An
early breakfast and out for a walk down to the waterfront…there are lots of
wooden boats here.
Looking
for a drugstore on the way back to replace the toothpaste confiscated at the
airport…what’s allowed thru by TSA is not the same in Canada.
We
board the bus and head back to the airport to catch our charter flight to Svalbard. It’s a 3-hour flight north of Oslo.
Svalbard is above the Arctic Circle at 79 degrees latitude. From the
window the landscape is stark, snowy, mountainous and exciting.
 |
| from the plane |
The approach to
Longyearben is RNAV and features mountain ranges on both sides. We land and immediately apply strong
brakes…we stop with roughly 750’ of runway left…before the water.
Onto
more buses for the short ride to our ship, the Explorer. This is the ship we
traveled on in Antarctica and feels like an old friend. Our luggage magically
appears in our room; we unpack and head for the lounge for the mandatory safety
briefing. We seem to have “muscle
memory” about getting around the ship but other times we still need to look at
the signs to get around.
It’s
a wonderful ship that sleeps approximately 130 guests…while there are different
cabin levels they are all quitee nice. The staff is mainly from the Philippines
and Eastern Europe…working on the Explorer is a coveted job and we meet some
who have been here for over 10 years.
 |
| Our plane |
 |
| from our cabin |
 |
| In the lounge...orientation drill |
 |
| Our dining room table |
 |
| Captain's welcome |
The
Honey Badgers stake out a table for dinner and we sit for our first meal. After
dinner it’s back to the lounge and exploring outside…it’s brisk but not that
cold. Around 9PM it’s time for bed but
we are reminded that we’re not home…the sun never sets at this latitude and
it’s always light. I’m glad I brought my
eye mask.
No comments:
Post a Comment