(Post 1 of 4) We met Timon at a favourite hangout out for Longyearbyen’s guides. Over burgers, he told us why he loves Svalbard so much. When he came last year, to visit a friend, he didn’t know a thing about the place. “On my way up, I read the in flight magazine, and it’s…
(Post 2 of 4) Timon helps take care of a dog team at the public dog yard in Longyearbyen. They had a work party today, so Eric and I helped clear up the garbage and check the fences. Dozens of dogs share two-storey fenced accommodation and their handlers come to clean, feed, run and love…
(Post 3 of 4) Spring time in the dog yard. Want a ride in the cart? It’s work before play. Jenny picks up an impressive amount of dog poo. And then meets Miriam. Check out the next post.
(Post 4 of 4) Miriam gives the dogs some exercise pulling a fancy new dune-buggy dog cart. She’s working on a PhD in marine biology; she studies the tiny animals that live in sea ice. Out on the track, she calls after the dogs – go! stop! left! right! At one point, they leave the…
Whew. End of a long day and time to kick back. Here in Svalbard, they have some special guests who belly up to the bar. Photo @eric_guth
There’s a little visitor’s table set up inside the old mine building. It seems people from all over the world have climbed up to sign their names and feel a bit of the history seeping out of the walls. Photo @eric_guth
You can see part of the coal city in the background here, at the very far end of Longyearbyen, under the shadow of a glacier. We found bits and pieces of coal all over the slope.
This is Eric Guth. He’s my co-creator for #meetthenorth this week. He’s the kind of guy who will drag you to the top of an icy slope and convince you to climb across a decaying mine complex just to get to the windy side, which has a better angle. It’s fun having him along, and…
We’ve arrived in Svalbard’s main centre, Longyearbyen, on the island of Spitsbergen. 78.2200° N, 15.6500° E. We went for the long view this morning and hiked to an abandoned mine on the hillside above town. You always get perspective from up high. From the mine, we glimpsed the history of this place, named after an…
Welcome to Svalbard. Come for the ice, stay for the people. I’ll be exploring life in and out of Longyearbyen with @eric_guth this week.