Friday, 21 June 2024

Day 2: Joining the Expedition Ship

Friday 21st June

Fly from Oslo to Longyearbyen

SK 4490   21 JUN OSL/LYR   0945   1240 

An amazing and rather long day

An early start.

Breakfast at our airport hotel in time to check-in our bags at about 06:45, we've been warned that Oslo airport can be very busy in the early morning.

A three hour flight, essentially due North, to Svalbard

Pretty much on time after a short delay in Oslo. We were taken to a hotel for a quick buffet lunch before going out for a wildlife walk.

Plenty of interesting birds ranging from little snow buntings to barnacle geese that spend the winter in SW Scotland.

Lots of interest from the twitchers in a grey (aka red) phalarope pair that were looking very smart in a pond.


Back to the hotel for a short bus ride to the pier and a quick zodiac ride out the the MS Quest. We picked up our key and found our way to our cabin, best described as compact.


We set sail in glorious sunshine and spent many hours on deck watching the scenery and wildlife, interrupted only by dinner.

The views were stunning, the wildlife varied. One of the highlights was getting up close to some walrus.


A significant number of us stayed outside to enjoy the midnight sun, it is truly bizarre watching the sun's movement across the sky. The sun basically moves around in a circle varying only slightly in altitude.


A stunning day



 into the lounge to watch the spectacularly scenery slip past as we leave Longyearbyen, head out into Isfjord and begin our Arctic cruise.  


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