topofworld

And a little more more

2008-09-20T09:05:00.003+02:00

OK, as it seems that I can´t really stop blogging: here are some photo´s from our hike a couple of weeks back.

William and I brought a camera that failed us immediately, so these are taken by our hiking companions, Rico and Evelyn. Thank you to them!

Day 1

Going down the Caroline-valley...

and along the beach towards Deltaneset.

Where we stayed the night. In this cabin.

Day 2.

Looking for fossils.

There were heaps of lovely fossils in the hillside (Janusfjellet) right next to the cabin, and we had a great time searching for the nicest ones. We couldn´t carry much with us, but we took a few.

This is the area where they found the pliosaurus a few years back. However, as the area was huge and the fog was thick, we didn´t discover the exact spot where they found it.

Lunch-break and then onwards...

...to the next cabin at Diabas, only a couple of hours away.

Day 3

Heading back,

crossing some dramatic ravines made by the melting ice earlier in the summer.

Some of the numerous reindeers we saw along the way.

This reindeer-foal was very curious about us.

And finally, after six hours, we´re walking down the Louise-valley towards Adventfjorden. You can see the airport on the other side of the fjord. Nearly home!

A great trip although not so great weather. We´re already thinking about when to do it next:-)

And then a little more from the arctic

2008-09-20T07:20:00.001+02:00

It seems the polarbears love to cuddle too... At least the bears in Manitoba, Canada.

More from the wild and hostile north here.

Can´t help myself - got to write a little more

2008-09-04T15:33:00.003+02:00

I´m returning to Svalbard this weekend to do two things - go hiking and open a small exhibition in one of the local café´s (Fruene kaffe & vinbar). I´m exhibitng photos this time - you can see one of them underneath and more of them here.

And that´s all - I´m not starting blogging again, I´m not. Not now, anyway.

That´s it - we´re back

2008-07-13T12:18:00.005+02:00

This is my final blog entry, and it feels weird.

Coming home feels strangely strange – even though it´s so familiar. The fact that it gets dark at night is boringly ordinary - I miss the midnightsun. Also I miss many other things, but I won´t make a list (but the dry climate would have been on top of it if I´d made one – the weather´s been on and off with rain since we came – typical Bergen summer- and I know there´s gonna be plenty more rain in the months to come...).

Getting back to our house was nice. I´d forgotten how much I like it. Also I like the area that we live in.

Our house is in the red circle (I bet you´d figured out that already!).

Meeting my family was nice too, and the cat. Tobias the cat behaved as we´d hardly been away, isn´t that amazing? I thought cats had no memory to speak of, but it seems they do. He´s a very special cat who apparently has forgiven us for going away.

I should say something about the trip from Bodø to here. It was pleasantly uneventful – we did nothing but travel for two days. Norway´s a long country, and south of Trondheim there are lots of wonderful scenery too. So we enjoyed it, but relentlessly drove on. We arrived here two days ago, but have been busy with the unpacking and other stuff, so that´s why this blog entry is delayed.

Now there´s not much more to say. I´ll probably visit Svalbard again in the future, maybe even move back at some point too - but the blog ends here. As the headline says: one year in Longyearbyen.

And just as I suspected, it didn´t feel long at all.

Our ship has come in

2008-07-09T11:02:00.002+02:00

And hopefully we´ll be off within the hour.

Next stop somewhere in Nord-Trøndelag, we reckon.

From lovely Lofoten to idleness in Bodø

2008-07-08T10:45:00.002+02:00

We´ve arrived in Limbo , sorry, Bodø - waiting for the car, which is still in open sea. The shipping company has given us a vague promise that we´ll get it tomorrow - sometime not too long after lunch...

Luckily the weather is gorgeous, like it has been for the last five days (a little windy sometimes, but blue skies all through Lofoten).

OK, a quick report from our trip through Lofoten:

The Lofoten peninsula is a beautiful area - with ragged mountaintops and long, pristine beaches. Something else that I couldn´t stop looking at were the fields of wild flowers, but that might just be me, after a year of arctic tundra.

After Svolvær we headed straight for Hov on the Gimsøy island, where we stayed for two nights.

At Hov we met these two,

and their foul-smelling grandfather, Herkules (OK, only the kid´s, I suppose (no, not my kids)).

We hiked, barbecued, bathed and fished. A spectacular place, and lovely summerdays (we snicker a little when we see these areas being promoted as "arctic").

The sunny days continued in Nusfjord, where we went next and stayed on for another two nights.

Here´s the cabin (rorbu) we stayed in.

Rather primitive, but comfortable.

More hiking,

and fishing.

Very successful fishing, actually.

We reckoned the biggest coalfish (sei) to be around 6 kilos and the smaller 4. Both of them were handed over to the local restaurant, and they were very pleased.

Nusfjord is extremely beautiful, and we can definitely recommend it. The only drawback must be all the other tourists, but it´s kind of silly to complain about them, I suppose. That goes for all of Lofoten, it´s full of tourists - and surprisingly many young ones. We got the impression that Lofoten is the "cool" place to go. For Norwegians and foreigners alike.

Yesterday we spent on the ferry from Moskenes to here - and here we´ll be staying for another day, it seems. In limbo...

Tromsø - Svolvær

2008-07-02T20:15:00.004+02:00

First impression of Tromsø:

Other impressions from Tromsø:

Now, where did we see him before?

A very short stopover with friends in Harstad (no photos from there), and then we boarded the hurtigrute Kong Harald which took us to southward.

The ship is one of the rather ugly, bulky new ones, so I didn´t bother to take a photo of the whole vessel. But this is the tip of it.

But the coastline through Vesterålen to Lofoten is amazing. Here´s going into narrow Trollfjorden.

Thomas next to an old one.

I´m afraid we didn´t enjoy the trip very much, despite the landscape. It was full of loud, arrogant German pensioners...

So, we were happy to leave the ship here in Svolvær - a lovely, sunny place:)

And now we´ll spend some days exploring lovely Lofoten, hopefully in as beautiful weather as it is right now.

The Big Departure

2008-07-01T10:45:00.001+02:00

Car crammed with stuff, almost bursting, actually. Ready to be shipped to Bodø.

The kids at Longyearbyen airport.

It was strange and quite sad to take off - I certainly don´t feel done with Svalbard. We´d barely got used to being there, and already we´re leaving??

But Tromsø, where we´ve stayed the night, is nice too - and warm. And extremely green. We´ll be heading for Harstad next, and then onwards to Lofoten. See you later!

Some images of June

2008-06-28T15:15:00.000+02:00

Saxifraga oppositifolia (Rødsildre/Purple Saxifrage) -

Saxifraga cespitosa (Tuesildre/Tufted Saxifrage) -

Draba oxycarpa (Bleikrublom/Pale Withlowgrass) -

Papaver dahlianum (Svalbardvalmue/Svalbard Poppy), popping through the asphalt -

... and a molting Lagopus muta (Rype/Ptarmigan)

More flowers here.

Reminiscing and summarizing II

2008-06-27T17:30:00.001+02:00

A rough map of where I´ve been since I came last August (not counting the last cruise - and not necessarily where the rest of the family´s been - only I (and these are literally the only places I´ve been since last August - I haven´t been off this island since then, remember?)).

It´s not very impressive when you look at the bigger map - lots and lots and LOTS more places to see!

Nordstjernen: Møllerfjorden and Ny-Ålesund

2008-06-25T22:05:00.004+02:00

Evening, day three: We stopped in Møllerfjorden where Lloyds hotel can be seen on the beach.

This is a building (shack, actually) from as long back as before 1928, maybe even dating back to 1912-14. The peculiar name comes from the original owners of the area, the German shipping company Norddeutscher Lloyd, and it has been a popular goal for tourist ships for more than a century.

Five stars, no less.

A bit cramped, but cosy.

Beachlife, with clothes ...

And without.

Today was William´s turn to swim - plus quite a few of the other passengers. I didn´t go in this time - once was enough (for the record, it was 2C when I went in in Magdalenefjorden, 3C here. Hah).

More beachlife: a bar...

... sunbathing.

Amazing weather, amazing place!

On day four, the weather had changed completely. Here´s Nordstjernen in port in Ny Ålesund.

And here´s the world´s most northerly post office.

Ny Ålesund was founded as a coal mining community in 1916, and so much history has taken place here that I won´t go into all. The famous Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen spent a lot of time in the area, and there´s still a bust of him here.

This train was restored in the 1980´s, it´s a remnant from the mining days, and looks forlorn on these shores - particularly in such weather.

In 1962, after several tragic mining accidents, there was a heated political debate, and the Norwegian prime minister Gerhardsen had to step down. Since then there has been no coal mining in Ny Ålesund, but scientists from ten countries have settled here. During the summer there can be as many as 130-140 people here, while during the winter there are only 30-40.

China is one of the countries that do research here, and they have placed two stone lions (weighing 1,6 tons) in front of their entrance, to guard off evil spirits (or more likely polarbears).

The weather didn´t keep us long in Ny Ålesund - it was pretty disgusting, actually, and a great contrast to the weather a few hours earlier. After Ny Ålesund we saw the Krone-glacier and some other stuff, but I didn´t take pictures . After that the ship went straight to Longyearbyen.

Of course we saw a lot of stuff that I haven´t mentioned (thousands of birds, for instance), but I´ve only included tidbits and highlights here. The map underneath shows approximately our route along the coast.

And thus ended our Svalbard-cruise ... and in a few days our year in Svalbard. Hm.

Nordstjernen: Lilliehöök-glacier and a Golden anniversary

2008-06-24T22:45:00.000+02:00

... but first, some wildlife.

Day two, evening: Going out Magdalenefjorden we passed a lot of indolent walruses - what a lovely, lazy life!

The cruise-plan was to head up to Moffen at 80th latitude, but because of sea ice we didn´t get further than just north of Magdalenefjorden. The ship stopped by the iceridge, which looked like this:

The red circle points out this furry creature:

My first polarbear! It was eating a dead seal (I presume) while glancing our way, full of suspicion. We had quite a long look at it, to the enjoyment of all (maybe not the bear).

Further out on the ice we saw two other bears, but they were only visible through the binoculars, so therefore no pictures.

The skies cleared up soon after - here´s a photo of my brothers and my sister and Tor Ove on the deck, at 00.30 in the morning.

Day three: in the morning we approached the Lilliehöök-glacier in Krossfjorden in glorious sunlight and calm sea.

Tenderboats took us nearer the 8 km wide glacier-front.

Going in the smaller boats also brought us nearer all the beautiful, floating ice in the fjord.

And we passed another laidback walrus. Apparently oblivious of the rudely staring humans.

This beautiful day was also my parent´s 50th wedding anniversary - look at the cake the crew surprised us with!

It tasted great too:)

Before we left the Lilliehöök-glacier we managed to collect ourselves for a photo.

In the back, from left: Anders, William, Anne, Erik, Tor Ove, Birgit, Unni, Sidsel, Gunnar, Halvard, Martin, Emma, Peter and Thomas.

Loading all these photos take ages, so the rest will have to wait a little. But next time there´ll be a bar on the beach, and some nudity...

Nordstjernen: Barentsburg and Magdalenefjorden

2008-06-23T18:05:00.002+02:00

Day one: Sailing out Isfjorden, passing Grumant and Fuglefjella.

Nordstjernen moored in Barentsburg.

Ascending Barentsburg. 220 steps.

Entertainment by the locals.

Day two: in Magdalenefjorden, not particularly good weather, but spectacular anyway. Also lots of snow and ice.

Going to the shore in tenderboats.

And here we are, a huge crowd of tourists, mostly French, plus some Germans and Scandinavians.

On Gravneset in Magdalenafjorden, there are many remains from the 15th and 16th century, left by whalers of many nationalities. Around 1623 the British had a whaling station here called Trinity Harbour. This particular spot is the most visited on Svalbard, and there are strict regulations about where you can walk and so forth.

On our visit, the 130 graves and other remains were completely covered by snow, so there weren´t much to look at.

Except the bathers, of course. Who´s this then?

Oh yes. Me.
There were 4 from the crew that had decided to go for a swim, and I sort of jumped in too.

Quiet life onboard afterwards - we were 14 altogether, minus William, Birgit and I on this picture.

I´ll sort out more photos to show soon - and on them I promise there´ll be wildlife...

Family-life on the Pole

2008-06-17T10:10:00.002+02:00

A couple of months back a journalist and a photographer from the Swiss newspaper Tagesanzeiger came to interview us about life in Longyearbyen. I´d more or less forgotten about it, but yesterday the journalist sent me a PDF-file of the finished article. The web-version is here. I don´t read German very well, but if you do, I´m sure you can learn plenty about us.

Here´s a photo from the PDF-file (not on the net). Our comfortable, snug life in Longyearbyen!

Reminiscing and summarizing I

2008-06-15T15:45:00.001+02:00

As we´ll be heading home in a couple of weeks, I suppose I ought to do a couple of blog entries that reminisces and summarizes.

So, I´ll start by looking back at those lovely people who came to see us here on top of the world.

First, in October 2007, my sister Birgit and her boyfriend Tor Ove:

My parents came in December, here posing with new, warm hats.

My friend Hilde and her son Rasmus came in February, I´m afraid this is the best picture I´ve got. Hilde is on the back, ready to be chauffered by William up on the Longyear-glacier.

Peter, Hege and their kids Ask, Isak, Sunniva and Johannes came on a very memorable visit in March. Here´s most of us at Huset.

April was busy, Elisa and Magny came first. This photo was taken by Elisa on their trip to the cabin on Kapp Laila, where they stayed - alone, one night.

Then came Helge and Tonni. Here they are on a trip we made to Coles Bay.

Ida, Torstein, Mathea and Lina came next. Here´s from the trip to Barentsburg.

And here´s one thing Ida did while she was here. Not terribly cold, according to her...

In May, Hanne came first,

- then Frode, who celebrated 17th of May with us.

And then Linni. Linni on the left:)

Thank you to all, for spending time, money and effort on us!

And tomorrow, my sister returns, and then on Wednesday Tor Ove and my parents and my brothers and their families - to celebrate my parents´ 50th wedding-anniversary. We´re all going on a cruise onboard the ship Nordstjernen along the coast - but you´ll hear a lot more about that, promise!

The heart of Longyearbyen

2008-06-11T16:15:00.004+02:00

... is taubanesentralen. It is also one of the most photographed buildings in Longyearbyen, underneath you´ll find some of mine.

Yesterday, we had (together with a large group of other interested people) a chance to peek inside.

Taubanesentralen was the center of coal-transport for many years. The Central as it stands today was built in 1957 (and closed in 1987), but long time before that, the area where it´s situated (Skjæringa) was the heart of the coal-production in Longyearbyen.

As new mines were started in different directions, new lines into the central were opened up - here´s the line of kibbe-masts towards mine 3, with many of the "kibbe" still hanging.

Yesterday, strong wind and narrow, steep stairs made it perilous to leave the Central. Makes you wonder what it was like in the old days, in the dark season, during the winter gales!

It´s normally locked, and you enter at your own risk. Even though the building is preserved, along with most historical sites on Svalbard, it does seem to be crumbling apart. A pity, as it´s quite a magical place, with loads of history in it´s walls.

Shoes off, please

2008-06-07T15:45:00.002+02:00

I´m not sure if I´ve mentioned this, but here in Longyearbyen it´s customary to take your shoes off when entering most public buildings. So the entrances might look like this:

During the winter, when crisp, clean snow was everywhere, it seemed a bit pointless to always take your boots of, but nowadays - with puddles and mud all over the place, it´s a recommendable idea.

This is a tradition going back to the time when the mines were still close to the living accommodations. So boots were left outside to prevent coal dust on every floor.

Today, there´s not much coal dust left, but it´s still the polite thing to do. And it´s a wonderful social equalizer, when everyone from the janitor to the manager shuffles around in their socks, or some old slippers...

Dogs yet again

2008-06-05T14:00:00.001+02:00

About four months ago, in early February, Nuna in the dogyard down the road had 6 puppies, a mixture of Alaskan husky and Greenland dog (Grønskies).

Nearly new-born, kept indoors for the first weeks.

By the end of February, a little bigger - big enough to cuddle -

... while mummy Nuna anxiously watches.

In March, even bigger - but Thomas and cousin Sunniva can still lift them.

The other day, we went to see them again, and now they´re almost grown - but still playful and happy and good natured.

Some of us could still lift them.

Another 6 months or so, they´ll be strong enough to pull sleds - not a bad life for a dog:)

One morning in Longyearbyen ...

2008-06-04T17:13:00.004+02:00

as William was heading out for work ....

No, I´m kidding - not William, and not Longyearbyen, but Kaktovik, Alaska, and I´ve no idea who took these, but I hope s/he did more than just photographing!

The eiders next door

2008-06-01T17:53:00.001+02:00

Not only gulls and geese, but also lots of Ærfugl (or Common Eider) have returned to Svalbard lately, after having spent the winter on the mainland and Iceland. It´s reckoned that as many as 20000 birds return to Svalbard in April, and leave in October.

Now that there are large patches of land without snow, they´ve started breeding. These pictures are from our neighbourhood, where an eider-colony has settled close to a dogyard. On this patch, they know that they´re safe from foxes and bears, who are their greatest enemies. The foxes and bears keep their distance from the noisy (and smelly) dog enclosure.

A sign next to the colony defines the area.

Somehow the birds know that the dogs can only look wistfully from their cages. Of course, if a dog was turned loose, there would be a massacre.

The white ones are the drakes - a lot more visible than the brown females. How many birds on the the photo underneath?

William is 50 today! Wow! Gratulerer!

2008-05-30T12:00:00.001+02:00

But he doesn´t look it:)

More from the muddy island

2008-05-29T16:20:00.002+02:00

Mucked-up Thomas coming home from school.

Marvellous.

The snowmobile-season is definitely at an end

2008-05-26T10:50:00.002+02:00

From the kitchen window, we saw this guy trying to cross the pond of melted snow on his snowmobile. Yes, snowmobiles can cross water, if you go fast enough - but he didn´t, and it stopped. He stumbled off it and into the water, only his helmet sticking up. I know, we shouldn´t have laughed...

The poor guy literally ran off, soaking wet, and the snowmobile is still stuck in the pond.

Another sign of spring in Longyearbyen.

The geese are back!

2008-05-23T22:55:00.005+02:00

Hundreds of them, actually. It´s Hvitkinngås (Barnacle goose), and they seem to be all over the place. They´ve returned from Scotland, where they spent the winter.

Also, the snow is quickly thawing in the sun, so stuff (mostly dirt, rubbish and dog turds, actually) resurfaces. No photos of that, but here´s one of a proper creek. The first one I´ve seen since last summer, come to think about it.

I suppose this is spring on Svalbard - a bit muddy, but welcome indeed.

Website news

2008-05-19T11:44:00.001+02:00

I have finally got around to updating my website, so now my exhibition at Galleri Svalbard can be admired by everyone.

To the left is a detail of the installation "Himmelhøyt".

The seventeenth of May

2008-05-17T20:00:00.008+02:00

Celebrating the seventeenth with all this snow around is certainly a new experience - but the weather has been perfect all day, so we haven´t missed the green too much.

As almost everyone in town joined the parade, we had noone to cheer and sing to, but we cheered and sang anyway.

Emma was one of the three to carry the school´s standard.

Thomas´class - Thomas on the far right.

Peter cheering.

Afterwards there were speeches in Russian and Norwegian, and salutes (by cannon or maybe dynamite, it was hard to tell).

And after that - entertainment and café in the sports hall.

I didn´t catch much of the entertainment-part, as Peter´s class (that is, the parents) was responsible for the café, and that was a lot of work.

We´ve now settled for the lazy part of the day - the one with the leftovers...

What to do with old Christmas-trees

2008-05-14T22:10:00.000+02:00

- or could it be spring?

More glacier-holes

2008-05-14T15:45:00.000+02:00

Having visited the small glacier cave in Larsbreen in March, we were curious about the two other, larger caves near Longyearbyen. These caves have been opened by glacier scientists from UNIS, but the tourist industry also use them and keep them open throughout the tourist season. That is, the colder part of the tourist season. Later in May, when it gets milder, the caves will fill up with running water - which created the caves in the first place.

So, on 26th of April we went skiing to the end of Bolterdalen, to check out the hole in the Scott Turnerglacier.

Two ladders brought us down into the cave.

Here are some details from inside the cave.

Here´s me seen from down the cave by William.

I must admit that I didn´t spend much time inside the cave - I realized quickly that my hint of claustrophobia becomes a lot more than a hint after approx. 15-20 meters into the cave.

The hole on the photo underneath is the Longyearbreen-cave, which I went and had a look at last week. The cave goes on for several hundred meters, but I (and my friend Hanne) went in only about 15 of them. Still, you get a good impression of what it´s like.

On the walls, there´s lots of fragile crystals, and small rocks frozen in a thick layer of ice. The cave has a nice "humansized" shape, but in some places you have to crawl.

Hanne leaving the cave. In this cave, you use a rope to climb out.

Daylight!

Emma, William and Thomas are the toughest members of the family - they´ve been far in (in the Longyear glacier) several times, and they claim that it´s quite amazing and not in the least scary. I´ll take their word for it!

Two nights in Reindalen

2008-05-13T14:20:00.002+02:00

This weekend we went to the Red Cross-cabin in Reindalen, which turned out to be a rather large, and very nice cabin.

Reindalen is the biggest valley (widest/longest) on Spitsbergen, and it is huge.

Naturally, the valley being named "Reindalen", we saw plenty of reindeer.

We did a tiny bit of sunbathing. Here´s our visitor Hanne lounging on top of her snowmobile.

We went skiing,

And we built a snowwoman named Roberta.

Alas, only seconds after the picture above was taken, Thomas (by accident) pushed poor Roberta´s head over - the photo below shows the extreme makeover that followed.

She was better looking before.

This may have been our last snowmobile-trip to a cabin this season, which is a little sad. The weather is getting milder, and soon it´ll become more difficult to drive through the valleys filled with melting snow.

Anyway, on the 17th of May next weekend we won´t be allowed to slip away, as Peter´s class has responsibilites at school during the afternoon. But I´ll definitely get back to you on that!

Fame a last!

2008-05-10T11:22:00.000+02:00

Ta-da! The local press finally did it´s job! Svalbardposten this week proudly presents an article about yours truly:)

The article is about a talk/discussion the local photo-club arranged last Tuesday - it went quite well, I think. I talked a lot, at least, and the (small) audience asked interested questions. I hate how I look on the photo, but then I always do, so never mind.

Of course, the publicitity arrives a bit late, on Monday, I´ll take it all down (I´ll show photos from the exhibition on my homepage soon, I just need time to prepare it).

The artist Turid Ulldal is up next in the Galleri Svalbard, her exhibition opens on the 17th of May. I have the highest respect for her works, and am a tiny bit proud that I´ve exhibited in the same gallery as her.

And by-the-by: This is the third week in a row members of this household has been in the local rag, so I suppose William will be in next week´s edition. I wonder in which context...

Villa Fredheim

2008-05-08T16:00:00.002+02:00

How to translate Fredheim? Maybe "Peaceful home"?

Fredheim is the homestead next to Sassenfjorden where the trapper/hunter Hilmar Nøis ("King of Sassen") lived for many years - he overwintered 38 times on Svalbard, and most of them here. The big house, Villa Fredheim, was built in 1924, then later rebuilt and enlarged several times. His wives (one at a time) Ellen Dorthe Johansen Nøis and Helfrid Nøis stayed and worked there with him.

Underneath is Helfrid and Hilmar.

Hilmar married Ellen Dorthe in 1913, she gave birth to their son Johannes in 1922 (they´d earlier had a daughter, who was brought up by her parents on the mainland). After the birth, Ellen was ill, and didn´t recover completely afterwards. Life on Svalbard became too hard for her, and she moved back to Norway - not long after, the marriage was over.

In 1936, while visiting the mainland, Hilmar met Helfrid and invited her up to Svalbard, she came, and decided to stay. The following year Sysselmannen married them, and they stayed married until Hilmar died in 1975, 84 years old. During the second world war, they spent a few years evacuated in Scotland, and there they adopted a girl, Else Marie. After the war, Helfrid spent most of her time on the mainland, but their last overwintering together on Svalbard was in 1963. Helfrid passed away in 1996.

You can read about his wives here and here - particularly Helfrid is interesting read, she was a tough lady it seems.

Next to Villa Fredheim lies Gammelhytta (the Old Cabin), also called Danielbua (the Daniel shack). This was built as early as 1911, by Daniel Nøis, Hilmar´s uncle. The beach at Fredheim keeps crumbling up, and in 2001 the cabin had to be moved to safer grounds. It was renovated at the same time, with peat stuffed into the walls and on the roof. It now looks like it did when it was built.

Fredheim was quite exceptionally more comfortable than your regular hunting station in the Arctic, and the "female touch" probably had a lot to do with it. The house still looks fairly snug on the inside - sometimes Sysselmannen opens it up for visitors. But even when closed, Fredheim is a popular place to go on daytrips (on snowmobile) from Longyearbyen. It´s location is quite spectacular, with the Tempel-mountain on the other side of Sassenfjorden.

This was my first trip to Fredheim, and I became so curious about life there that I had to look up all the above information about Hilmar and his wives. There´s of course lots more to read about them (probably not translated), here´s some books:

Berset, Odd; Hilmar Nøis : storjegeren fra Svalbard, Bergen 1953
Jacobsen, Tor; Ishavskvinne, historien om Helfrid Nøis, Oslo 1979
Fjørtoft, Kjell: Kongen av Sassen Bay. Fangstfolkenes historie, Oslo 1995.

After Sassen, we looked at the seals, and rode on to Vindodden to picnic on the beach.

We drove up Flowerdalen on the way back -

then down on the other side, towards Kreklingpasset.

William coming down from the top of Flowerpasset.

After Kreklingpasset we crossed the glacier Tellbreen into Mälardalen, and then home.

All along we had beautiful weather and perfect snow conditions. Who needs spring when it´s like this?

The Thawing Family

2008-05-05T18:45:00.000+02:00

Portrait of the not-so-frozen family out barbequing in Bjørndalen last Wednesday.

William´s sister Ida took the photo.

Cute wildlife

2008-05-04T15:50:00.004+02:00

Young ringsel (ringed seal) are so cute that they´re almost unreal. But we were there and saw them, and we got really close too. Peter was less than two meters from one of them before it disappeared down it´s breathing hole.

Whoops! Gone.

More ubelievably cute seals. A pity they refuse to be cuddled.

All photos were taken on the sea-ice in Sassenfjorden yesterday, where we also had a look at Fredheim, but I´ll get back to you on that.

Svalbardposten again

2008-05-03T19:33:00.015+02:00

This week´s exclusive:

You´ve got my word that Ingrid nor Emma need to cover their faces - they´ve got nothing to be ashamed of.

And still nothing about my exhibition, but no hard feelings.

Bastards.

More images from Barentsburg

2008-04-30T13:45:00.002+02:00

We bought cards in Barentsburg, here are a few of them.

Presumably from the town´s golden days (it says 1976 on the jacket).

Daylight in Barentsburg

2008-04-29T22:00:00.003+02:00

And cats. Here´s one, the nearest I´ve been to one in more than 8 months.

Here´s some other things we saw:

Colours and dirt.

Coal.

Other snowmobiles visiting.

We came with William´s sister Ida and her family, Torstein, Mathea and Lina.

A great trip! And great to have seen what Barentsburg actually looks like, despite the shabbiness.

A word about Svalbardposten

2008-04-26T22:44:00.001+02:00

Every week on the backpage of the local paper Svalbardposten, there´s a friendly interview with someone in town. A tourist, local worker or just anyone who happens to hang around the shopping area. This week, the editor met Thomas and Peter and Peter´s friend Simon and interviewed them. Here´s how it went:

There are two things to say about this (except the obivous, that we think the whole thing is rather amusing, and that we´re not surprised by Thomas´ behaviour during the interview):

1. The Coke-drinking was not authorized - we didn´t know anything about it. If they´d asked, we would have said that soft drinks are for special occasions only. So you could certainly say the boys have been caught in the act.

2. Svalbardposten has not written anything about my exhibition at Galleri Svalbard, not a word. It´s nice that the local press interviews my boys, but I must admit that I´m a bit insulted that this is the kind of stuff they´d rather write. So, mr editor Birger Amundsen (if you should happen to google yourself, and read this), I am not impressed.

Kapp Laila again

2008-04-22T18:00:00.001+02:00

The cabin at Kapp Laila has somehow become "our" cabin here at Svalbard, though we share it with every other employee at UNIS and their families. Last Saturday we were told it was free for the weekend, and decided on the spot to go for one night.

It takes less than one hour and a half to get there by snowmobile, but we took it slow, as the weather was so beautiful.

There was time for some cocoa ...

... skating,

and climbing.

Peter.
Emma.

And Thomas.

Low tide and lots of ice in Coles Bay - here´s Grumant harbour across the bay.

More ice.

Sunday-walk up the nearest mountainside, where we had more cocoa:

A nice view of the cabin, and Isfjorden towards Longyearbyen.

And spied on the locals.

And then we went home to Longyearbyen. Hoping to be back at Kapp Laila real soon.

Here comes the (midnight)sun

2008-04-20T22:30:00.002+02:00

Looking due north from our kitchen window around midnight.

26 March

31 March

8 April

15 April

And last night, on the 19th of April - the first day (night) of midnight-sun in Longyearbyen ...

- except this wasn´t taken in Longyearbyen, but at Kapp Laila - where the frozen family went on an overnight-trip, which we returned from a few hours ago.

Here are some more, taken between midnight and one o´clock.

From now on, the sun won´t set until 23rd of August, isn´t that incredible? And wonderful!

Of course, we took loads more pictures on this third trip to Kapp Laila - I´ll probably show you some later. And I promise that those won´t be kitschy sunset-pictures;)

Going to the east-coast...

2008-04-19T14:50:00.004+02:00

.... and barely making it back home.

And I´m not exaggerating - I´ve never ever been through anything like it.

It started like this:

And this (this is Roland and Berit (and me on right) that we went together with (luckily the kids weren´t with us!)):

We crossed the wide glacier Nordmannsfonna in beautiful sunlight - a bumpy ride, but spectacular. Going home two hours later across the same glacier, it looked like this:

Zero visibility - or a proper whiteout (though not really a blizzard, but nearly).

But here´s some of what we saw before the weather changed:

Looking due east across the sea.

Looking back towards the glacier.

Driving across the sea ice towards Hayes-glacier...

- where you can get really close to the glacier front.

What we didn´t see was what we hoped for (and what I hoped this blog entry would be about) - polar bears. The east coast is where people from Longyearbyen - and crowds of tourists - go with a hope of seeing bears, at a safe distance. But no such luck for us.

Going back up on the glacier, the weather changed quickly, it got cloudy and a strong breeze whirled up a lot of snow. We met another group of 6 snowmobiles, and not long after, another group of 3 snowmobiles. It turned out that our GPS was the only one which had registered the track across the glacier, so 12 snowmobiles had to drive in a slow line - stopping every 100 meters or so to help someone who´d overturned or got stuck in the deep snow.

Nobody could actually see the track - barely the snowmobile only a few meters ahead of them - and the wind and the snow made it into one of the bumpiest rides I´ve ever been on. It was extremely hard to keep the snowmobile in an upright position, especially with the slow going - it´s easier to get stuck when you´re driving slowly.

There was a lot of waiting inbetween the short intervals of driving. Here´s a couple of pictures (when visibility was still OK´ish):

Driving across the glacier in sunlight took less than an hour - driving back took almost 4.

Everyone came through it safely and with no injuries - and extremely tired and relieved! Here´s most of us taking a short break on the other side.

And here´s what the weather was like while speeding back to Longyearbyen.

William and I agree that it was exhausting, but quite exciting too. And we hope we´ll never experience anything like it again.

The birds are back!

2008-04-15T17:45:00.003+02:00

There are not many sure signs of spring around here (yet), but the return of the birds is one.

Outside my window right now a group of snøspurv (snow bunting) is larking about, and outside earlier today I could hear them chirping. We observed the first snøspurv on Saturday (one day before Svalbardposten), and Sunday I took a picture of these two suspicious-looking polarmåke (Glaucous gull).

The same day two ryper (ptarmigan) sat in the snow near our house (we almost didn´t see them, they´re good at blending into the background) - but they´ve been here all winter, so I suppose they don´t really count.

Anyway - as spring still seems far away (despite the light all night long, and the slightly warmer sun), the birds are a heart-warming sight. It baffles me that they decide to migrate here, though. Why not somewhere warmer? Somewhere with trees.

Blizzard-day

2008-04-12T18:15:00.001+02:00

Also called whiteout.

More on dogs and Bolterdalen

2008-04-10T19:00:00.001+02:00

Another dog-sled trip in Bolterdalen, this time in glorious sunlight. And almost as magic as last time.

Only Emma and I went this time, with our visitors Elisa and Magny.

Here´s Emma cuddling a 3 week old puppy ...

and strapping the big, howling ones in front of the sled.

And Emma steering the sled. My view of her from sitting in the sled. She had full control.

My view forward.

And Elisa´s view of Emma and I.

Other views. Passing sleds.

Mine 7 .

Cabins in Adventdalen.

Eiscat.

And now I want to go again!

Glimt av september

2008-04-07T15:00:00.000+02:00

That´s it. Anyone can go and see my stuff (and love it or slaughter it as they please), it´s not only mine anymore. It´s the weirdest feeling, like baring your soul to the world - and I don´t know if I´ll ever get used to it.

Well, here´s pictures. I´ll take proper ones later.

Exhausted artist with most of her fan group.

Almost there

2008-04-04T16:00:00.001+02:00

I know I wrote earlier that the opening of my exhibition is on the 13th of April - that was changed ages ago, without me mentioning it here. So, it´s due next Sunday and right now I´m busy-busy with the final preparations.

On the left is the poster/flyer the Gallery has distributed - with a detail of one of the works. I´ll show you pictures later.

And, as expected, I´m dead nervous and wonder why this ever seemed like a good idea. Aargh.

Sunday skiing

2008-03-31T10:00:00.001+02:00

Yesterday, William and I skied to the top of the local mountain Gruvefjellet - up through the valley Vannledningsdalen and down on the glacier Larsbreen. Without our darling kids, again. Great to just move without dragging reluctant offspring along, I must admit.

Going up through Vannledningsdalen.

Checking the map to avoid the avalanche-areas.

Weather station on top of Gruvefjellet.

Looking down from Larsbreen, Longyearbyen on the left, Gruvefjellet straight ahead.

The weather turned quite hazy during the hike, and after we came home and for the rest of the day, it was snowing thickly, and visibility was low. We were happy that we came down before the weather changed. It seems that the snowy weather also caused the tragic helicopter-accident in Barentzburg yesterday afternoon. There were 9 Russians/Ukrainians onboard, and three of them died. Very sad.

Women In Art

2008-03-29T19:56:00.002+01:00

This is not Svalbard-related, but as it´s done so well, I wanted to share it.
Also, it fits my mood really well, right now.
So, enjoy. And thank you, Charlie, for sending it to me.

Lunch at the cape

2008-03-29T15:15:00.001+01:00

Thursday we had lunch at Kapp Linné, or Isfjord Radio, which is more than 80 km south of here. It took us nearly 3 hours to get there and 2 hours and a half going back - on snowmobiles. Temperature was around -20 when we started, and it was a little hazy, but the weather got better and better. By afternoon, we even imagined to feel some warmth from the sun.

Here´s pictures:

Isfjord Radio.

Nice lunch - from left Cathy, Alvar, me and William. You can frequently see polar bears walking past on the outside, but no such luck today.

I was surprised that the standard was so (relatively) high - I´d imagined the place to be a lot more primitive. Here´s from one of the guest rooms.

Looking back as we left. Isfjord Radio in the middle, on the left.

Looking across Grønnfjorden to Barentsburg.

A stop to have a look at this beautiful Russian cabin in Grønnfjorden. Which turned out to be open.

But not so nice inside...

Astronauts returning to their spacecrafts...!

Yes, you do feel like an astronaut sometimes, in all that heavy gear. This is me (notice my cheerful smile).

We have only one snowmobile these days, as the other one is at the garage, so William drove with me on the backseat. Just as well maybe - if I was the driver, it would have taken us ages to get there, I´m a sloow driver. But being passenger is not very comfortable, particularly not downhill.

Crossing Colesdalen. Kapp Laila is somewhere in the middle, a long way off.

It feels quite ridiculous to go all that way just to have a look at some isolated houses - not really my kind of thing. But that´s what many people here (and tourists) do - they drive for hours to some spot, then turn and go home. Of course, you get to see many beautiful areas on the way, but you seldom have time to stop and have a proper look.

Still, I´m glad I´ve tried it. Been there, done that. Wrote a blog entry to prove it.

Revelations from William´s past

2008-03-27T22:00:00.001+01:00

William and I (and Alvar and Cathy) went on a long snowmobile-trip today, and one of the places we stopped was in Semmeldalen.

Here´s the cabin Semmelbu where William stayed when he worked on his master project, while he and his girlfriend (not me), who was also his assistant, did field work in the surrounding mountainsides.

Oh, it´s not the one on the right - they stayed in the tiny one on the left. Let´s look inside.

Not particularly comfy - but romantic, I suppose, in a bizarre way.

William reminiscing. 1984 is a very long time ago.

We drove almost 170 km today, to Kapp Linné and back. Without kids - they had a relaxing, parent-free day in Longyearbyen. But I´ll tell more soon, when I´ve loaded the pictures off the camera.

Some more we did last week

2008-03-25T09:00:00.005+01:00

Peter, William and I skiing to the top of mount Lusitania, 926 meter altitude.

Peter and William at the summit - Tempelfjorden in the background.

William and I.

Sing Star competition!

Emma and cousin Ask proudly posing after having tried out the snowmobiles.

Dinner at Huset.

Visiting the puppies at the nearest dog yard, Thomas and Sunniva.

Emma.

Hege, Peter and their kids went on an organised trip with dog sleds, and they were thrilled about it. Here´s a couple of pictures that Peter took.

Sunniva with Gandalf (the white one) and some other huskies.

This has been the longest really cold period all winter, cold steam has risen from the sea for several days. Freezing but gorgeous.

Peter and the family left yesterday, after a very eventful holiday. We enjoyed having them, and I think they all felt that spending easter in Longyearbyen was a success.

And now, it´s turned rather quiet ...

Glaciospeleology

2008-03-24T15:15:00.003+01:00

Today we explored one of the glacier caves near Longyearbyen. This one is the easiest accessible - by the foot of Larsbreen (the Lars glacier). The two others that have been opened (one on Longyearbreen and the other in Bolterdalen) are larger, but we hadn´t time to go and find them, so we stuck to the small one.

Peter and Hege next to the narrow entrance.

Hege coming out.

More space inside, but not enough to stand up. Here´s me struggling with my claustrophobia.

But the kids were very relaxed. Here´s Isak and Emma.

Rocks and ice crystals in the "ceiling".

And, in case you wondered, this is what glaciospeleology means - exploration of glacier caves.

One each day

2008-03-22T11:50:00.001+01:00

Before

After

A rough calculation show that I´ve baked at least 200 loaves of bread since we arrived. Ca 1 for each day.

It´s having 11 people at breakfast every day that has reminded me of this, because now - we´re up to at least 2 each day.

A cold and bright Easter

2008-03-20T18:30:00.005+01:00

... with a house full of adventurous guests, William´s brother Peter and his family.

7 kids, from left Emma, Sunniva, Johannes, Isak, Peter, Thomas and Ask.

Ever since they came, temperature´s been beneath minus 20, and weather´s been crisp and clear. That makes the scenery look spectacular, but it´s hard to move around on skis or foot, as you have to be constantly in motion.

But we´ve been out skiing anyway...!

Heading for the valley in the background, Mälardalen.

It was COLD.

Isak.

Emma.

And it was quite a distance, too, so we took turns being dragged by William on the snowmobile.

But mostly we skied - we had to, to keep warm. And therefore, we had the time to look around. This is a little of what we saw:

Moon over Operafjellet.

Looking in the opposite direction, sunset on Svalsat.

Looking across Isfjorden.

View towards Adventdalen.

And here´s the end of the trek, the tent William had put up in Mälardalen - heated by a kerosene-oven.

And, here, almost everyone stayed behind - except yours truly, and Emma. We returned to the comforts of our warm beds, while the other 9 stayed in the tent.

Here´s Sunniva in a pile of sleeping-bags.

-24 on the outside - just above nil on the inside.

Don´t worry, they survived the night - with no injuries (and no bear-encounters).

Rubbish

2008-03-16T15:50:00.004+01:00

One thing that I was curious about when we first came here, was what to do with the rubbish. I mean, so many people in one place - and we all know how much waste modern people produce - where did it all end up?

We quickly discovered these - charming, aren´t they? This is where the inhabitants of Longyearbyen get rid of their waste - quick´n easy.

Best thing you can say about them, is that you can carry out your waste any time you like - and there´s always plenty of room in them.

From the start, I had my doubts as to whether the conscientiously sorted stuff we deposit through the different slots marked "aluminium", "glass", "paper", "plastic" etc, stay sorted. I´ve had a feeling that all of it would just end up in one big jumble on the local rubbish heap. What I hoped was that maybe they burnt it in the power plant, that would make sense, wouldn´t it? I mean, it´s happily burning 24/7, so why not put the heat to further use? Not the metal and glass and stuff, of course, but the ordinary household-junk?

Well, they don´t, but they don´t dump it on the dunghill either. Most of the waste is shipped down to the mainland, to be taken care of there. The reason they don´t burn stuff (other than coal), in the power plant, is that it would cost too much to upgrade it for that use - or that´s what I´ve heard.

So metal, plastic, paper, wood, electrical stuff - plus all the rest is sent down. But not glass - that´s dumped on the local heap. I´ll have to go and have a look at that one day - a mountain of glass, what a sight!

So the rubbish-situation is better than I feared around here, and from what I hear, they´re going to make recycling even easier within the year. I hope so.

And here´s something that I hadn´t seen before: a "shop" where everything´s free! In "Bruktikken", you can leave stuff that you don´t need anymore, and others can come and help themselves to it. What an excellent idea for a community where people come and go all the time.

An idea hereby offered to the whole world, for free!

Two women on Svalbard

2008-03-12T23:10:00.011+01:00

Svalbard has always been a man´s place, of natural reasons. Mining, trapping and exploring have traditionally been a man´s thing, and those activities are of course still dominated by men (although it´s slowly changing, nowadays quite a few women are exploring, doing science, trapping and hunting on Svalbard, and many women are directly involved with the mining). Most of the myths and stories from Svalbard have been told by men too, and they tend to be glorifying existence here, and dwelling on the heroic and tough side of life.

But some women have written books from here as well - and I´ve read a couple, that give a slightly different view on life in the arctic.

"Kvinne i polarnatten" (1938) (Woman in the polar night - or: Eine Frau erlebt die Polarnacht) - is written by the Austrian painter Christiane Ritter, who overwintered on Svalbard between 1933 and 1934. She lived with her husband Hermann and a Norwegian trapper at Gråhuken, close to the northern tip of Spitzbergen. Here´s an image of the Ritters, nicked from here

- and one of her paintings, stolen from here.

Christiane came to Svalbard because of her husband, who had already made several trips to Svalbard. She describes her ambivalence at leaving her civilized Central European life, to keep house in the far north for her husband and his hunting and trapping buddies. But after a cold and foggy start, she comes to love the arctic, and her depiction of raw nature and isolated beauty is wonderful.

I enjoyed the "down-to-earth" descriptions of everyday life in the cabin, how they while away the long winter-days in their different ways, and how they arrange themselves to make it as comfortable as possible. They have no yeast with them, and despair because they won´t be able to make proper bread - until they find a old dried-up lump in the cabin. They care and nurture this into a swelling dough, and rejoice because they´ll be able to make sour-bread for the rest of the winter. Basic needs indeed!

But as with many such stories from earlier days, I sometimes miss a glimpse of how personal hygiene is maintained under such extreme conditions. It´s not mentioned at all. Maybe they just couldn´t be bothered, and gave up on sanitariness (oh - I know this is none of my business - it´s just my crude, modern curiosity).

A small detail that puzzled me, and schocked me a little (being a mother), is the sudden revelation well into the book that they actually had a little daughter left behind in Austria. She is only referred to twice, I think. I assume that she is taken care of by some relative, but it´s strange how they both live happily far away from her, without a chance to communicate with the world through the long winter. But things (and parenthood) were different 70 years ago, it seems.

Christiane Ritter went back to Austria in the summer of 1934, but her husband stayed on in the arctic for some years. He died in 1968, Christiane in 2000.

"Nord for det øde hav" (1955) (North of the desolate sea) is written by Liv Balstad, the wife of the Sysselmann (governor) Håkon Balstad. They lived 9 years in Longyearbyen, from 1946 to 1955. Balstad is a good storyteller - her writing style is simple, but endearing. She describes happy times and troubled times, and you´re left with a good idea of how life was in Longyearbyen just after the war.

Housing conditions take up a big part of the book: when she arrives, there are plans of a new house for the Sysselmann, a house worthy a governor. But it takes several years, and a lot of frustration, before the new house is actually built. In the meantime, they have to make do with a crowded barrack with flimsy walls. Guests arrive and expect to be housed and fed, all official matters have to be conducted in the cramped living-room, and at night rats run across the floors - during all this, Liv Balstad is expected to function as secretary, receptionist, cook and in all matters be the hostess. Without pay, naturally. She is, after all, the Sysselmann´s wife.

But she takes it all in her stride, and learns to love Svalbard as much as Christiane did. She shoots and flays a polarbear, she´s almost pulled under when the jeep she´s in goes through the ice, and she gives birth to a baby. Tough lady.

Come to think of it, we don´t learn much about the sanitary conditions in this book. either.

Living the comfortable life today, with air planes coming and going almost every day, excellent restaurants, fresh fruit and vegetable in the shop, running water in the tap, and warm houses, it´s hard to imagine how it must have been here all those years ago, in the dark season - and in the muddy season, but it´s interesting to learn about.

Also, having read these two books about the primitive beginning on Svalbard, it occurs to me that there should be written biographies that cover the later years - 1960 and onwards or so. I hear people who have lived here for 30-40 years talk about how it was when the plane came only once a week (and thus post came only once a week) - when all you got in the shop were big boxes of provisions, and all TV-programs were taped on the mainland, sent up and broadcasted in Longyearbyen - several days delayed. All that is past now, and will be forgotten within a few years.

But as I can´t write those stories, I just hope another woman will.

Solfestuke 2008 III

2008-03-08T17:30:00.002+01:00

Today ´s the day when the sun shines on the old hospital-stairs - unless, of course, it´s like today, cloudy.

A large, optimistic crowd had gathered around the stairs - trying to lure the sun out with songs and chanting. It didn´t help, but everyone seemed to be in a good mood anyway.

Geir Schau was the host - standing on top of the famous stairs, he kept the crowd busy with the chanting.

Elias won the drawing contest - his sun is this year´s symbol of the Solfestuke.

There´s been some rumours that this year, the sun shone on the stairs yesterday - on the 7th - on account of this being leap year. If that´s the case, the stairs were brightly lit around lunch-time yesterday, when noone was around to see. Because yesterday, the weather was great.

Ah well - no visible sun today. But hurra! anyway, for the return of the sun - and for women all over the world! Gratulerer!

Solfestuke 2008 II

2008-03-04T18:00:00.002+01:00

Today was Sun-day at Longyearbyen school - that is, the classes between 1-4 had a productive day making suns in all shapes and sizes. Lots of nice suns were created, out of yarn, paper, feathers and ribbons. I was there as a help, and it was busy! But inbetween I had time to take pictures, and here´s a few of them.

Thomas with self-made papermask.

Vilde with yarn.

Windy, cold day - but the kids played outside, with the huge pile of proper snow to climb on -

and real ice to slip around on.

And an extremely uneven snow-ground didn´t discourage Peter and the other footballers from playing.

Sunshine only on the nearest mountaintops - but not long now ...!

Solfestuke 2008 I

2008-03-03T08:40:00.000+01:00

As the 8th of March is the day when the sun touches the stairs of a long gone hospital in Longyearbyen (the stairs are still there, but the building is gone), the week before or after is the Solfestuke (week of the sun-fiesta, no less). This year it´s celebrated the week before, starting yesterday.

One of the big traditions during the week, is "Ta sjansen", an informal race of more or less elaborate sleds. The competition took place yesterday, on the slope just across Adventdalen, and 8 teams participated - plus a huge part of the inhabitants of Longyearbyen.

Most of the spectators came on snowmobiles.

Some travelled by bus,

others by crawler,

and some with the help of happy huskies,

- but we came on skis!

The sun peeked over the mountains for a short time.

Some images from the race:

I think actually this team under was quickest and in that sense won the race - but I might be wrong.

It was all rather confusing, but good fun!

I saw the sun today

2008-02-27T17:30:00.000+01:00

- and it´s still big, round and yellow.

The sun seen from Adventdalen, shining through Bolterdalen.

More sun in Helvetiadalen. Me in front.

For the first time since October I saw the sun, and it made me whoop!

Grand opening of the Seed Vault

2008-02-26T12:15:00.001+01:00

The Global Seed Vault finally opens today, and we aren´t invited. But yesterday we were, to the final rehearsal - together with a large part of the local population. The weather was really bad, and the drivers of the 5 large buses that took us up the winding, narrow road to the vault, through the blizzard in complete darkness, did an excellent job. The weather today is a lot better, but still windy.

Anyway - we weren´t allowed to take pictures during the ceremony, but here´s one of the host, Fredrik Skavlan.

Underneath is the scene where Mari Boine and Coco Mbassi performed, and where Nobelprice-winner Wangari Maathai spoke about deliveries of seeds. They´ll be doing the same things today, more about that here.

Afterwards, we took some snapshots of the beautiful ice-art in the halls.

And we did a little posing, Emma and I...

The art-piece that´s on the entrance of the vault looks really nice, but as the weather was so horrible last night, I couldn´t get a good shot of it, and I have nicked the one under from here. It´s made by the Norwegian artist Dyveke Sanne.

The bear in front is made of ice, by the way...

The whole town has been flooded with camera-teams for several days - it´s quite entertaining to see reporters and camera teams snooping around the streets and shops, carrying heavy gear. Here and here are a couple of reports. There´ll probably be more before this day is over.

Update 8 o´clock: you´ll find the whole ceremony here.

Across the bay

2008-02-24T19:03:00.003+01:00

... lies Hiorthhamn.

Hiorthhamn used to be a coal mining settlement, just across from Longyearbyen, nearly one hundred years ago. For a while (between 1938 and 2002), the place was called Moskushamn, after the many musk-oxens that could be seen around the area. Hiorthhamn is only a short ride away, and a nice destination for a daytrip.

Buildings from the old settlement - and some new cabins, nicely situated on the shore.

Picnicking with Finn, Alvar, Cathy and Lydia.

Looking back towards Longyearbyen.

A closer look: red arrow pointing at our house.

Looking southeast, towards Adventdalen.

And then home.

More on quake - and clouds

2008-02-22T22:50:00.002+01:00

According to this link, it was no coincidence that the eclipse and the quake yesterday happened almost simultaneously. Svalbard is situated in an area near the atlantic ridge, and may be vulnerable to the moon´s tug when it´s relatively close to earth.

Well, I don´t know. Sounds a bit dubious to me.

Also - I have to adjust the aforementioned distance from here to the epicenter: 140 km, not 90.

And finally, today´s cloud picture...

I told you I have a thing for clouds.

Earthquake!

2008-02-21T16:15:00.007+01:00

This morning, around quarter to 4, we were all wakened by a shaking house. Well, not all of us - Emma slept through it all, and was annoyed when she later realized she´d slept through a record-breaking earthquake. It´s been the big talk in town all day, so doubly annoying not to have even noticed...
By the way, during the trembling moments, it didn´t occur to William the geologist that it was an earthquake - he thought it was the wind trashing the house (the weather was quite noisy). I, too, thought it was the wind. Not until later this morning did I realize it was a quake, when I heard it on the radio.

Anyway, here´s where the epicenter was - about 90 km south of Longyearbyen. If it had been right here, more than books would have fallen down.

And this is how it looked like from here (seismologically).

Something else that happened last night, that we knew would happen, was the nearly full moon being eclipsed by the earth-shadow. But as the sky was completely overclouded, we didn´t bother to stay awake for it.

Luckily, the other day we had a lovely view of the moon bouncing on pink clouds, and that´s nearly as nice.

Here comes the sun II

2008-02-18T15:33:00.000+01:00

Here´s looking north towards the airport at lunchtime.

28 January

30 January

5 February

8 February

and today.
A closer look on today´s picture reveals sunlight on the mountaintops across Isfjorden. Real genuine sunlight!!!

Here comes the sun, and George and I say it's all right!

Frozen beach blues

2008-02-15T09:05:00.000+01:00

More photos. Bear with me, when the light is like this, I can´t help myself, I have to try to capture a little of it.

Here´s from yesterday, from the local beach - looking north across Isfjorden, and east towards Hiorthfjellet and Adventdalen.

I must add that I almost froze my fingers off when taking these: it was -16C and a freezing wind from the north.

Tomorrow the sun will pop up over the horizon, but here in Longyearbyen it won´t be visible before the 8th of March. So hopefully we`ll have a sunny, warm day at the beach then, sometime in May? Somehow, I think not...

6 months in Longyearbyen, today!

2008-02-13T08:32:00.001+01:00

Seven things I´ve done that I wouldn´t have done if I hadn´t been here:

1. learnt to shoot
2. learnt to drive a snowmobile
3. flipped over on a snowmobile (I haven´t mentioned that have I?)
4. been in a coal-mine
5. lived through a nearly three-months long night
6. driven a dog sled
7. written a blog

Okay, maybe I´d have done that last bit anyway - but it wouldn´t have been a Svalbardblog.

And of course there are other things too, that I´ve done for the first time, like joining a pub-quiz team, teaching, and learning to do pilates. But that´s something that I can do (and probably will do) after I´ve left too.

So what new things to come for the last months here? Meeting a polar bear I hope will be one thing. Not too close up though...

Back to Kapp Laila

2008-02-10T19:55:00.000+01:00

On snowmobiles this time.

View across Coles Bay to the old Russian harbour Grumant.

Lovely "sunset", around half past three.

A quiet evening in the cabin...

... followed by a windy night and a grey departure.

We´ll be back - again!

Longyearbyen expanding

2008-02-07T18:00:00.000+01:00

Who´d have thought that so many people want to live up here, on such a cold, desolate island? But that´s indeed the case. The population in Longyearbyen has risen steadily since people settled here one hundred years ago - the first years only male mineworkers, then after some years a few women and children as well (230 altogether in 1920). In 1959-60 there were 741 inhabitants (523 men, 127 women and 91 children) - and in 2006 the number of people had reached 2001.

And it´s still rising - by 2011 the population is expected to reach 2260, that´s an increase of 13%. There´s still slightly less women than the average on the mainland, and a lot less children and old people, but Longyearbyen has definitely become a family-society, which needs several nurseries, a big school - and of course housing. There´s a constant need for new houses for everyone - last year they built 20 new flats/houses, and in 2006 51.

There are three building sites being finished as we speak, one in our street - and more will come.

Houses have to be built on poles - because of the permafrost. It seems that the biggest part of the job is to get the poles into the ground!

The third nursery was opened last year, and as far as I know it´s already full - another will be needed fairly soon. And the school has been extended several times, in 2006 a new wing was added - to the cost of around 30 million kroner.

Our addition to the building activity - the igloos - are in a sad state, I´m afraid, due to the inevitably effects of gravity. But at least we can see them now.

Today was pink day

2008-02-04T19:29:00.000+01:00

At noon, looking across Adventdalen towards Hiorthfjellet and Operafjellet.

Blue, blue, blue! And then some blue...

2008-02-03T17:30:00.000+01:00

Earlier today, a snowmobile-trip to De Geerdalen.

A short stop in Adventdalen...

... next to a couple of iron beds(?!).

De Geerdalen. Looking south towards the (still) hidden sun.

View towards Sassenfjorden. Tempelfjorden on the middle/right, Billefjorden on the left (where we went to Pyramiden last September).

Maybe there´s little point in showing photos. As I´ve said before, nature is best when you´re in it, experiencing it - pictures can never communicate exactly how wonderful it is. But there´s no question about the colour. Blue.

A short visit to Tara

2008-02-02T19:00:00.000+01:00

The French polar schooner Tara is currently moored at Bykaia here in Longyearbyen. The vessel has been drifting with the sea-ice for 510 days, until the 21st of January. It started its journey in north of Siberia and continued almost across the pole point to the Fram Straight, more or less the same journey that Fridtjof Nansen and his crew undertook on the ship Fram from 1893 to 1896. The biggest difference between the two expeditions is probably the time it took: for Fram, the passive drift lasted three years, while for Tara it took less than two years. That is because there´s less sea ice now - which may be because of climate change.

Talking about sea-ice: in a "normal" winter a few years back, this stretch of water between Bykaia and the centre of Longyearbyen would be covered with ice. All of Adventfjorden would be freezed over. This winter is the third in a row when there´s no ice, and if it doesn´t come now during the next few weeks, it won´t come at all this winter. This January Longyearbyen was almost 8 degrees warmer than average - which we can presume has something to do with there being no ice.

But it was cold enough when we visited the boat - around -20 and a freezing wind made it almost unbearable on the quay.

But warm and snug underneath deck. At least in the common room (galley?).

A little cramped in other places. Ten people have been living here since last September - and another crew of ten before that.

If you want to know more about Tara, you´ll find plenty of information on their homepage.

Here comes the sun I

2008-01-31T13:30:00.000+01:00

It´s happening - it´s coming back! I´m so glad something is to be trusted in this world.

18 january, 1300, looking south from our house

24 January, 1300

26 January, 1230

... and today, 1230. Looking darker because of the clouds - but it is lighter. Some of the blue lingers until almost 3 o´clock, it´s great!

Another thing that´s repeating itself (in a more modest scale) is the annual Polarjazz Festival - this year is the 11th year it´s arranged. Last night was kick-off night with local talents, and we were impressed with how good many of them were. Out of a population of 2000, it´s not bad that they can whip up a proper brass band and several singers. Personally, I thought the interpretation of Anthony and the Johnsons "Hope there´s someone" was particularly impressive - it´s the first time I´ve heard someone try to sing his songs, and they did quite well.

From tonight, and until Sunday the "real" artists perform at various venues around town, and we plan to have our share of it. If I can get rid of this irritating cold I´ve got...

Another book by Estrid Ott, from Svalbard

2008-01-24T11:00:00.000+01:00

... except that for this book (and others) she assumed a pen name, Magnus Moen (although Narvik Folkebibliotek seems to think it´s the other way round, which is a little amusing).

I´ve mentioned Estrid Ott before, because of her book "Siri from Svalbard", which was about a young girl´s life in Longyearbyen sometime in the 1930´s. Most of what I´ve learnt about coal-mining I got from that book. In "Sverre på Svalbard" (1951) Estrid has taught me a few things about driving dog-sleds, and as I´ve just had a chance to try it myself, I was eager to learn.

Sverre is a resourceful young man from the north of Norway, who leaps at every chance to travel and have exciting adventures (he goes to Africa and Canada in other books). This time he overwinters in a small cabin somewhere on Svalbard with a trapper. They shoot seals and polar bears, and they catch foxes. There´s also a dramatic bit about two bandits who try to rob them, and about their sad ending. But despite the dramatic parts, the book also gives a picture of the trapper´s everyday life through autumn, winter and spring - taking care of furs and clothes, finding water, stocking supplies, and cooking and cleaning. As a whole, you´re left with an impression that in general, trappers in the Arctic were clean, polite and sober. Which is a nice illusion.

Here´s a list of Estrid Ott´s books, which I expect is complete - except that I can´t find "Sverre på Svalbard" on it... It could be that the book "Sverre i fangstlære" ("Sverre is a trapper") from the same year is an early title.

It´s interesting that Estrid Ott chose a male pseudonym for the books about Sverre, probably on the publisher´s assumption that boys wouldn´t read books written by a woman (publishers seem to believe this still - Joanne Rowling used only her initials when the books about Harry Potter were published, because her publishers wanted to conceal the fact that she was a woman. Which in hindsight seems pretty silly).

So which do I like best, Siri or Sverre? I think probably the book about Sverre. He did more interesting things, and had a lot more freedom. Which is not Siri´s fault, and which I have a feeling Estrid Ott was the first to regret.

Dogs and magic light in Bolterdalen

2008-01-21T08:32:00.000+01:00

Yesterday morning, the Frozen Family ventured out into the wild again, this time with the help of 12 happy huskies.

Underneath: from the dog yard in Bolterdalen, belonging to Basecamp Explorer.

Most of them just loved to be hugged by humans - and Thomas happily complied.

Peter wrapped up in the sled. It wasn´t very cold - around -16C - and almost no wind. But cold enough if you were sitting still.

This is how light it got - the best light we´ve had since November.

But still not the best light for photography. These are a couple that turned out OK.

Travelling by dog sled is so different than driving the snowmobile, it´s amazing. The silence and darkness comes nearer somehow - and even if you can´t travel as far as with a snowmobile, just being around the friendly and eager dogs makes up for that threefold. There´s no question as to what I prefer.

Nearly full moon in one direction, and a blue glow in the south gave us light from two sides - and no need for head-torches.

Back at the dog yard - we had a cup of hot tea and some quality time with the puppies Danse ...

... and Viagra. Don´t ask.

This is my first time on a dog sled, but it´s certainly not my last. But maybe my last in that kind of light. It was ... perfect.

Party-time!

2008-01-19T22:35:00.000+01:00

Yesterday, Peter invited two friends for a very exclusive birthday-celebration, in the igloo that has expanded a lot since last time you heard about it. Afterwards the guests, Sondre and Simon - stayed for a slumber-party (and lots of cake and sweets and playstation).

There are now three igloos in our backyard, connected with corridors - an excellent place to eat hotdogs and cake.

Three boys ready for more cake. And then for staying up way past midnight.

Svalbard-films to be seen

2008-01-17T09:00:00.000+01:00

Two current films that use Svalbard-scenery as a backdrop are The golden compass, which everyone knows about, and Far north, which is fairly unknown.

I haven´t seen The golden compass yet, but I know enough about it to know that the actors never set foot on Svalbard – a camera team came here instead to film the backgrounds. They went to Bergen as well, to film the background for the scenes were Lyra meets the polar bear (in ”Trollsund”), but Dakota Blue Richards – or any of the other actors – never actually came to Bergen. They did the acting in front of a bluescreen.

Why they didn´t go to Bergen I don´t know (really - there are no polar bears there), but apparently, the polar bears prevent filming here at Svalbard. When you need people to guard the set with rifles, no insurance-company will touch it, or so I´ve heard. Golden compass filmed on a bear-free – and probably not so cold - glacier in the alps instead.

Fancy living somewhere so dangerous that James Bond – aka Daniel Craig, who plays lord Asriel – isn´t allowed to go there!

The actors in the film Far north, which we saw at Huset the other day, seem to be made of tougher material, because they did most of the out-door scenes here at Svalbard, during the summer and autumn of 2006. The screening here was a part of Tromsø Film Festival – and it´s director Asif Kapadia were present. Jason Roberts, who lives in Longyearbyen, was its production supervisor, and before the screening, he gave an interesting talk about the filming. For instance, he told us about the 40 tons of equipment they had with them, which - because you´re not allowed to use motorized vehicles - had to be carried by hand. Imagine hauling loads of incredible heavy stuff around for every scene! They were approached by only one bear during the weeks of filming, but they never saw it - it came by one night and vandalized an empty tent.

Pictures from the production, nicked from Svalbardposten - and Jason Roberts speaking to a crowded room before the screening.

Of course, it can be annoying to see a film from an area that you recognize - like a scene that´s obviously filmed in two very different locations: one angle from Troms on the mainland, the other from a Svalbard beach - you get kind of distracted from the actual story. But this won´t be noticed by people around the world, so I tried to look past it.

Still, I´m sorry to say - the story´s not good enough. Spectacular filming, boring story.

I found this review - and I agree with it when it says: "If as much care were taken with script as with visuals, pic would have more impact. As it stands, the thinly drawn characters are dwarfed by the magnificent landscapes, and fail to forge an emotional connection with auds."

Nature is great to look at, as long as you´re in it yourself - beautiful/dramatic/harsh etc scenery on film can work well, but only if the story that goes along with it is engaging. That goes for photos of landscapes too - they can be breathtaking and perfectly done - but in my opinion they´re mostly boring. It seems that a well-told (human) drama must be introduced to make it absorbing and interesting - and as for "Far north", that is not the case.

But, if you want to see great filming from Svalbard, go and have a look.

And, once again, Huset was filled to the brim with an enthusiastic audience - who must be forgiven for giggling audibly when Sean Bean in one scene beat up and then shot a minor character, who also happens to be a local guy.

Peter is 12 today - gratulerer!

2008-01-17T08:58:00.000+01:00

Sleepy, but happy birthday-boy at breakfast.

The day will be properly celebrated later today - and tomorrow with a couple of friends.

Opera, but no queen

2008-01-15T08:40:00.000+01:00

I wasn´t planning to go, but I changed my mind and I´m glad I did. Longyearbyen had visitors from the National Opera yesterday, to mark the beginning of a tour around some of Norway´s outskirts, before the grand opening of the new opera-house in Oslo on the 12th of April (which is, incidentally, the same weekend as my exhibition at Galleri Svalbard opens).

So the whole orchestra and 4 brilliant singers plus 5 excellent dancers performed opera-dainties at Huset last night. And a very enthusiastic audience were present - but no queen, because she got a cold and had to stay home in her castle (I presume).

I wasn´t planning to go, because I´m not so keen on opera music. But the atmosphere was so good, and the performers were so fine, and everyone was in such excellent mood that you couldn´t help but be carried away by it. So I´m glad I went. And when we got the Star Wars theme as an encore, I even felt rather friendly towards the new opera-building in Oslo. (But then again, why not Star Wars? It´s an excellent example of space opera, isn´t it?)

The new opera on the left.

Finally, after the Star Wars theme, when the audience wouldn´t stop applauding, the conductor looked a bit desperate - before he grabbed the concertmaster and fled the scene. Which definitely ended the concert.

PS - We´re going back up to Huset again tonight, to see a sneak preview of the film "Far north", which was filmed partly here at Svalbard. But more about that later.

Construction sites indoors and out

2008-01-10T18:55:00.000+01:00

Lego is extremely popular in this house, among the young and the not so young. Thomas and Peter build boats and planes and cars and police stations and cranes and airports and you name it, while us parents are thankful that lego exists in the world. It offers a neverending source of creativity, during the very dark and sometimes very cold winter-days.

But at the moment there´s construction going on out in the darkness too: William and the kids (with the help of neighbours from time to time), are building igloos in the back-yard. With head-torches they´ve been working methodically for several days - their ambition is a little village of igloos.

With luck we´ll have no more warm weather for some time, so these still stand when we can admire them in proper daylight. Which is on it´s way, or so the rumor goes:-)

Svalbard-tillegg

2008-01-06T20:23:00.000+01:00

There´s a phenomena called Svalbard-tillegget, which I suppose can be translated to "the Svalbard-supplement". It could have been the name of some extra social benefit, but I´m afraid in this case it´s not - it´s the kind of supplement that gathers around the waist....

The snow-mobile is to blame, I think - and the cheap alcohol, and the long polar-night - and good ol´ laziness too, of course.

So far I think I´ve managed to avoid this particular accumulation, as I´ve been exercising a lot more during the last 5 months than I´ve ever done before (which is not saying much, I´m afraid). However, we´ve just been through christmas, and it feels like I´ve been doing nothing else for three weeks, than sitting down and stuffing my face (I´m afraid the snowmobile-trip to Barentsburg doesn´t count as exercise, because we were, in fact, sitting down on the whole trip).

Luckily, we have an excellent public sports center here in Longyearbyen, Svalbardhallen, with several smaller exercise-rooms and a swimming pool which towns on the mainland should be envious of. There are facilities for football, badminton, bandy, climbing, gymnastics - and aerobic groups, step, spinning... you name it. It´s really good - and cheap too.

So that´s why I´ve been exercising so much - and I´m determined to keep up the good work. So today, for the first time in 2008, I went for a swim. An excellent start!

The pool was almost empty ...

... and the sports hall completely empty. Am I the only one with new year´s resolutions?

Rainy days in Longyearbyen

2008-01-02T17:05:00.000+01:00

Did I mention the -25C we had the other day? I believe I did. Well, today it´s been up to +5C, and it´s been raining since yesterday. This naturally has caused some interesting conditions in town. Wading through deep ponds, trying to find safe passages across icy streets - while sweating in clammy winter-clothes - these are new experiences for us in Longyearbyen!

Snowmobile-activities have come to a sudden halt, we now have to rescue them from sinking into water, then freeze and get firmly stuck tomorrow, when temperatures are expected to sink to a normal -10C or so.

According to yr.no, Svalbard was the warmest place in Norway yesterday (Bergen, for instance, had cold, bright weather).

Climate change? Not necessarily, mild periods around christmas are fairly normal here, or so we´ve been told.

But, despite being used to mild winters, I must say I prefer -25C to this!

It´s my Dad´s birthday today! Gratulerer!

2007-12-31T13:00:00.000+01:00

And Charlie´s birthday! And Hannah´s! Gratulerer to them too! It seems new year´s eve is a popular day to be born (I bet among polar bears too).

And a Happy New Year to everyone!

The Frozen Family goes to Barentsburg

2007-12-30T10:45:00.000+01:00

Yesterday, the Frozen Family drove all the way to Barentsburg and back on their 2 snowmobiles/snowscooters (and I, as the only one, overturned only once). The temperature was -25C and it was pitch black.

I know loads of people have done the same trip many times, but for us it was a real adventure - and we learnt a few things too. For example, despite experiencing one of the coldest days of our lives (being from temperate Bergen), we didn´t freeze. That meant we´ve learnt how to dress for Svalbard. Nice.

Also, 50-60 km an hour is fast enough, thank you very much. 120 is for young daredevils, not for old mamas and papas. At least not for this old mama.

And of course - it´s weird driving through fantastic landscapes - and not seeing a thing. I can´t wait for the sun to return. From the top of the Longyear-glacier, we glimpsed a vague bluish light in the far south - strange to think that the sun is way down there, shining on everyone else.

Thomas on the snowmobile. All wrapped up and ready to go.

Parking in front of the hotel in Barentsburg, where we had lunch.

In the darkness it was difficult to see much of the town, but we´ll be back to have a better look later. However, our first impressions were: less streetlights than in Longyearbyen, and a LOT less cars and snowmobiles.

Some pictures of the interior. And the charming decorations.

Emma, a bit dubious about the main dish. Local pork and macaroni.

And then we returned to Longyearbyen. The whole trip (organised by Jon Sandmo) took more or less 6,5 hours, including the 2 hours in Barentsburg.

And today we´re happy to be back, but thrilled to have been.

Shadows and light in Longyearbyen

2007-12-27T19:00:00.000+01:00

- by the courtesy of Longyearbyen Lokalstyre:

A nice and big bubble of light in the middle, there. And only a few weeks away.

My twin-brother and I

2007-12-24T11:22:00.004+01:00

- and lots of polar bear cubs - are celebrating their birthday today - gratulerer!

Most polar bears are born in the last week of December, and many of them on the 24th. A good day to be born. Happy Birthday!

Julehefte, by Thomas

2007-12-23T13:40:00.000+01:00

This is written and illustrated by Thomas in December 2006, when we were talking a lot about the move to Svalbard. It´s the dramatic story about Tuba who survives a plane-crash by the help of a dolphin, and returns to her happy parents in Longyearbyen.

TUBA – JULEHEFTE

Det var en gang en jente som het Tuba. Hun var bare 6 År Gammel. Hun bodde på SvalBard. Hun hadde fått mange Problemer. På fredag ble Hun angripet av en Isbjørn, og på søndag ble hun overkjørt av hjulene på et Jetfly som skulle ut til Rullebanen og Lette. dagen etter ble hun Plaget av noen rampegutter på Skolen.

Men neste dag ble det verre. Nemlig når hun skulle ta en flytur, styrtet flyet ned i Havet. Flyet hadde verken rednignsvest eller redningsbåt, og hun Kunne ikke svømme.

Så derfor sank Hun ned på Havets Bunn. Men så ble det Bedre. Hun ble nemlig reddet av en Delfin. Delfinen svømte opp på Land med Tuba.

Så dro delfinen av gårde for å fange fisk til Tuba. Neste dag våknet Tuba. Hun spiste fisken hun hadde fått av delfinen til frokost. Etterpå begynte hun og øve på å svømme. Plutselig kunne hun det.

Ja, hun kunne tilomed dykke. Hun svømte tilbake til longyearbyen. Foreldrene hennes var svært engstelige for Hvor hun hadde vært. Plutselig kom det en liten S-T-E-M-M-E.
Det lød - hei,hei! Hhæææ?! Det er…………………T-U-B-A-! SKATTEN MIN. Du er Tilbake!! Ja, det er jeg.

Slutt

God Jul!

Adventures above ground and under

2007-12-21T12:20:00.000+01:00

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?

Preparing for Jul, part II

2007-12-20T10:00:00.000+01:00

Little did it know, the tree that found itself on the North Pole (or thereabouts), that our house would be it´s final destination.

Purchasing (we had to rush to get it, as there was a limited number of trees) ...

... transporting it home (on the spark - now, what´s the English word for that contraption?)...

... shoving it into the living-room -

and decorating it. Not nearly finished yet - we´re creating the decorations on a day-to-day basis.

But listen: every christmas I marvel at the weirdness of the whole tree-thing - dragging a pine-tree into the house and decorating it?! What kind of strange ritual is this? The crib that they have in southern Europe has some logic to it - but a tree? To make it even weirder - this tree was grown somewhere on the mainland, and shipped across the Barenz sea to a desolate island near the north pole. We should have made our own, like they did in the old days.

I´m sorry, the above was an untimely lapse into practicality. Christmas does not, after all, make sense. To get back in spirit - here´s one from the school. Aren´t they lovely?

This is what I do

2007-12-15T18:50:00.000+01:00

I realize I haven´t really mentioned what I fill my days with - some of you might´ve wondered what I do when I´m not writing blog-entries or dodging polar bears. Well, this is what I do:

Mainly, I work on my own projects. I have an exhibition coming up at the Galleri Svalbard in April that I´m really excited about (and a little anxious...). I´m pleased that I´ve got the chance to work on something proper - it´s a good room for big pieces and I´m planning to use the whole space.

Also, I have another project that I´m working on, which I hope will turn into something, in a gallery somewhere, sometime... Some of it looks like this:

The idea is to have it printed on textiles. But it may never get that far.

I´ve been teaching a little at the local school too - guess what, gymnastics! Anyone who knew me when I was a kid should laugh heartily at this point, as I hated gymnastics (it´s not really gymnastics, I suppose, but more encouraging 8-9 year-olds to run around and - hopefully - having fun at the same time).

... stretching out is essential.

I also teach a bit of arts-and-craft, which I think I´m better qualified to do. In January, as a part of arts-and-crafts, I´m going to teach 13-15 year-olds a photo-editing program called paint.net - that should be fun. And another project for January is teaching at a drawing-course for grown-ups. That is, it will only happen if the course gets enough participants. I hope it will, as that could be fun too.

And, I´ve also upgraded my website recently - I think it looks a lot better than it did. I´ve moved it´s location too, but hopefully you won´t notice.

So, this was a peek into how I while away the dark winter days: busy, but not too busy.

Which is, incidentally, just the way I like it.

Preparing for Jul, part I

2007-12-11T22:00:00.000+01:00