As I mentioned recently – we spend a lot of time outside, and there is always something to do in Longyearbyen. So the laptop is closed most of the time, writing is not the main thing here and now. But the hiking boots are sometimes steaming, and at other times the outboard engine of our little Zodiac and at yet other times the camera. And that is how it should be.
SV Antigua finally back in Spitsbergen
Antigua in Ymerbukta.
We went out there for a lovely rendezvous.
Good old Antigua is back in Spitsbergen! Great! We went by Zodiac to Ymerbukta to meet the good ship and her crew there, where the ship was anchored for a rest after the crossing. It was good to see Captain Mario and the crew again! We took the opportunity together to take a detour into Colesbukta on the way to Longyearbyen, where the crew is now getting the ship ready for the first departure next week. I am looking forward to join them in late August. First, I’ll be out with SY Arctica II soon.
With Mario, Captain on SV Antigua, in Colesbukta, celebrating the occasion.
Pyramiden and Dickson Land
Now it has already been a while since we spent some days in and around Pyramiden in July. We went to look for – and found – a fossilised forest, which was covered with mud by a flood in a fluvial plain almost 400 million years ago. Most of the trees (sigillaria) just kept standing as they had been growing, and the still stand the day today. We had seen another part of this forest last year; fluvial erosion keeps bringing other parts to the light of day for a geological split-second, before they disappear and get lost forever. If you happen to be in the area during this geological moment, then you just have to take the opportunity.
And anyway, Dickson Land is just one of Spitsbergen’s most beautiful areas, if you ask me.