Isfjord Radio

A couple of weeks ago we went on a trip to the west coast with our friend Henning. It was a last minute kind of decision, but we wanted to do something on the little Easter holiday that we had. The reason we had decided to go there was because we called late the night before to see if they were able to make a vegan meal, when they said we made a reservation for three! So we went on a snowmobile trip to Isfjord radio. It took us just under three hours to drive the nearly 200km there, with some nice stops along the way. It was beautiful weather; with the sun shining and blue skies, it felt like a proper Easter!

We arrived earlier than expected out at Isfjord radio, so we had some coffee and took a tour of the place then sat down and enjoyed a rest in their sunny windows. It is such a beautiful place, not just the views and the smell of the ocean, but the guest rooms and the lounging area as well. It was quite a surprise for me. Lunch was delicious, and by far the best vegan meal I've had in a restaurant on Svalbard! I nearly cried I was so happy. So we've decided that for a good meal out we just have to drive nearly 3hrs by snow scooter, ha!

On the drive back we took another route for part of the trip and made a few stops just to have some fun. We stopped to look out at Barentsburg. I have yet to go there but the view from across the fjord was very nice. Then we stopped by the Grønfjord glacier and found this great melt channel. Every couple meters we walked forward we were surprised by how huge the melt channel was and how awesome the formations were. It was a really cool find!

It was a very exciting trip and I was happy to see the west coast and more of Svalbard.

 This is on the way to the west coast, with a few of Barentsburg and the dark cloud forming above it.

Me in the sunny window on the lounging room!

 Oskar pretending to surf on his shovel.

This is a link to one of the tourism companies websites up here that runs Isfjord Radio, I just wanted to add this so that you could see some photos of the inside. Very pretty.

http://www.basecampspitsbergen.com/Our-hotels/Basecamp-Isfjord-Radio

Mohnbukta - The East coast

200 Kilometers

3 days

4 people in a cabin that fits 2 people.

Our ultimate test to see if we have what it takes to live next door to the North Pole.

The light in the evening was just magical.

On our way there. We took turns driving. This is while going through a moraine to get on to the "Rabbot Glacier".

Finally up on to the glacier, we had a wonderful 360' view.

The cabin and our trusty polar bear guard; Geisha.

Jessica enjoying some morning tea in the cabin.

This picture was taken from Fredheim on our way back. In the distance the Von Post glacier can be seen. Usually there is sea ice to drive on all the way to the glacier. But not this year.

Espen comparing the size of he's hand the a polar bears track.

Glacier front, 30 meters tall.

A male polarbear we ran into on our way back to the cabin one afternoon.

Jessica's first time seeing a polarbear. A mother and her 2 cubs.

Cubs.

It might seem weird, when you live far enough away already, that you would want to pack up the snowmobile, a sled and head even further into the wilderness. But boy did it pay off !

We had perfect conditions, a few minus degrees, bluebird skies, 20 centimetres of fresh powder and no wind.

Loaded with rifles, red wine, a glow in the dark bottle filled with Jagermeister and loads of good food we set off with our friends Espen and Julie, and their dog Geisha. We headed out saturday morning, not really knowing if we were sure what we were about to experience.

Our destination was Mohnbukta, well known for it's many polar bears this time of the year. The excitement and the expectations were big, but already the first day, after hours on the snowmobile did Jessica get to see her first polar bear. Not just a bear, but a mother with two cubs, beautifully relaxing in front of a glacier out on the sea ice. On our way back to the cabin we came across another one (that was actually headed in the direction of our cabin), this time a huge male. We spent some time just admiring this fantastic animal before we went back to our cozy, hobbit - like shelter. The cabin was small enough that I (Oskar) could reach with my hands across the cabin from wall to wall and touch both the ceiling and the floor at the same time.

Tiny!

We had great food, good drinks and a nice sleep. Jessica was sleeping in the top bunk, sweating in 25 degrees, while I was freezing, sleeping on the floor in minus degrees.

We took another way home monday morning, and got to see even more of this beautiful land up here. Glaciers and huge valleys. Nature so beautiful you don't even bother to try and take a picture of it.

So, as always, some drama was bound to happen too...

Safely back in Longyearbyen, just about to eat dinner after being home for a couple of hours, a friend of ours called from he's satellite phone. He was sick and needed to be picked up and brought back to town. No problem i thought, and set off just before eleven. trouble with the route, lack of sea ice to drive on and not eager to go up a hill that can only be described as a frozen Niagara Falls with 2 centimetres of snow on it, and with a sick buddy on the back we had to take a 100+ kilometre detour over glaciers none of us had ever been on before.

Around five in the morning, I was happy to come home and go to sleep next to a snoring canadian dreaming about her next adventures, totally unaware i had been gone 5 hours longer than expected in the middle of the night...

Until next adventure!

Jessica and Oskar

Thank you Espen for letting us use some of your pictures...

Blaise

We got a dog a couple of weeks ago and we're very happy we have her. Her name is Blaise and she is a 10 year old recently retired dog. She loves to cuddle on our couch, be snuggled and lay in front of the door. She doesn't talk much but when we came back from being away on a three day weekend trip she had lots to tell us. We picked her up from the dog yard Svalbard Husky, where Oskar knows the owner and he was happy to offer us a few dogs he was going to have to retire this year. We picked only Blaise.

Just wanted to share some photos of her. I've really been enjoying having someone to spend my days with and taking walks with. Now don't make fun that we have pictures of our dog up here because we were asked by several people to send photos of her :)

It's 9 o'clock on Friday night, what to do?

Not that there isn't lots to do on a Friday night up here, but we just thought it would be fun, or rather smart, to practice using our avalanche beacons. Because really, who doesn't love a game of hide and seek the beacon? With wine of course. So me, Oskar and our friend Espen hung out in our back yard for an hour or so and played with our beacons. Although you can't see it very well in these photos all THREE of us are actually wearing one-pieces and are extremely comfortable and completely aware of our ridiculous appearance! Although it may be a lame Friday night, I was in need of some beacon instruction and deserved some reward in the shape of wine in a thermos.

The next Saturday night was a very hick-hobbie-filled evening. After a short snowmobile ride somewhat out of town we came to the shooting range where I was taught how to hold and shoot a rifle for my first time. I only shot one bullet because honestly, my body couldn't take much more adrenaline at that point. It really wasn't as difficult as I thought it was going to be, but it was most definitely as loud.

I've added some other photos from a little walk I went on out to the church hoping to get a good view of the sun shining on the mountains, but wouldn't you know it, it was cloudy!

Probing for the beacon

Making Espen pause on his knees with a bad leg so that I can take his picture.

Don't worry we know how funny we are, and look.

My walk out to the church.

The Church! We've yet to go in for coffee and waffles.

As promised, better photos of reindeer, which we can see everywhere now that it's light out. This is the little baby one that I got all excited about.

To the South where the sun can now be seen peaking over the glacier for a bit if you're in the right place at the right time.

The sun did eventually break through the clouds and on to the mountains on the other side of the fjord but I was nearly home by then.
Much Love.

Sun, snowmobiling, breakdown... an ordinary weekend...

So, with big plans for the weekend, we were setting our self up for a great weekend. Determined to see the sun and tour around a little bit, we prepared our snowmobile, packed our clothes, and were ready to take off first thing in the morning. But, Saturday we ended up sleeping in, and we only had time for a short trip before we had to head back to town for a birthday dinner with some friends. We did get to see the sun, and we were both super stoked to see our shadows again... What a great minute and a half it was.

Sunday we planned to try it again and take off early, however once again we slept in and got off to a late start. We made it up to a mountain on the other side of the fjord, for a great view and some picture taking... Then, on our way home, after driving for 30 meters or so, the snowmobile decided it didn't want to go any further and found it best to stay just where it was... If you ask me what was wrong, I'll ask you back. NO IDEA...

We brought our safety gear, rifle, food, water, flare gun, spare clothes, toques and phones and started walking the 3-4 hours to get back to town... after walking 100 meters or so, we met some people, coming out of nowhere on their snowmobiles, and we were super lucky to catch a ride back to town with them. Jessica on the back of a teenagers one seated snowmobile definitely made his day (it's not everyday you get to have a stuffed green giant on the back of your ride).

Once again things didn't work out as we had planned, but a stop at the local cafe (yes there is only one) made everything better and now we are just happy that the snowmobile decided to break down as close to town as it did. I'll head back out tomorrow, and try to get it fixed and brought back to town. We feel a little sorry for our snowmobile up there in the cold all alone and naked.

Yay for weekends.

View from the Longyearbyen glacier. Hiortfjellet on the other side. The snowmobile stopped almost at the top of the mountain, on left hand side, below the small white cloud, where there is a "crack" in the mountain.

Our first glimpse of the sun. We had to cross the valley, but god was it worth it. Wonderful sight !

It strikes you after a couple of months, how much you miss your shade.

Done playing Peter Pan...

Oskar in the "Teletubby" set up.

Just loving it !

It's hard to tell, but she's actually smiling behind all that...

This is Jessica's new helmet. Thank you parents!

Jessica in her "Teletubby" set up. Longyearbyen can be seen in the background.

The airport on the right.

Just as we are about to leave our fallen comrade (snowmobile) behind.

Jessica charging up for the sun !

Mørketid is over and soon the Sun will come.

We have now been in Longyearbyen for nearly 2 months and the dark season is over; well, we still haven't seen the sun but it will soon shine on our cold little town. About two weeks ago the sky started turning blue instead of black just to the South, but it is now a very bright sky for many of the 24hours in a day. Come Sunday the sun will be above the horizon for those standing at 1000m above sea level and by the beginning of March we will no longer have an actual black night just blåtime (blue hour). The rain has stopped now and the snow has finally arrived (what little there is on Svalbard), so we have been out enjoying the nature that lured us here.

Our brand-spankin-new snowmobile has taken us on a few short trips, including those where we went to the ice grottos. On the first trip we left the longyear valley and went into Adventdalen (the valley with the fjord) and then turned up one of the neighbouring valleys. Because we were now away from the glow of the "city" we saw so many stars and Northern Lights; it was an amazing show.

We have been on a couple of ski trips so far, but my first successful topptur on skis was yesterday afternoon up Sukkertoppen. I am still yet to have my first yard sale (big fall) on skis, but I'm sure you will all be informed by the ever-so-loving Oskar the moment it happens.

At the top of Vannledningsdalen before we went over to Sukkertoppen.

The view to the south from our house... March 8th the sun will appear over the mountain and shine down on our house.

The "magic mountain", Hiortfjellet on the other side of the fjord. With it's 1000 heightmeters, it's a "must go" ski mountain later in the season.

Towards north from our house, it looks darker... well, darker than to the south.

Exploring the cave systems under the Scott Turner Glacier, with our good friend, neighbour and tenant Henning.

The cave is kind of like a frozen water slide, with 30 meters high walls, without the water, the heat or the swim shorts.

Graceful smurf

Icicles hanging from the roof. some places 5 meters long. Hence the helmets in all of the other pictures.

Which way was out again? I think it's this way....

Last little glimpse of the dark sky. This is what it would look like if you fell into a crevasse.

On our way back out and up.

Most of the photos from our ice cave trip are from our friend Espen.