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| Leaving Tromso |
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| Leaving Tromso |
Longyearbyen, Spitsbergen, Svalbard, Norway
It's really just one place. Longyearbyen is the city, Spitsbergen is the island, Svalbard is the archipelago (group of islands), and Norway is the country. Those refreshingly cool temperatures we felt earlier in Tromso aren't quite so nice when it's also cooler, gray, windy, and wet.
But a little cold wind and rain is not about to stop Lady Adventurer and her Faithful Companion, Dan. Nope, the two of us are set to do a "strenuous" hike through the barren hills and valleys of Svalbard. And hike we do. After stressing about the weather and terrain, Lady A, and I wind up having a wonderful time.
The hike is a marvelous one in just about every way. Svalbard is quite barren, and yet it's also quite beautiful, in a stark sort of way. You might even call it other-worldly, sort of like some of the volcano hiking we've done in Hawaii. Yet this place is not volcanic - it's just barren due to the arctic location and the recent melting of glaciers. Our Guide tells us more about how climate change is occurring faster and more dramatically here in Svalbard than just about anyplace else on Planet Earth. He pleaded with us to take this message back home: to JUST STOP IT. As I like to say, it's the first rule of holes: when you're in one, you should stop digging.
Meanwhile, the other guide is loading her rifle, in case of a polar bear attack. A fellow hiker asks what kind of rifle and ammunition she is using. After some further discussion, it's clear that he knows a lot about guns, so she asks if he's a hunter. He answers that no, he just knows guns because he happens to live in America. The timing was excellent.
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| The hike started in Longyearbyen and went up into the mountains from there |
The hike becomes much more difficult toward the end, where we have to navigate over steep hills, across rivers, and over gazillions of large, slippery rocks. When we arrive at the highest point, we begin looking for fossils. We find plenty, and we don't even need to break any rocks apart; the fossils are just lying around, all over the place. They're all plant fossils. Eventually, it's time to head back. This part is much easier.
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| Yield to polar bears |
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| Loading the polar bear killing rifle, just in case |
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| Lady A. and some guy |
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| Up toward the glacier |
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| There are a lot of rocks in Svalbard |
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| At the fossil place |
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| Heading back down |
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| One last look at Svalbard |
As we sail South to Iceland, we approach the Arctic Circle. We'd been North of it for the entire trip thus far. Leave it to the fun folks at Oceania to use this as an excuse for a party. A polar plunge party. Yes, Dan takes The Plunge. At the time, the air is around 50 F, and the pool water is around 50 F. It isn't too bad, except for the wind when it was time to get back out of the water. It was just as they told us: everything shrinks.
Akureyri, Iceland
This port is Plan B, and we'll now be spending a couple of days here. Plan A had been to make stops at Hucevik and then Siglafjordur, but all of that was changed due to dangerous landing conditions. This town is at the base of Iceland's largest and longest fjord, and it's a beaut; we have a spectacular cruise in.
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| Fjord near Akureyri, Iceland |
Due to the schedule changes, we have a few extra hours to walk around the town of Akureyri. So walk we do. It's a neat little town and a good taste of Iceland.
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| Akureyri 'City Center' |
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| Akureyri waterfront, or is it fjordfront? |
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| Akureyri |
And that's just for starters. Akureyri and its environs are a many-splendored part of Iceland. Lady A. and I learn this during the next day's extra-long "Jewels of the North" tour of Northern Iceland.
The Godafoss Waterfall (Waterfall of the gods) is pretty neat. In fact, the entire river cutting through the landscape is cool. We do quite a bit of walking on both sides. And we take gobs of pictures, most of which are the same.
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| Godafoss Waterfall |
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| Godafoss Waterfall |
Skútustaðagígar Craters are called pseudo craters because they are not caused by the actual explosion of volcanos, but are a byproduct of their flowing lava. They were formed when steam was trapped, then exploded under the lava from a volcanic eruption 2,300 years ago. There are also scenic lakes all around, and there are billions of midges. Those who live near Lake Erie would be right at home.
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| Skútustaðagígar Craters |
Namaskard Sulfataras is a hot springs area with geysers, bubbling mud, steam vents, and plenty of sulfur smells.
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| Namaskard Sulfataras |
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| Namaskard Sulfataras |
The Dimmuborgir lava field was made up of fairy-like structures made of lava. We had an enjoyable hike through the labyrinth.
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| Dimmuborgir lava field |
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| Dimmuborgir lava field |
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| Dimmuborgir lava field |
All in all, Northern Iceland has been grand. Now, on to Greenland. And remember, Iceland is green, and Greenland is icy.
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| The Marina, moored in Iceland |
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| Iceberg spotted off the coast of Greenland |
Paamiut, Greenland
Lady Adventurer and her companion board a small boat in Paamiut, Greenland. It's cold and foggy, but soon we're deep in a fjord, where the sun is shining. And icebergs are all around. It's a little like Glacier Bay, but without the glaciers (They're around but just a little ways away). And it's gorgeous. Unfortunately, although humpback whales had been spotted, we didn't see any. Still, it's a beautiful boat trip. We top it off with a glass of Jagermeister over glacial/iceberg ice.
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| Paamiut |
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| Paamiut |
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| Paamiut |
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| Paamiut |
Lo and behold, we do spot whales from the Marina as we're sailing away from Paamiut. These humpbacks are not close enough for decent photos, but it's still good to see them spouting and diving down into the deep.
Nuuk, Greenland
Nuuk is the capital and largest city of Greenland. Greenland, by the way, is a self-governing territory of Denmark. During today's hike, we have a picnic and get to sample some Greenlandic delicacies, like dried fish (dry, chewy, not too great), dried reindeer meat (dry, chewy, not too awful), and whale blubber (not dry, not chewable at all, not too edible at all).
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| Please pass the blubber |
How did the Paradise Trail Hike itself go, you ask? Scenic. but cold, windy, and difficult (to the extreme) come to mind. Lady Adventurer and about half of the others (there were around 16 of us) hike more than half-way, but stay at the waterfall to shiver and guard the picnic food whilst the rest of us continue on up the mountain. We get to see a patch of some of the permanent snow up there. But the wind is a killer on the way back down, and Lady A. nearly froze completely solid while guarding the picnic food.
I think it's called the Paradise Trail Hike because it's on the Paradise Trail, which runs through the Paradise Valley. It actually is aptly named, since it's hard to imagine a more scenic place. But can paradise really be this cold?
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| At the start of the hike |
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| I'm on top of the world |
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| Is there a waterfall around here? |
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| Paradise Valley |
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| I made it to the snow |
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| Dan Horvath, Hiker Extraordinaire |
Prince Christian Sound, Greenland
The Fjords of Norway, those of Chile, Argentina / Chile's Beagle Channel, Alaska's Inside Passage, and New Zealand's Milford Sound are all great. But they got nuthin' on Prince Christian Sound. After skipping the planned stop at Qaqortoq, Greenland (Yes, there is indeed a word with three Q's and no U's), the Captain had moved this part of the voyage up a little bit. It worked out well, as the sun is setting behind us, the cold 32F wind had subsided, and the sun had come out.
I'm sure it would have been great no matter what, but with the conditions as they are, the Sound is all the more spectacular. There are fjords going off to the North, glimpses of the famous Greenland Ice Field, glaciers galore, and more waterfalls than we can count. This is definitely the highlight of the trip.
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| Our route through the Southern tip of Greenland |
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| Prince Christian Sound |
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| Prince Christian Sound Waterfall |
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| Prince Christian Sound |
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| Prince Christian Sound Glacier |
Grundarfjordur, Iceland
We are back in Iceland after a couple of days at sea, Grundarfjordur, in the Southwest part of Iceland, will be our last port of call before we return home from Reykjavik tomorrow. We hike throughout the hills above the village and then we follow the trails out of town toward Kirkjafell Mountain and Falls. It's a scenic but long hike, but thankfully, it's not overly arduous. It's a great way to end this Adventure.
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| Grundarfjordur Hike |
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| Kirkjufell Mountain |
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| Grundarfjordur Hike |
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| Kirkjufell Falls |
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