yann in the arctic

Sunday 31 August 2008

back on svalbard (again)

I have spent the past few days back in London and have just returned to Longyearbyen. It was so nice seeing friends and family again. It felt like going to China or something, since it was so hot and humid - or at least here is cold and dry.

I also made sure to eat as much as possible: I was literally stuffing my face with cake, doughnuts, puff pastries, croissants, lattes, chocolate eclairs, fruit salad ... basically all the things I crave for but cannot get hold of in Svalbard.

I also (finally) bought a bike which means going to lectures in the morning is not so difficult.

What's really silly is that the flight to Svalbard are NOT compatible with any other flight i.e. you leave Oslo either very early in the morning or very late at night. And whatever connection you have to Oslo, you will still need to wait a long time. And so there I was last night in Oslo airport, waiting for my next flight which would be leaving 12 hours later. I basically listened to music the whole time and got no sleep at all.

When I finally arrived in Longyearbyen, I was asked if I wanted to play water polo in kayaks at the pool, which I of course agreed. I kept toppling over but it was still lots of fun - can't wait to try again. So yeah - a non-stop day :)

I still have those three peaks to conquer though ...

 

Tuesday 26 August 2008

1 month so far ...

I have been here exactly one month now. Can't believe how quickly it's gone (let's hope it doesn't go too fast!)

The other day marked the end of the midnight sun :( It will soon get dark very quickly. That said, there will be a period of continual sunset and then a period of twilight.

Poor Svalbard has the shortest summer ever. In Biology they want us to appreciate how abundant life is during the summer - and now it will all go away. I don't think I will even be able to go on many excursions during the night.

Yesterday I went swimming in the local pool. It was so much fun, and I swear the pool is bigger than the one next to my house in Edinburgh. There weren't many people which was cool (I doubt it gets any busier) and above all, it has a sauna!

I am going home tomorrow for a few days which will be nice. I can't wait to eat proper food and lots of it! I also hope to fill my bag up with goodies.

 

Sunday 24 August 2008

4 days, 4 peaks

 

Monday 18 August 2008

urg moan moan rant rant

Most of my class is now off on a second biology cruise (marine biology)- this time round they are off to the north of Svalbard and beyond (aim is to reach the sea ice). Unfortunately I'm not taking that module, and so I'm missing out on the coolest cruise ever. Apparently there has only ever been one year where polar bear were not spotted. I'm so gutted. In a sense I hope they do not see any polar bears, but then again it would be a shame if they didn't.

And so, because of my combination of course I have over a week of nothing. And when I say nothing I mean nothing. I am currently stuck in Nybyen (student accommodation found 3km out of town) and there is nothing to do. The town is so small and takes ages to get to (I really need to get a bike) and all my classmates are gone! There is only a handful of us here, and some have projects to complete.

I'm really annoyed because I am currently living in the most spectacular place ever, but because I have no rifle I am not allowed anywhere out of town. I can see glaciers from my window, but there is not point taking the risk - bears were spotted nearby back in Spring. UNIS have no rifle to rent out as they are all currently being used. I always have the option of renting one out (£15 a day) which isn't too bad I guess, but then there aren't many people to go hiking with. I think I will apply for a rifle license tomorrow.

Also, what really annoying me is that I failed my driving licence a few months ago which basically means I am not allowed to drive a snow scooter. I will investigating what the rules are in regards to this. I just feel so disabled - I don't really want to depend on others to get around in the winter. I have all the equipment in the world and have most of the skills needed to explore the wilderness, but somehow I'm feeling disabled to actually do anything!

Maybe I'm moaning a bit too much here, but really when I say there is nothing here, there really is nothing. I think I might join the gym.

Hmmm since I have been locked up in town for a few days now I don't really have many photos... except one after a night out! The first was taken at midnight and the other at 2AM. Quite funny I guess.

 

Thursday 14 August 2008

back from the cruise

I got back from my Arctic cruise two days ago ... and had an awesome time. I was all part of my Arctic Biology course, and so there was a lot of work involved. I got started on my project which involves collecting lots of goose poo which we will later be looking at under the microscope... (yes, I did feel like throwing up at times but it had to be done).

I have so much to write about and so many photos ...

For a week we stayed on board the MS Stockholm, which is a Swedish boat that UNIS use for their field excursions. It is normally intended for tourism, and so I guess we were really spoiled: we had our own chef, most rooms had their own bathrooms with shower etc. Seriously it was a luxury boat and UNIS must have spent a fortune on it.


Our aim was to reach Edgeoya which is the easternmost island of the Svalbard archipelago - but didn't make it that far due to stormy weather conditions. Most people felt seasick and the boat did rock quite at bit at night. We did managed to reach the South Cape (southermost part of Spitsbergen) as well as the East Coast.


Every morning the crew would ferry us to the shore on these cool Zodiac boats. Most of us would be wearing Regatta suits (avoids us being splashed/floats) whereas others would be wearing the orange drysuits to help keep the boat steady on land.




At one point we landed somewhere in search of some red listed plant species. So there I was dum dee dum taking photos of the cool mountains ... got back on the boat later that evening ... and realised I had just been on Oscar II Land. Now for those of you who don't know: when I was here last time, we always joked about Oscar II Land as being the land "where the sun always shines". It was a far away land that we could always see in the distance, and it became some kind of eutopia to us ... with its jagged mountains.


On the last two days of the excursion we stated at Kapp Linné, an old radio station. We managed to focus much more on the invertebrate projects, by setting up sticky traps etc. We also met some other students from Norway who were investigating Arctic Charr migration - they gave us a few fish which we disected but also kept to eat back at home. Just as we were leaving on the last day, a pod of Beluga whales came to visit - one came within a few metres of us. Some had massive scars left by polar bears.

To finish off today's post, below you will find a video compilation of random boat rides around Svalbard.

 

Sunday 3 August 2008

1 week so far ...

I can't believe I have already been on Svalbard for just over a week now - and I'm loving every minute of it.

My student hall is quite nice and I have amazing views wherever I go (provided it's not foggy). The university is fantastic, and the people I have met all really nice and friendly. It really reminds me of when I was here the first time round i.e. spending so much time with a small group of people.

There are so many things I keep wanting to write on this blog but always forget. The other day we went bird spotting with my class and got chased by some crazy arctic terns. There was also a walrus that came to town and lay on the beach. We also saw some massive polar bear footprints in Adventdalen. Oh, and there was a solar eclipse here too (93%).

Today the mist was still over town, but we decided to go on a walk round the surrounding mountains. As we got higher and higher, we managed to get over the cloudline and had some awesome views. As we descended we passed by some small waterfalls (melting snow) and the crazy Norwegians decided to take a shower in it!

Anyways, for the next 8 days I will be away on a fieldtrip and so won't be able to update this page. Bye for now!