After our long journey getting here, we used today to get adjusted to our surroundings, including trying to sleep when the sun is out! Our bodies want to keep going although the clock on the wall says to sleep. With the aid of good curtains and eye masks, we finally got a good night sleep. There was nothing scheduled for the day other than to tour around and make any necessary purchases for the field. We knew when we left Oslo, we were replacing all the trees and green grass for the barren and snow covered hilltops of the fjords of Svalbard. At the moment the landscape appears so surreal, but in time it will be as real as the trees and grass from our hometowns.
The strip consists of a few stores and restaurants
Longyearbyen has a population of approximate 2000 people and was founded in 1906 by the founder of a coal mining company, John Longyear. Although coal mining is still a major industry here, Longyearbyen has a tourist destination and it houses a university. UNIS (University Centre in Svalbard) http://www.unis.no is hosting our stay while here and have assisted in the logistics of the field work. The facility is absolutely beautiful and is in the ideal setting for polar research. Located adjacent to UNIS is the Svalbard Museum (http://www.svalbardmuseum.no/eframside.php), a comprehensive museum focusing on all topics related to Svalbard. A visit to the museum was the perfect way to get orientated to the life, geography, geology, ecology, industry on the archipelago.
If you look close you can see a mine shaft in the side of the mountain
A university specializing in various Arctic majors
A stuffed polar bear in the Svalbard Museum
If you are following along on the expedition and want to check the time and weather here, go to this link for timeanddate.com (http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/city.html?n=737) You will also find time zone information and sun/moon rise/set information for Longyearbyen. Compare this information to your hometown. - have fun!
The bright housing against the backdrop of a cloudy day
Here's a little geography lesson for you: we are on the island of Spitsbergen which is in the Svalbard Archipelago. We flew into Longyearbyen on Spitsbergen and will remain here until Wednesday, at which time we will take a boat to Kapp Linne, where Isfjord Radio our field station can be found. Challenge for the day - find us on a map or globe!