Polar Expedition Day 2


Our location at 7:47 this morning, 4th August

We started the morning with coffee in the lounge, good hot coffee, at 7:30am, followed by breakfast at 8am.  We re-assembled in the lounge at 9:30 for a briefing from Rinie on what the day would hold, and the various safety procedures for shore landings. 

We board the zodiacs using a metal set of steps that hang off the side of the boat.  It feels pretty safe, the sea is very calm and it’s like walking down a set of steps, one person on the stairs at a time, and step in to the boat, take a seat on the side and put our backpacks with camera gear on the floor of the boat.


Two zodiac excursions today, one before lunch to visit a Harbour Seal colony, timed for low tide so that the seals would be basking on the rocks.  Not terribly sunny, but the seals we there, lolling in the sun and suffered our presence, turning their heads this way and that.  As we headed back to the Polarfront, Rinie pointed out an area by the shore that used to be used to build airships.  Who knew?

Rinie also tells about someone who thought it would be a good idea to graffiti a rock, and sprayed “Princes Margaret was here”.  The authorities were not impressed, but were able to track shipping logs and identify who was responsible, and they were fined and made to pay for cleaning/removing the graffiti and returning it to how it was found.

Back to the boat for lunch at 1:30pm, delayed from the usual 12:30pm to accommodate seals. 

Time for the 2nd shore excursion of the day, this time a shore landing.

There are 2 zodiacs, one lead by Rinie and one lead by Mick, with 9 in one boat and 8 in the 2nd.  Both Rinie and Mick will carry rifles and as soon as the zodiac lands on the beach, Rinie walks to shore with the rifle, with Mick keeping a lookout with binoculars, and places the rifle carry case on a rock or piece of driftwood where it is visible (the gun carry carry case is high-vis orange).  Then we unload one by one into the sea – and the reason for the thermal waterproof boots becomes apparent.  We then walk up to where the rifle case is and can leave our camera bags and life jackets, if we want.  The walruses are all sleeping in a big pile of blubber on the shore, not very interesting, but there are also some walruses in the water, and Rinie thinks they may come and check us out. 

He stamps his feet in the water and suggests a few of us do the same.  Sure enough, they are curious, and a group of about 5 or 6 come swimming up.  They approach us, big mammals, Rinie says “it’s ok, they are just curious” and we trust him.  They play in the water, right in front of us, edging closer, until they are literally about two metres away (and yes, there is a photo to show).  

I can’t believe it, they are so close.  Shutter drives are working overtime, you can smell smoke they are working so hard.  Ok that was an exaggeration, but you get the idea.  The scenery behind them is amazing, mountains, snow, the Polarfront anchored in the background.  Chris suggests we also shoot wide to capture the environment, rather than just focussing on close-ups of the Walruses.  Eventually they get bored, and swim off.  There is a fight amongst the walrus’s on shore, more shutter clicks.  Finally everyone is sated, and it’s time to leave.  We troop back to the zodiac and the procedure is reversed, everyone clambers in the boats, the rifle case is retrieved and the rifle put away and the zodiacs push off, we head back to the Polarfront.

It’s about 5.30 by the time we get back on the boat, we scoot off to download photos and charge batteries ready for the next photo op.

Dinner is at 7:30 and while we are busy downloading pics and eating, the boat heads back the way we came, to a glacier at the head of the fjord, because now the sun is lower in the sky and illuminating it beautifully.  As soon as dinner is finished, we race back out on deck, and the light is incredible.  We snap away, lit glaciers, calving glaciers, reflections in super still water, floating ice.  


Taken at 22:20

When we were at the walruses, we heard what sounded like a really loud gunshot, but I'm now guessing it was a large chunk of ice coming off the glacier.  There is a lot of free ice floating about, and when a small piece drops while we are watching, the sound is exactly like a gunshot.
Everyone else had had enough by about 10pm and headed back inside, but Chris & Aurora, myself and Belinda stayed on deck, snapping away.  There were quite a few birds, landing on water, taking off, all lit by the most amazing light as the sun was still relatively high in the sky.  It wasn’t until 11:30 that we eventually called it quits and went to bed for the night.  This time we decided to close the port holes to block out the midnight sun, but even so, it took me a while to get to sleep, it was all so magical and my teeny tiny brain is still trying to get my head around it all.



Meals


Breakfast

bacon & eggs, cereal, toast and yoghurt

Lunch

French pies, which include a mini quiche, and little mini pizza type things with anchovies in the middle, topped up with a quinoa salad and pasta salad.  Apple crumble for dessert.

Dinner

Starter: guacamole with shrimps and tortillas
Main: duck with red wine sauce, accompanied by mashed cauliflower and broccoli

Dessert:  fresh fruit salad

Number of photos for the day: 1300

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