Ny-Ålesund 78°55

Ny-Ålesund 78°55′

Tuesday, August 19, 2025

It's early, 6:30 AM, I've gotten up, had to look around a bit, but I'm the only one.☹️😋

The sea is rough, but the weather is nice, not cold without wind.

The northernmost port served by Hurtigruten. There are still about 1000 km to the North Pole.

Ny-Ålesund is a very small place, 130 inhabitants in summer, 30 in winter.

Almost all are scientists from various countries.

When we enter the harbor, the ship's Wi-Fi is turned off, all passengers were already asked yesterday to switch all electronic devices to flight mode to avoid affecting the sensitive scientific equipment that is set up all over the place, and to only use phones for photography on land.

The wooden walkways are not to be left to protect the delicate arctic tundra soil. We already know this from the Dempster Hwy in Yukon and NWT.

The marked areas are not to be left.

Polar bears.

If so, with a guide and a weapon.

By the way, we eat at 12:00 PM, before going ashore our porterhouse, more about that later in the evening.