I have no notes at all for this, so it will be more pictures than words.
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| Longyearbyen dock in the pre-breakfast morning murk |
I ate it with Tony, Diane & Dobby in the starboard side bit of the dining room, but nipped around to port to get a quick photo between my porridge & fruit.
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| Dining room port-side, last morning |
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| AndyK & PeterO at breakfast, starboard-side |
Talking of fruit, I took a few bits extra for the journey home ~ I was due to spend the night in Oslo airport, & as airport food isn't great & costs an arm & a leg, I filched some fruit.
Various peeps were flying home at different times that day, but as there were no flights in or out due to poor vis., we were loaded into a coach for a trip to a husky sled place.
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| Our Coach Trip into the mist |
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| We were headed to a place where we could see huskies We couldn't see much else! |
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| As in some places in NZ, the roads were dirt |
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| Husky kennels & the loo |
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| Fish drying rack |
It was still very misty, but it was interesting to see the kennels & a Trapper hut showing how they would have lived ~ maybe some still do?
Rather them than me, tho!
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| Dried fish. I wondered how long they'd been there? |
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| Longyearbyen is somewhere back along the misty road |
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| The gun in a polar bear trap |
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| The bit where they put the meat lure before shooting it in the head. Quick death, at least. Hopefully |
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| Husky sleds |
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| Inside the "Visitor Centre"/Cafe |
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| Shame there's no perspective on these skulls |
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| Husky home |
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| A bit of rumpy-pumpy going on! |
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| There was a Lot of noise all the time we were there |
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| Odin: named after the Chief Norse god |
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| Maybe due to having 1 blue eye & 1 brown? |
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| Dobby & Blondie get acquainted |
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| These were all youngsters |
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| Pteppic used to roll over for a tummy-tickle . . |
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| but he was a black cat, not a blond husky |
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| The young Aus lads were very taken with the pups |
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| There was a sort of cafe where you could get a drink & cake. I think this was taken 1/2 way thru my cake? Either that or minced reindeer?? |
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| I think this is a sled on a shed? Looks a bit skinny & precarious! |
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| Inside the Trapper hut Not sure what this brick thing with candles on is? |
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| The fur-covered beds around the sides The heater/fire is in the middle behind the brick thing |
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| The next 3 photos are huskies pulling a sled . . . |
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| we saw from the coach on the way back . . . |
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| down the dirt road to Longyearbyen |
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| According to Google translate, this sign means: "Applies to all of Svalbard" ! ! ! ! |
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| There was a general consensus it was worth a photograph |
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| So the coach stopped & we piled out |
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| Stuffed seal at the museum. Bearded, I think? |
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| A pile of seal skins & a lovely wooden floor |
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| Not sure, but this may be a ringed seal? |
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| No prizes for guessing this one |
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| The paper was about 6" by 8", so it gives a bit of perspective as to the size of the bear |
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| Reindeer They look bigger than the ones we saw at Alkhornet? |
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| Arctic fox in winter colours |
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| A Snow Bunting, 1/2 way through its Svalbard sojourn |
There were signs on the edges of town to the effect you shouldn't leave the vicinity without a gun & the wherewithal to use it.
Once back in town we were told that the airport was still not open, & we would be going back to the PP for lunch.
So ~ as we had been given passes to the museum, most of us piled in there, swapping our outdoor shoes for some fetching croc-jobbies so we wouldn't mucky-up the lovely wooden floor.
It was very interesting, & I spent ages in there.
Back out, I crossed some empty land which may have been a pretty field of arctic flowers in the spring, but not now.
Half way across I spied a bird on a rock.
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| I spent several minutes trying to get a decent photo |
Google says:
The snow bunting is the only songbird in Svalbard & is the most northerly passerine bird in the world.
It nests in most areas of Svalbard, & occurs on the coast and inland, & also in the settlements, where it can find good nesting sites. Its main food is insects. In August–September it leaves Svalbard & migrates south to the Russian steppes north of the Caspian Sea & Kazakhstan for overwintering.
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| I had to zoom in quite a bit or he/she would have flown off |
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| Everyone suddenly had a signal, so were busy on their mobiles |
Moseying down the main street I eventually bumped into some other PP passengers who were also moseying.
We all ended up in a pub where I had a Norwegian malt & a hot chocolate.
Then I went a-wandering & saw this across the valley.
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| According to Gmaps, it's Svalbard Church To to quote Highlander, there must be only one ;-) |
Back at the pub I found that we'd been recalled to the PP for lunch & that there was hopeful news about the airport.
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| Apparently, this means Polar Circle |
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| We could even see some landscape now |
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| Diane & Dobby leave the PP . . . |
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| while Stephen gets ready to take us ashore |
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| The PP with Svalbard mountains behind |
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| The last PP pic, zoomed in from our zodiac |
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| He probably won't see his mate again for ages |
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| Someone has a tissue ready, & even Andy looks sad |
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| Final goodbyes & thanks to staff & crew, while Dobby looks for her bag |
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| Should've zoomed in onto that snowy fan in the background |
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| The taxi-man gets us organised . . . |
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| & we take our penultimate trip |
The flight had been due to leave at 1240, but it was now going up for 1600.
At least that meant less of a wait at Gardermoen for my SAS connection to Gatwick.
Dobby & Tony were on a different flight to Diane, so we said our goodbyes with hugs all round, & the 3 of us set off to Oslo.
To keep travel costs to a minimum ~ as well as having carry-on, I had accessed a website which told you about spending nights at airports, & had sent a link to Andy when he had said he had booked the Aurora trip. His flight to Germany was about 2 hours earlier than mine, so once we landed, when Diane went to her hotel, Andy & I went looking for the recommended sleeping areas & got our heads down before midnight.
Day 15: July 14th ~ SleepingInAirports.net & back to Blighty
Thanks to the above website (a very useful one if you're a traveller on a budget), I had found you could sleep at Oslo airport as it didn't shut for the night ~ unlike one I ended up at in Maine in 1980, & where I'd spent the night in a doorway :-((
There were quite a few of us on the soft matting in the children's play area, & some seemed much more prepared than others for a night on the floor.
I think it was a bit of a culture shock to Andy, & he was probably very happy to get up & go through Security at about 0230 ;-p
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| Oslo airport sleepers |
I remember making notes about his manner of walking on my mobile at the time, but they're long gone by now (ie: Jan 2018!)
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| The musical cleaner at Oslo airport |
After a brew at the shop, I went through Security with my relatively quickly with my small ruckie, & we eventually headed to England at 0605.
Landing etc was fine, but just as I turned the mob back on in the terminal, I got a text from Chris (at work) about when I'd be back in the UK. Apparently, Tracy (bosslady) wanted to speak to me. While I walked through to Customs, I texted back to say I'd be on the train from Euston in the afternoon if she wanted to call then.
There was a long wait on the tube to Euston, & the tannoy said there was a hold up ahead. As I had a connection to make, I decided to get off at the next stop & walk above ground.
Fortunately, I only had lightweight luggage.
It was quite a bit further than I anticipated, & I missed my Euston connection by 3 minutes. Fortunately, the Virgin peeps at Customer Services knew about the hold-up underground, so gave me another ticket for the train an hour later.
I spent the time in a cafe having a brew & doing sudoku. It would've helped this blog a bit if I'd made notes about the day instead, as all the above is from memory!
On the train, Tracy called with the sad news that one of my colleagues had committed suicide while I was off, & his funeral was the next morning. She hadn't wanted me to turn up at work after a fortnight off to that news.
So, that was a bit of a sad ending to a great trip, but at least Kuni was very pleased to see me, & draped herself all over me once I was home.
Opal was her usual 'cat' self, & pretended her name was Rhett Butler ~ that is, she couldn't give a damn :-)
OAO
