In Search of Isbjørn.

[nan]

not even afraid
superb... is not a toy

[Flutterby]

The food looks and sounds delicious!

There are more flowers in the north pole than in my garden!!!

So did the patches work...maybe we should all give them a try?

BOO to you too!! Like Jill, I'm also ready to shoot.

[PRWIN]

you making me green, wish I was with .Great shots

we are waiting

[Bush Brat]

Hi Dewi,

Just caught up..........some great pics!!

All that info on your first post looked like some real complicated and in-depth stuff!!
More please!!!

[Richprins]

Hey, fatty!

This is brilliant!

The Norse don't mince their words with warning signs...

Interesting you polar weirdos meeting up coincidentally all over the planet...makes one wonder...2012 and all...

Couldn't you smoke out on deck?

[Dewi]

Darn, I was trying to scare you all there.

Nan, certainly no toy this one.

Flutts, Patches worked, until I got home that is. Cut down to a third of what I used to smoke and going to try to make it even less.

PRWIN, still a while before we get to the big hairy things.

BB, Glad you caught up, it gets better, much better I can assure you. I had to read that info over and over.

Hey skinny, Us polar weirdos are a breed apart, unsociable, stare into the horizon with blank looks in our eyes, talk a lot of gibberish and prone to drinking copious amounts of the amber nectar, theres nowt wrong with us.

You could smoke on deck, I deliberately did not buy any more than I had with me when I left home.

[Richprins]

Us polar weirdos are a breed apart, unsociable, stare into the horizon with blank looks in our eyes, talk a lot of gibberish and prone to drinking copious amounts of the amber nectar

(Sounds eerily familiar...)

[Dewi]

.........and only Ringed Plover of the trip.



Out in the fjord, the Norwegian Coastguard were practicing some sort of drill.



The view looking back at Ny-Alesund with all the research bases.



Glowing orange lichens adorned the stones and monuments littered about the area.



And on the way back to the ship, our first Svalbard Reindeer.



Svalbard Reindeer have evolved into a seperate sub-species to those on the mainland. They have shorter legs, shorter muzzles and shaggier coats. They have adapted to the conditions here by being able to store up more fat reserves during the Summer months than their mainland counterparts. Food is scarce during the Winter, so these reserves keeps them going throughout the lean months. Mortality is high during the Winter, and starvation is the major cause of death for these animals. Interestingly, the Polar Bears rarely hunt them, even though they cannot run as fast as mainland animals due to their shorter legs.

As we walked along the road, a gaggle of Barnacle Geese were walking along with their young.



And on the rocks beside the dock, the exquisite little Purple Sanpipers hopped around picking up morsels of food from under the stones or from amongst the seaweed.



Returning to the ship, the rich aroma of freshly roasted coffee and hot baked cakes tantilised us as we stripped off our outer layers. This was to be a major feature of returns to the ship after every excursion. They were more than welcomed.



We sailed out of the fjord and headed North, with stunning scenery on both sides of the ship. Lunch was a spicy sausage and tomato soup, with fresh baked bread. I had two large helpings!

Black Guillemots fished in the rich waters here and I marvelled as one struggled to swallow a catch that looked slightly too large to swallow.





As mentioned, the scenery was spectacular, with towering cliffs and snow laden valleys.







I was loathe to leave the deck, but dinner was served and we dined on....

Greek Salad.
Salmon in a herb-cream sauce and pasta.
Raspberry Sorbet.

Chablis and Erdinger beer to wash down.

Dinner over, it was time for an excursion to nearby Danskoya Island where I was finally to meet up with the mythical creature of my childhood dreams.............

[PRWIN]

Should we be scared -O -O

Great shots again

[nan]

what inhospitable coasts... for me
but famulous Barnacles, Plover, Purple Sanpipers, Reindeer... sorry Svalbard Reindeer
I like to the lichens, make a nice colors on these coasts

still a bird with eyes bigger than stomach