Wednesday 4 September 2013

A last icy day

The morning we spent in Ymerbukta where we got the possibility to walk next and even on the Esmark glacier! There was this very special morning light again before later on the full sun broke through the dark clouds. From the moraine we got a good overview over the glacier and the surroundings. During the last days we could not see so many birds anymore. Most of them started their migration to the south in the direction to Iceland already. Back on board we had the possibility to join lectures again. All the information we received helped us to understand the nature and everything we have seen so much better.





At 15:00 we recognized the first time that our trip came to an end. Our Captain Rune Andreassen invited us in the Observation Lounge to say farewell.

But there was still the second landing of the day we could look forward to. At 17:00 we started our landing in Brucebyen, a historical place next to the magnificent Nordenskjold glacier. At the landing site we could still see some houses built in 1919 by the Scottish polar scientist William Spiers Bruce and the company The Scottish Spitsbergen Syndicate Ltd, as a base for coal explorations in the area. But the highlight of the afternoon landing was a PolarCircelBoat-cruise along the amazing calving front of the Nordenskjold glacier. What a wonderful end of a beautiful voyage!


Back on board we had to pack to be ready for our disembarkation during the night. With different charter flights we went home. We will need days perhaps even weeks to understand everything we have seen. But for sure it was more than wonderful – our circumnavigation of Spitsbergen.