Roads and stuff

Several people asked me, before I went to Longyearbyen, and when they heard that we´d bring our car - "but are there cars on Svalbard?"

Oh yes there are. Lots more than you´d think. I still think it´s kind of strange, as the distances within town are modest. To walk from the fjord and up to Nybyen for instance, takes around 25 minutes, or 10 minutes on a bike. And in winter, everybody uses snowscooters anyway. So why all the cars? I suppose it´s because of the cabins that people go to in the weekends, and because they´re just used to having cars. And I suppose that last reason is why we brought ours (and also, because it took us all the way up through Norway, and we packed all our stuff in it (...and now it sounds as if I´m making excuses. Oh never mind!))

Anyway, all in all there are 50 kilometers of road in and around Longyearbyen. Most of them are criss-crossing the town, while one stretch going north ends up in Bjørndalen. Southwards you drive through Adventdalen and end up near gruve 7.



We haven´t explored these two directions properly yet, but until then, I can show you a few photos from some short trips that we did earlier.

These are taken while it still was summer(ish), from a visit to Bjørndalen.


Reindeer, of a slightly more reserved kind than those in Longyearbyen.


Peter, always with his football at hand. In the background a view into Bjørndalen.


Curious polar fox.


And here are a few from Adventdalen, when the weather (and light) was quite different.



... and from the EISCAT-radars at the end of the road. These are a part of the Northern Lights Station in the Advent valley.




Spot the birdie.


Of course, if you have a boat you can get a lot further in summer. And when the snow comes, the scooter can take you almost anywhere on the island. So a lot of people have boats and scooters too, as well as cars. We´re planning to get a scooter eventually, but definitely not a boat. BUT this afternoon we´ll borrow one of UNIS´ boats and go on a trip to one of their cabins at Kapp Leila, where we´ll stay until Sunday. A real adventure for us!

Our concern now is whether the boat is completely safe (we´ve heard rumors it´s not), and whether we´ll get survival-suits small enough for the boys. I promise to tell, and show.