At last Spitzbergen, we have always wanted to come here to the breeding ground of the Barnacle Goose.   We have two stops here, the first is at Longyearbyen (wikipedia).   I made a Map of Longyearbyen from the PDF that you can download from Svalbardbutikken, maybe the best shop in Spitzbergen.   Their PDF version has the map on the first page and on the second page there is a list of all the places marked on the) map, very useful, (or it would have been if our netbook could display PDFs properly).   We have no excursions planned here, so we will definitely pay a visit to this shop.

There was a shuttle here as we were parked about a mile from the town.   It was walkable, and some did it, but it was easier on the bus.   We made straight for Svalbardbutikken which was impressive, a supermarket and a general store combined.   We had an enjoyable time choosing what to buy; that was until Carol found she had the wrong purse.   The one with the credit cards was on the ship.   So she waited there and did some more browsing while I headed back to the ship.   The shuttle really came in handy this time.   When I got back, Carol was by the food chillers trying to keep cool.   Yes the weather was mild again, though there was cloud hanging around the mountain tops.   The main problem was that we were overdressed, we had foolishly heeded the instructions to dress up in layers, with hats, scarves and warm coats.   It can be much colder than this at home during the winter.   They also had heating in the shop, so that the assistants could work in shirtsleeves.   Of course if I had had my credit cards with me!   But I never have.

After an hour and a half in Svalbardbutikken, we were ready to see some more of the town.   We found a little coffee shop with tables outside and had a very welcome cappuccino while we watched life go by.   We had another group join us who had seen some interesting birds and wildlife; they had been on a tour all round Spitzbergen in a small ship (100 passengers or so, seen here to the left) with two excursions a day using Zodiacs (inflatable dinghies).   They had just completed their trip and were about to fly home.   It sounded a wonderful experience, but a bit too energetic for us.   I think this is the cruise that they were on.   I stayed at the cafe while Carol explored the buildings in the town with her camera and took the pictures shown above, plus this much photographed polar bear outside one of the shops.

Next it was time for Lunch which we had in the Radisson SAS Polar Hotel, just up from the museum.   When we entered we noticed that we were required to remove our shoes, which is the custom here in Longyearbyen.   This custom no doubt arose when the town was an active mining town, but even today would be practical in the winter with all the snow around.   There were other diners later who didn't bother (or couldn't read), but we felt smug in complying.   The food was very good and wasn't too pricey, seeing as we were in Norway and up in the arctic at that.   After lunch we visited the museum which is well worth a visit (shoes off again).   The museum is in the same building as the University, which though small was very busy with people coming and going all the time.

We would have liked to go out of the town to see some of the arctic wilderness and wildlife, but there were no excursions for this.   The dog sledding one was very popular, but not really what we wanted.   Rocky and Ginny went on a glacier with a private tour, which sounded exciting but crossing a crevasse on an aluminium ladder would be too much excitement for us.   We have always stuck to the HAL tours so that if anything goes wrong HAL will sort it out.   If you miss the boat when you are on a private tour then you are on your own, as to how to catch it up at the next port.   We did hear some people on one of the coaches saying "Oh the captain will wait".   They are mistaken, although he may wait if he has slack in his schedule, if the tide dictates we must go, we will go.   This happened at Akureyri, with a car pelting up the dock and the passengers running for the gangway to the sound of the ships horn tooting to chivy them up.   They were lucky, they could have arrived to see 6 fathoms of water between the dock and the boat as we pulled away.   Incidentally there is a law in Svalbard that you may not leave town unless you have a gun with you, due to the danger of hungry polar bears in the summer.   There are signs posted on the town limits to remind you.   On the excursions that did leave town, the guides were carrying rifles.   The sign says "Applies to all of Svalbard".

All sailaways are good, but this one was especially so.   Captain Albert, always liking to add something extra that wasn't in the programme, had worked in a special treat; scenic cruising in Gronfjorden (we had much less ice when we were there, than is shown here) and to see the coal mine at Barentzburg.   Gronfjorden was very pretty, with some impressive glaciers, a fore taste for tomorrow.   We watched the sailaway and scenic cruising from the deck and then went to enjoy dinner in La Fontaine.

Captain Albert's Blog: Longyearbyen, Spitzbergen.