yann in the arctic

Wednesday, 25 March 2009

POLAR BEAR !!!

There are so many stories and photos I have not yet uploaded. I might put them up later when I have the time, or might skip them altogether ... because right now I have the best story!

Frozen boat in Templefjorden

The sea ice this year over Templefjorden was amazing, and so flat that we managed to gain lots of speed! Anyways, as we moved closer to the glacier snout, and at the distance was a fat polar bear looking for seals !!! It saw us, but really couldn't care less of our presence and continued sniffing at seal breathing holes. Of course we all took our cameras out, but mine froze :( so I had to somehow quickly warm the battery up. I was sooo annoyed: this had to happen at the wrong moment. I still managed to take a few:

Polar bear looking down seal breathing hole

:)

zooming into the above photo ...

What an incredible day :)

Friday, 13 March 2009

can't think of a better title

Urg I'm sooo rubbish at this blog !! Quite a few things have happened since my last post.

Two weeks ago, I went to Barentsburg: the Russian coal mining settlement. Possibly the most disgusting place on Earth. It was my first very long scooter trip. As we approached the settlement, the snow got dirtier and dirtier, and there was this horrible cloud of smoke surrounding it. It was sooo filthy. I have no idea what they are still doing there (well actually I do). But they had a fire down their mine not long ago (it's shut now) and so there is nothing to do. It was like walking into a ghost town. It was also really creepy how it was gently snowing - reminded me of Silent Hill (movie).

The weather has been atrocious here over the past two weeks though. I've managed to go skiing a few times (and twist my knee) but seriously, it's been depressing how rubbish the weather can be. Clouds, whiteouts, and a bit of snow. But then it gets windy and all the snow disappears. Anyways, we've had a bit more snow yesterday and the weather looks promising for tomorrow.

On another note, I can't believe how quickly time is going. Yes I know I always say this, but it really is. I'm having the best time here, and I can look at the clock and it's moving in fast motion. It's gone by so fast, that I feel like I haven’t done anything yet. I need to find a way of returning here in the future. Maybe it's lame to come back to a place you already know, but there are so many things I want to do but just don't have the time for right now.

Random but I just opened my window. Not a sound outside. NOTHING. I later hear an Arctic Fox barking ... And some random snowflakes gently falling....