafoss Falls.  Stunning.  Heather took a photo of me FaceTiming with Finn to show him the waterfall.

First is with long exposure.

Last night we had a Pole to Pole event.  We took a Rib Boat to an island called Flatey Island.  It has not been inhabited since the 70s.  Some locals own it now and sometimes use the houses in the summer.  The building they served us dinner in is used for private events and they bring a generator for cooking.

On the way we saw a humpback whale.

The island

More great birds.  Arctic terns.

Eider ducks

Eurasian oystercatcher

Puffins

Red-necked phalarope

Black-headed gull

Beautiful view of The Wind.  Sunny at 10 pm.

6/19

Today we were able to get to shore at Jan Mayen Island, which is part of Svalbard, Norway.  It is a tiny, volcanic island 650 miles west of Norway and 350 miles north of Iceland.  It is named after a whaling captain who discovered the island in 1614.  There is a small military base on the island, but other than that is is uninhabited.  The volcano last erupted in 1985.  This season 9 or 10 cruise ships have tried to visit, but we are only the 3rd to be able to visit.  There is no protected harbor so the conditions have to be good.  We had a lot of fog, so were not able to see the volcano, but still had a nice hike.

Sitting on whale bones.  Likely from a Blue or Fin whale.  Pat, too.  Pat, my dental angel, that got me my dentist appointment in London.  She recorded our hike length.

Burial site of whalers.

On the way back to the ship we had a short zodiac ride past some cliffs where there were nesting Northern fulmars.  Also saw a few Puffins flying and a Skua on the water.

Tomorrow is my last sea day!  Off the ship the 26th and home the 28th.

6/20

Happy Summer Solstice!  We have a cloudy sea day with rough seas. The Captain announced it will get better after midnight and the sun will be out, which is really funny because the sun will be out at midnight! Interestingly the last time the solstice was on June 20th was in 1796. In 1975 it was on June 22nd, it is usually on the 21st. 

6/21

This morning we anchored off Ymerbukta, Svalbard, Norway.  Ymerbukta is a bay in Oscar II Land at Spitsbergen, Svalbard.  I kayaked this morning.

My view when I woke up and there were two reindeer.  Pretty far away so not a great photo.

Two of our kayak leaders, Nahuel and Seda, spotting to make sure no polar bears.  I was with David today, who is an expert kayaker.  I learned a lot!

This afternoon we did a zodiac landing at Poolepynten a flat peninsula on Prins Karls Forland.  Know for all the walruses.  Today they did not get the memo, but we did see one swimming around.

Parasitic Jaeger (a skua)

Arctic terns

Seda went from checking for bears with binoculars on our kayak trip this morning to protecting and leading us armed this afternoon.

Tonight I had a wonderful evening with Pat, Bernardo, Margaret, David and Esteban.  Bernardo has been with us since Buenos Aires out spotting birds and so much more. Esteban since Manaus and he has changed my photographic life with his enthusiasm and knowledge of photography.  

6/22

Today we anchored off Julibukta. Woke again to a glorious view.  Then we took a short zodiac cruise.

Pat and I

Glaucous gulls

Puffins!!!

Black-legged kittiwake

Thick-billed murre

Reindeer

We then took a short hike in the area.

Barnacle Goose

Sadly abandoned eggs and one was stepped on

Lichen

Black-legged kittiwake everywhere

Reindeer antlers.  The males lose theirs every winter so our guide said that proved all Santa's reindeer would be female.

Murres acting like penguins

This afternoon we were at NY-London and I kayaked again.  This time with Katie.  We were the only two, with Seda and Marcos in the zodiac making sure we were safe.  It was magical.  A pinch me afternoon.  The peacefulness of the area can't be seen in the photos. We went into a little cave.  It was just a special afternoon!  Maybe my best day or top 5 at the very least.

6/23

Today I woke to cloudy skies, but gorgeous views.  We were at Texas Bar, which is on the north side of Liefdefjorden.  The North Pole is at 90 degrees north latitude and we are at 78 degrees north latitude.  Much closer here to the North Pole than we were in Antarctica to the South Pole.  I kayaked again this morning and again it was only two of us, myself and David.  What a wonderful, peaceful way to start a day.

This ship is Seabourn Venture.  After I got back from kayaking I had a message from Robert and Martin who were on the first two legs of this trip. They are on the Seabourn!  We passed them going to our afternoon stop and they waved. 🤣

Barnacle goose on a nest.

After kayaking we stopped to see the trappers cabin.  

This afternoon we did a zodiac cruise by where the Seaborn ship was docked.  Assistant Expedition Leader, Alan.  Pat and I.  Hotel team brought champagne and hot chocolate.

We saw a Bearded seal on some ice.

Beautiful glaciers

Glaucous gull

These blobs were Belugas!!!  

Back on the ship Neil explained how close we are to the North Pole vs how close we were to the South Pole.

At the briefing Neil said they are trying to find us a polar bear.  Adjusting our schedule to find one.  Well...he did find one!

We had our Pole to Pole farewell dinner tonight.  It was wonderful!!!

6/24

This morning we anchored off Smeerenburg, which means Blubbertown.  It is an abandoned settlement that was used for whaling in the 17th century.  Alex told us about the blubber ovens here on Amsterdam Island and the life of the people here back then.

  

Vera and Alex both with rifles to keep us safe in case a bear appears.

Another expedition member stationed further out keeping watch.

A huddle of walruses.

Barnacle geese

I have surprised myself and kayaked 5 times in the Arctic.  They are offering it tomorrow afternoon, but I am going to do the zodiac cruise and landing instead.  David was my partner again today.  He is very patient and I have learned a lot from him about paddling.  We did see an Arctic Fox running, but no photo.

6/25

Last full day on the Wind, my home away from home.  I get off about 9 tomorrow morning.  This morning an announcement came into the cabin at 5 am.  Totally worth getting up! 

They first spotted it swimming.  The climb.

The slide begins with a roll in the snow.

And back by the water and we started our sail away.

If seeing the polar bear wasn't enough excitement today we passed 80 N latitude, which is legendary for crossing the High Arctic.  Happy that we got to pass through the ice, but sad we could only do this because the ice cap is melting.  First approaching the ice.

Joshua

David

Pat

What a last day!  Incredible.  We took a zodiac cruise and short walk at Magdalenefjorden.  We started with a huge colony of Little Auks (Dovekies).

Puffin 

Parasitic Jaeger

Glaucous gull

Snow bunting

Reindeer

One of our fearless leaders watching out for bears.

Red-throated loon

Arctic fox

My last zodiac ride back to the ship was with David, one of the geologists.  He was on the first month and the last so fitting to ride with him.

This has been an adventure.  Yes, I would do this long again if the route was good.  I'm ready to go home and sad to go at the same time.  Tomorrow we head to Oslo and I will fly home on Friday.  Will post from Oslo.

6/26

Only cried 3 times leaving today.

In Oslo.  Pat and I outside the opera house. Lovely streets.

  

Dinner!

Think I could get a job at the Royal Palace?

6/27

A lovely day in Oslo!  So happy Phillip and Heather came to the Fram as my photographers with Pat.  We took the train from the airport hotel and a ferry to the museums. 

110 years ago my grandfather was working on the Panama Canal and had this photo of he and other man on the Fram. I was able to take nearly the same photo today on the Fram, except there is a life boat in the way today.  I then spoke with someone working there that Amundsen was not on the Fram at the time it went to the canal and showed me the information in a book.  I had the original photo with me and donated it to the museum.  I have a scanned copy at home that I will make a print of.  It was pretty to cool to be walking on the same boat my grandfather was on 110 years ago.  

  

Doing my best Amundsen impression

We then went to the Maritime Museum.  They had a great kids area.

The great polar explorers.

Then to the Kon-Tiki museum.  Pat and I had a photo with a Moai figure in Chile before the trip and now one after the trip in Oslo.

  

Went to a lovely place on the water for lunch.

We walked around a bit and went to the Fortress.

Heading home tomorrow.  Saturday I will be picking up 7 four week old kittens with kitten colds.  I had booked a trip to the Galapagos for February 2025.  Then Silversea had a big sale for solo travelers for no single supplement.  I now leave August 29th for half the price of February.  The adventures continue!  Thanks to those have followed along my journey, those at home and those I have met along the way.