yann in the arctic

Wednesday 30 July 2008

survival course part 1

So many things happened today.

This morning we went to the shooting range - on the way there we passed the Svalbard Global Seed Vault. Anyways, I looked at the temperature this morning (8C) and so was only wearing jeans - but when we got there the temperature went down to 2C. I was freezing as there was lots of standing around and listening. The logistics guy from UNIS told us all about the dangers polar bears pose etc and how important it is to avoid them/only shoot if necessary (after all the polar bear is a protected species on the island). We got to fire several rounds a go - and at first I thought I had completely missed my target, but in fact I had some of the closest shots in the group!

Later on we went back to UNIS for lunch and then went into the logistics room to learn more about Zodiac boats, and how to handle them if needed. We then got dressed up in these drysuits, went into the boat and got chucked out into the Arctic Ocean (all this with our clothes underneath) - quite warm, but mine leaked through the sleeves.

Afterwards we met a group of German students who were keen on meeting people on Svalbard and so bought us loads of pizzas which we ate in the caffeteria - I took quite a few slices cos' I was so hungry and cos' food costs so much here.

I got home round 8, but then at 9 I went for a walk with Heidi up to that mine I was talking about. It was so spooky and quite massive. At time I was scared the wooden structure would fall on our heads but it was pretty solid. We then continued our way up the mountain to get some awesome views on Longyearbyen.