We're sailing up the east coast of the island of Spitbergen, ice floes all around us and feeling the occasional loud thud as we hit one, on day two of my cruise in Svalbard. And what a couple of days it has been.
Wildlife tally so far: Three Polar bears, two walrus, one Arctic fox and lots of birds (some people are getting very excited about seeing Kittiwake gulls, but I'm afraid unless we see eagles, vultures or the like, they are all just birds to me).
"It's not really a cruise ship," one of my breakfast companions observed when, as was inevitable, we got onto the subject of cruising over the eggs and bacon this morning. I know what he means.
As the name suggests, our ship, the National Geographic Explorer, is very much geared for exploration - we have Zodiacs on board to take us on landings, at dinner we turn up in the jeans and jumpers we have been wearing all day and we are woken at 7am by the expedition leader, broadcasting in all the cabins.
On the other hand, there are Filipino crew, there is plenty of food and someone comes and cleans our cabin each morning and turns down the beds every night. So it must be a cruise ship.
After landing in Longyearbyen on Sunday, we had a tour of the town with Claudio. Not a very Norwegian name, I remarked. That's because I come from Italy, he replied. He makes this remote outpost, population 2,000, his home in summer and was full of information.
The town, which owes its existence to coal mining, sits on permafrost, which means the houses don't have any footings and pipes have to run on top of the ground.
It also means that dead bodies have to be flown to Tromso, on the Norwegian mainland, because they can't be buried deep enough. This was discovered when coffins in the graveyard started to pop out of the ground. There is a hospital, but it's for emergencies only. Any routine stuff also necessitates a flight to Tromso.
This Polar bear sign outside town is a constant reminder not to wander off alone without a gun. Apparently it's the only sign in the world with a black background! Wonder why...
Jane Archer
