Friday 9th June 2023

We woke up at about six, outside it was light, as it had been all night. We were nearly at 77 degrees north, high above the Arctic Circle. We could hear the ship waking up, though our neighbours had a “do not disturb” sign on their door.

Breakfast was called for half seven, we went down and found a table to have the usual: fruit, yogurt, followed by sausages and hash browns and lots and lots of coffee.

Plan for the morning was a landing by the inflatables, and a wander about to get used to walking in the artic. Climbing in and out of the zodiacs brings a little bit of concern, but there is crew around to help, and its fairly easy if inelegant.

Jools and I were on the last boat, we clambered in via the gangway and the helping hand of the crew in the boat. We took our place in sitting round the edge of the boat, the engine road and we turned for the shore. Getting out was a very inelegant roll, with another member of staff making sure you didn’t roll backwards, feet in the shallow water, grab your bag and over to the beach.

There were four groups: one for the sports billies, two medium and an easy pace one. We chose the latter so to assess our level. We walked out to a hunter’s cottage from about the war, it is preserved, and so is slowly falling apart, not helped by a polar bear a few years back, who thought it looked fine to sleep in, so tried to break into.

The ground was a mix of gravel and snow, the snow just beginning to melt, but also giving no indication of how deep it might be. Each step might make no indentation at all, but the next could see you sink in drifts up to your knee. I fell over twice, but in the snow, failing to bring a walking pole proved not to be our last mistake, but there you have it.

After 90 minutes, I had given up with the snow, so waited with some ladies for the rest of the group to look at the front edge of a glacier then return. Each group had two armed guides, who at the last resort would resort to lethal force, but mostly it would be about scaring a bear if we saw one.

We didn’t. The hope is to see a bear, but wither from the ship or zodiac. In the event of seeing on when we were on land, it would require us to evacuate.

No need for that, but after walking back along the beach, back to the boats, we waiting in line, to climb back in and be taken back to the ship, where it was nearly time for lunch.

Whilst we had lunch, the anchor was raised and we steamed to the next location, some two hour’s steaming away, an east facing beach of an island where a group of male walruses like to sleep and do what male walruses do.

Until we arrived, I updated this here blog, and read some of the book I bought back in London. Guests were slit into two groups: Germans, and then the rest, and after drawing lots the Germans went first, climbing into the zodiacs and then zooming to shore. From the boat we could see them, brightly coloured dots on the beach, walking towards slightly larger brown blobs, which were the walruses.

And hour later and it was our turn, no fears this time as we climbed into the boat, slid along the side, hung on as the skipper opened the throttle and we powered to shore. As we arrived, the Germans got in the boats, so soon there was just our half of the party left on the sand.

On a signal, we walked in line approaching the sleeping pile of blubber and ivory tusks until we were about 30m away. We stopped and took pictures and watched, as small arguments broke out, but mostly the males slept, scratched and grunted.

Two huge groups of walruses, all brown fur and skin, tusks and whiskers, mixed in with attitude, as the largest males pushed their way through the slumbering smaller males, because they could.

Two or three others watched from the shallows, one of them keeping two or three youngsters from even getting onto the beach.

Its what males do.

An hour quickly passed, and it was time to go back to the ship, we took it in turns to swing our legs into the zodiac, slide along until there was ten of us in, and then reverse out and power back to the ship. Even the weather was fantastic, clouds had cleared and we had bright sunshine.

With bottles of wine at only €20 a bottle, we had a Chardonnay with dinner before going up to the lounge to have coffee. There was some excitement as three Blue Whales were seen, within a few hundred metres of the ship, although you could really only see the blowholes, the Humpbacks with them showed better when they dived, waving their flukes in the air.

Kieran did buy some wine for the evening, and was very kind in sharing half with me. One bottle, two bottles, three bottles…….. It was midnight before we gave in, though it was still daylight outside, of course, looking it was mid-morning rather than midnight.