The morning of our
second cruise day we should spend in Ny-Ålesund. The little settlement lies in
the “Kong fjord”. Its surroundings belong to the nicest areas in Spitsbergen
and we saw it in the best weather you can imagine. Clear blue sky and sunshine
already in the early morning hours. The glaciers in the bay were shining in the
morning light. Northern Fulmars, some Glaucous Gulls and Black-legged
Kittiwakes greeted us in the harbour. There was no wind and the world looked a
bit surreal.
The area around
Ny-Ålesund was already well known during the whaling time in the 17th
century. In 1917 a private mine
company from Ålesund in Norway founded the city Ny-Ålesund as a mining town.
Today it is a huge research “Station” town where Scientifics from all over the
world find best possibilities for their modern projects of arctic and climate
research.
Ny-Ålesund is very
famous for the historical arctic research too. Names like Amundsen, Ellsworth
and Nobile are strongly connected to this place. On our walk through the town
we got all the stories about these arctic heroes. Full of new impressions we went back to the ship.
Lunch was already waiting for us.
The next landings of
our circumnavigation of Spitsbergen would be in the nature only, no town or
settlement during the next days. In the early afternoon we learned in a special
so-called “AECO” - briefing how to behave in this sensitive landscape. Directly
after we could rent the “Muck” boots from the ship so that we could start our
landing in Magdalene Fjord very well prepared, mentally and with the right
equipment.
In Magdalene Fjord
passengers have been divided in groups by different interests. We had fast hikers,
slow hikers, those they wanted to enjoy more or less themselves, than we had kayakers
and even swimmers and at the end we had a small of group of passengers which
went on a very extraordinary 1 ½ hour PolarCircleBoat cruise to the very
special historical place of Virgohamna. We saw a lot of wildlife on our way like hunting Arctic
skuas, Puffins, Walruses and Harbor Seals. The sunset over the glacier panorama
we will never forget. In Virgohamna you still find remains from the whaling
time, and from the time when Andree tried to fly with a balloon over the pol.
Our expedition team member Stephan did not become tiered to chair all his
historical knowledge with us.
As the day was filled
up with so many activities most went to bed early. Everybody wanted to be fit
for the next upcoming day.
