Norwegian Day and Animals

My camera is back! A little damaged and chunky but functional.
My first exam seemed to go well, the questions were not too bad and I wrote the whole 5 hours.

On Saturday was the Eurovision son contest for those who weren't watching. We had a big party where we all dressed up in costumes for the countries we wanted to win. Norway wiped out the competition getting more than double the second place votes. So we all celebrated long into the night.

Sunday was the national Norwegian holiday of Independence. So we groggily got up and joined a large parade, with music flags everywhere. It was so fun and jolly, everyone was welcoming and it was lovely to be a part of. Later on the kids did shows in the sports center, cake and ice cream was served, there were concerts, just a day of celebration. Many people were in traditional dress. Each region had their own design, Svalbard has ones with glaciers and flowers. It was made even more sweet by the eurovision victory the previous day.

On Monday evening I met two PHD students doing the course I'm applying for in Southampton. We went out for a meal and discussed what they do. It sounds really interesting.
On Tuesday morning they picked me up and drove me with them to the EISCAT radar. We set up a new interferometry radar grid. If I get the PHD I'll be using the system. I hope I made a good impression and they say good things to thier supervisor.

On the way back from UNIS I bumped into a load of wildlife. The geese are coming back, I met two friendly reindeer and an cute arctic fox. It was starting to malt so I didn't go too close!

Pyramiden

The Arctic is Melting! The paths through town have turned to slush, the mountains outside are slowly turning muddy brown and rocks and roads are appearing through the snow.
Dayle and I decided that if we were ever going to make it to Pyramiden it would be now. For those that don't know was a fully functioning Russian mining town as big as longyearbyen 12 years ago. However due to a series of accidents, the collapse of soviet Russia it was completely evacuated and abandoned!
It is also over 100km away. We decided to take a guide with us in the form of a PHD student called Ausmund. He had a powerful scooter, a GPS and all the right gear. I was on Malibu, which we fixed but the way (by stealing parts from a broken scooter left by the roadside) with all my gear on my back.
Due to the melting ice we couldnt go the direct way. We had to go the treterous rout over glaciers, up near verticle slopes and accross slushy water covered ice. On the way we passed seals on the ice, they looked like giant fat slugs. We also saw an enourmous glacier front which was like a mountain only of translucent blue ice.
The weather was grey but we got there in tact. Once there it was very spooky. It unsupprisingly was a ghost town and all the buildings had been boarded up, like in a zombie movie. There were hunderds of birds living in the buildings though, nesting on every window cil.
We wandered around and eventually found a way into the old sports center. It must have been really nice in its day, with a swimming pool and detailed wooden Russian architecture.
Everything had been gutted from the inside except an old springbok and horsebox.

We looked around the town in other places but the buildings had been sealed tight to stop more looting.
After a couple of hours the weather started to get worse so we decided to head back.
On the way back in the glaciers the weather continued to deteriorate. For half an hour we were in complete white out. Dayle's tail light was covered in snow and I could only see him because of his brightly coloured helmet! Ausmund led us with his GPS through the tight cravasses and over the now ever worse slushy ice, the only way was to gun it accross with no control or otherise you may find yourself at the bottom of the sea or lake bed!
But we made it out alive and in to too bad time! It was damn scary but really good fun! On the way back we ticked another box by having our pictures taken by the polar bear sign, its a tourist thing you have to do! I was so happy, Malibu had made it all the way, the longest and toughest jounrney most scooters ever make here! It was something I said I've wanted to do since I got here and so glad I did before all the snow went.

Since then Ive been revising for my exam in two days eek so no more adventures until both of them are over.

...and then it hits you. The glacier in front of you is white, the sky is white, the mountains around you are white. You can only see 20 meters in front of you. You are approximately 100km from any civilization and any chance of help, in the freezing arctic, in a maze of glaciers valleys and steep cravases. The only things you have to trust your life with are your two mates in front of you, the rifle on your back with 10 bullets and the hunk of junk you are riding, which you payed 10p for and fixed with your own bare hands with parts stolen from the scrapyard. This is the most frightening and exhilarating moment of your life!


more details on my epic voyage to Pyrameden will follow shortly.