SVALBARD -TRIP TO PYRAMIDEN

Saturday 26^th June 2010

Today I am taking another trip on the "Polar Girl" except that this time I am heading up the fjord in the opposite direction to the last trip. Another difference is that the pick up is at 10 am, an hour later. That's good. Oh and the weather does not look as bright and clear as it was for the previous trip to Barentburg.

When I walked a few metres down the road to the pick up point I discovered another difference. There was a large bus waiting and not a taxi van. And the bus filled up. But when we got to the wharf, the bus went off to pick up another load. Oh boy! Is the boat going to be crowded today. It's not that it could not take that many, it is just that when you have done a trip with a dozen on board you have got use to having space and seating where ever you moved to. And there was room at the rails to look at the special sights. Today you had to plan ahead to get a rail spot on either deck level.

Standing at the adjoining wharf was a large cruise liner, one of those really big floating hotels. I was somewhat amused to see that it was called "Mien Schiff" which, if I have got the spelling correct should mean 'My Ship'. A good choice I thought as then the tourists could just say things like "Where's My Ship?"

It did of course make your little vessel look even more tiny. Actually there seemed to be one cruise boat a day but they were certainly not all this size. Some were designed for exploration and others seemed to be Russian – perhaps ice breakers? I was told that at this time of the year it is not likely that an ordinary vessel could get right around the island as there is still too much ice present.

Eventually we pulled out and headed on our way down the first fjord. We passed a low slopping beach or coastal area on one side and I noticed quite a few scattered cottages and houses. The only way to get to them would be by sea. However, mostly they were just a family's week end cottage type of thing. But they would certainly provide a change to town living, once they had got across the wide fjord. On today's trip we were to have several times were we were able to see how choppy the sea can get, where as at other moments it was mirror calm. I guess it all had to do with the way the mountains funneled the wind.

Well the trip along the fjord was pretty much the same as the last one exception the features were different. But it was snow covered mountains, mountains without snow or much snow, glaciers, dramatic cliffs, steeply sloping foreshores, a hut or two, close views and distant views. At one point I counted 8 ( I think it was) glaciers. Then there were all the U shaped valleys where there had once been glaciers. Small waterfalls down the cliffs, eroded steep gullies, scree everywhere, some times in a wider valley there was a small braided river running across the stones and gravel.

But there was beauty about the views. Some were rugged beauty while other views were of majestic beauty the beauty of mighty glaciers or oh so smooth snow fields on the mountain tops and in the wide rounded basins. Where the snow was smooth and extensive, it seemed to have a velvet sheen all over it. At first I had thought that it was a low layer of mist but it was not that. I have had several explanations when I have mentioned it.

• it is to do with the varing pressure on the snow

• it is refraction of the blue skylight

• it is to do with how much air is in the snow

• and here were more but I can not remember them at this stage. All I know is that I do not recall ever having seen this particular effect before.

Everyone settled down in the space they preferred. I got chatting to an American male from Denver. He is now working on his doctorate at the Scott Polar Institute at Cambridge in England. He told me that his area of study was polar shipping from 2000 onwards. He was a geographer. His name was Will and he was a very friendly lad and spent a lot of time chatting to people on the ship. We had several conversations over the course of the trip.

Along the way we edged into a small fjord to look at the site of an old mine. All there was to see was the mine entrance, a wooden boat up on the beach, a reindeer grazing and a well maintained house. This had been part of the mining but now is maintained for local fishermen. A couple of these had just landed from their motorboat and were walking along to the house. Apparently the mine was for gypsum. I think that the name of the mine area was Skansbukta.

Shortly afterwards it was Pyramiden. It was possible to see this from a distance as there were tall powerhouse chimneys and a number of buildings visible. Although abandoned as a mining settlement, there are still about 10 Russian caretakers left there. Also visiting researchers and scientists come and go. There were a couple of red shipping containers on the wharf, which have been converted into accommodation for them.

Pyramiden (pyramid) is named after the imposing mountain backing the settlement and into which the mine shaft was tunneled. "This was Russia's pride of the Arctic and you can sense some of the atmosphere which must have existed here" (trip brochure). The town was obviously planned and laid out in a pleasant manner. There are large lawn areas between many of the buildings. No one walked on the grass as it was maintained as areas for children's play only. Most of the buildings are standard Russian multi story apartments constructed in brick mostly. There were some in timber which had been given traditional fretwork around windows and doorways.

There was a helicopter landing spot, hotel, post office, indoor swimming pool, cultural centre and so on. Outside the post office was a tall flowering tulip mock up. Artificial yes, and it wouldn't fool anyone for a minute, but it did bring a touch of colour.

On the post office and hotel building, sea gulls were nesting above the window frames. On the apartment buildings they were using the top of jutting out cool storage cupboards or fridges.

Yes, they had their statue of Lenin located in a commanding position, looking along the wide lawn area.

I spied the kindergarten, now disused. In the fenced off grass playground, the equipment still stood waiting for the next child to use it. Swings, slide, play house – just the same as you would find in New Zealand. All there but abandoned.

The industrial sites all looked blacken with coal dust and in various states of disrepair. Framing standing like black skeletons on the landscape. The braided courses of mountain streams running through a landscape of scree, coal and coal dust, broken down mining buildings. There was an imposing double track covered rail system rising up to the mine entrance 400 feet up the side of the mountain. The miners had to go up to the mine each day and I assume that the had wagons to take them up. Otherwise it would take them a while to walk up, especially when the snow was around.

The mining was abandoned because it was not of a high enough grade. However it would seem that it is politically important for Russia to want to maintain a presence here as at Barentberg. It must cost a bit to do that though.

As we walked around, the boat's guide led with a bear gun over his shoulder. At the rear another crew member walked with the flare pistol. He also checked around buildings when we stopped to hear descriptions. Because the apartment buildings are all raised off the ground, there is always space for a bear to hide underneath. The crew member ensured that the group kept together and wanders were brought back.

We had about an hour here before sailing off to visit the Nordenskioldbreen Glacier. This imposing landscape feature dominated the view down the fjord for most of our trip. But from Pyramiden you just looked across the water at it. I thought how much it would have dominated life in the town, walk out the door and there it is facing you. Of course, because of its size it did look closer than it actually was to Pyraminden. In fact while we were sailing across to it, we had time for lunch. Today it was BBQ salmon, salad and a potato and spring onion salad mixed in thick mayonnaise together with a corn meal type of bread. The BBQs had been set upon the aft deck.

We sailed in through small scattered blocks of ice towards the glacier and then hove to for everyone to have plenty of opportunity to view and photograph. The glacier had some blue patches but it was no way as blue as the glaciers I saw in Alaska. Nor did we see any calving here. It was all very peaceful with not even a seal to be seen. I do find it quite fascinating to look at the great cliff of ice which is the end of the glacier. The shapes of the ice blocks and vertical crevices are all varied and intriguing. So as usual, I did take a range of photographs.

Then the boat turned and we sailed away. Now we were heading back the way we had come. The difference was that coming we tended to stay on one side of the fjord and returning we were closer to the other side. At times the expanse of sea was quite extensive and the wind was able to build up a chop and spray splashed up onto the deck. Then we would move into a more settled area with a mirror like calmness.

A feature of the tour was to see the Diabas bird cliff. Well you do see the cliff with the white areas of accumulated droppings washing down the cliff face. But the problem is that you never get in close enough to actually see the birds in any detail. From where the boat sailed the birds are like tiny spots on the rocks.

We came back to the wharf about nine hours after departing. The bus was waiting to take us back up the valley. I think that the trip was good value and more than just enjoyable. It was a very pleasant day out. And they have senior prices.