Last stops before the Arctic

Before Tromso, our last stop before heading to Svalbad in the Arctic, we had a wonderful nature day in the Sundsvollsundet Nature Reserve on the island of Helloya. There was a large colony of kittiwakes nesting on the cliffs in addition to guillemots, cormorants and gulls - lots of mating and nest building activity with the kittiwakes, allowing for some interesting action shots. There were also lots of pretty anemones and sea urchins just at the water line with some extraordinarily beautiful rock formations.

The rock formations are incredibly coloured!

 Such a pretty sea urchin!

The mountain backdrop was equally stunning

Courtship

Mating

Not sure if this was aggression or passion

This looked like squabbling

Flying back with nesting material

We spent the afternoon spotting Sperm Whales in Bleiks Canyon, a deep sea canyon known to be the haunt of Sperm Whales. There were at least four or five whales and I was able to catch a few whale tails - it was quite an exhilarating experience, holding our breaths waiting for the whale to blow several times before diving and showing its tail then madly clicking away! The Sperm Whale is new to me - it is the largest of the toothed whales and is the second deepest diving mammal. It has a round dorsal fin and a blow hole on the left side of its head so the blow is never straight up.

Sperm Whale

The day we arrived in Tromso, it was foggy and wet - this was actually the first day of bad weather so we were not complaining. The Arctic Alpine Botanical Garden in the rain was still pretty and in fact water drops on the flowers added to the shots. This is an unusual Botanical Garden in that it is the world's northernmost botanic garden. It was surprising to find so many flowering varieties and of course the tulips were still blooming in June.  The garden focuses on plants from the Polar regions or high mountains which have difficulty surviving in the warmer climate where most botanical gardens are located.

Outstanding rock gardens in the Arctic Alpine Botanical Garden

We visited the Polar Museum, housed in a stunning building. The Tromso waterfront, which we could see from the museum, was actually quite pretty in the fog.

Polar Museum

Tromso in the fog

We took a cable car ride up to the top of the mountain but was fogged in - the view was better on the way up than up on the mountain. We then visited the famous Arctic Cathedral, but there was a wedding there and we could not get in to see the beautiful triangular stained glass window inside.  It was not our lucky day.  But the Tromso waterfront had some interesting buildings and the old town was quite picturesque. We were keeping our fingers crossed that the weather would improve as we head north across the Barents Sea to Svalbad.

Tromso from the cable car

All we could see up at the mountain top - one group from the ship was actually hiking in the fog, until they found they couldn't go any further up and had to turn back.

The Arctic Cathedral

The gorgeous stained glass seen through the window

Tromso waterfront - mix of modern and old buildings

A fishing boat with all the processing equipment on board

Leaving Tromso and heading for Svalbard!

Reflections Galore and the Artic Circle

We woke up to the ship anchored at a perfectly tranquil bay with mirrored reflections of everything around it, including the Svartisen glacier in the distance.  It was so beautiful everyone on deck just held their breaths, waiting for the peace to be broken.  The mirrored surface was finally broken by the zodiacs taking us to shore to begin the short hike to the glacier. Some on board took the difficult hike option rock scrambling up to the foot of the glacier and were duly rewarded with a spectacular view. We were content to sit at the café to enjoy the view with waffles (what else!) and coffee.

View of the Svartisen Glacier from the café

I also did a short hike through the beautiful birch forest, teased by the sound of bird songs, but they were not easy to find among the leaves, unless they want to be found, as in the cocky pied wagtail below, hopping around the café grounds.

Pied wagtail

It was amazing how the mirrorlike reflections did not change even as the sun rose high up in the sky.  This was the reflection that greeted us as we returned to the ship. 

We continued our norlthward journey crossing the Arctic Circle, paying due respect with champagne on deck to note the passing of the Arctic Circle monument at Vikingen. It was an exhilarating moment for some who had also been to the South Pole and could finally be confirmed as "bipolar"...;-)  

The Arctic Circle monument at Vikingen

Next up was the island of Lovund, known for the kittiwakes nesting on a huge rock a short distance from the pier and the puffins nesting half way up the mountain. The kittiwakes were very visible but the puffins were too high up to be seen easily, even with a long lens. But we braved the rock scramble to viewing the area and was able to make it back down the treacherous wet rocks, content with having at least seen a few puffins.

Lovund, a peaceful village - it was heartening to see kids freely roaming the streets on their bikes in the mostly car-free town - not a common sight these days in the cities.

Bird condo!

Eurasian Magpie

The great view from the puffin viewing area - but also note the rocky downward path

A grey-faced puffin - apparently not all puffins have white faces!

This polished modern building was a bit unusual in this little village, population 500!  There are more birds than people here!  If I weren't already cutting it very close to the last zodiac, I would have found out more about it!