Tuesday 13th June 2023

From the 16th century, people lived up here, whaling for the oil which lit Europe for centuries. Those hardy men lived a hard life, partly in darkness, and many died from scurvy, and their bones never left the islands. On Tuesday’s trip, those gong ashore will see 169 graves of those poor souls who never left, so that people could read and write at night.

I have not gone. Out there on the land, on the slopes of the cliffs, snow still lays deep and crisp and even, so thick that those going on the long hike have to wear snow shoes. My back told me in no uncertain terms last night that I should stay on board this morning. Sitting on the bench seats was uncomfortable for me, as was getting to sleep. On that first trip ashore, it was when my foot fell through the crisp crust of the snow and my body went down until I hit firm ground or ice, so I chickened out. In fact nearly a dozen other passengers are on board with me now, but Jools has gone ashore.

We both struggled to wake up this morning, both of us went back to sleep after the phone woke us up at half six, and again when the crew made the usual morning sitrep call at seven. It was only when breakfast was called at half past, did we stir, as Jools just had over an hour before she was to board the zodiac to go to the shore.

Last night I used my 100MB internet voucher to check on the news: Sunak and Johnson are having an argument, Trump still indited with 37 charges, and Citeh did win the treble, but the European Cup Final by just a single goal. I went onto Flickr and that loading, apparently, took me through the 100MB limit, and that was that, no more interwebs.

But we will be back near to the airport tomorrow evening, so my phone will work and I can catch up, and on Thursday, we fly home, from Svalbard to Oslo in the morning, and Oslo to London in the evening, then drive back home, maybe home before midnight.

When it will be dark.

Dark. Fancy that.

I stayed on board with a few others, updated the blog and looked at my pictures again, so am now up today. On top of which, two more coffees drunk, and 5 (five) digestives dunked.

Meanwhile, outside, it snowed some more, as temperatures hovered around freezing, and as the snow fell, the outside world fades to greys as the sides of the fjord faded. I read the newspapers online and they are giving out advice on how to sleep in hot weather, it might come as a shock to us if its that warm…….

Jools came back at half eleven, and confirmed that conditions for the “easy” walk were far from that. Snow lay so deep, she got stuck, lost her boot in a drift, and then had to wear snow shoes, which had to be taken off when the path came to rocks, then then put back on for the return walk. It was cold, snowed, and for the most part, not enjoyable.

So, my choice not to go was correct.

There was another trip ashore in the afternoon to see a little auk colony. I again decided not to go, Jools also stayed aboard, as did a few more less hardy souls. And for half that did, they got the boat to take them back instead of the cruise along the cliffs, deciding to come back to ship for coffee and afternoon cake.

I read and read, and by half six finished Miriam Margolyes’s autobiography, it was full of Dickens and smut. In about the right balance.

So, at half six, the penultimate days debrief and the plan for tomorrow, which is at the mercy of a major storm sweeping down from the north, which could mean no off-ship activities at all.

Dinner included rabbit and boiled place. Thank goodness for the salad and sweet bar.