This is part of a series called Nordic Sojourn 2022 Today we made it to Greenland. Even though it is well south of the polar ice pack we visited, it is 10-15 degrees colder here. That’s because Svalbard has the Gulf Stream that skirts it, while Greenland gets the cold polar currents from the north. …
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Today we visited Jan Mayen Island, a tiny volcanic island in the North Atlantic that is 600 miles west of Norway and 350 miles north of Iceland. It is a territory of Norway, has no native population, and only has 18 rotational people who run the weather and radio stations. The skyline is dominated by…
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This is part of a series called Nordic Sojourn 2022 Today, we visited Poolepynten, a headland at the eastern coast of the Prins Karls Forland in Spitsbergen, Svalbard. This mile long stretch of beach is part of the Forlandet National Park and is home to a group of walruses that use that area to rest. …
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This is part of a series called Nordic Sojourn 2022 This morning dawned bright and sunny, with a temperature in the mid-40s! We entered the Kongsfjorden and are at Ny London, a mining operation that went bust in the early 20th Century. We are at 78 degrees, 55 minutes. As little as 15 years ago,…
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This is part of a series called Nordic Sojourn 2022 By the next morning, the pack ice had thickened and we got a chance to see the ship’s icebreaker bow in action. At 6:40 am, the Expedition Leader made an announcement that there was a polar bear off our starboard bow, about 150 yards out. …
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This is part of a series called Nordic Sojourn 2022 We continued our northward sail during the night to the area of Woodfjorden and Liefdefjorden to visit a trapping cabin known as Texas Bar. In the morning, however, we were pretty heavily socked in with fog, causing a delay in going ashore. Texas Bar was…
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This is part of a series called Nordic Sojourn 2022 Our first landing of the trip was at Gravneset that is rated as one of the most beautiful fjords in Svalbard. It is surrounded by tall mountains and glaciers. It’s also one of the largest burial grounds (over 130 graves) in Svalbard dating from the…
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This is part of a series called Nordic Sojourn 2022 Today, we flew from Oslo to Longyearbyen. It is located at 78 degrees North — just 1316 kilometers from the North Pole, with a resident population of 2400 people from 53 different countries. It was nearly a three hour flight from Oslo to get here…
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This is part of a series called French Polynesia The genesis of this trip came from my frustration of not seeing 2017’s total eclipse in Oregon. We heard the traffic was going to be an absolute nightmare, so we decided to stay in Seattle to see the 96% complete eclipse. I’ve got news for you…
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This is part of a series called French Polynesia So begins our next big adventure — French Polynesia. We are starting, and will finish, our trip here in Tahiti. Since we only have one full day on either side of the rest of our trip, we wanted to make the most our time. Our strategy…
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