Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Photos 6
Photo 1
Jon, Oddmund, Åge - the king crab fishers
Photo 2
King crab - monster!
Photo 3
Ugh...
Photo 4
The fort at Vardø
Photo 5
Grense Jakobselv - the end of Norway and border of Russia
Jon, Oddmund, Åge - the king crab fishers
Photo 2
King crab - monster!
Photo 3
Ugh...
Photo 4
The fort at Vardø
Photo 5
Grense Jakobselv - the end of Norway and border of Russia
Kirkenes!
Gday all,
The lively city of Tromsø hosted us a further few days - met more fantastic people, became good friends with Eric's waffle iron, and even made it to Finland for a day. Jon presumed one of us had knowledge of how to drive a van (....4 months since I was last behind the wheel?), so when I dug the wheels deep into Eric's driveway while reversing at 8 o'clock on a Friday morning....let's just say neighbour Lars had an early appointment with a tow rope, his car and a stranded Nissan King van.
A little later than planned, Guus, Jeff and myself were hurtling down the E6/E8, taking a turn at Birtavarre for 25km of rough road into the hills. With scenery similar to Scotland (and weather conditions to match...), we eventually climbed our way across the Norwegian border and onto the summit of Halti - Finland's highest peak.
Monday afternoon and Tromsø city faded in the distance as we joined up with the E6 northbound. Good to be back on the bikes and the amazing coast road lead us to Alta. Riding uphill through forests of autumn colours, the landscape soon changed to a seemingly endless plateau, broken only by the road and occasional Sami communities. Onto the 94 to Hammerfest - the city illuminated under the glow from a huge flare stack at the recently opened gas works. Aboard the Hurtigruten ferry to Havøysund, we rode south on the 889 into our fiercest headwind yet (30km covered in 4 hours!!!). Good to change direction and head north again, our progress on the E69 halted when Guus' pedal crank snapped in 2...for the second time! This had occurred the previous day and been repaired by an obliging local. We were fortunate with a hitch into Honningsvåg from Odd and a visit to the bike shop the following day. Nordkapp was our next stop and an evening hike to camp at Knivsjelodden (the "true" North cape, but no road there so keeps the tourists away!).
Boarding the Hurtigruten once again to Kjøllefjord where we were fortunate to stay with the Hansens. Guus and I joined fisherman Oddmund the following day fishing for king crab - 224 hauled up in the cages! An amazing trip...yet again, my stomach was not intended for life on the open seas. Things had improved by the evening when we feasted on the catch of the day...superb. Frank took us to Skjøtningberg, Gamvik and dropped us at Mehamn 5 minutes before our boat was due to leave. North Norwegian timing...perfect. To Berlevåg, Båtsfjord and a 4am arrival into Vardø. Explored the fort on this island before riding along the coast to Vadsø and Kirkenes. Caught up with Kjell Arne (met on Svalbard) and he and girlfriend Kristan are now showing us the sights of Kirkenes and surrounds. Took a trip to Grense Jacobselv yesterday - the end of Norway and the heavily-patrolled Russian border. We've just finished off an interview with the 'Finnmarken' paper, a local assured us our trip would be of interest to the general public! Too bad we'll be in Finland when it goes to press next week!
The lively city of Tromsø hosted us a further few days - met more fantastic people, became good friends with Eric's waffle iron, and even made it to Finland for a day. Jon presumed one of us had knowledge of how to drive a van (....4 months since I was last behind the wheel?), so when I dug the wheels deep into Eric's driveway while reversing at 8 o'clock on a Friday morning....let's just say neighbour Lars had an early appointment with a tow rope, his car and a stranded Nissan King van.
A little later than planned, Guus, Jeff and myself were hurtling down the E6/E8, taking a turn at Birtavarre for 25km of rough road into the hills. With scenery similar to Scotland (and weather conditions to match...), we eventually climbed our way across the Norwegian border and onto the summit of Halti - Finland's highest peak.
Monday afternoon and Tromsø city faded in the distance as we joined up with the E6 northbound. Good to be back on the bikes and the amazing coast road lead us to Alta. Riding uphill through forests of autumn colours, the landscape soon changed to a seemingly endless plateau, broken only by the road and occasional Sami communities. Onto the 94 to Hammerfest - the city illuminated under the glow from a huge flare stack at the recently opened gas works. Aboard the Hurtigruten ferry to Havøysund, we rode south on the 889 into our fiercest headwind yet (30km covered in 4 hours!!!). Good to change direction and head north again, our progress on the E69 halted when Guus' pedal crank snapped in 2...for the second time! This had occurred the previous day and been repaired by an obliging local. We were fortunate with a hitch into Honningsvåg from Odd and a visit to the bike shop the following day. Nordkapp was our next stop and an evening hike to camp at Knivsjelodden (the "true" North cape, but no road there so keeps the tourists away!).
Boarding the Hurtigruten once again to Kjøllefjord where we were fortunate to stay with the Hansens. Guus and I joined fisherman Oddmund the following day fishing for king crab - 224 hauled up in the cages! An amazing trip...yet again, my stomach was not intended for life on the open seas. Things had improved by the evening when we feasted on the catch of the day...superb. Frank took us to Skjøtningberg, Gamvik and dropped us at Mehamn 5 minutes before our boat was due to leave. North Norwegian timing...perfect. To Berlevåg, Båtsfjord and a 4am arrival into Vardø. Explored the fort on this island before riding along the coast to Vadsø and Kirkenes. Caught up with Kjell Arne (met on Svalbard) and he and girlfriend Kristan are now showing us the sights of Kirkenes and surrounds. Took a trip to Grense Jacobselv yesterday - the end of Norway and the heavily-patrolled Russian border. We've just finished off an interview with the 'Finnmarken' paper, a local assured us our trip would be of interest to the general public! Too bad we'll be in Finland when it goes to press next week!
Wednesday, September 5, 2007
Photos 5
Photo 1
A ridge high between Barentsburg and Longyearbyen
Photo 2
5-star accommodation in the valley
Photo 3
The abandoned mining community of Pyramiden, overlooked by the world's northernmost bust of Lenin!
Photo 4
A huge glacier front. Can you spot the polar bear to the right??....neither can I
Photo 5
Xbox showdown in Tromsø with Jon, Eric, Jeff and Guus....nerds
A ridge high between Barentsburg and Longyearbyen
Photo 2
5-star accommodation in the valley
Photo 3
The abandoned mining community of Pyramiden, overlooked by the world's northernmost bust of Lenin!
Photo 4
A huge glacier front. Can you spot the polar bear to the right??....neither can I
Photo 5
Xbox showdown in Tromsø with Jon, Eric, Jeff and Guus....nerds
Photos 4
Photo 1
Evening light over Longyearbyen
Photo 2
A Longyearbyen local
Photo 3
It's cold here in the north....and winter's not here yet
Photo 4
High street, Barentsburg
Photo 5
A ptarmigan, the only bird to stay year round on Svalbard
Evening light over Longyearbyen
Photo 2
A Longyearbyen local
Photo 3
It's cold here in the north....and winter's not here yet
Photo 4
High street, Barentsburg
Photo 5
A ptarmigan, the only bird to stay year round on Svalbard
Svalbard summarised
G'day all,
Back to Monday the 20th of August, location: Tromsø airport. Dropped off by Eric and soon on board an SAS flight to Longyearbyen, Svalbard. A 1.5 hour flight to 78 degrees north accompanied by a substantial drop in temperature as we hit the tarmac. The views flying in were amazing, 60% of the archipelago is glacier. From the airport I hitched a ride 4km into the town centre, home for around 2000 inhabitants - Norwegians, Thais, Swedes and nationalities that account for 26 different languages existing in Longyearbyen!
After speaking with a few helpful locals I soon found myself holding the key to a 2 room apartment. Accommodation in Longyearbyen is pricey and hard to come by so to have this place...gratis...for the next 10 days was a great start. I met with Oskar from Sweden and Cris from Norway - fantastic guys full of local knowledge and advice. With the midnight sun in the sky for another 3 days, Cris and I headed out hunting into the surrounding valleys. No geese out at 2am however...
Guus arrived from Tromsø on Thursday, stocked up with some fresh supplies that were triple the mainland price in Longyearbyen! The next couple of days saw us riding (good to have borrowed bikes!) around town organising ourselves for an independent hike. Carrying a firearm outside the settlements of Svalbard is highly recommended due the the possibility of encountering polar bears, so we were soon in possession of a Mauser (from WWII!) and 20 rounds of ammo...hopefully more than enough. In addition we acquired a flare-trip wire system for around the tent, crampons and a few other bits and pieces. Another hunt with Cris, this time into the freezing swamp they call Adventdalen. Our toes were still thawing out for a midnight ride out to Bjørndalen (bear valley!). Nice valley, no bears. Next day and an evening hike up 1050m Nordenskiold was supposed to afford fabulous views over Longyearbyen. Snow and fog decided to change that idea...Great hike anyhow. A late night venture to the shooting range with Oskar allowed us to get to grips with the Mauser...bang bang.
The sun shone the next day as we sailed to the Russian mining settlement of Barentsburg. Arriving to an industrial town that appeared to be a piece of Russia on Norwegian territory, we were entertained by the locals celebrating their "miner's day". Vodka + Russian and Ukrainian miners...whoa! We had a short tour with a guide around the interesting town centre - my favourite site being the sports hall, adorned with a huge steel replica of the olympic rings. Not placed here because Barentsburg had hosted the games, but in the words of the guide "....because it looks nice". Brilliant. The IOC would love that.
The boat left to return to Longyearbyen as Guus and I continued to explore the town before heading into the hills late evening. The next 3 days on foot took us over hills, through rivers (brrr!) and across glaciers back to Longyearbyen. We encountered plenty of reindeer but no humans or polar bears in these truly stunning surroundings. 1.30am and we found ourselves on a ridge with the sun setting over the hills to the west and the full moon rising above the enormous Reindalen (reindeer valley) to the east. An unforgettable experience.
Returning to Longyearbyen early morning we managed a few hours sleep before taking a boat north to Pyramiden. A guide took us around this fascinating abandoned mining town, the last coal being taken from the mines in 1998. A once large and very independent community is now occupied by a mere 5 Russian men. On the boat we ventured to some enormous glacier fronts and were told of Svalbard's numerous "surge" glaciers, one particular glacier retreated 35 meters per day! Back to pack and the following day we left for Tromsø.
Jon has continued to be a great host here in Tromsø with parties, fishing and XBox battles. We'll call Tromsø home until Monday when we load up the bikes and continue on the road north. Hope all are well
Back to Monday the 20th of August, location: Tromsø airport. Dropped off by Eric and soon on board an SAS flight to Longyearbyen, Svalbard. A 1.5 hour flight to 78 degrees north accompanied by a substantial drop in temperature as we hit the tarmac. The views flying in were amazing, 60% of the archipelago is glacier. From the airport I hitched a ride 4km into the town centre, home for around 2000 inhabitants - Norwegians, Thais, Swedes and nationalities that account for 26 different languages existing in Longyearbyen!
After speaking with a few helpful locals I soon found myself holding the key to a 2 room apartment. Accommodation in Longyearbyen is pricey and hard to come by so to have this place...gratis...for the next 10 days was a great start. I met with Oskar from Sweden and Cris from Norway - fantastic guys full of local knowledge and advice. With the midnight sun in the sky for another 3 days, Cris and I headed out hunting into the surrounding valleys. No geese out at 2am however...
Guus arrived from Tromsø on Thursday, stocked up with some fresh supplies that were triple the mainland price in Longyearbyen! The next couple of days saw us riding (good to have borrowed bikes!) around town organising ourselves for an independent hike. Carrying a firearm outside the settlements of Svalbard is highly recommended due the the possibility of encountering polar bears, so we were soon in possession of a Mauser (from WWII!) and 20 rounds of ammo...hopefully more than enough. In addition we acquired a flare-trip wire system for around the tent, crampons and a few other bits and pieces. Another hunt with Cris, this time into the freezing swamp they call Adventdalen. Our toes were still thawing out for a midnight ride out to Bjørndalen (bear valley!). Nice valley, no bears. Next day and an evening hike up 1050m Nordenskiold was supposed to afford fabulous views over Longyearbyen. Snow and fog decided to change that idea...Great hike anyhow. A late night venture to the shooting range with Oskar allowed us to get to grips with the Mauser...bang bang.
The sun shone the next day as we sailed to the Russian mining settlement of Barentsburg. Arriving to an industrial town that appeared to be a piece of Russia on Norwegian territory, we were entertained by the locals celebrating their "miner's day". Vodka + Russian and Ukrainian miners...whoa! We had a short tour with a guide around the interesting town centre - my favourite site being the sports hall, adorned with a huge steel replica of the olympic rings. Not placed here because Barentsburg had hosted the games, but in the words of the guide "....because it looks nice". Brilliant. The IOC would love that.
The boat left to return to Longyearbyen as Guus and I continued to explore the town before heading into the hills late evening. The next 3 days on foot took us over hills, through rivers (brrr!) and across glaciers back to Longyearbyen. We encountered plenty of reindeer but no humans or polar bears in these truly stunning surroundings. 1.30am and we found ourselves on a ridge with the sun setting over the hills to the west and the full moon rising above the enormous Reindalen (reindeer valley) to the east. An unforgettable experience.
Returning to Longyearbyen early morning we managed a few hours sleep before taking a boat north to Pyramiden. A guide took us around this fascinating abandoned mining town, the last coal being taken from the mines in 1998. A once large and very independent community is now occupied by a mere 5 Russian men. On the boat we ventured to some enormous glacier fronts and were told of Svalbard's numerous "surge" glaciers, one particular glacier retreated 35 meters per day! Back to pack and the following day we left for Tromsø.
Jon has continued to be a great host here in Tromsø with parties, fishing and XBox battles. We'll call Tromsø home until Monday when we load up the bikes and continue on the road north. Hope all are well
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