A cabin trip to Blomstrandhalvoya. Or maybe “halv”oya. Since we know now due to glacier recession that it is not a peninsula but rather an actual island.

After a week of very hard labour during fieldwork in Ny-Alesund, Maarten (the station leader of the Netherlands Arctic Station) was kind enough to drop us off at the Ny-London cabin on Blomstrandhalvoya for a day of small hikes, plant appreciation and cabin cookery. It was an incredibly sunny day, and we could sit in front of the cabin in our underwear, sheltered from the wind. Several ships stopped by, temporarily flooding the beach with many tourists who came to look at the old marble quarry and nearby camp, and, unwarrantedly, even our cabin. It was an incredibly beautiful and sunny day, and we were back in time for breakfast the next morning thanks to Maarten waking up early to shuttle us across the fjord in a zodiac.

One week later, our adventure got a grim undertone, as we learned that two people were attacked by a bear at the very same cabin. The encounter was near-fatal for the people involved, and fatal for the bear. A very strong reminder to never let our guard down in polar bear territory.