Today we have had a nice arctic summer day with +7 degrees
and the sun has been peeking through the clouds from time to time. We started
the day with a nice breakfast buffet as usual, and then we had a landing at
Ymerbukta. In Ymerbukta we had a nice view to Esmarkbreen (Esmark glacier) and
we were witnesses to a massive calving! Some of us went glacier hiking, while
others have been cruising around the area in our polar circle boats.
Later in the day, we stopped outside Pyramiden, an abandoned
Russian mining town in Billefjorden. Some of the passengers went ashore here to
have a dinner at the old hotel in Pyramiden, which was quite an exotic
experience! The last polar circle cruising of this trip also started in
Pyramiden, which went to the magnificent glacier front of Nordenskjoldbreen.
Fram also cruised along the glacier front of Nordenskjoldbreen, and it was magnificent! Afterwards, we went to pick up the passengers that left us for a dinner party in Pyramiden, and then we set sails towards Longyearbyen which was our final destination on this trip. We have had some great moments on this expedition, and it has been unique in many ways. We have seen 7 polar bears. We have spent hours breaking through dense pack ice. Fram has for the first time landed on Hopen. There has been strong winds up to hurricane, but also sunny and warm arctic summer weather. We have seen walrusses close up AND like this we can spend weeks talking about all we have experienced. This we will keep as good memories.
