More Norwegian Adventures - Ås

After leaving Svalbard, I headed off to Ås to visit my friend Berit who was at the field school last year, and Inger, who was there this year (Berit and Inger are good friends!). It’s about 40 minutes south of Oslo and a small town with university. On the way, we stopped at the supermarket to get some food for a BBQ - the weather was fantastic; clear skies, and nice, bearable temperatures. Whilst at the supermarket Berit got a parking ticket for ~£60 – whoops!


The following day we planned on heading to the beach and just relaxing. Unfortunately, mother nature did not like this plan – I was awoken at 1pm to the sound of rainfall! Firstly let me just say that I didn’t get to sleep until 3am so this amount of sleep was well justified, especially considering my lack of sleep for the preceding days! Secondly, the sound of rain was actually quite comforting – after being in Svalbard where it never rained/snowed once and the weather was pretty constant (mostly cloudy), it was nice to get some variation and obviously the sound reminded me of home!

Our plans obviously changed and we decided to head off to explore the town. By this time, the weather had actually cleared up and the sun even began to shine a little bit. Ås was bloody tiny! I would go so far to say that it’s actually about the size of Flitwick. Considering that Ås has a university, this seemed very strange. After exploring the town, we went to wander around the university which was lovely. Apparently it used to be an old agriculture college (it’s pretty flat here) established in the 1850s – accordingly, the buildings were really nice and old and there was lots of green! I was also surprised to hear that there are only 3000 students at this university – so whats that, about 4x the population of Redborne?

The following day we headed off to the “beach” – the beach was actually a small gravel and grass area on Oslofjord in a place called Drøbak, a short ride away from Ås. The town was really nice and reminded me very much of gamle Stavanger (old Stavanger) which I visited a few weeks earlier. The weather was fantastic once more but the water was bloody freezing so no swimming for me!



On my final day in Ås and Norway, Berit and I headed off on a bike ride to a place called Hvidsten, further south than Drøbak. Unfortunately the weather was pretty overcast and rainy, but this didn’t dampen our spirits. Having not ridden a bike for probably 15 years, I was pretty impressed with myself, especially considering this place was about 14km from Ås. The countryside was very beautiful and reminded me a lot of the English countryside, perhaps mixed with what i imagine the French countryside to look like. We stopped on the way back at some local farm place where I had the best skillingbolle I have ever had! It was bloody amazing! After developing a headache, we head off for home, but not without getting a little bit lost....



That evening I left Norway – I had a great 5 weeks (maybe longer?) there and I cannot wait to return very very soon!

Hade Svalbard

Halaien,

The last few days in Svalbard have gone by without anything interesting happening. The attendees of the field school have been busy doing their group projects which meant no field work or excursions :( This did, however, give me and Sean time to start completing jobs on a big long list of things that had accrued over our time in Svalbard, including making sure all the blogs were done (they can be seen on a link at www.unis.no), sort out other odds and ends, and start making the movie. Exciting stuff eh?

With the final presentations of the attendees came the end of the field school which meant home time the next day, but not before one last party at UNIS. Once again, this meant a late night sleep and considering I was up early that day, I ended up being very tired. The next morning I awoke early for our last group activity – lunch at 10.30am! Crazy Norwegians...! Following this, I was in a meeting for nearly three hours with the course organisers for an evaluation, fun times! As our flight was at 04.50 , I managed to get a few hours sleep before being picked up at 03.00 for the short bus ride to the airport. I did wake up at 2am, got myself ready and decided to just lie down for a bit. Obviously I fell asleep shortly after and was woken by Sean 30 minutes later – I was very confused and according to Sean, I didn’t even speak English when I replied.

Glad to know my help was appreciated...

I was hoping for some clear skies on the way home to get some nice views of Svalbard. This was not the case so it was back to sleep for me! Almost 2 hours later, I was once again woken from my slumber, this time by the air hostess – why are people so adamant that I shouldn’t sleep?

Me, Sean and the course organisers on the UNIS roof!

I had another fantastic three weeks in Svalbard. I met some great people, learnt a little bit, saw some great scenery; not much more I can ask for really! Hopefully I return once again!

More Svalbard Adventures!

Hey guys,

It's been a few days since my last blog, but in fairness, I have been uber busy!

On Tuesday the IPY field school set off to Kappe Linne, the most easterly point of Isfjorden, and home to Isfjord Radio, an old radio station turned hotel. The trip out there was pretty intense; we set off in three zodiacs and although the wind was light, the water was pretty choppy. We were pretty much being slammed into the water every 5 seconds as each new wave came - so much so that someone even jarred their back pretty badly. I really enjoyed it though! Upon arrival at Kappe Linne, we dumped our stuff in our rooms, and set out on a tour of the geology and botany of the region. The trip would have been much better if it wasn't so bloody cold! The wind had picked up at this point, and with a lot of standing around to look at plants etc, we all soon got very cold. After a quick game of stuck in the mud, we soon warmed up...!

The next day we went on another trip, this time to a rock glacier and Lake Linne (which was still frozen). We had some fun on the way back when out one the students got stuck in some mud - after some time we eventually got her out, but I nearly got stuck in the process...I don't think the teacher was too happy about all this. Following our hike, we hopped back onto the zodiacs and set off to Barentburg, the Russian mining settlement. After going there last year, I was a bit dubious about returning. The place is very strange and very Russian. However, the sun was out and it had a much better feel to it this year. The food wasn't great though (it wasn't last year either so I came prepared with sandwiched) - I got a plate of rice with a few peas in it, yummy! The trip back to Longyearbyen was much smoother and we even got to stop off at the bird cliffs which was really cool.

Since returning from Kappe Linne it has been non-stop. Jenny, the director of APECS arrived and she is a heavy drinker so we had two late nights with her - one of which consisted of "speed dating" with Scandinavian politicians which was very interesting (especially as a good few of them were partying with us until 4am!). We also had a "friday gathering" (pretty much a party they hold at UNIS every friday night, although ours was on Saturday) so there was another late night last night. I'm definitely not designed for three late nights in four days. Although today, the majority of us got up and went for a hike. We are hardcore!






Over and out!

Perfect Shot...

Hei!

Well today I went for my second rifle training course in Svalbard to refresh those skills lost in the past year. Off I set to UNIS (the university) for a hafl 8 start, only to find that the range was over booked so we had to wait until 10 - an early start for nothing...We got to the rifle range, had a brief lecture about how to handle a polar bear attach, where to shoot etc, and then the fun began. It was basically the same format as last year - we shot 20 rounds in total; 8 in a lying position, 8 in a kneeling position, and 4 in a standing position. I was actually pretty impressed with my aim (especially laying down and kneeling) - most of my shots went within the centre black circle! Much improved from last year I believe...Unfortunately I have no pictures - there were only four of us and we were all shooting at once so nobody to take pictures for me.

This afternoon I had the pleasure of witnessing a seal dissection! It was actually pretty gross but very very interesting. We had a baby and an adult - they were both shot last week and kept in the freezer but we didn't get the adult out early enough so it was still pretty frozen! So the baby seal got the full blown treatment and slowly lost one organ at a time! The woman actually cut the penile bone off the adult male - now that was gross! I was going to put a picture up but having looked through them, they aren't very pleasant - so if you want to see one, just let me know and I will be happy to send you one.

Off to Kappe Linne tomorrow (another early start) so no new blogs for three days...how will you cope?

Hade!

Back in Svalbard!

Hey guys/gals!

Firstly, I have updated the previous post so that it now has pictures!

I've been back in Svalbard for two days now I think. In case I didn't mention before, I'm up here helping out in the field school that I attended last year. Sean and I (Sean is another survivor of the field school last year and was in Oslo and Stavanger with me) arrived on Friday night. Unfortunately the views weren't that great, well for me anyway. It was pretty cloudy so I was denied the fantastic views of the sea ice and southern Spitersbergen that I got last time I was here. I stepped off the plane, into the Arctic, in my shorts so I can now say I have worn shorts in the Arctic. It seems much the same as when I was here last year - perhaps with a little less snow (it's slightly later in the year) and with a few more new buildings!

Perhaps the one good photo taken on the flight..

On Saturday the attendees of this years field school were on a permafrost excursion in the morning so Sean and I got to have a lie in and recover from our busy few weeks. We then went down in the afternoon to meet up with Elise (the organiser of the course and the one who paid for our trip up here) to see exactly what we are doing, sorting out internet access etc. We even got given an office! It's crazy, I feel important....We met the attendees in the afternoon and went off to enjoy a fantastic meal that evening.

The next day was the students day off which meant a day off for me! I should mention that all the students had already been here a week. 19 of the 25 students had already organised to go on a cruise to Pyramiden, an abanonded Russian mining town, and to see some glaciers I think. The rest of us, me, Sean and two others, instead went on a short hike up one of the local mountains - I think it's called plateufjell or something - basically just the plateau to the west of the Longyear valley. We orginally planned to walk across the plateau and come down on Longyearreen glacier, just behind where we are staying in Nybyen (converted mining barracks). However, we met some people half way along and they said the path down was pretty steep - we therefore decided to just come down the way we came. It was a nice hike though, and we had some fantastic views of the the Longyear valley. Here are some pics...

Today (Sunday), the students were back for some lectures in the morning and a botany/bird field trip in the afternoon. I wasn't really looking forward to this excursion (which was in Adventdalen and Endalen, just further down from Longyearbyen), as the topics didn't really appeal to me. They were actually really interesting though. Plus the weather was bloody fantastic so no complaints whatsoever from me! Some pics...

Sean and I are off for our rifle training (again) tomorrow and then everyone is going on a two day trip to Kappe Linne (the extreme west of Isfjord) and Barentsburg (the Russian settlement), on Tuesday, Will update when I can.

It's good to be back! Perhaps I should change the name of the blog to "my norwegian adventures"....

Sailing the high seas (or fjords)

Halaien,

I have been back in England for all of two days so I thought I should really fill you in on my last few days in Stavanger, and what my plans are now.

The day after our fishing adventure we went for a hike up to the radio tower, just on the mountain/hill on the opposite side of the fjord from Vegards house. The original plan was to go to kjerag, another pretty famous rock landmark in Lysefjord; however, due to very strong winds, cold temperatures, and even predicted snow I believe, we decided to give that one a miss. So we hopped on the boat, crossed the fjord, and started the climb, stopping periodically to play on rope swings, rock climb and enjoy the scenery. The hike wasn't too long but I was pretty tired (I blame this on the walk from a few days before!). We reached the top, took some standard jumping photos in front of some fantastic clouds and waved to Vegards dad who could see us from the house with the telescope.

The following day (I think I have this in the correct order anyway), we went on a lil road trip to Kvitsoy and karmoy - two islands north of Stavanger. The weather wasn't great but we had a damn good time anyway. The highlight was perhaps our ferry adventure - we were up at the lighthouse on Kvitsoy when we saw the ferry come in that we were supposed to be taking. After Vegard spoke to the lighthouse keeper, we said we would never make it in time. Us being young and foolish, thought the man was wrong, so we sprinted to the car to try and make it. Our first challenge was that Rogier couldn't open the gate for us to get to the car. Second challenge - there were loads of cyclists immediately after the lighthouse blocking the path. Third challenge - a big lorry nearly blocked the road. However, after Vegard driving pretty damn fast through this little village, we reached the ferry before it left! WOOHOOO! We got on and the car was facing the opposite way to everyone else; Vegard started a 3 point turn, and whilst this was going on, the ferry driver person started lowering the gate thing to seal us in - the massive metal gate nearly closed on top of the car! Luckily Vegard moved out just in time! That was our adventure; I probably didn't describe it very well but it was bare hilare (or bare-a-licious as Vegard now says)! Good times!

On our final full day in Stavanger we went on a sailing trip on the boat of a friend of Vegards dad; it was a 40ft Beneteau if that means anything to anyone - very posh! We had to earn the trip so spent about 45 minutes polishing the boat. After this, we prepared the sails and after a pretty major problem of the front sail getting stuck, we set off! I was pretty much handed the steering wheel (if it's called that on a boat) straight away which was very scary! The wind was very strong so it was actually really difficult. I would like to say we took a nice stress-free sailing trip but that wasn't the case - we were very hands on, pulling the ropes, takking or something so we (well except Melinda who was taking it easy as she is off sailing the English/French channel this week) were constantly moving. We stopped to have a nice lunch on an island, played some Frisbee golf, before heading home. I bloody loved it and definitely want to go sailing again; it was so much fun (although knackering)!





We got home about 10pm, ready to join the family party in celebration of the summer solstice (a few days early) - or as the Norwegians call it - the midsummer party! We enjoyed a nice BBQ (there was some chicken bought especially for me), a bonfire and a good ol' sing song. A lovely end to a perfect day!

Melinda and I left the next day for England. I was sad to leave Stavanger as I had such a fantastic time but I'm sure I will be back someday. As I mentioned, I am currently in England but leave for Oslo again tomorrow. I then fly up to Svalbard on Thursday! Whilst at the IPY conference we met the organiser of the field school I went to last year; she is basically running the course herself this year and said that she may be looking for some help....well Sean and I instantly volunteered our services so we are going up together to help out (videoing, helping with the group posters, organising social activities etc) - a free trip to Svalbard, what more could you want!

I will try to update whilst on Svalbard but we shall see!

Hade!

Stavanger!

Hey - I know it's been a while but my excuse is that I have been very busy.

The rest of the conference was OK. My talk went fairly well; apparently I seemed pretty confident and my talk was clear. Plus no horrible questions! I had one free day in Oslo on the Sunday after being busy conferencing for a week; this was a day of sight seeing so we checked out the Opera House, Karl Johanes Gate, the Palace, Frogner Park etc - the typical touristy things but all stuff I have done before.

All in all, I had a fantastic time in Oslo though, it was great to catch up with Dale, Sean, Melinda, Berit, Vegard, Ane-Sofie, and Hanne again - these are mostly people I met in Svalbard last year but also people I met whilst in Trondheim visiting Vegard last November.

After our day of sight-seeing, Vegard, Sean, Melinda and I went off to the train station to catch a train to Stavanger (south-west Norway), where we are staying with Vegard until Sunday. 8 hours, and a restless nights sleep later, we arrived in Stavanger. As we were all so tired, we didn't really do much. I should mention the fantastic location of Vegards house though; he lives right on the shore of a fjord (can't remember which one) so the views are absolutely fantastic. I am very jealous! We also went to the beach to check out some of his friends kite surfing - apparently one of them broke his arm (or leg) earlier that day - I wasn't surprised, the wind was very strong!

This is the view from Vegards house:

Yesterday we went on a trip to Preikestolen, a pretty famous tourist location about an hour and a half drive & ferry ride away - again some fantastic views on the way. Once arrived in the car park, it's about a 2 hour uphill hike to reach Preikestolen - this is basically a square slab of rock on Lysefjord. Some pictures are seen below. Twas fantastic weather (I got a sunburnt nose) and a thoroughly enjojable day. Rogier (another field school guy - a right reunion) also arrived that day. So all was well....until I got home!

After arriving home, checking me e-mails and bank account, I noticed that my Australian bank account was $1000 down - I also had an e-mail from the bank saying they had barred my account due to unusual activity! After trying to ring the bank (pretty difficult and costly from Norway), they told me someone had used my details on a gambling website. So they cancelled my card, and I had to ring someone else to start a dispute to claim the money back. This, I was told, would take up to 6 weeks and even then, there is no guarantee I will get my money back! Such a palava, especially as I'm not in the country! I was not a happy bunny!

Today, our international group headed off to check out Stavanger city itself. We had a mooch around, enjoyed a skillingsbole from godt brod (my favourite), and being general tourists. Oh, we also went to the oil museum which was pretty interesting! This evening I experienced my first fishing trip. As Vegard lives right on the fjord, we hopped in his boat, equipped with fishing rods, and went out on the fjord to attempt to catch some fish for dinner tomorrow. Everyone was being pretty successful except me - after nearly giving up and stopping off one last time, I finally caught two Cod in one go (they were fairly small) - I was extremely happy! I didn't do the killing of the fish, but once back on shore, I did de-gut it; I was quite impressed with myself.

Not sure what the rest of our plans are for the week.

Over and out