Monday 25 March 2013

Easter

Todat my parents arrived from Oslo. They will be staying with us for the next 10 days. The weather was great today, -21, a breeze of wind and sun. I have been working and will do so until Wednesday, so my parents will have to entertain themselves until I get vacation. Anna is unlucky and will have to work most of the Easter days...


Jeremy Clarckson also arrived on Svalbard ;0)

http://www.nordlys.no/nyheter/article6572447.ece

Polar-Bear shot

Yesterday a polar-bear was shot in the SW part of Svalbard. It was trying to brake into a cabin where two people from Longyearbyen was spending the night.

http://nrk.no/nyheter/distrikt/troms_og_finnmark/1.10962731

The polar bear


More day-light

Since the light came back, we have been going on a few scooter trips. Anna is not to found off the cold weather when scooter driving, so I have been more on trips on my own.
Last week-end it was only -7 and no wind, so I drove to Tempelfjorden, 60 km away while Anna was working ;0)
This week-end I went with Anna to the Russian settlement of Barentsburg. The weather was not to good but not bad either. We still had a good trip.
Yesterday we hiked up to a mountain ridge, Sarkofagen. It is always good to move the body after being on a scooter for a whole day...

The frozen boat in the fjord

The frozen boat in Tempelfjorden

The frozen waterfall in Eskerdalen

View over Tempelfjorden
 
View over Longyearbyen from Sarkofagen

Anna on her way to Sarkofagen

Scootertrip to Barentsburg

Welcome to Barentsburg
 

Monday 11 March 2013

Night-photography

This evening there was no wind and sky clear weather. While Anna was going to pilates and eating pizza with her friends, I took my scooter and my camera and drove across the valley and up on of the mountains. It was bitterly cold in valley, with temperatures dropping down to -30, not very pleasant when the two hand warmers on my scooter decided to stop working. But it was all worth it. The view was magnificicent!!!

 


Saturday 9 March 2013

The sun is back

Yesterday after nearly 4 months of darkness, the sun came back to Longyearbyen. For some weeks though the sun has been visible if one had went out of town and up on a mountain ;0).
For the first time since 2005 the sun was actually visible in Longyearbyen on the return of the sun. The other years it has been overcast and bad weather.

Today is a local tradition called "ta sjansen" where people and companies in town have a competition using their imagination making some sort of sledge and trying to get quickest or funniest down a long slope at the end of town...

After that we will walk on skis to a friends cottage outside town, for some cocoa and cakes :D

Anna happy

The winning team

Let the games begin..