80 degrees North

The day started dull - sound familiar? - and we went on a safari to Worsleyneset in the Andoyane Islands to look at birds, terns mostly I think. In the usual gung-ho fashion of these things, we whizzed past a few terns, turned a corner into a lagoon and came to a thuddering stop. A mixture of rock bottom and kelp. Suffice it to say that after getting into the water and pushing, and various attempts at paddling, we were eventually rescued by another zodiac which kept well clear until we were free of the hindrances.
In the afternoon, we were all ready to land at Torellneset to see walrus at their haulout. I never got as far as getting on to a zodiac as the weather was deemed too wild and all were recalled very wet. The evening was less eventful. As the fog came in, we pushed northwards towards Moffen Island which is 80 degrees north and less than 600km from the North Pole.
After supper, we went on deck in the fog to party with champagne, counting down with the GPS as we crossed the line. You can see us reflected in the Bridge windows whilst Captain Beluga stays in his warm bridge and merely looks through the reflections.

If you want to see more photos of this amazing trip go to
http://gallery.me.com/lizziebea#100161