by Calvin Sun | Jun 25, 2022 | June 2022: Svalbard, Norway, Svalbard, Way Way Off the Beaten Path
After some drama suturing up my knee last night, I slept in and skipped breakfast as our ship sailed into Kongsfjorden, an expansive fjord spilling with glaciers. By mid morning we then moored off Ny Ålesund, one of the northernmost settlements in...
by Calvin Sun | Jun 24, 2022 | June 2022: Svalbard, Norway, Svalbard, Way Way Off the Beaten Path
After a day on pack ice northwest of Svalbard and recovering from karaoke the night before, today we sailed into Woodfjorden, Andrée Land. The name Woodfjorden is referring to the large amounts of driftwood that cover some beaches. We then landed at...
by Calvin Sun | Jun 23, 2022 | June 2022: Svalbard, Norway, Svalbard, Way Way Off the Beaten Path
Today was a day of entirely sailing, where we headed into the unreal views of endless pack ice to the northwest of Svalbard. So I set up my office for the day: We watched endless beauty at 80º Latitude. A day totally...
by Calvin Sun | Jun 22, 2022 | June 2022: Svalbard, Norway, Svalbard, Way Way Off the Beaten Path
After breakfast on the ship for our third day we approached Virgohamna. Our group would luck out this morning in getting randomly selected first for kayaking, taking advantage of the low wind speed and calm waters here. So at 9am we...
by Calvin Sun | Jun 21, 2022 | June 2022: Svalbard, Norway, Svalbard, Way Way Off the Beaten Path
After breakfast and another safety briefing on the ship, we fitted ourselves with our musk boots for the week before one more separate orientation for kayakers. They love their orientations on this trip. After lunch we continued our course...
by Calvin Sun | Jun 20, 2022 | June 2022: Svalbard, Norway, Svalbard, Way Way Off the Beaten Path
It took 3 years for us to get here, and it’s finally time to explore Longyearbyen. FYI, if you missed it from yesterday’s post when we first arrived, they DO stamp out your passport when arriving from Norway to Svalbard, even if Svalbard is...