June 10, 2025
Today is a travel day as we travel from Helsinki to Longyearbyen Norway.
Longyearbyen is 78 degrees north so almost to the North Pole!! It is home to 2,400 people and 3000 snowmobiles!!! It is the administrative capital of Svalbard and is situated on the southern side of Adventfjorden. The settlement was founded in 1905 by John Munroe Longyear, the majority owner of the Arctic Coal Company of Boston. Can you imagine mining coal in subzero weather?
When we got off the plane on the tarmac the cold and the wind welcomed us to the Arctic!! We were bussed to the city centre to explore the tiny town and then bussed to the shore where we did our first zodiac ride to board the ship. It was blustery cold as we made our way though choppy water to our incredible ship.
Since we will be navigating in remote areas internet will be limited so I will limit the number of pictures and sometime not be able to blog but I will catch up when I can.
Off I go in search of polar bears!!!!
