Where Light Breathes Blue: A Journey Through Ice and Time

Blue ice forms when dense, compacted glacier ice absorbs longer wavelengths of light and scatters shorter blue wavelengths, making the ice appear vividly blue the deeper the light travels.

I am still wrestling with reality after a 10-day voyage through the High Arctic, sailing around Svalbard, a silent archipelago that feels more like a dream than a destination.

Into the looking glass of a place that challenged my sense of scale, time, and even self.

Before venturing to the North Pole, our journey paused for a while in two bustling urban centres, each teeming with its own vibrant energy and life.

June 27 to July 15, 2025: Vancouver Island to Dublin, where the excitement started to build, and then on to Oslo, the gateway to the north.

Dublin – Céad Míle Fáilte ‘A hundred thousand Welcomes’. The convenient and highly entertaining double-decker ‘Hop On Hop Off’ bus circuit initiated us into the land of lively fiddle reels accompanied by dancing penny whistles; delicious Stout-based Irish Stew; Irish Charm; street parties; a rich and fascinating history, and more often than not, a quirky humour heard by taxi drivers, store merchants and hotel clerks alike. This dandy bus probably saved my life as it helped me avoid the challenging left-side driving chaos at street crossings, and the very real possibility of becoming a road pancake. At one point I was standing at a crossing trying to figure out which way death was coming from while navigating the Gaelic street signs. I must admit though, those street signs brought a surprising sense of familiarity and comfort, reminding me of my mother’s native tongue, Breton, from Brittany, which shares a striking resemblance to Irish Gaelic.

The bus circuit is underscored by live (and lively!) commentary from the bus drivers as they navigate the narrow streets through various banlieues of Dublin. The last time I was in Dublin was 50 years ago, and I was again overcome by the same feeling of stepping back into time. Walking onto some of its cobbled streets, I imagined being back in the 4th century, when Dublin was called Áth Cliath – ‘Hurdled Fort’. Since then, the city has seen many different settlers and undergone many changes. Around the sixth century, a monastery named Duiblinn – Irish for ‘blackpool’ – was founded. This is where the Vikings eventually arrived in the year 841. I swear I heard the echoes of battles in the stone walls that lined the narrow twisting side streets (cue Game of Thrones style music!). Dublin’s heritage and past are so incredibly and profoundly diverse,  I hesitate to describe its history with any degree of accuracy, or brevity for that matter, therefore I shall leave this link here for those wishing to dip their toe into yet another sea of information on this fair city.

My final day in Dublin, I took a memorable walk through the historic St Stephen’s Green; a lush, Victorian-era public park in the heart of Dublin, which featured winding paths, huge shady trees, blooming flowerbeds, and tranquil duck ponds. It also offered a stunning (downloadable to your phone) musical accompaniment to the walk played by Dublin’s National Symphony Orchestra. Now how civilized is that!

The visual and auditory peacefulness of this park offered a calming retreat from the city’s lively streets and allowed me to recalibrate, shaking off the final of effects of jet lag and the 8 hour time difference.

Oslo was the next destination. This was my first time in this vibrant city which featured a blend of modern Nordic charm and an intense sense of Scandinavian organization and structure (an IKEA city!). I enjoyed it all, even the challenging street signs in a language this polyglot could not begin to decipher. A memorable moment in this city was the deep reflection imposed upon me whilst visiting the powerful and inspiring Nobel Peace Center, where the stories of courage and change-makers around the world left a lasting impact on me. The current exhibition “A Message to Humanity” defies mere words. Its images whisper in sorrowful silence, overwhelming language with the weight of their truth.

Ending the day with an Aquavit based cocktail on a pier, followed by a peaceful walk through a quiet park lined with beautiful bronze statues, gently lifted the weight  from my heart after a deeply introspective afternoon at the Nobel centre exhibition.

I was grateful to have soaked in the energy of two beautiful cities, their past and their present before heading north… way north and into another world.

The next day, we flew to one of the most remote and breathtaking regions on Earth, Svalbard, where icebergs drift like ghosts and the raw beauty of Arctic wildlife, delicate flora, and resilient fauna quietly reign.  Heading towards Latitude 79° 15′ 43.2″ N   Longitude  22° 50′ 3.8″ E.

Flying into Longyearbyen to meet our ship was both welcoming and deeply informative. This remote port town carries the weight of a rugged past shaped by coal mining … which is thankfully winding down, along with the devastating impacts of whaling and fox and polar bear hunting: echoes of a once harsh and extractive era.

Amidst this history, the Svalbard Global Seed Vault stands out as a beacon of hope, like a veritable and vital “doomsday” seed bank safeguarding the world’s agricultural diversity and sustainability for future generations. The Svalbard Museum was very insightful and I really appreciated gaining this insight before boarding the Greg Mortimer Arctic Expedition vessel, as it set the tone for an unforgettable journey ahead.

Within a day I was adjusting to the drop in temperature and the 24-hour sun, by donning my new Marino wool socks… and a night mask.

A surreal land: blue ice, glaciers calving into sub-zero waters, polar silence, and landscapes so vast they made everything else in life feel small. Ten days of wildlife spotting included the Brünnich’s Guillemots, Auks, Puffins, Eider Ducks, Fulmars, and Glaucous Gulls that occupied the skies and cliffs in full force, while magnificent polar bears roamed the ice in silent solitude, raucous walrus (say that 3 times!)  lounged on rocky shores, Arctic foxes darted across the tundra, and curious Bearded, Ring and Harp seals surfaced in frigid waters or lounged lazily on drifting slab of ice … it was like stepping into a living, breathing wildlife documentary: raw, majestic, and utterly unforgettable.

Each night aboard the Greg Mortimer, the ship was transformed into a floating classroom, where passionate scientists, naturalists, and historians delivered captivating lectures on Arctic wildlife, glaciology, climate change, and polar exploration, shedding light on the stark, fragile beauty surrounding me and deepening my connection to this extraordinary corner of the planet. Their knowledge brought everything into perspective for me. I even pledged to become a member of Citizen Science! I now have apps on my phone to enter data about clouds and birds that is subsequently logged by NASA and Cornell University. So, yes, I can do my little something with my little existence on this great sphere. I can learn, share, connect, respect – repeat.

The Expedition Team led by Rüne

As the silence of the Arctic sea lulled me into a new sensation of slumber, I drifted into dreams narrated by David Attenborough gently documenting this strange yet comforting stillness.

One moment I’ll never forget was a long, quiet pause at Sundneset, Barentsøya  in the Barents Sea. After disembarking from the zodiac, I walked a few steps from the pebbly beach and found a rock, an old, solid, black rock that seemed to have been sliced down the side eons ago when the lands shifted and groaned. I sat in absolute stillness, surrounded by hills, fjords, sea, and the crisp glacial air. In that silence, I felt an overwhelming sense of awe,  a kind of humility that only nature of this scale can bring.

Aboard the Greg Mortimer of Aurora Expeditions

In that moment, I felt inconsequential and that moment will stay with me forever.

Cathy enjoying the Svalbard summer!

To my incredible friend Cathy Holler of Momenti Travel (who won the trip!), thank you for choosing me as your travel buddy and inviting me on this epic, once-in-a-lifetime journey. I shall never forget it.

I am profoundly grateful for the Gift of travel. It nourishes my soul, expands my consciousness, and fills my life with beauty, wisdom, and quiet joy, while reminding me of the deep interconnectedness of all places, things, and creatures great and small.

AURORA EXPEDITIONS created a beautiful video of our trip to the Arctic. Have a watch on my YouTube channel HERE

Aurora Expeditions also created LOG entries of our trip: Aurora Arctic Trip LOG

Some of my personal photos of the Dublin-Oslo leg of the trip can be viewed HERE  on my Facebook page album entitled Dublin-Oslo.

More of my photos of the Arctic expedition can be viewed HERE on my Facebook page album entitled Arctic 2025.