2
THE ARCTIC
Itinerary Overview
Dates
DAY 1 Late afternoon, board the Greg Mortimer and depart Aberdeen.
Start/Finish
Duration
Dates
Voyage Code
DAY 2 Discover the rich history in Kirkwall, capital of the Orkney Islands. Explore magnificent St Magnus Cathedral built from red and white sandstone and considered the finest medieval building in the north of Scotland, before continuing on to the unique and well-preserved 5,000-year-old semi-subterranean village of Skara Brae.
Aberdeen/Longyearbyen
15 Days
23 Jun ’21 – 07 Jul ‘21
SFS001G
DAYS 3–5 Discover a few of the gems of the Faroe Islands including Tórshavn, Kirkjubour, Mykines and Vestmanner. Wander the narrow streets of the Faroes capital, Tórshavn, a windswept town built on a hillside with colourful contemporary houses and old traditional red-painted timber dwellings with turf roofs. The town’s history can be traced back to around 900 AD when the first Viking settlers arrived by longboat from Norway. At Mykines, geographically the Faroe’s most westerly outpost, enjoy tremendous views of the ocean to the west and other islands to the east as you walk on the island dubbed the 'paradise of birds', featuring hundreds of cute puffins nestled in burrows in the clifftops during the summer months. One of the highlights of the Faroe Islands is a visit to Vestmanna Bird Cliffs with its grottos and narrow channels, to witness 600-metre high vertical cliffs, where birds such as puffins, guillemots and kittiwakes nest each summer. DAYS 6–7 Enjoy sailing to Jan Mayen Island accompanied by seabirds while keeping a lookout for whales. Enjoy a presentation from our team of experts, share photos with your fellow expeditioners, stay fit at the gym or treat yourself to a massage in the wellness centre. DAY 8 The approach to Jan Mayen is spectacular. We will attempt to land on this remote, mist-shrouded and rarely visited volcanic island – the northernmost island on the mid-Atlantic rift. The northern part of the island is a great place to look for whales and dolphins and contains impressive glaciers, some of which reach the sea.
Featuring Jan Mayen 3
DAYS 9–10 The sea around Jan Mayen offers excellent whale-watching opportunities including bottlenose, fin, and perhaps bowhead whales in the pack ice. Sail toward Svalbard, searching for the ice edge as we continue north, retracing the route of Willem Barents who discovered Spitsbergen and the Barents Sea. If we’re lucky, we may see harp seals breeding on the sea ice. DAYS 11–14 In Svalbard, keep your eyes peeled for spectacular calving glaciers and polar bear hunting on pack ice; photograph enigmatic walrus, arctic fox and tundra wildflowers. Zodiac-cruise and kayak along some of the many deep glacier-filled fjords.
For more information on this expedition and current offers please visit auroraexpeditions.com.au/orkneys-faroes-sval Turn to page 94 for expedition pricing
DAY 15 Disembark in Longyearbyen and farewell your fellow expeditioners. In true expedition style we encourage exploration and adventure, offering flexibility in challenging environments in a way that puts you among the action to see and do as much as possible. This itinerary is only a guide and subject to change due to ice and weather conditions.
A remote volcanic island located in the Arctic Ocean is a new and exciting focus of Aurora’s Arctic program. The natural centre of the island is the Beerenberg volcano. It is home to personnel working in the Norwegian Armed Forces.
1 Expeditioner looks out to the Drangarnir gates, Faroe Islands 2 Witness walrus haulouts on pack ice, Svalbard; L.Lee 3 The remote and volcanic island, Jan Mayen
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