Category: Adventures

Back home Reflections Last leg home The short overnight flight from Toronto to London Heathrow, which departed late due to the late arrival of 5 individuals, passed better than we had expected. Having wined and dined in the lounge in

We woke up in this sumptuous room in Edmonton’s historic landmark Fairmont Hotel Macdonald and plotted our early morning run. Hurtigruten provided breakfast in a separate room from the other guests, but it was only available from 6.30 ‘till 8.30,

Cambridge Bay and Disembarkation Filling in time We awoke to fog. Whilst we thought the ship was anchored in Cambridge Bay, we couldn’t see land at all.  A certain nervousness began to take hold of the passengers in the dining

Gjøa Haven Amundsen’s best little harbour Our last ‘wet’ landing, we found ourselves on the sand beach of a compact Inuit settlement that mirrored Pond Inlet. Compact houses evenly spaced out, with a tangle of telegraph poles and cables, huge

James Ross Strait and Sea Ice Make or Break day We awoke to find the ship sailing, apparently without any sea ice, but then it slowed until it came to an almost complete stop to pick a route through the

Larsen Sound A day of ice We are hoping to arrive at Gjøa Haven at 6am on Friday 2 September, which likely gives us 2 days at sea with no landings. Travelling through navigable sea ice is slow (and waiting

Fort Ross, Bellot Strait The most Northern shore of North America We awoke to the calm of the bays at Fort Ross nestling at the tip of Somerset Island at the opening of the Bellot Strait, which we were due

Beechey Island Exciting Polar Bear sightings, frankly bleak beaches Day 13 started early, at our most northernly latitude, 74.45°N as our inbuilt alarms did not recognise the clock going back yet another hour. Fortunately there was no fog over Radstock

Pond Inlet, Baffin Island Meet the inhabitants We arrived at Pond Inlet at the north-eastern tip of Baffin Island before breakfast. The sun was glinting on the water and the snow-covered mountains and glacier, 3- hours’ boat ride away were