Børge Ousland

It’s the 30th of July and we though we’d send you a new report. Today is also Day 90, so Thomas and I have now been out in the Arctic wilderness for three months. Today it’s my turn to stay at home – by the tents. Thomas is out exploring and I expect he’ll be gone all day. We have to alternate watches; because of the polar bears we can’t leave our camp unprotected. During the time we’ve been at Cape Flora, two bears have visited us. And one of them was very aggressive and difficult to get rid of. It trigged four of our alarm flares, so we only have four left. First he triggered flares around our camp, and we had to scare him away by firing our revolver. But after retreating, he expressed far too much interest in our kayaks and set off an alarm flare down there. Now we have carried the kayaks up to our tents and gathered all our belongings here.

Cape Flora is a magnificent place and there is so much to explore. There are lots of old bones here, from whales and walrus, seals and polar bears. The other day we found a four metre long jawbone of a whale! That must have been one hefty creature when it swam the seas.

We have also set up a training apparatus of sorts. We made it from driftwood and an old iron bar that we found over by Jackson’s cabin. Each day now we’re training the muscles of our torso and arms. Our leg muscles, on the other hand, got plenty of exercise during the last three months. Activity is important; we can’t just lie flat on our backs while we’re waiting for the boat home.

I was finally able to put to use a tine bar of soap that I brought from Norway. It was a bit of a cat wash, really, but I really do feel freshened up after not washing my body these last three months. That’s actually not much of a problem, and I think it’s good for the skin, which regulates itself. On the other hand, our clothes lose their insulating ability when they get too dirty and grimy. So we have also been doing laundry in a kettle that we found and brought from Tikhaya Bay.

The weather is excellent, and it’s expected to keep the rest of the week. It’s sunny now, +3˚C and a slight wind, but you can really feel the warmth of the sun.

We’re happily installed at Cape Flora, in our cosy little tent. And we are going to be here for quite some time, while the SS “Athene” is riding the wind and waves in our direction. We don’t expect much to happen while we’re camped here, but we’ll report in every two or three days, or when there is something worth mentioning.

The only exciting thing that happened today was a polar bear visit – yes, yet another polar bear! It had decided to relax on the headland here, out by the remnants of the expedition hut built by Fredrick Jackson. He was a huge beast – the bear, that is – and he stood there looking sceptically at us for some time, before he sauntered off. That’s what most of the bears have done, with a few exciting exceptions.

Cape Flora is a painterly place with beautiful flowers and incredible colours. And as mentioned, it is the site of Jackson’s cabin. Fate would have it that he was here to provide rescue for Fridtjof Nansen and Hjalmar Johansen. In addition there are remnants and debris after Russian activity.

There is a stone monument on Cape Flora, commemorating three adventurers who died aboard “Stella Polaris”, near Rudolf Island. They took part in an Italian expedition in 1900 or 1902. One of the trio was from the town of Sandefjord, in Southeastern Norway, and the stone monument was raised by his father, who returned here the year after that tragedy. It is a potent reminder that we are on historic ground, and that it is risky to venture into these far northern waters. Thomas and I are relieved and happy that our journey went as well as it did.

We’ve sent you some photographs. Some are flowers, there is the huge round boulder we found day before yesterday, me loading equipment into our kayaks, tied together to form a catamaran, a shot taken while we make our way through choppy seas toward Cape Flora, and another taken by the plaque that tells the story of Nansen, Johansen and Jackson – at least a few words of what happened here then, more than a hundred years ago.

Børge and Thomas send greetings after reaching their goal.

Today is the 24th of July, Day 85. Our position is N79˚56’, E50˚06’.

We’re finally here – Cape Flora! This is the end of all uncertainty, the climax of all the hour-to-hour decisions. It feels fantastic to reach our destination, after following in the footsteps of Nansen and Johansen for almost three months. Thomas and I have had the opportunity to really feel their struggle and accomplishment, which was far greater, taking into account their equipment and the more gruesome conditions they encountered. We have gained much insight into the depth of their struggle. And I must confess that our respect for those two Arctic explorers of old has grown with each day.

The two of us have journeyed through exactly the same areas – but our situation has been considerably more secure, with satellite phones and the possibility of emergency signalling, and generally far better equipment. Our hats are off for Fridtjof Nansen and Hjalmar Johansen and their 1896 expedition. If we have any heroes, it must be the two of them. No doubt about it!

Our day started with an exciting surprise. To our astonishment, at land’s edge we found one of those round stones that we searched so hard to locate on Champ Island. It’s the result of an exceedingly rare geological phenomenon, which has only been discovered to have taken place two or three places in the world – and Franz Josef Land is one of them. We must have been close on Champ Island, but the stones’ position that we had received, was a little inaccurate.

A very rare geological phenomenon!

But here it was! A complete spherical rock about 2 m in diameter – it seemed almost like an artefact from a distant civilization, or a capsule from another planet. And it feels amazing to discover it on the very last day of our journey!

We struggled with a harsh wind today. Granted, we only had 8 km to go after putting a good 20 km behind us on yesterday’s leg. But the entire distance was an incessant battle with a wind that threatened to sweep us out into the Barents Sea.

Fierce winds made it a struggle to reach Cape Flora.

As a matter of fact, 111 years ago, Nansen was forced to risk his life – he had to jump into the freezing sea and swim, just offshore from where we started out this morning, in order to save his life and equipment.

The important thing is that we reached Cape Flora, hauled our kayaks safely up onto the shore. It’s a fine campsite here, a mossy plateau surrounded by flowers and the thriving birdlife of the cliffs behind us. There is a good reason why it is called Cape Flora – this is probably the most fertile spot in all of Franz Josef Land, with grass and moss and colourful blossoms. A truly magnificent place!

So we’re here at last. This report may mark the end of our journey through Franz Josef Land, but the adventure is hardly over yet. At least not for me. We have to wait until the 10th of August or so, when Thorleif Thorleifsson’s sailboat arrives to pick us up. Then we’ll chart a course for the North Cape of Norway. Arrival there will signal a new leg of my expedition – bicycling all the way home, south to Oslo. My idea is to “tie together” my home and the North Pole, having made the entire journey between them only by skis, kayak, sail and bicycle.

It will, however, be a while before that final chapter, which starts perhaps on the 17th or 18th of August. I invite you join me on this continued journey, right here on this website. It’s been one great adventure – and it isn’t over yet!

Thomas and I would like to extend our gratitude and best wishes to those of you who have followed our expedition. We are in fine shape, we’re tired, but we’re filled with joy after successfully completing our mission. Each day has been incredible!

Today is the 23rd of July, Day 84 of our expedition. We are resetting our clocks again, or rather changing our daily rhythm. Today we started later than usual, getting up at 1am. In the next few days, we’ll readjust to standard Norwegian and Swiss time – but for the time being, Thomas and I are still mostly nocturnal animals. Well, perhaps it’s inaccurate to call this night, because this is the time of the midnight sun. It is, however, slightly cooler “at night”, and the sun does hang a bit closer to the horizon.

After leaving Cape Barents this morning, we paddled 20 km westwards by kayak, along this scenic jagged coast, past glacier fronts, cliffs and rock formations. We started out in fog, but the weather soon cleared up, with sunshine and a sea so calm it formed almost a perfect mirror. There was even less excitement than we expected today. We didn’t have a single close encounter with a walrus or polar bear. That might seem a bit dull – and we had actually counted on meeting a large walrus colony that is supposed to be in this area this time of year. But we didn’t see a single walrus. So Thomas and I have had a rather undramatic day.

Now we’re camped at a splendid spot! We found a cove with a green meadow, and we just had to pitch our tent there. It’s actually the first time we’ve camped on flat earth. Most of the time, we’ve been force to set up our tent on stone or ice, and sometimes work hard to make it reasonably flat – but this meadow and cove seem perfectly designed for a campsite. We couldn’t have found a better spot.

We are only 8 km away from Cape Flora, our final destination in Franz Josef Land. It seems inevitable that we’ll reach it tomorrow. And we will be continuing by kayak – we couldn’t ski here even if we wanted to. But there is more ice than we expected along the coast here. It is, however, rather spread out, not posing any problems for our seaborne voyage. The weather is excellent, and there isn’t a single storm cloud in sight – so we’re crossing our fingers that our final few kilometres will go as smoothly as today.

It is 22 July, Day 82 of our expedition. Thomas and I are still camped at Cape Barents, an incredibly fascinating place!

Today we have exploring our nearby environment. We have found many kinds of bones, even reindeer antlers. This is actually quite striking, because there are no reindeer here in Franz Josef Land. Or more accurately, there was once a reindeer population, but no one knows when it died out. Neither Nansen nor any of the other Arctic explorers who visited these shores in the early 20th or late 19th centuries reported seeing reindeer. Hence these antlers must be older than that. So far we have found three or four of them.

In addition we have found many bones of polar bears, and bones of whales and walrus, so there has clearly been a lot of life and activity at this cape. It’s incredibly lively now as well – absolutely amazing! Up on the birdrock there must be thousands of gulls, razorbills and other seabird species, all making a loud ruckus. In addition there are colourful patches of lichen on the birdrock, and on the stones down here, making the landscape into almost a painting. It’s beautiful!

Today we heard an airplane, for only the second time in three months. It’s a powerful reminder that there actually is a very world beyond what we are seeing here. There is ongoing human activity here in Franz Josef Land, in the form of a military station northwest of us – I believe the place is called Alexandra Land. A few hours later, we heard the airplane returning. It was a propeller plane, so it probably landed to let off people or supplies.

Ice is gathering on the sea beyond the cape, drifting in from the north. There is almost no wind now and the weather is good; it has stopped raining and the sun is trying to break through. Since we’re camped on the southeastern shore of Northbrook Island, and have merely to continue paddling our kayaks along the island’s southern shore, the ice is not going to pose any problems for our progress.

We may well continue tomorrow, if the weather holds. It should take us no more than a couple of more days to reach Cape Flora. It seems incredible to us that our expedition is about to reach its conclusion, at least the chapter of Franz Josef Land.

Today is 20 July, Day 81. Our new position is N79˚56’, E51˚28’ – and this means we’ve been on the move today. There’s been heavy fog and poor visibility, but the key factor in our choice was calm seas. When you’re kayaking, the fog is less of a problem than rough seas. We just paddled along the front edge of the glaciers, so navigation was never a problem.

As we made our way, keeping eye contact with the shore, we spotted a polar bear who was out for a swim. He really seemed to be enjoying himself, calmly swimming along, but he came to have a look as soon as he spotted us. It didn’t take him long before he was satisfied and swam away. This is the first time we’ve seen a polar bear at sea while kayaking.

A little later we met a very curious walrus. It just had to swim over and have a look at this strange contraption that was moving on top of the water. It came all the way over, stretched his neck and almost seemed to climb into our kayaks. It stared and stared with those mysterious red eyes that no doubt had never seen a human being before. Satisfied, it too retreated.

We have yet to have any problematic encounter with walrus on this expedition – they just seem to be really curious.

Now we’re camped at Cape Barents – a magnificent place! This is the southeasternmost cape of Norbrook Island. Along the shore are smooth round rocks, and there is a small beach with lots of driftwood. Some of the larges rocks are coloured with patches of dark brown lichen, and behind us there is a well-populated birdrock with plenty of life and music. We’ve also found baleen plates that probably derive from the rare Greenland whales that are sometimes seen in the waters of Franz Joseph Land. They use the baleens to filter out the plankton, krill and other tiny prey they eat.

Even though it’s foggy, it’s good weather. Nevertheless we may well choose to stay here for a day or so. Our ride home isn’t coming until the 10th of August anyways – the boat that is picking us up is delayed. That’s 20 days of waiting and lots of time. We’ll see what the weather and all is like after we have had some sleep.

It is the 20th of July, Day 80, and our position is unchanged. The seas are still rough and the wind fairly strong, although it has weakened in recent hours. And it has stopped raining. So we’re sure there is better weather around the corner. But right now there is heavy fog and we scarcely see anything. We do have a slight hope of being able to continue tomorrow, or one of the coming days. The weather report is not so bad. In the meantime, we wait in the shelter of our camp.

Even though we are stuck in one place, there is new activity here every day. We’ve had yet another polar bear visit – this time from a female with two small, cute cubs. They walked right into our tripwire and triggered the signal flare, which sent them running off. A little later, when I took a walk, I saw them eating seaweed or something down by the water. Suddenly a flock of walrus surfaced right nearby, sending the three bears scurrying uphill, where it turned out another bear was resting. All the commotion woke it up, and for a long time they stood there starting at each other, unsure of what to do next.

And then I came! That settled the matter. All four of them ran down to the water, jumped into the waves and swam away. As you can see, it’s certainly not dull around here!

We’re camped on a narrow headland with a glacier front on each side. There are bones and skeletons strewn all around here – of whales and polar bears, seal and walrus. But they must be old. As we stroll the headland, exploring while we stretch our legs, we constantly discover something new. But we really would like to carry on, continue our expedition, because we still have a fair stretch ahead of us.

We will just have to wait to see what conditions are like tomorrow.

It’s 19 July, Day 79. I am sure it comes as no surprise that we’re camped exactly where we were yesterday and the day before. It has been raining non-stop the last 24 hours, and we’ve scarcely set our feet outside the tent. The wind has abated somewhat, but the seas are still rough, the waves coming straight in against the unprotected shore here.

For now we have no choice but to stay put. Thomas and I are just making the time pass. We have a deck of cards and four or five books. I’ve brought four mp3-players full of audio books, music and what have you. And we talk. So making the time pass is scarcely a problem.

We’re far more comfortable than Nansen and Johansen were as they made their way south from Jackson Island more than 110 years ago. They didn’t even have a tent! Instead, they slept under their sail in their woollen clothes, soaked if it had rained. But we’re nice and dry here in our little tent, and have no reason to complain.

When we’re not playing cards or reading or listening to music, we’re busy chasing off the polar bears. Three of them have come to visit since my last report. Last night, as we were about to go to bed, a young male triggered the tripwire right outside our tent. It took some doing to scare it off – finally we had to pull out the .44 Magnum and fire into the snow right in front of its paws. Only then did he retreat, but even so he circled our campsite for some time before disappearing altogether.

Today I heard a strange voice of complaint outside the tent. When I looked out, there was a she-bear with a large cub – standing there, squinting and smelling the air. But the two of them retreated without any problems, fortunately. It’s strange, really, that there are so many polar bears here, where there are no ice floes. Their hunting ground is usually the edge of the ice, so I can’t for the life of me imagine how they’re feeding themselves here. Well, it just drives home the point that you can meet polar bears anywhere and anytime up here, and so you always have to be cautious and prepared.

We are hoping the weather soon changes for the better, but we have no expectation of being able to leave tomorrow.

This is the report for 18 July and Day 78. Our expedition has lasted a while now! We’re camped on the same spot as yesterday. And today’s report could just as easily be an autumn weather report for the North Sea – conditions are pretty rough and bleak. The waves are almost five feet high now, there’s a stiff gale and heavy rains. And it’s been like that all day.

We had to get up in the middle of the night in order to pull our kayaks to higher ground, or risk having them pulled out to sea, never to be seen again. The entire beach here is just gone, washed away by the waves that pound the shore. The weather is not pleasant. Fortunately Thomas and I have an excellent spot for our campsite, so there’s no danger.

Yeah, I mentioned that we have to move the kayaks to protect them from the rough seas that are pounding our shores. But when we close our eyes, we can almost imagine we’re at more southern latitudes, perhaps a Mediterranean beach – anyways, those are the sort of images we’re toying with while relaxing in our warm, protected tent.

This is a great campsite, one of the few really good ones along this coast. Most of it consists of mile after mile of glacier fronts – long stretches. But right here, on this headland, we’re camped on solid ground. And both of us are doing just fine.

We are likely to see more bad weather in the days ahead, and can draw now comfort from the weather reports. There is supposed to be more of the same coming, at least through Saturday. It’s hard to say how long we’ll be here, but we will just have to wait it out.

We did take a walk to explore the area, and spotted an old depot up on the hillside here. Probably from an early 20th century expedition. It can’t have been Jackson’s, because he would have seen and commented it in his diary. There are remnants up there from after an old tent camp; I found a ski and some old runners from a sled, various debris, and some old walrus bones. Clearly somebody was camped here for some time, and they had a depot or observation post. It’s exciting to discover sites like that.

We’ll have a new report for you tomorrow – but I’m afraid our position will be exactly the same.

It’s the 17th of July and Day 77. Our position is unchanged. We were incredibly lucky to make it across this wide sound yesterday! Fog came pouring in just after we set up camp. And today there are three-foot-high waves breaking against the shore here. They’re coming straight in from the open sea, and out there the waters are really choppy. There is no way we could have made it across today! Fortunately, we don’t have to. We’re on the right side now, camped on solid ground on Northbrook Island. There is no ice to ski on here, no ice floes still attached to the shore. And it’s certainly not viable to continue by sea when conditions are like this. But we’re safe and content – on the right side of De Bruyne Sound.