First week in Svalbard

Friday the 7th of August and I have arrived on Svalbard! It was along day- leaving Oban at six in the morning and not arriving in till half 11 at night on Svalbard. As the plane lands, you can see lots of mountains and the view is amazing. The sun is shinning and the mountains are covered with snow (and no trees!!).

I am greeted off the plane by a friendly face- Carl. He is also a student from SAMS and has spent an entire year up here so it has been a while since I last saw him. He drove me and the other students to the barracks or “Brakkes” in Noweigian. The Barrackses are old mining accommodation that is now used for student accommodation. The accommodation is very clean and warm, everyone gets there own bedroom and you share a bathroom with one other person! The kitchen and living area is shared between 5-7 people.

Not long after arriving, My lecturer from back home called Finlo arrives on Svalbard. He took Carl and I out for burgers and beer, which was brilliant to catch up! I had a really good night, especially laughing at the two lecturers that Fin was with, they were completely mad and had us in stitches all night! Colin is also over so I got a chance to see him too, it is nice that I am so far away from home but I am still seeing people that I would normally see in Oban!

The first two weeks here have been jam packed with things going on! The events started with “safety course”. This occurred over two days and we learnt first aid and how to set up camps. We also had to jump into a fjord in a survival suit (mine leaked!!). We got told how to jump in without our heads going under the water; I seamed to misunderstand this concept and ended up with water up my nose… twice. We also learned how to use rifles, first how to load and half- load and then how to aim and fire. After many rounds of trying to hit the target, it was clear that I was no good! I didn’t even get the area around the target! The lecturer decided that I was useless and said my job would be to scare the polar bear off!

In my spare time, I went on hikes around the area and up some of the mountains! All the major mountains have books at the top for you to sign- I now have my name in two!! The views from the top were amazing and it was well worth the tiring walk! Another hike that I did was fossil hunting to a glacier behind the student accommodation. It was a lovely day and it was absolutely beautiful. Even though it was only a short walk away, you need to take a riffle with you because it is too dangerous not to.

After having some successful hikes, a few of the girls from my Barrack decided to go for a hike up a mountain together. This turned out to be a very bad idea as we got into a bit of difficulty! The mountain was very steep and had loose rocks everywhere so every time we moved the rocks below our feet would fall down the slope. In the end we had to turn back and go back down the mountain as going to the very top would have been a very bad idea. I was so scared so i basically bum-slide all the way down the mountain! We then realised when we got back that we were on the wrong mountain so the next time we agreed to take a map and a compass for a start!
















I am organising the “Friday gatherings” which is cosy time in front of the fire at UNIS after work on Friday. Me and three other girls buy all the alcohol and put it out at five o’clock. It is nice to sit and have a beer and chill out around the fire. I think it’s a great idea that SAMS could adopt! The first gathering went on very late and we had to stay in till the end to clean up. On the way home, there was a great surprise sitting the car park… a kebab van, in the Arctic, who knew!? This made me very happy indeed!