In which we board our ship

Flying to Spitsbergen

Our alarms were set for 4.30 but I was awake for a while before that. We dressed quickly and took our bags down to the lobby for 5.00 as requested. A good buffet breakfast was served before we set off for the airport terminal in three groups - we were in group two, leaving at 6.00. Our luggage was taken separately but we had to collect it for check-in. There was quite a long queue there, a longer one at security and a very short one at passport control.

There was still about half an hour before we were due to board, so we found seats near the gate. In the end though boarding was late for ‘operational reasons‘ – I think the crew were late arriving. Meanwhile we chatted a bit with a few of our fellow passengers and I took a few photos around the airport.

We had seats near the back of the plane and this time it was my turn for the window. I got some photos as we took off and soon after as we flew over a lot of lakes. But the photo got much better as we started to descend over Svalbard, with snow scattered across the mountains and several glaciers.

We had a rather bumpy landing in a windy Longyearbyen where we were met by a friendly guide for a ‘city’ tour. She was from Lithuania, studying at the university here and working as a guide to fund her studies.

Longyearbyen: a brief history

Longyearbyen is essentially a mining town, or rather was until a few weeks ago. People had been coming to Svalbard for several hundred years: trapping its wildlife for furs, killing its whales for blubber and baleen, prospecting for gold and other minerals. But there was no significant settlement, only a scattering of trappers’ and prospectors’ huts. In 1906 however, an American businessman and mining pioneer, John Munroe Longyear, established the first mine here, erected buildings and named the settlement Longyear City. A Norwegian company took over the mine in 1916 and renamed the town, Longyearbyen.

At first mining was pretty much the only economic activity here. But more recently science has played a growing part in the local economy, as has tourism. Today there is a university here, with students coming from all over the world to study Arctic-related subjects. There are several hotels, a small shopping centre, a museum, several coffee shops, restaurants and a pub.

But it’s an unusual place to live. The sun never sets in the summer and never rises in the winter. The population of 2,400 residents hail from almost 53 different countries, and stay only for an average of seven years.

How would it feel to have to carry a rifle every time you stepped beyond the town’s limits and to know how to use it against a possible polar bear attack? Signs are placed on every road out of the town, marking the limits of where it is considered to walk unprotected.

Tour of Longyearbyen

Our tour actually started with free time to get some lunch and walk around town and/or shop. We first went to see the husky café, but it was crowded and the huskies mobbed by children wanting to pet them, so we soon left. Instead we went to another café in the shopping centre where we got decent coffees and also enjoyed a Norwegian cinnamon bun.

We then had a walk to photograph some of the buildings and get a feel for the town. The colours of the Norwegian mainland predominate, ochres and browns in particular. The architectural style is fairly utilitarian but windows and even fire escapes provide some interesting details. And locals seem to favour antlers as a decorative feature.

Soon after that it was time to gather in the town centre car park to board a bus for a short tour. This took us up to the church where there was a short stop for photos. This isn’t just a place of worship but also an important centre for gatherings of all kinds. The original church, built in 1921, unfortunately was bombed and subsequently burned down during World War II. The current church was constructed and opened in 1958.

We then drove to the Svalbard Global Seed Vault on the outskirts of town, near the airport. This is, as the name suggests, an international project, jointly funded by Norway and a non-profit organisation, the Crop Trust. It provides long-term storage for duplicates of seeds from gene banks around the world. The aim is to protect food supplies against the loss of seeds in individual countries due to mismanagement, accident, equipment failures, funding cuts, war, sabotage, disease, and natural disasters. It works rather like a bank vault. Depositing countries all retain ownership of their seeds and only they can access them. We were told that Syria is the only country so far to have withdrawn some seeds as a result of the civil war there.

While at the Seed Vault we were excited to see our very first (living) examples of Svalbard wildlife, with several reindeer grazing on the hillside. And plant life too, as cotton grass was dancing in the wind nearby.

From there we could also see our ship, the Ocean Explorer, moored at the old coal jetty. There was plenty of evidence of the coal mining that Longyearbyen was founded on, though we learned that the last mine closed just three weeks ago.

The tour finished with a visit to the museum which was nicely laid out with exhibits on wildlife, trapping, mining, exploration and climate change. I’m not usually a fan of stuffed animals but here they did offer us a closer look at some of those we hoped to meet (and did!) on our expedition. The most amazing fact I learned here was that Svalbard once lay on the equator! Hence the presence of coal from those prehistoric forests.

Boarding the Ocean Explorer

Then it was time to board the ship. We were welcomed with a glass of bubbly, checked in and found our cabin which was lovely. We especially liked the picture window and small balcony.

The Ocean Explorer can accommodate 138 passengers although there were slightly fewer, 128, on our trip. It has plenty of comfortable public areas and two observation decks.

The next hour or so was taken up with a general briefing, lifeboat drill, checking (and in my case changing) our parka size, likewise boots.

While this was going on we put out to sea. We'd been warned that tonight rather rougher than usual weather was expected! There was certainly some movement, but it didn’t seem too bad.

Although dinners are usually a la carte, for tonight there was a less formal buffet. The food was pretty good, although I found the vegetables (green beans) overcooked. Afterwards we went out on deck to take some photos, trying to capture the ever-changing light.

We also went to the bar for a night-cap. House beers, wines and spirits are all included in the fare though premium ones have to be paid for. But I was more than happy with house gin, Gordon’s, and enjoyed a nice G&T to round off the day.

A note about our trip

The term ‘expedition cruise’ is usually used to describe adventures at sea in the world’s more remote regions. These are not cruises in the traditional sense. Ships are generally smaller and facilities less extensive, although as we found with the Ocean Explorer comfort isn’t necessarily sacrificed. You won’t get the traditional forms of entertainment either. There are no ‘shows’, no organised fun, and there’s no requirement to dress for dinner, although we found that many people make a small effort. Your day is spent exploring off the ship as much as possible, either in zodiac rides along the coast or shore landings. Between these activities, and in the evenings, there are educational talks helping you to understand and appreciate what you are seeing.

The Ocean Explorer and the Quark expedition team embraced this philosophy to perfection. While we had comfortable cabins and good food and drinks, this always felt more like an adventure than a holiday. Our expedition leader Ryan balanced his twin responsibilities of keeping us safe and keeping us informed and engrossed equally well, and the rest of the team were great at communicating their specific areas of knowledge: birds, mammals, history, geology, ice etc. We also had an excellent photographer, Kris, recording our adventures in great detail. I have his permission to share any images I want to with you, which I may well do in future posts.