Arrival

We arrived in Longyearbyen to a warm welcome of mild (5C) temperatures and very pictoresque ice floes in the bay.... the ice floes bringing along with them a polar bear: welcome to the Arctic, I guess!  

A few days of sorting out rifle and boat training, then...

A short (45 minute) plane ride to Ny Alesund, the most Northerly permanently inhabited settlement in the world.  It was like stepping back a few months. Here there is more snow, and n 'early-spring' feeling still.  The arctic terns have only just arrived.

Mind you, the weather is still mild and Kongsfjorden is ice free already.  Eider ducks are beginning to settle on the study island just offshore... this is good news as it means the field work can soon begin in earnest.

Meanwhile, as we await final boat training and kit issue we are living like royalty! Kings Bay, the company that supply and cater for all here in Ny Alesund provide outstanding accomodation and facilities for all researchers and visitors here (showers, tv in the room, posh meals 3x daily, climbing gym facilities, solarium, sauna.... shall I continue??).  

So, it is making waiting rather, shall we say, comfortable???

A strange start for a field season. Luxury Unlimited - we shall have to get used to it, I guess... ;)