winter and autumn, back and forth...

winter is coming...

When we woke up this morning it was sleeth down by our house, but further up the slopes of the mountains where covered with "sugar" snow. This is the first sign of winter and I think it´s very beautiful :D.
Now during the evening it started snowing again, this time heavier and the lower parts of the slopes as well...
Good thing I am off on summer vacation in two weeks time ;0)

Reindeer hunting...

Friday afternoon after work I went with Hilde, Steinar, their son Frode and their grand-child william (3 yr 4 m) hunting for reindeer in Hollenderdalen. This place is between Longyearbyen and the Russian settlement of Barentsburg. We sailed over there in a 36 feet motor-boat belonging to Hilde and Steinar. During the trip the weather got better and better, so when we fianlly landed on the beach with the small dingy there was no wind and warm sunny weather. We walked around for approximately 4 hours and the little William as well. No wonder he was tired the next day ;0). This first evening we didn´t shoot any animals as we didn´t see many and they were to far away...
The waves had picked up a bit so we decided to cross the Isfjorden and sleep in the bay Trygghamn. It´s a very beautiful place, but the sleep was short lived as we headed back next day for some more hunting. The weather was still warm and sunny and we only walked 500 metres before two reindeer suddenly appeared. Hilde and Steinar shot them and then I waited a bit before I spotted some for me...
I tried to sneak up on some reindeer but they must have been scared so they ran away. During my attempt to cut them off in a river valley i found to other reindeer. They must have been as surprised as I was. I threw myself on the ground and got the rifle ready, fired a shot and the bullet hit where it was supposed to.
The next hours went by by opening the animal and removing the intestants and cutting the meat in appropriate pieces for the walk back to the boat. Luckily Hilde came back to help me carrying some of it :D
We drove the boat to Colesbay, another abandonned Russian mine where we had a great BBQ and then we went ashore and lit a fire and had a beer and some dried fish.
The weather forecast was bad so we decided to drive home and get a good nights sleep instead of a moving bed. We arrived back home at 0130.
 The week-end had been perfect and I can now fill the freezer with some delicious meat :D


The week-end had been perfect and I can now fill the freezer with some delicious meat :D

Cruise with Nordstjernen and Anna

We arrived back in Longyearbyen night to Tuesday after a good trip with the cruise-ship Nordstjernen.
The weather on the trip was not too good, but we saw walrus and two polar bears and had excellent food so we are happy ;0)

Busy day...

Yesterday we finished assembling most of the furnitures. Today I finished the spare bed-room in between work, meeting icelandic pilot friends Davíð Smári Jóhannsson and Johann Jonsson Gentry, picking up a car on the air-port and helping a co-worker with a locked door...
Now I can´t wait to board Nordstjernen and go on a relaxing cruise for some days with Anna...

Container arrived

On Monday our container arrived from the mainland. Unfortunately they didn´t deliver it to our door-step until this very morning. But better late than never;0)

After three hours this evening Anna and I had managed to get everything but the heaviest things into our apartment, which now looks very crowded. Unfortunately we have to wait for the governours people to come here tomorrow (hopefully) to check the papers, so we can get tax money back. Svalbard is a tax-free zone.
On Friday we are leaving for a 3 1/2 days cruise with Nordstjernen, so we want to finish unpacking most of the larger items, especially since my friend Dominique is arriving while we are away and would prefer a bed to sleep in;0)

At the same time this week is quite busy, going to the shooting-range quite often, as the reindeer-hunting starts next week, and some tests are required to pass...