MS Expedition is anchored on the other side of Kongsfjord from where we were docked at Ny-Ålesund this morning. Miles away on the other side of the fjord we can see Ny-Ålesund in the distance. At the end of the fjord we can see huge glaciers like some huge white superhighways dropping down into the sea.
Our Zodiacs® are in the water waiting for us to take people ashore to do some hiking and exploring on this little island called, Blomstandhalvøya. We land on a sandy beach in a small protected cove and see a couple old cabins and some rusted machinery. This is Ny-London. It was a small mining station that was started in 1911, six years before coal mining was started in Ny-Ålesund! This was not a coal mining center, this was a marble quarry!
At the start of the 20th century there was a rush to find things to mine in Svalbard, like the California Gold Rush! An Englishman came to Svalbard discovered that this little island in Kongfjord was made of marble! Because marble was a valuable building material he quickly set-up a marble quarry here.
Machines, a railway, wagons, cranes, winches, heavy steam engines, tools and equipment were brought here along with the men (about 70 men) to run them. Houses, workshops and storage buildings were built and a little town was created. Unfortunately the marble was of low quality and crumbled easily so no one wanted to buy it. The mining of the marble was finally stopped in 1920, everyone left and Ny-London became a ghost town!
Most of the buildings and machinery were moved to Ny-Ålesund. The machinery left behind was left to rust. The two cabins that remained were fixed up so people visiting from Ny-Ålesund could stay in them.
Today Ny-London is just an interesting place to visit and explore. We did see some birds and reindeer roaming around, too!
Back onboard MS Expedition Capt. Sergei takes us deeper into Kongsfjord and stops. The hotel staff have a surprise for us...an Outdoor Arctic Barbeque! It's just like a normal barbeque only more food and colder! We had to dress for dinner, but not in fancy, dressy clothes but in long underwear, warm clothes and jackets and hats to stay warm! The view of the mountains and glaciers all around us was amazing and the food was great...The only challenge was that you had to eat fast so your food wouldn't be cold when you ate it.
This was a fun and interesting day and got to see our first polar bears, too! We look forward to what tomorrow will bring!
Day 4 PM 
