After travelling by sea to the Antarctic Peninsula from Ushuaia, Argentina in 2022, we were hooked. Sailing to such a remote destination and witnessing the sheer breathtaking beauty and unique wildlife convinced my wife and I, and our Antarctic travelling companions, to travel to the opposite end of the globe and experience the Arctic in July/August of this year. 

An earlier portion of our two-month journey included a couple of weeks in Scandinavia, immersing ourselves in some of the rich maritime history of the Danish, Swedish and

Norwegians. 

Svalbard polar bear

My interest in the polar regions was piqued after having read much literature about polar explorers, particularly regarding the period known as the ‘heroic age’, a time when the South Pole had yet to be reached by man. Stories of Robert Falcon Scott in the Terra Nova and Ernest Shackleton in the ill-fated Endurance and later Australians such as

Mawson, capture the imagination of gritty tenacious and resilient men, with dogged determination, battling the harshest of environments. 

Having sailed to Antarctica in six-star luxury and preparing for the same hospitality within a few days, I found myself standing onboard the exploration ship, Fram, in the museum of the same name in Bygdoy, Oslo. I was completely in awe that such a relatively small wooden ship, with its respective exploration crews, had achieved so much.

Owned by Norwegian scientist and explorer Fridtjof Nansen, Fram was the first ship to navigate the furthest north in Arctic pack ice under the command of Nansen (1893-96) and then the Arctic Archipelago, under the command of Otto Sverdrup (1898-1902) and finally the furthest South to Antarctica under the command of Roald Amundsen (1910-12). Amundsen had duped the King of Norway and the Ship’s owner into believing that he was headed North to achieve the North Pole, when in fact he was headed South. Amundsen subsequently beat Scott to the South Pole by 34 days, in what itself was an amazing feat of human endurance, well beyond the immense sea journey just to reach the Antarctic coast. 

Ittoqqortortoormiit

A few days later we flew from Oslo to Longyearbyen in Svalbard (previously known as Spitzbergen), a Norwegian archipelago on the 78th parallel in the Arctic Ocean. It was here that we joined our Arctic Islands cruise. After landing on what can only be described as a corrugated runway, we had a brief opportunity to tour Longyearbyen, witnessing their unique lifestyle, defunct coal mines, crystal clear skies fringed by mountains layered with huge avalanche barriers.  

Longyearbyen Miners monument

Many signposts reminded us to constantly look over our shoulder for polar bears; Svalbard being home to a population of approximately 3000 of the apex predators.  

Longyearbyen is also home to the world’s northern most university (UNIS), covering mainly Arctic biology, geology and geophysics research subjects up to PhD level. Almost on queue to becoming aware of this fact, we witnessed a group of studious young ladies with six packs of coolers leaving the local bottle shop giggling their way back to the dorm house. 

Longyearbyen main street

Longyearbyen is also home to a global seed vault, housing over a million seeds from plants worldwide. Once aboard our discovery yacht, we were quickly unpacked and I spent time setting up my camera and video equipment ready to capture our journey. Finally underway and with champagnes in hand, there was no hiding from the bitterly cold arctic winds whipping across the foredeck. Looking skyward, it was apparent that the sun was circumnavigating above the horizon and was not going to set; only our realisation that we had reached the land of the midnight sun. 

The Svalbard coastline provided some spectacularly rugged mountainous vistas and our first polar bear sighting. A lone bear stalked along a snowcapped ridgeline, momentarily glancing over its shoulder as if to acknowledge our distant presence, before sauntering into a valley.

In total, we had six polar bear encounters on our cruise, but none too close, as tour operators have regulated a minimum closure of 500 metres, as to not disturb their habitat and existence. We enjoyed a sea kayaking expedition at Samarinbreen along a glacial front, the cool crisp air and tranquillity giving way momentarily only to the thunderous

cracking and popping of nearby icebergs and glacial calving. 

Gashamna was home to a long abandoned whaling station with whalebone remnants and crumbling derelict buildings being the remaining hints of its existence. 

Gashamna Whalebones

A few days later we sailed toward eastern Greenland. One of our destinations was the picturesque town of Ittoqqortortoormiit, the remotest town in Greenland, nestled in Scoresbysund, the largest Fiord in the world. With a population of around 350, the colourful dwellings appeared like lego blocks in the distance as the ship slowly bumped its way through the ice floe towards the town and an eerie blanket of fog. Quiet yet friendly locals, with leathery weatherbeaten skin go about their business; sled dogs bark and howl from their restraints whilst their pups run amok, entertaining us and local children. 

Geysir

Stretched over a sled on a container top is the skin of a polar bear; reminding us of their harsh and primal existence, hunting only for survival. Two landmarks that catch our attention are the beautiful and quaint local church, where children dressed in cultural attire greet us with wide smiles, and the local soccer field with its very green astro turf, both very important aspects for the locals of an otherwise extremely isolated way of life. Some of the locals are later treated to a tour and lunch onboard our ship. It is a great initiative in which locals and their children, that openly welcome us into their town, are treated to some of the creature comforts and hospitality from the outside world. For much of the year the town is thrust into darkness and locked in by ice and summer tourism is an important boost for the local economy. 

We visited numerous parts of the Scorsbysund fiord system, each with rare and spectacular beauty and an abundance of wildlife and birds. One such morning we were on a zodiac trip amongst the bear islands when we spotted our first Musk ox for the trip. Whilst safely perched behind my 600mm lens on the zodiac, the steely gaze of the large adult male spoke volumes of his powerful desire to protect his patch from would be intruders. Before leaving Greenland, we found ourselves sliding past huge icebergs in the waters near Nordosbugt and the Captain gave the all clear, for those of us foolhardy enough, to take an arctic plunge from the stern marina deck. The icy waters were a balmy five degrees Celsius and our brief plunge was followed by a stiff beverage at the bar before melting into the upper deck spa to thaw out.

Puffin - Vigur Island

After crossing the Denmark Strait, we reached our penultimate destination of Isafjordur in Iceland. Our ship nestled into a berth in the harbour and on the following morning we took a 30 minute a boat trip to nearby Vigur Island. The Island is privately owned and home to thousands of nesting and migratory birds, such as Puffins, Guillemots, Eider ducks and Arctic terns. We were fortunate and felt privileged to witness so many birds hunting for fish in the ever-bountiful local waters, and delivering their respective catches to their hungry chicks. It was my most rewarding day behind the lens and with so much activity, it was over all too quickly before our boat was ready to depart. 

On our final morning aboard we arrived in Reykjavik, where we disembarked the ship and stayed on for five days. We explored the city, as well as conducting a day trip of the ‘Golden Circle’, a popular route for tourists. The route took us to the Thingvellir National Park. The park is a UNESCO World Heritage listed site and home to the origins of the

Althing, the Icelandic parliament system founded in 930AD, as well as a geological phenomenon, the divergence of the European and North American tectonic plates. We also visited the Gullfoss waterfall and Geysir geothermal park and the Kerid volcanic crater before heading back toward Reykjavik. 

Our final treat for the day was a visit to the Blue Lagoon geothermal pools near the town of Grindavik. Arriving on the bus, we could clearly see the steam still emanating from huge walls of lava deposited from the most recent eruptions. We had been briefed that another eruption from the nearby fault line was imminent and that a 30-minute evacuation plan would be activated if necessary. In the preceding 24 hours volcanologists had recorded some 60 local seismic events, a sure sign that things were about to heat up. We never felt unsafe though, as the locals were very well versed in the drill of evacuation, and we enjoyed our two hours soaking in 38 degrees Celsius geothermally heated waters adorned with our mineral face clay and a cool drink in hand. 

Ittoqqortortoormiit

The rest of our visit was spent visiting many of the local features of Reykjavik, including the Perlan centre, learning more about glaciers, volcanos and their associated natural phenomena, as well as sampling many culinary delights, enjoying this wonderfully colourful and vibrant city, complete with its many decorated buildings and walls. There is only so much you can fit into such an overseas adventure but without doubt, having sampled the Arctic Islands, we are convinced of going back to see so much more that this remote, rugged and spectacularly beautiful region of the world has to offer.