An overcast sky and a bit of high winds greeted us in Bellsund on the west coast of Spitsbergen this morning. This system of branching fjords gives options for landings though, and by choosing the lee side of Midterhuken peninsula we had a comfortable Zodiac landing for a tundra walk.

Since the waters of the west coast are mitigated by the fading off Gulf stream , the plant life of this peninsula is favored by a microclimate. The huge bird cliff rising beyond the coastal plain adds to the fertility of this wonderfully lush green site, splashed by an unusual richness of flowers. It is just one of those sites that stresses the contrasts of the archipelago: the ice, the moonscape desert of many sites, the barren impression of the sparsely vegetated tundra and the overwhelmingly rich gardens.

Among the more common vascular plants shining in the beds of moss and grass, we stumbled upon a very rare and lovely plant: Jacob’s ladder, named for the opposite green leaves forming a ladder to the heavenly blue bells – something for Jacob to climb if he so wishes! Preferring poor soil conditions, it still wants a protected and relatively warm place to develop. Here, in a notch in the ground it was neatly tucked in on a slope facing south. To find one of its kind crowned our morning walk!