Photo Friday: Perpetual twilight in the High Arctic
November 14, 2008 by Caitlin
Filed under Places & Inspiration
Svalbard, Arctic; August 2006
In 2006, for my 30th birthday, I took myself on a holiday to the Arctic. I wanted to see polar bears in their natural habitat while I still could.
I did that and a lot more besides. I took an 11-day boat trip around the Svalbard archipelago in the High Arctic with Aurora Expeditions (booked through World Expeditions). As well as polar bears, I saw walruses, seals, whales, reindeer and a huge variety of birds. I challenged myself to try sea kayaking and this was a highlight of the trip – paddling past glaciers, seals resting on ice floes and enormous bird cliffs.
This photo was taken from the ship. I’m not sure what time of day it was and I can’t tell from looking at the photo either. At this time of year the High Arctic has 24 hours of daylight, with the sun simply moving from one part of the southern sky to another. It’s perpetual twilight – or perhaps dawn. The photo is on sale along with other examples of my art photography at Redbubble – Christmas is coming so feel free to buy a print or a calendar or cards!
I’ve written about my experiences several times since, including reportage about the Russian ship crew for Anyway, a description of Arctic kayaking for Rough Guides Make the Most of Your Time on Earth and a humorous blog-style account of the holiday for Australian Women’s Health. I also have a fact box on Spitsbergen (the biggest island in Svalbard) on the blog.
This is part of Photo Friday, a weekly feature hosted by Debbie at travel blog Delicious Baby. Please click through to see all the other photos submitted by other travel bloggers this week.
Beautiful photograph! Thanks for sharing.
Thank you! I’m glad you like it. – Caitlin
Stunning photo.
And what a coincidence, I’ve been thinking of Svalbard all week – probably related to reading Philip Pullman with my boys. Definitely on my list of ‘places I need to visit’.
Gorgeous as always!
That’s one of my goals — to see polar bears in their native habitats and to explore the Arctic. What an amazing experience! And isn’t that never-ending day amazing? I’ve been above the Arctic Circle in Norway and Finland, but not so far North as you must have been. Cheers!
This would be a dream trip for us! Thanks for sharing the stunning photo and your memories.
I have always wanted to do this, I’m so jealous! What a beautiful picture!
I always look forward to your photos because they are so varied and beautiful. You are definitely doing a good job of making the most of your time on this planet. And I, for one, appreciate you sharing your journey with us.
That is a gorgeous photo! Do you have pictures of the northern lights as well? The Arctic is on my list of things to do as well, but I think we need to wait until the kids are a little older or leave them at home!
I would love to see the Northern Lights but they are mainly a winter phenomenon – October onwards is the best time to see them. My Arctic trip was in summer. – Caitlin
Lovely! Sounds like an exciting journey!
what a gorgeous photo! thank you for sharing – i need to head that way – seems like an extraordinary experience.