Settling in and our first hikes

Jamie now!

We've been in Longyearbyen for about 10 days now and we've got up to a lot in that time! The first weekend was spent exploring the town: finding the UNIS building (not too hard, it's the biggest one in town and right in the middle); finding the shop (moderate difficulty) and marvelling at the hundreds of snow scooters sat on pallets waiting for the snow to return.

The UNIS building

Longyearbyen from above

We also walked out along the east along the shore (the far side of town in the last picture) as far the sign warning of polar bears and did the tourist thing in front of the signs, we didn't venture any further at this point as we were not equipped with flare gun or rifle for safety.

Lucy came up and met us in Kendal's barrack in Nybyen and supplied us with a smattering of good advice and funny stories, the two sometimes overlapping! We all settled into our new homes pretty easily as everyone is very friendly which bodes well for the long winter, although my kitchen was a veritable Mary Celeste as almost all the other residents were away on field trips, their courses having started a week or two before ours. There is lots to get involved with and do - I've been kayaking and Kendal's been swimming already. Daniel also made lots of friends by baking very chocolate-y (and delicious) brownies.

Reindeer lying right outside my window one evening

Most of the week was spent doing the safety course as Kendal has already described and getting formalities like access cards organised, on Thursday evening however we did manage to successfully apply to borrow a rifle for the coming week which we picked up on Friday. That evening there was the icebreaker party (rifle by now securely locked away) which involved, besides the obvious meeting people, silly sports (although they caught our, urm, tactics with chewing gum for the "ping pong and plastic spoon" race) and trying to find the other 3 people with the same playing card as you (handed out randomly at the beginning), although since two of us had the same one it was not too tricky!

At the crack of 10 o'clock the next morning we set out on our first proper hike, up and along one of the ridges above the town, on a still, crystal clear day with wall to wall sunshine enough to forget that we were at 78 degrees north. At the top, like it seems most hills around here, there is a cairn containing a book to sign, which is pretty cool. The views were amazing and hiking across the barren rocky plateau in the company of reindeer and ptarmigan was quite something. We followed a valley full of fossils down off the plateau just up the valley from Nybyen, emerging just below the bottom of a glacier and then variously got back to the barracks either wading across the river or taking the bridge in order to preserve dry feet and boots.

 We had the rifle until Thursday so we went for another trip after class was finished on Tuesday, the joy of lectures finishing at 11 am! We headed east out of town, past the bear sign we had stopped at the first weekend, stopping for the obligatory group shot, headed up the steep mountain next to the reservoir, making our way up a sharp ridge beside a steep sided valley strewn with mining debris. As we got higher the hill the ground got steeper, the path less secure and rocks looser, making keeping an eye on where you were standing and important and the occasional bit of holding on prudent! Most of the group got to the first outcrop but a couple of us pushed on around up to the higher ones, although I was the only one to make it up to the cairn to record out trip for posterity; the views made it very much worthwhile however!

That pretty much covers what we've been up to so far, and we've had some lectures too of course. Finally I'll leave you with this picture of us waiting outside the shop for people on the way back from Tuesday's hike, the rifle (not loaded and bolt out) is perfectly fine on your shoulder and you see them all the time around town, although the shops and bank do have no guns indoors rules!

Shooting and Survival Suits

 Hello it’s Kendal here.

It's crazy to think we have actually been living in the Arctic for over a week now.  It is the summer here now with temperatures of around 4-8 degrees - in many ways very similar to Scotland in the Autumn and definitely not the image you have when you think of living in the Arctic. The temperatures will drop and the snow will fall eventually so what better time to ease ourselves in with some survival training for living in the Arctic.

The safety training (or as I like to call it "survival training") is a mandatory element of our course (Arctic Technology).  The training is intended to teach us the basics of surviving in the Arctic including important lessons such as how to fend of a polar bear and survive the Arctic wilderness.  

The first lesson was on how to handle a rifle. While many people might not be very keen on guns, when you are under attack from an angry polar bear it is essential to be able to defend yourself.  The training was held just outside Longyearbyen in a wooden hut with a shooting range out the back. First we were briefed on the basics such as where to shoot a polar bear and what the different parts of the rifle were. Next we were shown how to half load the rifle which is how we are supposed to carry it whilst out of town hiking. Before collecting a rifle we must show we are able to half load it everytime.  We then moved on to shooting at targets. This was my favourite part of the training! Given my farming background and my family's involvement in local gun clubs I was used to being around hunting rifles but was quite nervous about being tested in front of everyone.  Before coming to the Arctic I thought I would get some practice in with family and friends - just one tip I learned when practising - don't get too close to the gun when pulling the trigger you might end up with a black eye! The targets were approximately 30m away which was quite close. The reality is no polar bear is going to be exactly 30m away and stay that way so we spent time practising from different positions. Fortunately Daniel, Jamie and I are survivors(!) and all passed.  Since I'm writing this post I'm going to claim the title of best shot - after all I was the only one to hit the targets each time so I guess I beat the boys!  After shooting the riffles we also practiced shooting a flare gun which is used to try and scare of a polar bear.

Our first shot -Daniel closest to the camera and I'm in the pink coat

Jamie - Orange coat and boots

Daniel and I

The next day we all dressed up in bright orange ocean survival suits (I'd like to think we didn't look like convicts on the run - but that is probably wishful thinking on my part!) and taken, in what can only be described as a small army tank, to the marina. We didn't just dress up in our suits to parade around town as the newbies but on arrival at the marina we all had to jump in the water, link up and clip onto each other in two groups and then swim to shore. Jamie and I were very lucky and managed to stay dry in our waterproof suits unfortunately the same cannot be said for Daniel who ended up soaked.

Everyone being loaded into the tank to jump off the jetty

In the afternoon we all set down for a more subdued activity, a classroom session on first aid which covered all the essential first aid information required to survive in the Arctic. 

Now that we have mastered the art of survival in the Arctic we can turn our attention to the exciting and not at all threatening environment and surroundings we have come to study!! Here's to surviving and thriving in the Arctic! 

Flying to Santa Claus Town

Hi, its Daniel here!

I volunteered for the dubious task of writing the first post for the blog, so here goes and I promise the posts will improve with time.

It is therefore my honour to tell you about our journey too and arrival in Longyearbyen a.k.a. Santa Claus Town.
Personally I had to get up at 0430 to get across country to meet Jamie at Aberdeen Airport. Got there with loads of time to spare but as I was checking my bags in (yes BAGS, I had two unlike Jamie wearing what he couldn’t cram into his luggage) a well timed Jamie appeared behind me with his family, lovely people, I can see where he got it from! (Shhh, I have no idea what I’m doing just go with it). So we made our way through departures after making our good byes, you know, suitably tearful, etc!

Then it was just a case of waiting for our ever so fancy plane, propellers and all, to arrive. At which point we had to go out onto the runway in the rain in order to board, Jamie looked plenty cheerful about it though, as I felt.

So, once aboard we flew from Dyce to Stavanger Airport in Norway. I’m sure Jamie would attest to how excited I was at going to Norway for the first time. As we came in over an unknown beach we came uncomfortably low over the road at the end of the runway above the passing lorries and cars.

Such a sunny place Stavanger and the heat to go with it. We made straight for the baggage area upon arrival after being informed in Dyce that we’d need to take our bags through customs but we did not find Jamie’s bag or my first bag. Anxiously speaking to a very cheerful official we were informed that they thought it would be alright to just push them straight through to transfers and onto our next plane! Such an unexpected service. We stopped to get a bite to eat and Jamie was surprised by a mannequin that looked like a real child we went to check in again. I honestly love the automated baggage check in that they had (although I was initially nervous as I’m sure Jamie will remind me).

Just like our first flight, the second flight arrived early and so we were in Oslo! Just as sunny as and even hotter than Stavanger. We spent a few hours traipsing around the airport first looking for our baggage (which had transferred without any problems), then for Kendal. Giving up on finding Kendal for a while we stopped to have some food at a handily placed Pizza Hut stall. After that we decided that Kendal must already be in the waiting area and so we went there. Where we found Kendal quite tired from her flight from Dublin and subsequent walk around Oslo in her high heels. Then we boarded our final flight to Longyearbyen and the view was unparalleled!

The sun did not set between leaving Oslo and arriving in the Arctic for our taste of 24 hours light!