During the night the
wind picked up, such that substantial swell built up in the shallow water close
to land at Mønstedhus. The guide team tried to find an alternative landing
site, but along the long-stretched beach, no suitable landing conditions were
encountered. So we had to cancel the landing and continued our way along
Hochstetter Forlandet. It was worth spending time outside to watch the numerous
snow hares and occasional musk oxen along the flat coast. For those getting
cold outside, some lectures were offered, for example about seabirds and tundra
vegetation.
The weather improved
continuously, and when we debarked to our afternoon landing location at Kulhus,
the wind had ceased completely. The time we saved in the morning could be
nicely used on this afternoons landing. Kulhus, the coal house, is of course
located next to a coal seam from which the trappers and scientists in the area
supplied themselves with coal. The building
has fallen into disrepair, and additionally, a Polar bear had broken into it.
Pieces of the equipment, wood and bones cover the ground in the surroundings.
We also took an extended walk on the plateau behind the building.
Unspectacular on the first glimse, the tundra reveals its little treasures only to those that have time and look carefully. Even this late in the season, we found still some flowers sticking out like tiny gems, lemming burrows and their tracks in the fresh snow and some regurgitated casts of the snowy owl, consisting of dozens of small lemming skeletons.
