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..

Drilling season and web cameras

We started our drilling season last week, by driving snow-scooters to a glacier between Longyearbyen and Svea, to mark our first hole. Last night my colleague and I went to the drill site to see how the work was progressing and to mark the next drill-hole. This morning I got a phone call at 0300, as I am the Geologist on duty. This meant that I had to drive out to the drill-site this morning to find out if the drilling was finished or not. The hole was 344 m deep. After logging parts of the core, I could conclude that the hole was finished and my job was done.

The daylight is now increasing by 20 min each day, so soon it will be possible to see the sun. In longyearbyen we will be able to see the sun on March 8th :D

I have added two new links to the web cameras, one is from the loading facilities in our coal harbour in Svea and the other one is from Svalsat, on the mountain above Longyearbyen.
Enjoy the light...

The drill site

Watching the light from my scooter

The drill site on the glacier

Self portrait - waiting for the light...

The flu has gone and winter has come

The helicopter spotted Anne

We are both now finished with the flu, which is a very good thing. This year it took a very long time to get or the ice to come ;0)
Since my last blog entry the temperature has been quite stable around -10 degrees with an occasional increase to around 0 degrees. At work we are preparing the drilling campaign, this year 1 month earlier than last year. It is still very dark though but the blue light is coming...
Anna is still with-out a full-time job, but is quite happy with working as a substitute now and then. She has also started working in the kindergarten.
During a short scooter-trip with Anna, due to bad  weather we suddenly saw a red flare , shortly followed by several other flares and then a Super Puma helicopter, belonging to the search and rescue team passed over us. It took a while before we understood it was only an exercise. It was very interesting to see how the rescue teams work when it is winter and snow and wind being blown all over the place.

The helicopter attempting to land

Northern lights from our bed-room window ;0)

cooling down again...

For the last couple of days the temperature has been plumeting here in town. We had temperatures around -20 degrees with lows down to -23. There has been some northern light and very little wind and almost clear sky.
Tomorrow the forecast says wind, snow and increasing temperatures... this is the way it goes on Svalbard, just enjoy it while it lasts ;0)

Back on Svalbard

On Tuesday the both of us arrived in Longyearbyen again. We were delayed one night due to bad weather with rain and warm weather in Longyearbyen. Therefore SAS gave us a hotel, some food and let us spend the night in Tromsø. Thereby Anna got time for some early January shopping in Tromsø ;0)
The both of us have had the flu since the latter part of the old year, but then it almost went away and the we had a fall back a few days before leaving for Svalbard. This week I have been working, most of my colleagues are on a conference in Oslo. Finally I have started getting better and Anna as well. She has been home for most of the week enjoying life. She got a substitute work (one day) in the tourist info yesterday, so it was good for her to get out of the apartment for one day ;0)

There is more snow here now, compared to last year. The temperature has been very much up and down, from -12 to +2 degrees. There is no sign of ice in the fjords, due to warm waters in the fjords. The scientists up here say we might have the same situation as last year, meaning no sea-ice...

Enjoy your week-end friends

The end of one year and the beginning of another...

My parents house in Sætre, Norway

Today is the first day of a new year and also the end of last year. A lot of things have happened. We have lived the whole year in Svalbard, both working - me as a Geologist and Anna as a substitute at the tourist information. Hopefully Anna will get a full-time job in the new year.

We are both happy where we are, but it is no secret that we both wishes to return to Iceland one day...
In 2012 we got a new and bigger apartment in Longyearbyen, which meant we needed to buy a lot of furnitures, we also bought a car called "Bamsemums" even though there is only 45 km of roads ;0)

In May Anna was in Copenhagen visiting friends
In July I went to Iceland for a week to attend the clan meeting of my "Kaldalóns" family
In September I was working as a guide and lecturer on board the cruise-ship MV FRAM, from Svalbard to Iceland via Greenland, while Anna was on vacation in Iceland. After the cruise job we stayed another 10 days in Iceland.
In November we went on a "speed" tour to Northern England and Scotland, were we also got ENGAGED in a wee castle close to the Isle of Skye.
Anna spent most of December in Iceland on holidays while I was working. I spent Christmas with my family in Norway and then I spent New Years  in Iceland.
Unfortunately I managed to spend the last days of the old year and the beginning of the new year with the flu...but I am getting better ;0)

I wish all my friends far and near all the best for 2013 and hope to see most of you somewhere... :D

Christmas dinner, ducks

New Years eve in Hafnarfjörður, Iceland