Top of the World

We’re finally here, on what we worked out to be a 42 hour trip since leaving home and arriving here in Longyearbyen. 74 – 81 N and 10 –35 E

Longyearbyen is a small mining town, the highest town in the world. What started out as a whaling station back in 1600 has now become a mining industry and research centre with tourism third on the list. Its situated on the island of Spitsbergen and with other islands makes up the Svalbard Archipelago. Norway was granted sovereignty in 1925. Its around all these islands we will be sailing when we leave from here tomorrow.

A typical mining town, not what you could call a pretty town, but if the scenery we saw from the plane on the way in is anything to go by we should be in for better things to come in the days ahead.

The main street

The glacier at the top end of town

By looking at the houses you can see that this is a land where the sun sets in October and total darkness prevails till February. And temperatures can be –20 to –30 c . Not a lot of cars but snowmobiles everywhere. Hundreds of them.

Just by looking at the bus stop, you can tell how deep the snow must be

Signs of mining everywhere, even though its a long time since these buckets have been used

Being summer, and now with 24 hour daylight little flowers and arctic cotton bobbing up everywhere

Now as far as we are from home, this sign on the side of a building had us perplexed

“please explain”

Tomorrow afternoon we sail . The Shokalsky to again be our home for the next 11 days. So hoping there’s lots more to report when we talk again.