Our tour began in the old mining town of Longyearbyen tucked deep into a fjord on the west coast of Svalbard and there was time to explore and do some urban birding which here meant breeding Purple Sandpipers, Eider and Barnacle Geese on the verges, Snow Buntings displaying off the roof tops and Little Auks whizzing overhead. The MV Ortelius took us north up the west coast of Spitzbergen where we explored the fjords and bays both by zodiac and on daily landings. The landscape was one of almost unending jagged peaks each with multiple curving glaciers of enormous size inexorably flowing towards the sea where they entered with towering, almost glowing blue cliffs of ice. Those first few days gave us our first unforgettable encounters with Polar Bears, Arctic Foxes, Svalbard Reindeer, Walruses, Bearded Seals and so many auks, Fulmars, terns and gulls before we headed further north to the Arctic pack ice where Blue and Fin Whales greeted our arrival. A surreal two days followed as we manoeuvred our way slowly past various new Seals, Minke Whales and our 11th and 12th Polar Bears. A BBQ at 80.6°N as we drifted in the ice with those bears for nearby company was truly memorable especially as we were the most northerly humans on Earth. On the route back south we ventured once more into the fjords where close views of blubbery Walruses were had at Poolypynten before a grand finale at the towering seabird cliffs of the Alkhornet where Arctic Fox clubs played in the fresh snow below. All too soon we were back at Longyearbyen after a magnificent few days at sea.