![[Stina with rifle, people alighting from dinghy]](mf1.jpg)
![[People alighting from dinghy]](mf2.jpg)
First stop outside of a settlement on Svalbard was Magdalenafjorden. It looks very
desolate, even compared to the small settlements we already visited, but as the
conditions for landing here are good, and the terrain comparatively easy, cruise
ships often come here. It's hard to believe when you're there, but no fewer than
twenty thousend tourists put to land there at the spit Gravodden
every year! And considering the season
is rather short, there's sometimes a bit of a crowd in the waters. Our guides told
us they've at times seen four large cruise ships at the same time in the fiord.
As usual, outside settlements, you're not allowed to go anywhere without someone with a rifle keeping you company. It's always the polar bear that surprises you that's dangerous.
![[The rim of the glacier]](mf3.jpg)
![[Me in front of the fiord]](mf4.jpg)
After all of us had landed, we started up a small hill close to the beach, to look
at a grave at the top. The plase is named Gravodden (the Grave Spit) because
meny men have been buried there. It's a good place to have as a base for whaling
operations, and in the 18:th century there used to be quite a lot of people working
here.
After that, we set of for the edge of the glacier. I didn't think the walking was very easy, as it was rather rocky and not much level ground. But of course, then I didn't know what was to come: The 30 min it took to go to the glacier was nothing compared to that!
It was first glacier I've ever seen
close up. Very interesting, as the ice does not look the same at all in all different
places of the glacier.
![[Glacier and creek]](mf5.jpg)
On the way back, we passed close to a bird protecting its egg. I think it's a very brave bird indeed, buzzing everyone coming too close, and keeping it up even though we're much larger than it, and outnumbers it significantly.
When we were about to leave, a cruise ship for 4-500 passengers had just arrived and was starting to let passengers off in shifts with their dingies.
The govenor has a representative at this place, a single policeman. I forgot to ask
if he had a lot of work trying to keep the tourists in order.
![[Hydrogen making pot]](doe1.jpg)
The weather during our visit to Danskøya, famous for beeing a staging
point for expeditions to the North Pole, was lousy. It rained hard and a strong wind
was blowing. The photo shows the wooden tray Andreé used to manufacture
hydrogen in. Iron filings and hydrogen chloride was mixed in it. I took the photo from
the place where his ballon hangar used in the fateful try to reach the North Pole in 1896
stood. Much of it remains, but all in pieces on the ground.
In the background can be seen the ruins after the airship hangar used by Wellman in his tries in 1906, 1907 and 1908 to reach the North Pole.
The ground in Virgohamna is full of rubbish: Iron filings, fragments of ceramic pots,
barrels and lots and lots of wood. But since it's from the time before 1945, it's
not "rubbish" but "part of the cultural heritage" and thus protected from beeing
disturbed. The same goes for buildings and graves, if they're old enough, you may
not disturb them and cannot strike your tents closer than 100 m from them.
griffon@canit.se