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The Land of the Vikings
  • Around the World with Jan
  • Around the World with Jan

The Land of the Vikings

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  • Trip start
    July 9, 2026
    Around the World with JanThe Land of the VikingsAround the World with Jan

    An Island Paradise

    July 14 in Norway ⋅ 🌧 12 °C

    The Lofotens - a place of jagged peaks, sandy white beaches, turquoise blue sea and 'weather'

    We get to understand very quickly what Jakob, our lovely guide means by 'weather'. We also learn about the term two gortex hike.

    It's much cooler this far north ad one side of the islands can be sunny while the other is wet.

    This place doesn't disappoint - the views from the trails are stunning. Suddenly you go from sunny weather to be engulfed by clouds with the wind trying to blow you off the mountain.

    The small towns here are so picturesque. Some of them are no longer working fishing villages but the enterprising locals have helped preserve many of them as great places for visitors such as Nyksund and Nusfjord.

    There are lovely cafes and restaurants and the rorbuer (fisherman's huts) that you see on all the tourist brochures. They hug the coastline and accentuate the craggy mountains that form a backdrop. Inside, they are warm and comfortable with all the modern conveniences.

    Now I'm back in Oslo about to set off on the next leg of my journey. And, the sun is shining!    Read more

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    On edge of a fjord

    July 22 in Norway ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C

    Oslo - from Viking settlement to elegant city - a very walkable city with minimal high rise. It's easy to get around - there are trams or buses but I prefer on foot, you see much more.

    The Vikings built with wood and after one too many fires, the whole city burnt to the ground and was rebuilt in the 17th century.

    With it's elegant buildings and stunning modern edifices like the Opera House, there is so much to see an do. And of course, there are some amazing museums with everything from a Viking hoard to the Art of Edvard Munch and the history of the Nobel Peace Prize.

    You can't possible see it in a few days or even a week.

    It is expensive - I will never complain about how expensive Sydney is again. Norwegians are well paid and the living standard is high.

    The weather here has been warm and the tourists plentiful but all you have to do is walk a block from the centre and it's quiet and peaceful.

    The light is amazing almost any time of day to take pictures and I have, lots of them. Oslo is very photogenic and a great place to wander and just watch.    Read more

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    Longyearbyen

    July 24 in Svalbard and Jan Mayen ⋅ ☁️ 7 °C

    A few more days in Oslo to enjoy the warm weather and a bit of sightseeing before I headed into the unknown and was once again at the mercy of the weather.

    Flying in from Oslo, landing at the northern most airport in the world, 118 intrepid travellers alighted at the town of Longyearbyen on the island of Spitsbergen – the staging point for our adventure.

    Named after John Munro Longyear, who co-founded the Arctic Coal Company, this is the settlement where you can’t walk past the town limits without someone with a flare gun and rifle to protect you. No polar bear sightings - all we encountered were beautiful migratory barnacle geese and their chicks.

    It was once a bustling mining town as well as a staging point for expeditions by people such as Willem Barentsz trying to find the North West Passage. Apparently it has some of the best coal in the world so mining here was very successful.

    Of course there is also the seed vault – the protector of all the seeds for food crops from around the world in case any country needs to restock supplies. The only withdrawal in recent times has been from Syria after the war to replace their crops. The seed bank still gets deposits – sadly entry is restricted – no tourists allowed just pictures outside.

    In the early evening we boarded our ship under sunny skies and sailed into the sunset - well, there is no real sunset at this time of year but we headed north eager for adventure.    Read more

  • Around the World with JanThe Land of the VikingsAround the World with Jan

    Spitsbergen

    July 24 in Svalbard and Jan Mayen ⋅ ☁️ 7 °C

    Luckily for us, as we did head north we had great weather for the first two days. Even on a foggy day we saw a mother polar bear and her cub (from a distance) as they devoured a beluga whale carcass. We couldn’t go too close 300 metres is the limit to try to protect these beautiful animals.

    To our surprise, the polar bear isn’t white, not at this time of year – they are a yellow colour so that they blend in the with rocks, visible during the summer months. In winter of course their fur is white to match their snowy environment.

    There are very strict limits here to try to protect the bears. We had several lands and zodiac trips cancelled because there was bear in there. They can smell up to 30km away so if a bear is on beach where we want to land or we can see him jump in the water, that’s in, it’s no-go zone.

    There are fewer places where you can land in this part of the Arctic. Sometimes it’s because of the pack ice or the glaciers and access, others it’s because the Norwegian are trying to protect a place where warming is making a bigger impact than anywhere else in the world. It’s a sobering fact.    Read more

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    Heading back

    August 2 in Norway ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C

    Did you know that a group of walrus is called an ‘ugly’? I certainly didn’t. Even though they are very big and clumsy and just a bit smelly, they are majestic creatures especially in the water where they no longer look clumsy or awkward.

    We were able to go on land to view a big colony of walrus and we were allowed to get within 150 metres so quite close. They kept us amused – it’s like watching big dogs playing as they rolled, scratched and pushed each other around. They pretty much ignored us.

    It’s hard to cover all the things we saw on the Greg Mortimer. The time didn’t pass too quickly and still we were doing quite a lot each day from lectures to landings, watching wildlife or doing after dinner trips on the zodiacs. We were informed about the history of the arctic and the amazing plant and animal life there and how important it is to protect it.

    The landscape never disappointed – with stunning glaciers and multi-coloured rock formations, every morning gave us a different vista.

    When we eventually got to Longyearbyen to leave the crew behind we were all a little sad that it was over. And, grateful we weren’t on one of the massive big ships like the one in port when we landed.

    A few days with a good friend from England in Oslo and it was all over and I was on my way home ready to plan the next adventure.    Read more