Evening in Istanbul

Evening in Istanbul
The alluring and beautiful Aya Sophia

Tuesday, August 2, 2011

WHERE A DREAM CAME TRUE


Paddling at midnight with Kerrie Pain
Oh what excitement! I could never in my wildest dreams have thought that the Svalbard voyage would be so amazing. My constant hankering to see a polar bear, a dream that I'd nurtured since 2008, to see one in the wild (instead of stuffed or in a zoo) had precipitated me into booking this 10 day trip with Aurora Expeditions, on board the Polar Pioneer. We certainly saw bears, 14 of them! The second sighting was a Mumma Polar Bear with two youngsters, from a distance of about 10 metres. We were cruising around a lowish island near the Monacobreen (Monaco Glacier) when the bear was sighted well above us on the ridge top. Stopping to gaze from a distance, and take photos if we could, we were amazed to see it come walking down a slope towards us, with two youngsters in tow, and then amble along right in front of us. Even the staff were flabbergasted by our luck. We saw bears on ice floes, bears on other islands, and on one of the last days the walkers on shore, high up under some bird cliffs, had a bear appear between them and their zodiacs. After it tried to get a bite at one of the boats a warning flare was shot and the explosion frightened it away, into the water, where it took off swimming not too far from where we were paddling. It got to the stage that we were almost hoping there wouldn't be a bear on land, because it meant we couldn't go ashore!

Not too far from where we were paddling? Yes – my tennis elbow had recovered sufficiently for me to do about 2/3 of the kayaking, and actually improved over the 9 days we paddled. I'm amazed! Thanks Dr John Lyftogt for your amazing prolotherapy!!! You're a star. Now I can look forward to paddling in Turkey.

As if that wasn't enough we also saw many walruses, either swimming or sleeping. One afternoon saw us visiting walruses at Torellneset, this time a pulsing and heaving mound of about 40 huge mammals, in various states of rest and irritation, wriggling and scratching, heaving and sighing, and settling back down to sleep again. It was like a huge undulating collective sleepover. Some five more wakeful walruses were in the water, obviously an easier environment for their huge bodies. We watched entranced as they wallowed and scratched, and then abruptly sat up to investigate the row of expeditioners sitting on the beach, waiting for the next walrus exploit.

Beluga whales provided the final coup de grace. Aurora say they're happy if they get one sighting a season; we had four. To my absolute amazement two of them swam right under my kayak – my excitement was right off the scale. They're called white whales, but seen next to an ice floe they're more creamy in colour, long and sleek, and very fast through the water. Their heads swivel, and they pop their head up as they speed past. We also saw two pods of fin whales – they're huge, and blow huge sprays of water when they come up for breath. Gorgeous numerous so photogenic puffins, kittiwakes fulmars, guillemots, little auks, pharalopes – hundreds and thousands of birds, many nesting way up on the cliffs, and waiting for their babies to pop out; the foxes down below wait too, for their next meal. Not so many seals; I was surprised not to see more.

For the technically minded amongst you, we reached a latitude of 80º50 N, which was about where we saw the 2 polar bears on the North Pole pack ice – we were about 600kms from the pole. We completely circumnavigated Spitsbergen, as well as two other smaller islands of Svalbard. We were fortunate to be able to get the whole way around as the pack ice in the Hinlopen Strait had forced the previous voyage to retreat. I can't remember the total distance covered, and can't check – info left in luggage back in Paris, and I'm on a TGV train going to Avignon.

For those of you who enquired – yes the tooth got dealt to in Longyearbyen. The problem was around the edge of a temporary crown that I'd completely forgotten I'd had done. That's what earthquakes do to your memory; that's my excuse anyway! I met up with Sandra Brooks last night, and we celebrated with champagne and a long walk on a beautiful balmy Parisian evening, ambling along the Seine and around Ile de la Cite and Notre Dame. We're on our way to go and find what's left of this season's blooming lavender fields.

Bye for now, Jillian

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