Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Around Ny Ålesund
Kongsfjorden
Ny Ålesund's backdrop, Kongsfjorden (the namesake for the Kings Bay Kull Compani)
spectacularly contrasts bleak grey-brown shores with expansive white icefields. The dis-
tinctive Tre Kroner peaks, Dana (1175m), Svea (1226m) and Nora (1226m) - named in
honour of Denmark, Sweden and Norway, respectively - jut from the ice and are among
Svalbard's most recognisable landmarks.
Blomstrandhalvøya
Gravelly Blomstrandhalvøya was once a peninsula but, in the early 1990s, it was released
from the icy grip on its northern end and it's now an island. In summer the name Blom-
strand (flower beach), would be appropriate, but it was in fact named for a Norwegian geo-
logist. Ny London, at the southern end of the island, recalls one Ernest Mansfield of the
Northern Exploration Company who attempted to quarry marble in 1911 only to discover
that the stone had been rendered worthless by aeons of freezing and thawing. A couple of
buildings and some forlorn machinery remain.
Magdalenefjord
The lovely blue-green bay of Magdalenefjord in Nordvest Spitsbergen, flanked by tower-
ing peaks and intimidating tidewater glaciers, is the most popular anchorage along Spits-
bergen's western coast and is one of Svalbard's prettiest corners. In the 17th century, this
area saw heavy Dutch whaling; at Graveneset, near the mouth of the fjord, you can still see
the remains of two stoves used to boil the blubber. There are numerous protected graves of
17th- and mid-18th-century whalers.
