NE Greenland

Sunday, August the 30^th

Ice, Ice, Ice

We could see, hear and feel the sea ice during the night. It was hard to go forward. During the day we got updated about the ice situation and the expected landing time. The landing in Daneborg was postponed and later we received the information, that there was no chance to go there, because the station leader had some important visitors. Nevertheless it was beautiful standing outside and looking at the huge amount of drift ice around MV FRAM. A situation and a surrounding of being in an icy wonderland.

In the evening we were informed about the plans for the next day, a landing a Eskimoneset in the morning. The excursion “Polar Circle Cruise” was mostly following the FRAM, but in a sudden one boat stuck in the ice for some while.

Monday, August the 31^st

Another day in the ice ….

Announcement in the morning: Polar bears!!! It was a female with her cub, both swimming in front of FRAM, heading for an ice floe to relax. After they reached it, they relaxed, sleeping, blinking at FRAM and yawning. We all had time to take lovely pictures which we afterwards shared with each other. That was a wonderful hour we spent on deck in the sunshine.

The next updates informed us about the further plans; we were heading south to find a nice landing side. This day would be another day in the sea ice day. First some more lectures and later we started with a polar circle cruise for all passengers. It was amazing being closer the ice floes and the three huge plateau icebergs, which are normally quite rare in this region.

In the end of the day we were all happy. Another beautiful day in the ice.

1.9, Tuesday

Myggbukta

Finally we made our first land-fall in NE-Greenland J

This morning when we woke up we had anchored at Myggbukta in NE-Greenland. This used to be a Norwegian trapper and radio station. It is also the place were Norway tried to occupy an area between 71-74 N, named „Eirik den raudes land“. This happened in 1931, but Norway lost in the international court in Haag in 1933. Since then the station has been used by travellers in the national park and the SIRIUS patrol.

It was not possible to land at the station due to heavy pack-ice, but we found an excellent spot 6 km east of the station. 50 guests went on a completely new hike in the hills, where they saw musk oxes and had a fantastic view over Fram, the landscape and the pack-ice. The hike went up to 365 metres above sea level and was 10.5 km and took 4 hours.

Those who did not go on the hike could enjoy a 2 ½ hours walk on the lower parts of the slop with wonderfull weather, seeing an arctic fox and quite a number of muskox (aka hippie-cow).

After the morning landing we tried to sail in through the pack-ice to Keiser Frans Josef fjord, but in the end the ice got to dense and we had no other choice than to retreat and find our way out of this maze consisting of annual ice and multiyear ice. The weather has been great with sun, no wind and temperatures around +2 degrees.

In the evening the expedition team had a RECAP on deck 7, where our guests could ask questions about what we have been doing on the cruise so far.

For 10 of our guests beds where being prepared for the Arctic Skye, where you can sleep on deck 7 under the sky experiencing the crisp clear air.

2.9, Wednesday

At sea. During the night we have slowly progressed through the heavy pack-ice and out at sea. It took good skills from the captain and the officers to break through the ice-fields.

We are now steaming south towards the southern entrance of the national park. We will hopefully be able to enter through Davy Sound and Kong Oscars fjord and have a landing in the late afternoon.

The weather is treating us well, with calm seas, no wind and some cloudy weather.

Lectures in photography and ice is at the table.

In the evening we navigated through dense fog and managed to make a short landing for everyone at Antarctic Havn. During the landing the fog lifted and we got a spectacular evening sun and clearly saw the mountains across the fjord. Antarctic Havn is famous for the ship Antarctic which came her on a expedition in the late 1800 hundreds and also for Helge Ingstad. Helge Ingstad is famous for finding the Viking settlement on Lanse aux meadows and also because he was the first an only sysselmann (governor) for the Norwegians during the dispute about Eirik den raudes land in NE-Greenland, where Norway claimed this part of Greenland in 1931. Helge Ingstad stayed her from 1932-33 where he also wrote his famous book “øst for den store bræ”.

3.9, Thursday

This morning we woke up at Blomsterbugten. During the landing it was quite foggy and cloudy, but this soon turned into a beautiful sunny day. The kayakers and the hikers were out, as well as Amundsen and Nansen. Many of our guests had a fantastic landing seeing muskox and arctic hares. There is a small trappers cabin at the beach, named Varghytten (the wolfs hut) built in 1930 by Norwegian trappers. During the lunch and the rest of the day we cruised with the Fram into Isfjord to see spectacular iceberg calving off the inland ice sheet and sheer cliff rising steeply up to over 2000 metres. There was absolutely no wind and people enjoyed the fantastic light and the geology spanning hundreds of millions of years back in time.

We managed to have two polar circle boat cruises in Isfjord, one in the afternoon and one in the evening.

4.9, Friday

The weather in NE-Greenland was still showing us the best there is. Beautiful sun and sky clear. We had quite a wind on the landing on Ella ø, but we had a good long walk around the station and the surrounding area. Ella ø is the summer station of the Sirius patrol and is in use from the end of July to the end of August. From here they patrol the fjords and lay out provisions in the small hut for their travels during the winter time when the water is stiff.

The original station was built by the Danish Geologist Dr. Lauge Koch in 1931 and was used during numerous expeditions to map the geology and topography of the area. Today these maps are still some of the most detailed ones!!!

After the landing we steamed southwards through the picturesque Narhval Sund down to Alpefjord. Here we put the small boats in the water and did a 30 min ice-cruising in-front of the glacier Gully and Sefstrøms gletcher. These glaciers drain the Staunings Alper which are some of the most alpine and highest mountains in the area, up to 2842m. Until 1977 the two glaciers had a frontline of 5 km, building a dam to the back part of the Alpefjord.

5.9, Saturday

Due to the ice conditions deteriorating in the fjord it was the possibility of delays and  cancellations but luckily the weather was absolutely fantastic on our landing in Nyhavn, Mestersvig. Nyhavn is the harbour area to the Mestersvig airfield, currently inhabited by two men on a yearly basis. This used to be mining town until 1962, when the lead and zinc mine was closed down. The airfield continued to be in use as the gateway to the nationa and the inhabitants in Scoresbysund, but in 1985 scoresbysund got their on airport and mestersvig was closed down and is today mostly used as a military airfield.

One of our guides used to live in Nyhavn from 1975-78 and again on the airfield from 2007-08.

Due to the ice conditions we continued out of the fjord encountering quite some ice and also two polar bears and some large flocks of harp seals. The water was flat as a pancake and the sun set fantastic.

6.9, Sunday

During the night we had left the nationalpark and anchored up in Scoresbysund, a small native village with app. 430 souls. The weather god was still smiling at us and we had a good day looking at the town, little puppies, emptying the souvenir-shop and getting an insight into the daylie life of this town.

During lunch we turned south towards Iceland and the western town of Isafjordur. The forecast looks fairly good so the chance of a smooth ride is good…

NE Greenland National Park Expedition

Thursday, August the 27^th

Busy, busy, Barentsburg

What a start: arriving in time, missing luggage piece and finding them in another cabine, getting a blue jacket, safety drill, dinner and then some minutes to relax. We arrived at our first destination -Barentsburg, east of Longyearbyen – at 8 pm. Barentsburg is a Russian Mining town since 1932, when the Russian company Trust Arktikugol took over. During the time of the Soviet Union Barentsburg was a flourishing town with excellent living conditions; they had their own farms producing the meat and also fresh vegetables. Still nowadays the infrastructure is quite good for the 400 inhabitants. The most beautiful building is the school (40 pupils) and the kindergarten (20 children), decorated with lovely paintings by young artist from St. Petersburg. One of the most important buildings is the brewery and in the hotel we got the chance to taste the beer. After the guiding tour we were invited to attend a wonderful show performing Russian dancing and singing in the cultural- and sports-centre. This first day was a busy and impressive start of the voyage.

Friday, August the 28^th

Places of the past

We started with landing in Ny-Ålesund one of the most famous towns in Arctic region: a mining town, housing in former days the most northern post office and of course the place where the airships to the North Pole started. Ny-Ålesund was a coal mining town from 1916 to 1929 and again from 1946 to 1962 when the mine was finally closed after several serious accidents. In the 1920s Roald Amundsen was very interested to fly to the North Pole. First he tried with two Dornier Wal flying boats, unfortunately with no success. The arrived only 87°41’N where they had an emergency landing - but they managed to survive and returned. The next try started in 1926 with the airship Norge constructed by the Italian Umberto Nobilé. Nobilé, Amundsen and the American sponsor Lincoln Ellsworth were on board the successful drive. The mast which held the airship before starting is still standing outside Ny-Ålesund. Today the town is an important research place with around 20 international research stations. Some of us were on a Polar Circle Cruise surrounding the island Bomstrandshalvøya for the first time.

Our next landing was at Gravneset in Magdalenefjorden. Beside the historical traces of the former whale-hunting time, four blubber ovens and a huge graveyard, which were in use for 200 years from the 1614, we enjoyed the wonderful view direct towards the glacier and the icebergs. Some of us took the opportunity to take a refreshing swim in the sea. In the evening started another Polar Circle Cruise towards Virgohamna, which is an important historical side today remaining the balloon-drives by Andree and Wallman.

Saturday, August the 29^th

Heading towards Greenland

A wonderful sea day, time for relaxing, bridge visits and lectures. We heard about the “Birds of the Arctic”, “The Pointy Mountains of Svalbard”, “The Sirius Dog Sledge Patrol”, “Polar bears” and the history of Svalbard. The sea was calm and everyone was excited to reach the ice edge.

In the evening we enjoyed the MV FRAM Fashion Show. At least it was a nice and wonderful day.

Last round

Thursday, August the 20^th

Into the Mining Towns

Arriving in time and after the safety drill MV FRAM starts towards our first destination: Barentsburg, east of Longyearbyen. It was a wonderful sunshine and blue sky; the mountains along Isfjorden were glooming! Our Russian guides in Barentsburg expected us on the pier. Barentsburg is a Russian Mining town since 1932, when the Russian company Trust Arktikugol took over. During the time of the Soviet Union Barentsburg was a flourishing town and many workers tried to work here. The living conditions were excellent; they had their own farms producing the meat and also fresh vegetables. The payment was better than in mainland and most of the workers lived together with their families here. Still nowadays the infrastructure is quite good for the 400 inhabitants. The most beautiful building is the school (40 pupils) and the kindergarten (20 children), decorated with lovely paintings by young artist from St. Petersburg. The most important building is the huge cultural- and sports-center where we visited a wonderful show performing Russian dancing and singing. Leaving Barentsburg at 10 PM all of us agreed, it was a long day, but a wonderful start of the voyage.

Friday, August the 21^st

Into the History

Announcement in the early morning: two polar bears ashore a mother and a cub enjoying a walrus carcass. We spotted them on our way to Ny-Ålesund in Kongsfjorden. Ny-Ålesund is the famous town in Arctic region, because in former times it housed the most northern post office. The building is still there but we could only stamp our cards for decoration. In the beginning Ny-Ålesund was a coal mining town from 1916 to 1929 and again from 1946 to 1962 when the mine was finally closed after several serious accidents. In the 1920s the place became an important starting point for the small aircrafts and airships heading towards the North Pole, and of course the most famous man during that period was Roald Amundsen. He became very much interested in aircrafts and therefore he started with two Dornier-Wal flying boats N-24 and N-25. The six men didn’t reach the pole - only 87°41’N where they had an emergency landing - but they managed to survive and returned. The next try flight to the North Pole started in 1926 with the airship Norge constructed by the Italian Umberto Nobilé. Nobilé, Amundsen and the American sponsor Lincoln Ellsworth were on board the successful drive. The mast which held the airship before starting is still standing outside Ny-Ålesund. Today the town is an important research place with around 20 international research stations.

Our next landing was at Gravneset in Magdalenefjorden. Beside the historical traces of the former whale-hunting time, four blubber ovens and a huge graveyard, which were in use for 200 years from the 1614, we enjoyed the wonderful view direct towards the glacier and the icebergs. Some of us refreshed themselves in the sea; the water temperature was 4° C. We ended up around 9 PM and again an exciting day around Svalbard.

Saturday, August the 22^nd

Into the Ice

What a start in the day! In the morning we spotted two Blue Whales, probably a mother and her young one. We stayed with them around FRAM, seeing the blast, the huge back part with the small fin and the tail. Blue whales are the biggest animals alive up to a length of 30 meters. After this exciting encounter we headed forward to the ice-edge of the drift ice. We reached it at a degree of latitude of 80°59’. Shortly after hitting the first ice floes the polar circle-boat cruising started. We got close enough to pick up some pieces, we admired the different colors and forms build up by pressure during their drifts. 

On our further voyage we enjoyed the magic light which painted the mountains in an impressive way and showed clearly their sharp edges.

Sunday, August the 23^rd

Into the New

The most eastern islands of Svalbard are Storøya and Kvitøya. Approaching the islands we couldn’t see very much, most of the landscape was hidden in fog, but shortly before arriving Storøya we saw the coast and two polar bears.  Very exciting, but no chance for a landing. Again a cruising was started to watch the walruses. Storøya is well known for its big walrus population mostly females and calves. They are not only laying on the shore they are mostly swimming around and of course the spotted out who we are: small red boats with blue creatures. It was really exciting, because they came quite close to us. Walruses are not the most beautiful animals onshore but when they swim and you can see their eyes and listen to their “talking”; you might fall in love.

Storøya means “Big Island”, this must be a joke, because it measures only 40 km². Totally different our second landing on Kvitøya, much bigger but nearly 99% of it are covered by a glacier. That is not really surprising, the name means “White Island”. We tried to find a good landing side, where we found two carcasses – one of a walrus and the other of a polar bear. These gave us finally the opportunity to get closer to these animals. It was a young walrus that might have just recently died. The carcass of the polar bear has started to mummify. The bones jutted out and the fur lost its hair.  Kvitøya is also from the historical perspective a sad place, because all the three men of the Salomon Andrée expedition - the balloon drive to the North Pole in 1897 – died on this island. There is a memorial-stone close to the beach.

Nevertheless, this was an exciting day, because Fram has visited these islands for the first time. The evening ended with the fashion-show.

Monday, August the 24^th

Into the fog – nearly

In the morning – fog, but never give up your plans. Again we were lucky and started our landing operation on Barentsøya at Sundneset just in time. Because of the cloudy weather the staff had to check the surrounding very carefully. There were three polar bears in a good distance around so we had to keep an eye on them. It is a nice spot with plenty of vegetation, still some flowers in bloom but the “forest” on the ground had started to change its colours to autumn. A little bit further from the landing side is a hut, called Würzburger Hut, named by a German scientist. Today it is used as an emergency hut.

Only small groups of passengers were called out, so the landing lasted for six hours. Meanwhile the clouds were coming down and going again a little up. A wonderful atmosphere, everyone enjoyed the place with a lot of driftwood on the beach.

In the afternoon we could visit some lectures in English and German. Again a wonderful day.

Tuesday, August the 25^th

Into the activities

Hornsund is a beautiful fjord and we stayed in Burgerbukta. Today is the day of activities: Kayaking, Glacier-Hike, Polar Cirkel Boat Cruising. There are two bays: Austre and Vestre Bukta. In the end of them are the glaciers Mühlbacherbreen and Paierlbreen. They produce a lot of icebergs which ware floating around. Some of them look like sculptures and they have an intensive blue color.

The area of Burgerbukta was well known through all times starting with the whalers in the 17^th century. There are also some remains from the Norwegian trapper period, a hut close to Gnålodden. One of the most well-known female trapper was Wanny Wolstad, who spent there several years, two together with her young sons.

Hornsund is one of the most beautiful fjords in Svalbard with all these glaciers and bays. In the dead end is Breepolen with a huge glacier-front.

The evening of this wonderful day ended up with some whales around “Egga” and the famous MV FRAM Crew-show.

Wednesday, August the 26^th

Into the sunshine

Yes, sunshine, an amazing view and again a full day of activities in Isfjorden. We set anchor at the landmark of the fjord, the mountain Alkhornet and started again with Kayaking, glacier-hike, Polar Circle Boat cruise and of course landing. This is really a popular area, a tent stood close to the place where we landed and further into Tryghamna there were some kayakers. Again we spotted some white-yellow dots, polar bears in a far distance. In the neighbour bay Ymerbukkta close to Esmarkbreen we saw seals lying on the ice, even the Polar Circle Boats didn’t disturb them.

The last excursion was a visit of the ghost town of Pyramiden. In the former Russian mining town lived more than 3000 residents, mining workers and their families.  Nordenskiöld glacier with its magnificent beauty was a perfect last stop before we sailed towards the harbour of Longyearbyen. At least a wonderful last day which gave us a lot of good memories.