“Where does the strange attraction of these polar regions come from, so powerful, so stubborn, that after returning from them we forget all the moral and physical fatigue, and think only of returning there?”
– Jean-Baptiste Charcot
No time for a thoughtfully worded preamble today, so I’m borrowing one of the inspirational quotes from Ponant’s Daily Program. We are go-go-going – so hop in and buckle up.
Speaking of the Daily Program, here it is for yesterday:
And for today:
Up at a very reasonable 7:45 am, which should be plenty of time for a leisurely breakfast in advance of our expedition briefing at 9:30 am. Except the expedition briefing is not at 9:30 am, it’s actually at 9 am. Expedition Leader David had intended it for 8:30 am – as he originally told me – but there was an error in printing the Daily Program, which is presumably being done in three different languages. So 9 am it is.
I usually find this sort of slip-up irritating, but David is going out of his way to get us an extra zodiac cruise, and so he gets all the kudos and all the patience in the world – I will tolerate a great deal on an expedition cruise, so long as the expedition portion is done well.
Off to breakfast at the Grill, where we hope to answer the question as to whether last night’s less-than-stellar meal was a blip or foreshadowing of what awaits us the rest of the journey.
And – it’s excellent. I’m not sure where everyone is at the moment, but the Grill seems to be mostly empty. I have a cappuccino within 5 minutes of sitting down, and freshly fried eggs in less than 10 minutes. (Silversea could be easily double or triple that, for comparison.) The rest of the gaps I fill in from the buffet – hashbrowns and sausage, yoghurt and granola:
No fresh berries out this morning, but otherwise everything is as-good-or-better than Silversea. So we’ll count that as a win. As for the berries, they may be available on request – so we’ll try that another day.
Next, we head off to the expedition briefing. Much of it is the Standard Safety Spiel – how to board a zodiac (sailor’s grip getting in, sit down immediately and slide back); how to exit a zodiac for a wet landing (scooch forward to the front of the zodiac, and then swing your feet out toward the ocean); and some basic rules, like don’t be drunk when boarding a zodiac. Easy-peezy.
Also – don’t run from the polar bears. Prey runs. Don’t be prey.
Then we talk a little about the expedition itself. This portion of the cruise was always going to be “Svalbard-lite”, as we only have four full days in Svalbard before we head over the eastern Greenland. However, the weather seems excellent so we are going to attempt to go around to the north and to the east, including up to Nordaustlandet – the island to the northwest of Spitsburgen. You have to meet a large set of criteria in terms of the ship’s ice class, the captain’s training and experience, the onboard medical facilities and the number of passengers to visit this area – and thankfully, we meet all of those criteria. So off we go!
Back to our staterooms to get ready for our first zodiac cruise – we will be visiting Magdalene Fjord today, first via zodiac and then later by a landing.
First stop is the Waggonwaybreen glacier. Very little calving today – which, as incredible as it is to see, we’re glad it isn’t happening. Still, it feels incredible to be moving through the brash ice once more – and there are also some growlers (up to the size of a piano), and bergy bits (up to the size of a house).
The scale of the glacier is incredible – it’s more than 40 metres high:
From here we head over to do a bit of wildlife spotting.
One last glance at the glacier:
Then off we go!
To find walruses:
Mostly they lie around, but two of them decide to galumph their way down to the water:
Nap break:
Double nap break:
Okay, back to the beach – but first a hero pose:
Two hero poses:
There’s a juvenile moving through the water, looking for someone to play with.
One of the older fellows tells him to back off:
But mostly, they just sort of flop around with their tusks in the sand:
Wish I’d brought my long lens! Ah, well – it’s still an incredible sight.
We bid farewell to the walruses:
Third hero pose!
And then head back to the ship.
Trivia is supposed to be at 11:30 am. We ask around, and the host apparently left when no one showed up. Reception offers to call him back for us, but we decide to just skip it until next time when other people can take part.
Off for lunch – again a buffet at the Grill:
Veal for lunch today – guess we do have some red meat onboard after all?
Also – easily accessible pineapple for lunch:
This is one of my staples when travelling, so glad I don’t have to place a custom order for it
Perhaps one day we’ll have time for a full sit-down meal, but in the mean time this is working just fine. Again, very impressed with the speed of the service.
Back to our rooms for a brief break to read / write / relax, and then we prep again for a landing at Gravneset – the remnants of a former whaling station, home to a former police station, and the site of graves of many sailors.
There are also some beautiful Arctic terns:
Which are also extremely territorial:
They dive bomb each of us in turn, and relieve themselves upon one of the other guests. But no one is injured – unlike our visit to South Georgia, where there were multiple fur seal bites and a broken bone – so we’ll count this as a win.
We also spot an Arctic skua:
We overheated in our parkas during the zodiac cruise, so I wear just a light wool jacket for this landing – except it’s also too hot. So I’m soon down to just my T-shirt.
I brought my long lens this time, and wish I’d brought my shorter lens so that I could get more of the scenery. But thankfully my wife gets some nice shots with her iPhone.
Beautiful view of the bay from here:
We continue to the other side of the beach. We aren’t permitted to walk on the tundra, so we need to stick to the rocks and the path. It’s not the easiest going, but it is a good workout.
We see the site of an occasional-use police camp:
And their supplies:
As well as more grumpy terns:
As mentioned, Gravneset is also a whalers’ cemetery:
The areas are roped off to prevent anyone from setting foot upon them.
And I get some shots of the Barnacle geese with their young:
So it was worth bringing the long lens after all.
Right before we leave, there’s a rumble – and some guests spot a cloud of dust. Looks like there was a landslide:
Another reason to be careful while in the field.
Back aboard the ship, and we have a little bit of time before the expedition briefing at 5 pm:
Here David tells us the plan for tomorrow – we’re going to visit the Alkefjellet to see if we can spot some of the ‘falling guillemots’ – a phenomenon that only happens once a year over a period of three days, in which the guillemot young grow too large for the parents to effectively feed and so they are persuaded to glide down into the ocean.
We will then do a ship’s cruise around Whalbergoya in search of polar bears (fingers crossed!), followed in the evening by a scenic navigation around Brasvellbreen – one of the largest glacier fronts in the Northern hemisphere, stretching over 200 km.
Back to the rooms for a brief stretch, and then up to theatre again for the Captain’s Welcome Gala. We start with some singing from Rose:
Arrival time is 6:30 pm for Deck 3 and 4, while higher decks are due to arrive at 6:45 pm. Initially we wonder why we get preferential treatment but then it becomes clear that the event isn’t going to start until after 7 pm.
This gives us time to admire one of Ponant’s innovations – a theatre cupholder that works with champagne flutes:
A tip of the cap – and glass – to French innovation
The Captain eventually takes the stage and introduces the heads of the various departments:
Each of whom have a creative theme song – which in turn entertain the children:
Everyone then departs to dine for the Captain’s Gala, but – mindful of what we’ve read from other Ponant CruiseCritic posters – we elect instead to head to the Grill for a more casual meal:
More red meat! Is this the start of a trend, or simply the last hurrah?
None of us have it in us to dine for three hours – but the buffet is far from a sacrifice, particularly when it includes strawberry, phylo and cream:
And chocolate mousse cake:
Then back to the room for a marathon writing session to try and finish up the previous days post. It’s after 11 pm by the time we finish up – Ponant’s standard internet is much faster than Silversea’s standard internet, but nowhere near as fast as Silversea’s premium internet. That’s a challenge when it comes to downloading and uploading images, though it is nice to save the added cost. (For those looking for numbers – it clocks in at 2.2 megs / second.
But eventually the post goes up, and it’s time for us to call it a night – though our zodiac cruise is not until 10:20 am tomorrow, so we’re very much looking forward to having something of a sleep-in.