Adventures above ground and under

Above:

My parents have been visiting - a very pleasant visit for us all, until the journey home... It started with delays in Longyearbyen, delays in Tromsø, and then chaos in Oslo, at Gardermoen Airport. Due to fog and ice, the whole airport was as good as closed all yesterday afternoon and evening - clogged with the home-for-christmas crowds.

And my parents in the middle. My mother on crutches.

My brother lives in Oslo, but he´s in South Africa at the moment. We managed to get hold of a neighbour who could let them into his flat - and after finding their luggage in the chaos, then getting onto the shuttle train to Oslo, my parents could go to sleep in his flat...

This morning they took the train to Bergen, and will arrive there in a couple of hours. The conditions at Gardermoen have improved slightly, but are still chaotic, apparently.

My parents, oblivious of the impending ordeal.




Under:

Last Tuesday, my father, Emma and I - and two friends, Heidi and Åse Kristine, visited Gruve 7, Coal Mine 7, that provides the coal for Longyearbyen. We were told, by our very enthusiastic guide Steve Torgersen, that Gruve 7 is the only functioning coal mine in the world that allows visitors. It´s a small operation, kept going because of Longyearbyen´s need for fuel.

We weren´t allowed to bring cameras (or any other electric device), because of the danger of igniting the coal dust - a tiny spark can ignite high density dust clouds. But I´ve nicked a couple of pictures from Svalbard Explorer.

This could have been us, in the Ohleman-vehicle, keeping our heads as low as possible under the low set "ceiling" (hengen).


Our guide, Steve. Imagine more darkness and dust, and this is how it was, more or less. I have a hint of claustrophobia, so personally I was happy to get out (but happy to have been, too!).


Earlier this year, they found 55 million years old tracks from a pantodont in the mine, the first proof of that kind of mammal in Europe, apparently. More about that here and here.

Åse Kristine has given a thorough description of our visit (in Norwegian) in her blog, so why not check that out?