Amazing and what a wonderful trip. Was the date on your gps correct as it showed July 2022? And there was no problem showing up on our feed. Looking forward to the rest of the videos of this trip. Those polar bears were amazing
Hi thanks for watching. That’s interesting - no it was definitely 2024. Maybe my settings (I honestly thought it updated by the satellite time!). I was trying to see how accurate the little handheld is. Because of sat coverage etc at the poles we are told to expect some errors and there will always be 10-100m different to the ship depending on where I was compared to the ship antenna, but it was spot on. Or at least we were in sync! It is an absolutely amazing trip. Those bears and the little fella / girl with the sore leg and mum feeding the cubs. Priceless. There is more to come. The arctic terrain changes but the new locations keep gob smacking us. Really glad it came up on your feed. We hope people do enjoy this even though its different, but it’s one thing if people juts like our other stuff better - that’s fine, but it’s frustrating if they don’t even get to see it. Thanks - you’ve obviously liked and subscribed and hopefully notifications!! 🔔😂👍. And if you think it’s really good - maybe consider sharing with friends and family? 🙏😉. All the best, we love the interaction and comments.
Unbelievable and breathtaking. The great thing about your channel is that you show more and explain more of what goes on these cruises. The holiday shows are short clips and about promoting the company they are travelling with. You guys spend the time to tell as a paying customer, and we get a better picture of the adventure. Keep them coming 😊
Thanks Mike. It is stunning, breathtaking and more. And it gets better IMHO. And you’re right, we aren’t sales people or promo people or sponsored holifay shows or influencers. You won’t see us reviewing the food and wine (it was all great but that wasn’t the reason we were on the ship). Thanks for the terrific comment. Much appreciated and thanks for watching. Glad people are getting some enjoyment from it. All the best.
Well that’s good news and yes this has been a terrific leg. Stark scenery and of course the polar bears were magnificent. We hope others enjoy it also and get the notifications and feed as you have. Thanks for your help and for the feedback. All the best.
Thank you for sharing your North Pole experience with us. The sighting of the Polar bear with her cubs was awesome & magical, how lucky for you to experience it.👏👏👏
@@jenniferthompson4336 Thank you and it’s lovely to share it. It’s such a rare thing and you would almost think they are soft and cuddly when you saw that mintier looking after the cubs as she did. We see a different side to Polar bears in a future episode. We are lucky (mind you like most people we worked and saved and this was a major investment - more on that when we review and compare. But for right now - it’s just a magical region. Thanks again. We appreciate the kind comment and safe travels to you. 🙏🙏🙏❤️❤️❤️👍👍👍
Amazing. It’s hard to remember that we need guns posted all around us to protect us from them when we’re on and around the ice! But quite mesmerising to watch. Thanks for watching. The next episode is different again but still some more bears to come. cheers
Thank you and glad you enjoyed it. The ship really is quite extraordinary. The polar bears are magical. Watched them for hours and it was a real “pinch me” moment. We felt like we were in a David Attenborough documentary. There are some good activities and we felt quite busy and active most of your time. Thanks again and stay tuned because we get more active and if course more bears … cheers
Thank you again for your ongoing views and comments. So appreciated to know people are getting to watch and then to get lovely feedback is encouraging .It really is a breathtaking vista and the Polar Bears are amazing. We are fortunate. Thanks again and stay tuned for more. ❤️🙏
Hi again David, Hope I didn't mislead you with my previous post. When I checked all 3 recent videos played perfectly on my other TV and my laptop( guess my main TV is playing up as I have trouble with other videos) Magnificent 2 videos on your trip to the North Poll. What a wonderful experience. Thank you again for sharing the trip and I look forward to watching many more.
No problems. Not misleading. It’s all useful to sift out where there are some systemic things v something I’ve done v people choosing. It’s clear the way TH-cam works is that they only recommend based on what people usually watch and they only pump it back and therefore people keep watching. As a percentage for generating ad revenue it makes sense and no use tilting at windmills. But for us, even if somebody likes our style and doesn’t mind the occasional diversion, especially if they don’t have notifications, they don’t get to see it and of course the vids then perform badly and they then degrade what they push. The important thing is you are getting them, and at least then your get to choose. We love the sharing and while we didn’t do the trip for TH-cam reasons, it’s nice to know some people would like to see it, if they can. And for me if it’s something I’ve done wrong, I can try to learn and rectify. If it’s something I want to do and people just don’t want top watch it, that’s fine too. Thanks for the feedback and it is interesting that while it wont be universal a lot of people who have watched have given really good feedback. While I don’t want to be managing multiple platforms, we are suggesting people follow our facebook page as well where we post our content/ links and try not to spam lots of other stuff. At least then I can ensure people have more choice. But in the end it’s not a big problem in the grand scheme either. Thanks again
Thank you for watching and for taking the time to make some comments. Much appreciated. It’s a special place and the bucket list gets bigger doesn’t it. Mad. for those of us who live in the southern hemisphere, even getting there is an investment. In a couple of episodes we will pause and try to evaluate it because it is hard to get to and expensive and we all have too many choices don’t we. We’ve had several question about he trip and options and planning so if it’s it be bucket list now but before you have to act on keep an eye out. And in the meantime enjoy it on your device. Thanks again, the feedback is terrific. cheers
Our pleasure! We love sharing and thanks for watching. It really is a special place and even for those who have no particular desire to do this sort of thing, thought it might be interesting. Thank you for the feedback, we appreciate it greatly, glad you enjoyed it and don’t miss the episode over because in our view the scenery is amazing. And more bears. cheers David and Paula
Well that is spectacular. Not sure I would be jumping so enthusiastically into freezing water, I would be with Paula I think. A once in a lifetime experience anyway. The next episode looks even better! Thanks for the video. This one came up on my home screen BTW.
As always, we really appreciate that you took the time and watched and enjoyed it. Thank you. It is absolutely spectacular. And yes, the dive in probably means I’m not the smart one. It’s actually the biggest shock to the system medically as well. But our ECGs looked good, so in for a penny in for a pound. It does take your breath away and I reckon what Paula did was much harder, because you have to keep willing yourself in. The polar stuff is stunning and of course the bears are the key attraction as well as ticking the box on North Pole. But the scenery to come is insane and we like getting off the ship into zodiacs and things. Stay tuned. Great it came up on the Home Screen also. Does that mean you have subscribed AND notifications? Only interested as we work out how best to deal with how TH-cam works. We at least want people to have the choice. All the best and thanks again.
@@nextleveloz I am subscribed of course and I also hit the notifications button but I don't think I got any special notification. Not sure because I have never used notifications before.
@@paulwilliams6424 Thanks for watching and such great feedback. It’s an amazing place and the scenery and polar bears make it a bit easier to present. Stay tuned. cheers
@@discoveringwa2204 Thrilled to bits. When they first announced that they had seen them in the distance I raced out and didn’t even have all my outer gear on. Froze the proverbials and didn’t care. Captivating, mesmerising. Told our girls it felt like we were actually in a David Attenborough scene (and we had wildlife photographer Sue Flood next to us and she had been part of the BBC Earth team and worked with Attenborough and she was still excited and she has been photographing the polar regions and more for decades). And when a 30 year expert in Polar environments and Polar Bears said seeing a nursing mother and cubs was extremely rare - on our very first sighting. Yep. Privileged. Thanks for watching and the comment. It’s far from our usual video content, and probably doesn’t help the channel TBH, but that’s us, its part of our interest and how we swing and really glad some people are getting to see it and enjoy it. Cheers❤️👍🙏
I honestly loved every second of this video, totally captivating. What an unbelievable experience. Loved watching the ship move through the ice, and oh my goodness seeing the polar bears is one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen, can’t even begin to imagine what it was like in real life. Literally can not wait for the next ep. Thanks 😊😊😊
Thank you so much for such lovely feedback. We try so hard and just have to admit the activity, scenery and wildlife do the heavy lifting and fortunately we could capture some of it. And it’s mesmerising in real life. If I could have i’d have spent even more We have more footage of the polar bears and more to come and it’s hard to explain but while we stood and watched and photographed and put the camera. down and watched then for literally hours and hours in total, I don’t think people would watch video for that long so hopefully it’s enough to show and tell the story. And of course we want to get the full experience done in a designer number of videos in a short series. The terrain changes next, we actually get out in zodiacs and kayaks and in land as well. Thanks again, I’ve been a bit disappointed with the fact the videos aren’t performing well on youtube for several reasons - but that’s life. But the terrific feedback from those who are getting to look is very encouraging, Thank you.
Thanks so much and appreciate you watching and the comment and feedback. The polar bears were special and some more next episode as well. We love sharing and hopefully we can ensure more people who might want to see it can at least have a choice. Like all things we try to do it best a couple of amateur travellers and Vloggers can and TBH only so much can we can do. As with all things we do, we will be earnest and indeed learn and adapt where appropriate, but we have to be true to ourselves as well. This is a hobby and we love sharing, it’s not a job. That’s why we won’t do click bait “ oh no we got bogged again” “ the polar bear was so close it nearly ate me” nonsense or stay within a life lane to suit social media . Thankfully those who are getting to see it and clicking appear to enjoy it, and if somebody at least gets, even if they aren’t interested - I’m fine with that. All the best and thanks again.
all good thank you. When you open your youtube app or youtube the little red notification button should be highlighted. But hopefully as you watch this it comes back into the feed as well. It’s a problem and fortunately for us it’s not a living. I just hate it that people want the choice and don’t get the option. That’s life. Glad you’re getting it and always enjoy your comments and interaction thanks.
Interesting. The boil off Methane from the LNG is used to used in a turbine to generate electricity / steam to run the ship and heat the seats! I knew LNG transport ships used boil off gas but its interesting its now used in passenger vessels.
Thanks for watching. It is an amazing vessel. At class 2 and being gas turbine - battery it can never be as powerful as the Russian nuclear icebreakers. but it’s still highly capable and the only passenger cruise ship that can do this. It can also get deeper into the Ross and Weddell seas. And it has a very low footprint on the marine environment as well - I expect you’d know this already given your comment but LNG is much safer for marine environments than diesel or bunker oil. In the unlikely event there is a leak it will boil off and not sediment and of course the hybrid runs much more quietly than conventional power trains. We won’t spend much time taking about the “tech specs” but it’s amazing ship, very luxe - probably much more than we need, and while it’s a small cruise ship even it’s a bit bigger than we prefer for this sort of expedition cruising. But it’s an icebreaker! All the best and thanks again.
Such an amazing adventure for you two, had a great giggle. Good on you Paula for going in. I thought the water at Karijini was cold enough. Can you clear up a debate for me and my hubby. Was it the North Pole 'circle' or the exact North Pole? Looking forward to your next adventure.
Hi, thanks for watching. It is an astonishing and very different adventure for sure. Paula was very brave. She hates cold water and this was -1. The only thing stopping it from freezing at that temperature is its salinity. We went to the Geographic North Pole 90 deg North latitude. Which as you saw has no land, just polar ice and the ocean is 4000m deep there below the ice. Because the ice there wasn’t thick and stable enough we didn’t get off the ship but that’s where you saw the celebration in the vid. They identified a nice big solid ice flow a short distance away which is where we were able to get off and check it out and do the Polar plunge. We’ve been in the polar circle for several days and will make our way back toward the edge of the polar circle as we head toward Spitsbergen and Greenland. Stay tuned because as you saw in the preview at the end. That’s stunning. All the best.
What was the GPS reading at the North Pole? They do the plunge with the Antarctic trips too, with obviously similar reactions. Great memories for you. 👍🏻🙏🦘
We got 90 degrees N which is spot on, but it was very brief - so I didn’t get it on vid. You’d have seen us a few seconds off. The ice and sea move anyway and of course the ship itself sits well over it if the conditions allow , but to get it exact they have to get their Navigation antenna over a 40cm square spot, so they inched directly through it. When they sounded the horn etc, we’d already passed through on the front help deck. I was wondering how accurate the Garmin would be, because satellites have less coverage at the Poles. Funny, but I must have the settings or set up wrong, because a viewer pointed out the date on mine was July 2022. Crazy. I’ve never noticed because date was never important, the location of course always is and we’ve been happily seniding message updates to family and nobody has ever said the date was wrong. Yes, plunges in Antarctica - and there they have to check for Leopard seals and killer whales as well! Can’t swim at the South Pole of course! But cold either way. But magic moments. Thank you.
@@peterbullen3347 🤣🤣Thanks as always. And yes the Bundy bear got a thought or two. They don’t serve it on the ship - preferring other rums which isn’t surprising given it’s a French ship and diverse passenger backgrounds. But we have plenty in the drinks cabinet. All the best.
@@TheRaddas Thanks for watching ❤️❤️❤️👍👍and the lovely feedback which is encouraging. Those Polar Bears are special. So thrilling to see that in the wild. It’s a bit hard to put in to do the editing and share when you know it simply might not get the TH-cam recommendations because it’s a bit different to what we normally do. We also know that a lot of subscribers like the Oz stuff and that’s great and we will get back to it. And of course if we were professional influencers we’d chase the algorithm. But this is us. We love the Oz stuff heaps and will always do more of that - but these bucket list things are special. So it is terrific to get the feedback we are getting from many who do see it and like a bit of difference as well. Thank you 🙏🙏❤️ And it’s going to get at least as good if not better! Thanks again and stay tuned. You’ve really helped with a lovely comment. And maybe if you know any body else who might like a bit of a change or need cooling down of they are traveling in the Top End (of Oz that is) feel free to share the link. All the best.
@@nextleveloz 😊 We’ve already shared your link with my sister who has been to Antartica a few times, but not the North Pole! We’ve always enjoyed your OZ content, but this is equally very enjoyable ❤️
@@TheRaddas You are wonderful. We very much appreciate it. And yes we will do a bit on the difference between the two destinations and of course the home stuff as well. We made some American friends on this trip who had heard of the Gibb River Rd and they’ve now binged our channel. So it shows that you can have different interests from time to time. Thank you. ❤️🙏
Thanks a million for sharing your magical adventure with us. Wow, just amazing! Did you organise this trip through a holiday company or independently? Where did you start finding this holiday when there's 100's of North Pole trips out there. ❤
Hi. No worries, we love sharing and really appreciate you taking the time to comment. ❤️. It is a magical adventure and those polar bear cubs!! ❤️❤️ Amazing. We organized it independently. There are a couple of companies that package but if it involves a ship they have to book space on one of two ships - this one or the Russian nuclear icebreakers. There are very few ways to get to the Geographic North Pole. Ship can get right to the Pole regardless of whether the ice is thinning out. I’ve seen several that talk about helicopters or planes but for a help it’s a long way, so they still need to go part of the way on a ship with a platform. Planes need ice that’s thick or stable enough for them to grade out a runway. And even if you get to the pole and the ice is thick enough, as soon as you’ve pegged out a flag, you will move off the a actual Pole because the ice is in constant flux and movement and breaking up and forming. There are lots more Arctic, Arctic Circle offerings and TBH if you want to go to the Polar Bear belt or locations, you don’t need to go to the Pole itself. We will weigh up how much we can cover on this so people have options. We chose Ponant for a few reasons. We went to the Antarctic with them and had a magical experience. Indeed, probably better and on a smaller ship, with fewer people and pretty swish but not as luxe as the Charcot (which is a brilliant ship). The Russian Icebreaker is less comfortable, you stay in officers working accommodation (they reduce crew and officers move to crew quarters), it is a shorter trip and tends to go direct to and from Murmansk (you fly yourself to Helsinki and them join a charter to Murmansk in the options we saw) and not via other destinations and while every cent it’s important to most of us. It was not proportionally much cheaper. Right now with the Ukraine war, it’s harder for westerners to get on it. So it was much easier for us to get too and from Paris to join the Ponant option. We’ve used travel companies in the past - for example our first Kimberley trip was a coastal expedition cruise on Caledonian Sky through APT and several actually use Ponant now, including APT (or they did). But we knew about Charcot because it was being built when we went to Antarctica. Lots more we could cover - but the big downside of these sorts of trips are they are really, really, really expensive for most of us. We are mindful of that and it was not an easy decision for us. We will cover some of this when we review but from Australia to the start location is a big exercise and investment in itself. We aren’t ambassadors and have no affiliation, but with two expedition cruises under our belts we do have a referral benefit so if any subscribers want to contemplate this we can share that which will get a modest (in the scheme) $500 discount. But as we aren’t promoting it we will do that one on one by DM if or when subscribers might want it. TH-cam doesn’t have DM, so best to contact us via our Facebook page Facebook.com/@nextleveloz. But more than happy to share or swap info and thoughts on this forum. Bottom line for us is the Pole had a particular bucket list attraction but it was less about one point on the earths surface for us and more the region, the wildlife and Scoresby Sound in Greenland. We very nearly went Northwest passage instead but …North Pole! C’mon! 😂. Sorry, long answer. But always happy to try to give our thoughts and let people decide what’s best for them. Thanks again.
Hi, Peter. Yes, looks very much like that. The ice isn’t flat, it has pronounced ridges where the flows smash up against each other and then bind as ice forms. So it looks flat but undulates and has holes. The documentary and adventure from Emmanuelle that we got exposed to on the ship was just amazing once you realize how hard it is and how much it breaks up. I honestly thought it formed into a big continuous ice cap and it doesn’t. (And is getting more broken up). Fascinating. But of you think that’s stunning, Magdalena Fjord on Spitsbergen then Scoresby Sound in Greenland is gob smacking. Thanks as always. Cheers
That would have been a magical experience, very definitely not something I any ambitious to do. Being a keen photographer, I’m interested in the camera and lenses you used for the still photos which were excellent
Thanks so much for watching. It is a magical experience and we agree, it’s not on everybody’s bucket list. So we are happy to share and if our subscribers and other viewers want something a bit different when they have some down time in their vans around Oz, maybe thats their best way to see what its like. I’m still a developing photographer and we really have to rationalise the gear because it can be such a vortex. So, set the GoPro and iPhones aside - they are workhorses for us and TBH for many people the iPhone can take terrific photos. I have a Canon EOS R7, and barely touch the slides of what it’s capable of. We don’t use a gimbal, but its video capability with the right lens is also quite impressive. Some of the polar bear footage and the shot of the avalanche / waterfall from the mountain in Greenland (in the previews for the next episode) were with the canon. But I have to stabilise in post production. The still, it can do a very good job on auto and some of the pre programmed scenery settings. Indeed, if I’m on the run and see something like a whale or relatively fleeting opportunity - I will just use multi frame bursts on sports setting and lighten it up and fix the colour in Lightroom (not always great but better to have the imperfect shot than the perfect settings and miss the shot). I will cover it but renowned photographer Sue Flood (BBC Earth team and much more) was on the ship and she did a number of tutorial and lecture sessions for basic photography. So I am trying to get more out of manual settings. Doesn’t always work and I happily told her I was there for my humility training!! 🙄😂. But she was great and covered from the basics and even for iPhone users. So some photos this trip show that. It’s not a wildlife shot but I particularly like the marathon runners because it was tough light, movement and I got the slush and water splashing up. Composition wasn’t brilliant, but still. I used my Sigma 18-35 ART lens for that shot and some other ice flow shots. Similarly David doing the water colour painting - the landscape artist in the landscape. (He and his partner are both also expert and known nature photographers). My go to lense is a Canon 24-240, which is a massive range. That brings some downsides of course as it’s a jack of all trades. So can get a bit soft at the edges at some focal lengths. But it’s just wide enough to do a good job with many landscapes and enough zoom for the on the run stuff we normally do. And I don’t have to change lens in dusty Australia off grid, or on a zodiac in the moisture and cold. It was my one lens on our Big Lap. I like it, even though it has limitations. It could even do a not shabby night sky shot, but with an F4 maximum it’s only just doing it. So that is mainly why I got the Sigma 18-35 F1.8. It’s an older lens and I need an EF-RF converter. And it’s heavy, but it’s got great glass, does a terrific job as a vid lens as well. This trip I also took a Canon RF 100-400 for some of the wildlife stuff. It was great and helped heaps, but isn’t very weatherproof so I have to take special care in the ice and rain and of course with big variations of freezing to heated cabins there’s a big risk of condensation. So I wrapped inside two waterproof bags (a light shell and inside my PVC waterproof backpack) and left it inside the bags when I went back on ship and let it adjust to the temp slowly (like a couple of hours). It was a good lens and helped me get more of the shots this trip. For me, those three will be it any time soon. All compromises of some sort but cover a good range. But if you are into birding, or want to really capture wildlife like these bears and similar which will always be a bit of distance then even the 400 is a stretch and requires cropping which isn’t ideal. In those cases I’d suggest people who want to get into it to see if they can stretch to something massive and weatherproof. That’s all too rich for my meager skills ATM. Hope that helps/ Great question and sorry for the long answer.
Wow, how incredible to see a polar bear, let alone mum and cubs! Looks like an amazing trip. Did you book this as a package tour or book it all yourself? Would be interested to know the tour if possible.
I know right? That was brilliant. The polar bear experts in the Expedition Team said it is extremely rare to see nursing in the wild. One who has 30 years experience in arctic / polar bear study said this was only the fourth time in 30 years he’d seen it. They were all thrilled as much as we were, and they think in part that because even a smallish cruise ship like this is big in their terms, the fact we could go silent and stop and everybody was so silent and whispering, the mum was obviously comftable and not frightened. We booked direct with Ponant. This is our second trip with them (Antarctica for Christmas and New Year in 2019, just before Covid hit). I will provide some information when we do a review / overview of sorts. They are expensive. This one was eye watering for us, but we just closed our eyes, gulped and did it). My advice is book well out - because Ponant offer early booking discounts and don’t do fire sale cheaper bookings of the final cabins. There are reasons why they are so expensive - some justified and perhaps some because they can! But if you’re interested, while we don’t sell for anybody, no sponsorships etc, we do have a loyalty level that gives you a discount for referral. You’d get another $500 off in addition to any early bird discount. All we get is a credit of $500 for the referral. We don’t know if we would or wouldn’t ever do another one but happy to do that for our subscribers even if we don’t get to use it. We will only do that by DM rather than share our personal id publicly. So let me know if there is interest and maybe we can continue the discussion offline. (And don’t worry for other who might see the comment, we would happily do the same for any other subscribers- it’s just that we aren’t influencers or ambassadors so we don’t want to be doing promotion other than the incidental ability to get a small amount extra off). But more generally, in a couple of episodes when the full sense of this trip is shared, we will cover stuff like that, our feelings on the value compared to other options or the Antarctica trip or even our much loved Oz van travel. All the best and let us know. Cheers
@@nextlevelozthank you, we aren’t in a position to do this type of trip yet! I did a bit of googling and saw the prices which is why I asked was it all part of a package or something. They are eye watering but hey - if you can do it I definitely would! Absolutely incredible. We are only 2-3 years away from retiring but my 6mo LSL is taunting me and I’d love to take it before retiring. But I don’t think I’d go back 😜 great videos so keep them up.
@@kerryferrari226 Understandable. Goodness knows for us, we’re comfortable but not wealthy. So yep. It’s a big decision with plenty of good things you can do with that hard earned - and we will touch on that. Cheers
Amazing and what a wonderful trip.
Was the date on your gps correct as it showed July 2022?
And there was no problem showing up on our feed.
Looking forward to the rest of the videos of this trip.
Those polar bears were amazing
Hi thanks for watching. That’s interesting - no it was definitely 2024. Maybe my settings (I honestly thought it updated by the satellite time!). I was trying to see how accurate the little handheld is. Because of sat coverage etc at the poles we are told to expect some errors and there will always be 10-100m different to the ship depending on where I was compared to the ship antenna, but it was spot on. Or at least we were in sync! It is an absolutely amazing trip. Those bears and the little fella / girl with the sore leg and mum feeding the cubs. Priceless. There is more to come. The arctic terrain changes but the new locations keep gob smacking us. Really glad it came up on your feed. We hope people do enjoy this even though its different, but it’s one thing if people juts like our other stuff better - that’s fine, but it’s frustrating if they don’t even get to see it. Thanks - you’ve obviously liked and subscribed and hopefully notifications!! 🔔😂👍. And if you think it’s really good - maybe consider sharing with friends and family? 🙏😉. All the best, we love the interaction and comments.
Unbelievable and breathtaking. The great thing about your channel is that you show more and explain more of what goes on these cruises. The holiday shows are short clips and about promoting the company they are travelling with. You guys spend the time to tell as a paying customer, and we get a better picture of the adventure. Keep them coming 😊
Thanks Mike. It is stunning, breathtaking and more. And it gets better IMHO. And you’re right, we aren’t sales people or promo people or sponsored holifay shows or influencers. You won’t see us reviewing the food and wine (it was all great but that wasn’t the reason we were on the ship). Thanks for the terrific comment. Much appreciated and thanks for watching. Glad people are getting some enjoyment from it. All the best.
What a fantastic experience viewing the bears. Not a worry with your utube appearing at the top of my feed today.
Well that’s good news and yes this has been a terrific leg. Stark scenery and of course the polar bears were magnificent. We hope others enjoy it also and get the notifications and feed as you have. Thanks for your help and for the feedback. All the best.
Thank you for sharing your North Pole experience with us. The sighting of the Polar bear with her cubs was awesome & magical, how lucky for you to experience it.👏👏👏
@@jenniferthompson4336 Thank you and it’s lovely to share it. It’s such a rare thing and you would almost think they are soft and cuddly when you saw that mintier looking after the cubs as she did. We see a different side to Polar bears in a future episode. We are lucky (mind you like most people we worked and saved and this was a major investment - more on that when we review and compare. But for right now - it’s just a magical region. Thanks again. We appreciate the kind comment and safe travels to you. 🙏🙏🙏❤️❤️❤️👍👍👍
How cute were those polar bears😊.
Thanks for your efforts❤
Amazing. It’s hard to remember that we need guns posted all around us to protect us from them when we’re on and around the ice! But quite mesmerising to watch. Thanks for watching. The next episode is different again but still some more bears to come. cheers
Another great video. So interesting to see the ice breaker and the bears. Looks like some good activities are available
Thank you and glad you enjoyed it. The ship really is quite extraordinary. The polar bears are magical. Watched them for hours and it was a real “pinch me” moment. We felt like we were in a David Attenborough documentary. There are some good activities and we felt quite busy and active most of your time. Thanks again and stay tuned because we get more active and if course more bears … cheers
Wow what a fantastic video thanks david and to see the bears were breathtaking lucky you and paula❤
Thank you again for your ongoing views and comments. So appreciated to know people are getting to watch and then to get lovely feedback is encouraging .It really is a breathtaking vista and the Polar Bears are amazing. We are fortunate. Thanks again and stay tuned for more. ❤️🙏
Simply incredible!
It’s brilliant. Thanks for watching and the terrific feedback. cheers
Hi again David, Hope I didn't mislead you with my previous post. When I checked all 3 recent videos played perfectly on my other TV and my laptop( guess my main TV is playing up as I have trouble with other videos) Magnificent 2 videos on your trip to the North Poll. What a wonderful experience. Thank you again for sharing the trip and I look forward to watching many more.
No problems. Not misleading. It’s all useful to sift out where there are some systemic things v something I’ve done v people choosing.
It’s clear the way TH-cam works is that they only recommend based on what people usually watch and they only pump it back and therefore people keep watching. As a percentage for generating ad revenue it makes sense and no use tilting at windmills. But for us, even if somebody likes our style and doesn’t mind the occasional diversion, especially if they don’t have notifications, they don’t get to see it and of course the vids then perform badly and they then degrade what they push. The important thing is you are getting them, and at least then your get to choose. We love the sharing and while we didn’t do the trip for TH-cam reasons, it’s nice to know some people would like to see it, if they can. And for me if it’s something I’ve done wrong, I can try to learn and rectify. If it’s something I want to do and people just don’t want top watch it, that’s fine too. Thanks for the feedback and it is interesting that while it wont be universal a lot of people who have watched have given really good feedback. While I don’t want to be managing multiple platforms, we are suggesting people follow our facebook page as well where we post our content/ links and try not to spam lots of other stuff. At least then I can ensure people have more choice. But in the end it’s not a big problem in the grand scheme either. Thanks again
Inspirational episode. I’ve now put something else on my bucket list that I didn’t know I needed to do 😉
Thank you for watching and for taking the time to make some comments. Much appreciated.
It’s a special place and the bucket list gets bigger doesn’t it. Mad. for those of us who live in the southern hemisphere, even getting there is an investment. In a couple of episodes we will pause and try to evaluate it because it is hard to get to and expensive and we all have too many choices don’t we.
We’ve had several question about he trip and options and planning so if it’s it be bucket list now but before you have to act on keep an eye out.
And in the meantime enjoy it on your device.
Thanks again, the feedback is terrific. cheers
Literally bought tears to my eyes as you hit the North Pole. Another fantastic video. Thanks you both so much
Our pleasure! We love sharing and thanks for watching. It really is a special place and even for those who have no particular desire to do this sort of thing, thought it might be interesting. Thank you for the feedback, we appreciate it greatly, glad you enjoyed it and don’t miss the episode over because in our view the scenery is amazing. And more bears. cheers David and Paula
What an unbelievable experience
It has been amazing. The backdrop, the ice, the experience and of course the Polar Bears are mesmerising. Glad you enjoyed it and thanks for watching.
Well that is spectacular. Not sure I would be jumping so enthusiastically into freezing water, I would be with Paula I think. A once in a lifetime experience anyway. The next episode looks even better! Thanks for the video. This one came up on my home screen BTW.
As always, we really appreciate that you took the time and watched and enjoyed it. Thank you. It is absolutely spectacular. And yes, the dive in probably means I’m not the smart one. It’s actually the biggest shock to the system medically as well. But our ECGs looked good, so in for a penny in for a pound. It does take your breath away and I reckon what Paula did was much harder, because you have to keep willing yourself in. The polar stuff is stunning and of course the bears are the key attraction as well as ticking the box on North Pole. But the scenery to come is insane and we like getting off the ship into zodiacs and things. Stay tuned. Great it came up on the Home Screen also. Does that mean you have subscribed AND notifications? Only interested as we work out how best to deal with how TH-cam works. We at least want people to have the choice. All the best and thanks again.
@@nextleveloz I am subscribed of course and I also hit the notifications button but I don't think I got any special notification. Not sure because I have never used notifications before.
Amazing, your TH-cam just get better and better. Can't wait for the next episode. Maybe a bit unsure about the Arctic dig.
@@paulwilliams6424 Thanks for watching and such great feedback. It’s an amazing place and the scenery and polar bears make it a bit easier to present. Stay tuned.
cheers
How amazed were you guys to see such majestic beasts as those Polar bears. Fantastic to see.
@@discoveringwa2204 Thrilled to bits. When they first announced that they had seen them in the distance I raced out and didn’t even have all my outer gear on. Froze the proverbials and didn’t care. Captivating, mesmerising. Told our girls it felt like we were actually in a David Attenborough scene (and we had wildlife photographer Sue Flood next to us and she had been part of the BBC Earth team and worked with Attenborough and she was still excited and she has been photographing the polar regions and more for decades). And when a 30 year expert in Polar environments and Polar Bears said seeing a nursing mother and cubs was extremely rare - on our very first sighting. Yep. Privileged. Thanks for watching and the comment. It’s far from our usual video content, and probably doesn’t help the channel TBH, but that’s us, its part of our interest and how we swing and really glad some people are getting to see it and enjoy it. Cheers❤️👍🙏
I honestly loved every second of this video, totally captivating. What an unbelievable experience. Loved watching the ship move through the ice, and oh my goodness seeing the polar bears is one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen, can’t even begin to imagine what it was like in real life. Literally can not wait for the next ep. Thanks 😊😊😊
Thank you so much for such lovely feedback. We try so hard and just have to admit the activity, scenery and wildlife do the heavy lifting and fortunately we could capture some of it. And it’s mesmerising in real life. If I could have i’d have spent even more
We have more footage of the polar bears and more to come and it’s hard to explain but while we stood and watched and photographed and put the camera. down and watched then for literally hours and hours in total, I don’t think people would watch video for that long so hopefully it’s enough to show and tell the story. And of course we want to get the full experience done in a designer number of videos in a short series.
The terrain changes next, we actually get out in zodiacs and kayaks and in land as well. Thanks again, I’ve been a bit disappointed with the fact the videos aren’t performing well on youtube for several reasons - but that’s life. But the terrific feedback from those who are getting to look is very encouraging, Thank you.
Well done, excellent update. Hope your views issue sorts itself out. Polar bears were great to see. Thanks for sharing your trip.
Thanks so much and appreciate you watching and the comment and feedback. The polar bears were special and some more next episode as well.
We love sharing and hopefully we can ensure more people who might want to see it can at least have a choice. Like all things we try to do it best a couple of amateur travellers and Vloggers can and TBH only so much can we can do.
As with all things we do, we will be earnest and indeed learn and adapt where appropriate, but we have to be true to ourselves as well. This is a hobby and we love sharing, it’s not a job. That’s why we won’t do click bait “ oh no we got bogged again” “ the polar bear was so close it nearly ate me” nonsense or stay within a life lane to suit social media .
Thankfully those who are getting to see it and clicking appear to enjoy it, and if somebody at least gets, even if they aren’t interested - I’m fine with that.
All the best and thanks again.
@@nextleveloz your doing a fantastic job of it. Your commentary is also very interesting. That Russian sub would have been a bit of a surprise.
all good thank you. When you open your youtube app or youtube the little red notification button should be highlighted. But hopefully as you watch this it comes back into the feed as well. It’s a problem and fortunately for us it’s not a living. I just hate it that people want the choice and don’t get the option. That’s life. Glad you’re getting it and always enjoy your comments and interaction thanks.
Interesting. The boil off Methane from the LNG is used to used in a turbine to generate electricity / steam to run the ship and heat the seats! I knew LNG transport ships used boil off gas but its interesting its now used in passenger vessels.
Thanks for watching. It is an amazing vessel. At class 2 and being gas turbine - battery it can never be as powerful as the Russian nuclear icebreakers. but it’s still highly capable and the only passenger cruise ship that can do this. It can also get deeper into the Ross and Weddell seas. And it has a very low footprint on the marine environment as well - I expect you’d know this already given your comment but LNG is much safer for marine environments than diesel or bunker oil. In the unlikely event there is a leak it will boil off and not sediment and of course the hybrid runs much more quietly than conventional power trains. We won’t spend much time taking about the “tech specs” but it’s amazing ship, very luxe - probably much more than we need, and while it’s a small cruise ship even it’s a bit bigger than we prefer for this sort of expedition cruising. But it’s an icebreaker! All the best and thanks again.
Such an amazing adventure for you two, had a great giggle. Good on you Paula for going in. I thought the water at Karijini was cold enough. Can you clear up a debate for me and my hubby. Was it the North Pole 'circle' or the exact North Pole? Looking forward to your next adventure.
Hi, thanks for watching. It is an astonishing and very different adventure for sure. Paula was very brave. She hates cold water and this was -1. The only thing stopping it from freezing at that temperature is its salinity. We went to the Geographic North Pole 90 deg North latitude. Which as you saw has no land, just polar ice and the ocean is 4000m deep there below the ice. Because the ice there wasn’t thick and stable enough we didn’t get off the ship but that’s where you saw the celebration in the vid. They identified a nice big solid ice flow a short distance away which is where we were able to get off and check it out and do the Polar plunge. We’ve been in the polar circle for several days and will make our way back toward the edge of the polar circle as we head toward Spitsbergen and Greenland. Stay tuned because as you saw in the preview at the end. That’s stunning. All the best.
What was the GPS reading at the North Pole? They do the plunge with the Antarctic trips too, with obviously similar reactions. Great memories for you. 👍🏻🙏🦘
We got 90 degrees N which is spot on, but it was very brief - so I didn’t get it on vid. You’d have seen us a few seconds off. The ice and sea move anyway and of course the ship itself sits well over it if the conditions allow , but to get it exact they have to get their Navigation antenna over a 40cm square spot, so they inched directly through it. When they sounded the horn etc, we’d already passed through on the front help deck. I was wondering how accurate the Garmin would be, because satellites have less coverage at the Poles.
Funny, but I must have the settings or set up wrong, because a viewer pointed out the date on mine was July 2022. Crazy. I’ve never noticed because date was never important, the location of course always is and we’ve been happily seniding message updates to family and nobody has ever said the date was wrong.
Yes, plunges in Antarctica - and there they have to check for Leopard seals and killer whales as well! Can’t swim at the South Pole of course! But cold either way. But magic moments. Thank you.
I think you have saved me some money today, I dont feel the need to put the AC on here watching this,
❄️🥶😂!
Amazing views team, those polar bears are great, get the Bundy out?
@@peterbullen3347 🤣🤣Thanks as always. And yes the Bundy bear got a thought or two. They don’t serve it on the ship - preferring other rums which isn’t surprising given it’s a French ship and diverse passenger backgrounds. But we have plenty in the drinks cabinet. All the best.
We loved this episode! Filming, content, commentary and photos are spectacular! We can’t wait to see your next episode 😊❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
@@TheRaddas Thanks for watching ❤️❤️❤️👍👍and the lovely feedback which is encouraging. Those Polar Bears are special. So thrilling to see that in the wild.
It’s a bit hard to put in to do the editing and share when you know it simply might not get the TH-cam recommendations because it’s a bit different to what we normally do. We also know that a lot of subscribers like the Oz stuff and that’s great and we will get back to it. And of course if we were professional influencers we’d chase the algorithm. But this is us. We love the Oz stuff heaps and will always do more of that - but these bucket list things are special.
So it is terrific to get the feedback we are getting from many who do see it and like a bit of difference as well. Thank you 🙏🙏❤️
And it’s going to get at least as good if not better!
Thanks again and stay tuned. You’ve really helped with a lovely comment.
And maybe if you know any body else who might like a bit of a change or need cooling down of they are traveling in the Top End (of Oz that is) feel free to share the link. All the best.
@@nextleveloz 😊 We’ve already shared your link with my sister who has been to Antartica a few times, but not the North Pole! We’ve always enjoyed your OZ content, but this is equally very enjoyable ❤️
@@TheRaddas You are wonderful. We very much appreciate it. And yes we will do a bit on the difference between the two destinations and of course the home stuff as well. We made some American friends on this trip who had heard of the Gibb River Rd and they’ve now binged our channel. So it shows that you can have different interests from time to time. Thank you. ❤️🙏
Thanks a million for sharing your magical adventure with us. Wow, just amazing! Did you organise this trip through a holiday company or independently? Where did you start finding this holiday when there's 100's of North Pole trips out there. ❤
Hi. No worries, we love sharing and really appreciate you taking the time to comment. ❤️. It is a magical adventure and those polar bear cubs!! ❤️❤️ Amazing. We organized it independently. There are a couple of companies that package but if it involves a ship they have to book space on one of two ships - this one or the Russian nuclear icebreakers. There are very few ways to get to the Geographic North Pole. Ship can get right to the Pole regardless of whether the ice is thinning out. I’ve seen several that talk about helicopters or planes but for a help it’s a long way, so they still need to go part of the way on a ship with a platform. Planes need ice that’s thick or stable enough for them to grade out a runway. And even if you get to the pole and the ice is thick enough, as soon as you’ve pegged out a flag, you will move off the a actual Pole because the ice is in constant flux and movement and breaking up and forming. There are lots more Arctic, Arctic Circle offerings and TBH if you want to go to the Polar Bear belt or locations, you don’t need to go to the Pole itself. We will weigh up how much we can cover on this so people have options. We chose Ponant for a few reasons. We went to the Antarctic with them and had a magical experience. Indeed, probably better and on a smaller ship, with fewer people and pretty swish but not as luxe as the Charcot (which is a brilliant ship). The Russian Icebreaker is less comfortable, you stay in officers working accommodation (they reduce crew and officers move to crew quarters), it is a shorter trip and tends to go direct to and from Murmansk (you fly yourself to Helsinki and them join a charter to Murmansk in the options we saw) and not via other destinations and while every cent it’s important to most of us. It was not proportionally much cheaper. Right now with the Ukraine war, it’s harder for westerners to get on it. So it was much easier for us to get too and from Paris to join the Ponant option.
We’ve used travel companies in the past - for example our first Kimberley trip was a coastal expedition cruise on Caledonian Sky through APT and several actually use Ponant now, including APT (or they did).
But we knew about Charcot because it was being built when we went to Antarctica. Lots more we could cover - but the big downside of these sorts of trips are they are really, really, really expensive for most of us. We are mindful of that and it was not an easy decision for us. We will cover some of this when we review but from Australia to the start location is a big exercise and investment in itself. We aren’t ambassadors and have no affiliation, but with two expedition cruises under our belts we do have a referral benefit so if any subscribers want to contemplate this we can share that which will get a modest (in the scheme) $500 discount. But as we aren’t promoting it we will do that one on one by DM if or when subscribers might want it. TH-cam doesn’t have DM, so best to contact us via our Facebook page Facebook.com/@nextleveloz.
But more than happy to share or swap info and thoughts on this forum.
Bottom line for us is the Pole had a particular bucket list attraction but it was less about one point on the earths surface for us and more the region, the wildlife and Scoresby Sound in Greenland. We very nearly went Northwest passage instead but …North Pole! C’mon! 😂.
Sorry, long answer. But always happy to try to give our thoughts and let people decide what’s best for them. Thanks again.
@@nextlevelozgreat write up and info 👍
When you guys get off the ship on polar day, it reminds me of the Ice Station Zebra movie, am i showing my age again?
Hi, Peter. Yes, looks very much like that. The ice isn’t flat, it has pronounced ridges where the flows smash up against each other and then bind as ice forms. So it looks flat but undulates and has holes. The documentary and adventure from Emmanuelle that we got exposed to on the ship was just amazing once you realize how hard it is and how much it breaks up. I honestly thought it formed into a big continuous ice cap and it doesn’t. (And is getting more broken up). Fascinating. But of you think that’s stunning, Magdalena Fjord on Spitsbergen then Scoresby Sound in Greenland is gob smacking. Thanks as always. Cheers
That would have been a magical experience, very definitely not something I any ambitious to do.
Being a keen photographer, I’m interested in the camera and lenses you used for the still photos which were excellent
Thanks so much for watching. It is a magical experience and we agree, it’s not on everybody’s bucket list. So we are happy to share and if our subscribers and other viewers want something a bit different when they have some down time in their vans around Oz, maybe thats their best way to see what its like. I’m still a developing photographer and we really have to rationalise the gear because it can be such a vortex. So, set the GoPro and iPhones aside - they are workhorses for us and TBH for many people the iPhone can take terrific photos. I have a Canon EOS R7, and barely touch the slides of what it’s capable of. We don’t use a gimbal, but its video capability with the right lens is also quite impressive. Some of the polar bear footage and the shot of the avalanche / waterfall from the mountain in Greenland (in the previews for the next episode) were with the canon. But I have to stabilise in post production. The still, it can do a very good job on auto and some of the pre programmed scenery settings. Indeed, if I’m on the run and see something like a whale or relatively fleeting opportunity - I will just use multi frame bursts on sports setting and lighten it up and fix the colour in Lightroom (not always great but better to have the imperfect shot than the perfect settings and miss the shot). I will cover it but renowned photographer Sue Flood (BBC Earth team and much more) was on the ship and she did a number of tutorial and lecture sessions for basic photography. So I am trying to get more out of manual settings. Doesn’t always work and I happily told her I was there for my humility training!! 🙄😂. But she was great and covered from the basics and even for iPhone users. So some photos this trip show that. It’s not a wildlife shot but I particularly like the marathon runners because it was tough light, movement and I got the slush and water splashing up. Composition wasn’t brilliant, but still. I used my Sigma 18-35 ART lens for that shot and some other ice flow shots. Similarly David doing the water colour painting - the landscape artist in the landscape. (He and his partner are both also expert and known nature photographers). My go to lense is a Canon 24-240, which is a massive range. That brings some downsides of course as it’s a jack of all trades. So can get a bit soft at the edges at some focal lengths. But it’s just wide enough to do a good job with many landscapes and enough zoom for the on the run stuff we normally do. And I don’t have to change lens in dusty Australia off grid, or on a zodiac in the moisture and cold. It was my one lens on our Big Lap. I like it, even though it has limitations. It could even do a not shabby night sky shot, but with an F4 maximum it’s only just doing it. So that is mainly why I got the Sigma 18-35 F1.8. It’s an older lens and I need an EF-RF converter. And it’s heavy, but it’s got great glass, does a terrific job as a vid lens as well.
This trip I also took a Canon RF 100-400 for some of the wildlife stuff. It was great and helped heaps, but isn’t very weatherproof so I have to take special care in the ice and rain and of course with big variations of freezing to heated cabins there’s a big risk of condensation. So I wrapped inside two waterproof bags (a light shell and inside my PVC waterproof backpack) and left it inside the bags when I went back on ship and let it adjust to the temp slowly (like a couple of hours). It was a good lens and helped me get more of the shots this trip. For me, those three will be it any time soon. All compromises of some sort but cover a good range. But if you are into birding, or want to really capture wildlife like these bears and similar which will always be a bit of distance then even the 400 is a stretch and requires cropping which isn’t ideal. In those cases I’d suggest people who want to get into it to see if they can stretch to something massive and weatherproof. That’s all too rich for my meager skills ATM. Hope that helps/ Great question and sorry for the long answer.
@@nextlevelozthank you for putting that much detail in your answer, much appreciated
Wow, how incredible to see a polar bear, let alone mum and cubs! Looks like an amazing trip. Did you book this as a package tour or book it all yourself? Would be interested to know the tour if possible.
I know right? That was brilliant. The polar bear experts in the Expedition Team said it is extremely rare to see nursing in the wild. One who has 30 years experience in arctic / polar bear study said this was only the fourth time in 30 years he’d seen it. They were all thrilled as much as we were, and they think in part that because even a smallish cruise ship like this is big in their terms, the fact we could go silent and stop and everybody was so silent and whispering, the mum was obviously comftable and not frightened. We booked direct with Ponant. This is our second trip with them (Antarctica for Christmas and New Year in 2019, just before Covid hit). I will provide some information when we do a review / overview of sorts. They are expensive. This one was eye watering for us, but we just closed our eyes, gulped and did it). My advice is book well out - because Ponant offer early booking discounts and don’t do fire sale cheaper bookings of the final cabins. There are reasons why they are so expensive - some justified and perhaps some because they can! But if you’re interested, while we don’t sell for anybody, no sponsorships etc, we do have a loyalty level that gives you a discount for referral. You’d get another $500 off in addition to any early bird discount. All we get is a credit of $500 for the referral. We don’t know if we would or wouldn’t ever do another one but happy to do that for our subscribers even if we don’t get to use it.
We will only do that by DM rather than share our personal id publicly. So let me know if there is interest and maybe we can continue the discussion offline. (And don’t worry for other who might see the comment, we would happily do the same for any other subscribers- it’s just that we aren’t influencers or ambassadors so we don’t want to be doing promotion other than the incidental ability to get a small amount extra off).
But more generally, in a couple of episodes when the full sense of this trip is shared, we will cover stuff like that, our feelings on the value compared to other options or the Antarctica trip or even our much loved Oz van travel. All the best and let us know. Cheers
@@nextlevelozthank you, we aren’t in a position to do this type of trip yet! I did a bit of googling and saw the prices which is why I asked was it all part of a package or something. They are eye watering but hey - if you can do it I definitely would! Absolutely incredible. We are only 2-3 years away from retiring but my 6mo LSL is taunting me and I’d love to take it before retiring. But I don’t think I’d go back 😜 great videos so keep them up.
@@kerryferrari226 Understandable. Goodness knows for us, we’re comfortable but not wealthy. So yep. It’s a big decision with plenty of good things you can do with that hard earned - and we will touch on that. Cheers