Bienvenue Au Canada Welcome To Canada

The fog has lifted, the sun is shining, and the Canadian immigration officers have landed. They started their journey here yesterday for the sole purpose of meeting our ship. First by flying from Winnipeg to Whitehorse in the Yukon and then onto Inuvik, NWT and finally here to Hershel Island in the Beaufort Sea or otherwise known to the Inuit as Quikiqtaruk. The island is a national park which was first discovered by Sir John Franklin on his second expedition to the Arctic. On board we are intoduced to 6 Inuit Park Rangers who brief us and instruct everyone to keep to the designated walking areas. Yesterday a grizzly bear was spotted in the vicinity, as they are preparing for hibernation and scouting about for suitable accommodation. No Motel 6 or Best Western in town so hopefully they have moved on to something more to their liking. In addition, we are instructed to stay clear of the local gravesite and to refrain from taking pictures as this is a direct request from the local elders. We take a zodiac in from the ship for our walkabout around the community, population of none. The dirt airport landing strip runs parallel to the beach which is covered in driftwood. The Park Rangers live on the island for two weeks at a time but when cruise ships arrive they fly in extra personnel at a cost of $8000 per return flight. We are the second ship to arrive this season and they expect a total of five. We are treated to some smoked Arctic Char and herring which is being caught and smoked on site by the rangers. Bear prints are evident on the beach as are fox paw prints. The fog was starting to crawl back in so the pilot decided to high tail it out of here for fear of having to spend the night. I don’t blame him. Pretty desolate around here.

There’s Nothing To Do, There’s Too Much To Do

We left Nome Alaska on Wednesday evening, sailing through the Bering Strait, north to the Chukchi Sea, through the Artic Ocean and into the Beaufort Sea. It is Saturday morning, and we are still off the northern coast of Alaska but when we draw the curtains open, we find ourselves sailing through ice fields. Theoretically we are in the Northwest Passage, but we don’t really sail back into Canadian waters until Sunday. On Monday, depending on the weather, immigration officers will fly into meet us at Hershel Island and clear us for entry into Canada. (Got to keep the Somalian refugees out along with drug importers and terrorists I suppose) If the officers are not able to land in Hershel, we will have to stay aboard and wait until they are able to catch up with us later when the weather improves. The fog and mist lifted today and with ice all around us the Norwegian captain skillfully navigates us safely through with the aid of a Canadian ice pilot who joined us when we left Nome. You could lounge around all day doing nothing, but I get anxious that I can’t fit it all in. There must be between 15 – 20 professionals on the expedition team. Everything from biologists to archeologists, professional photographer, kayak leaders, cultural liaison Inuit person, two ornithologists, scientists, a historical information lecturer, expedition leaders and a host of others who probably put on an average of five to six lectures daily. The outside temperature has dropped to 5 Celsius and one must make the mad dash from the heated confines of the cabin to the outside hot tub and infinity pool. Then there is a sauna and three restaurants to choose from. One wouldn’t want to miss any mealtimes. I haven’t had time to take a nap or pick up a book, but this is the one week in the year that is the most possible to navigate the Passage. Next week, winter will start to creep back in, and the ice will start to block everything up once again. No wonder the initial discovery of the Passage was so difficult as the seasonal time constraints to navigate are so limited and the initial discovery expeditions would have to spend years being ice bound during the winter season. Tomorrow is Sunday. Maybe I’ll sleep in. Not likely. If you want to find our location, copy and paste or click of the following link and look for the ship labled AM in the Canadian arctic https://global.hurtigruten.com/map/

I Can See Russia From Here

Today was supposed to be a sail past the Diomede Islands. Population 0. These two islands are to the west of Wales Alaska, the furthest western point of North America and they are separated by the Bering Strait and the International date line. One in the US and one in Russia. During the Cold war the separation was known as the Ice Curtain. In winter, an ice bridge is built between the two, so in theory the US and Russia are connected for a portion of the year. From here you could see Russia as they are only separated by about 3 miles but with today’s mist and rain, it is not meant to be. Subsequently all shipping is instructed to keep a 3-mile buffer from the islands due to the Ukrainian crisis and Lord knows we wouldn’t want to be the object of an international incident. A few hours later to the north we cross the Arctic Circle and a celebration of pouring ice cold water down your back with a shot of alchohol is a tradition that lives on.

Be It Ever So Humble There’s No Place Like Nome

Having spent a pleasant warm and sunny 3 days in Vancouver visiting Granville Island and the Van Dusen Botanical Garden with long time high school friends, it was time to get onto the main event. I wasn’t feeling great, so I decided to take a COVID test. Negative. Had to take another COVID test before embarkation at the hotel. Negative. All good to go and much to my relief, feeling much better!! Back to the airport and onto an Alaskan Airline charter, and a four-and-a-half-hour flight from Vancouver to Nome (See map insert at bottom of page) Originally discovered in 1898 when the population was a grand total of three, Nome exploaded the following year to 20000. You ask why? In a word, gold. Now the town of 3500 is probably still in shock from 300+ transient tourists on 3 charter flights having invaded this northern community on the outskirts of civilization. Can I see Russia from here? Not even close. Roald Amunsden, a famous Norwegian explorer who was the first to plant a flag on the South Pole was also the first to successfully complete the crossing of the Northwest Passage from east to west. However, he and his fellow explorers had to endure two winters from 1903 to 1905 in order to be successful and a third winter before reaching Nome in 1906 due to being locked in by the ice. We hope to complete the same voyage from west to east in 26 days. Fittingly, the name of our ship is the MS Roald Amunsden and she too flies under the Norwegian flag. This will only be the 2nd attempt of the RA to cross the passage. My understanding is that to date there have only been a total of 56 passenger ship crossings of the Passage. So, we are indeed some of the lucky few who have been fortunate enough to embark on such a journey. Lots of time for reading, picture taking and writing blogs. Welcome aboard!!