keeping tabs on Helen

Søltilbakk - 21 January

2012-02-07T19:37:00.010Z

There was a reason behind my smile here. I will let the photos tell the tale... ;)

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(Tromsø town)

(the slopes of Lille Blåmann mountain)

(shadows from the sun we hadn't seen for 2 months)

The sun is back. Long live the sun!

2012-01-27T07:51:00.005Z

Toilet with a cold seat

2012-01-22T19:57:00.002Z

New Years Eve in a cold place

2012-01-22T19:48:00.005Z

A trip to Rostadalen, Dividalen National Park boundary.

A cold and beautiful place.

God jul - Christmas, Norway-style

2012-01-22T17:16:00.016Z

Pre-Christmas in England, to celebrate Mum's birthday, then Christmas in Norway. Brilliant (utterly!) to have time at home, and yet nice to be back in Norway, also.

Reflecting, I have had the good fortune to spend Christmas in different places before. I've shared other people's Christmas days in New Zealand, Canada and Iceland. To be abroad is never the same as Christmas 'back in Blighty', but it is very wonderful nonetheless. You really don't know what to expect, so the experience of Christmas is a fresh and exciting surprise. And, Ah!The traditions of others... I'll never forget my mixture of fear (terror?) and delight at the live candles on the tree, when dancing and singing around the tree in Iceland (...great, but totally insane, insurance-wise, no?). Then there was joining into the snow golf tradition of playing golf with the neighbours and friends of my kind and generous friends the Ripley's, in Fort Macleod town, Alberta. Ha! That was one tradition that has not only survived but also enriched the years for that family, it appears: playing golf in the street The Day After The Day After Boxing Day with a club that is anything but a golf club (dangerous? Yes). And Boy! did we all get tipsy on cocktails at my friend Jo's, on her family's sheep farm in Otago, New Zealand! (the response to my question, "what shall I bring" was, "...a bottle of liquor" ;)).. Then, after learning how to make various delightful combinations of drinks with Callum and Matt, it suddenly poured rained from the heavens - right on cue, as the lamb was being roasted out on the grill on the lawn, and we were just settling down into a classic Southern hemisphere Christmas of winter sunshine and high temperatures....

So, to Norway (and to less talk of high temperatures)

Well, it started off with a stroke of Christmas luck - with me winning the almond in the rice-pudding dinner/dessert that you traditionally scoff on the eve before Christmas Eve. I'm proud I won, so you get to hear the whole story!

It's called risgrøt and is cream, rice, some tasty spices and... a hidden almond, buried deep (and blanched, for detectability-reduction...)... He he! - and I won the marzipan pig prize for finding the nut treat. Er, small problem: didn't know the rules. How was I to possibly know you are not supposed to EAT the almond evidence....? and if you eat the bloody evidence you don't get the massive marzipan pig prize. Hmm. Problem. Yep.

(Hmmm. I did show the evidence, but it was not so pretty - a half consumed almond is never much to look at!)

And then, to Lyngen, to see the family, exchange gifts, relax and... eat. Home-cooking, Norway-style, at its best. Pork chops, a broad range of home-made picked herring... and lots and lots of coffee and cake!

.. Add a trip in the snow-flurried darkness up to a mountain hut one afternoon and a massive fire in the woods up the valley (yes, those ARE Ferrero Rocher chocs you see there, melting beside the flames).... it all was pretty magical.

Cold. Dark. Warm. Christmas in Norway :)

Goodbye Sunshine, 2011

2011-11-22T09:19:00.005Z

...it went from this, when it was impossible to escape the suns rays

To this moment, when we celebrate its departure, for two months...

(Pollfjellet summit, 1213m, the town of Skibotn seen in distance, below)

Sun Season Over

2011-11-22T08:59:00.005Z

Oh! Those bare, stoney grey hills of Kvaløya, towering over their mountain lakes and marshes... All is now decked with snow. (Now, IF you were a small plant up there, you would be no doubt be reflecting: "oh, here we go again"... ). Rivers and streams are iceing up, and physically slowing down.

In Tromsø, the streets are also becoming rather less busy. I think that is a real sign of summer: people strolling casually about, in town. Time to waste, and Vitamin D to absorb - you can't spend enough time engaged in this activity, up here. And no one thinks on it as a waste of time either - everyone agrees with the importance of Summer Sun Worship.

On Sunday, the sun left us for its - shall we say - winter holiday for two months. The town almost sighs audibly with relief - the memory of the manic pressure of the midnight sun fades right away. Tourists are fewer, and locals are less inclined to crowd the streets, loitering and recalling the time of day whilst they soak up the suns rays. (It suddenly got too cold and wet to do this). As the street buskers start to look a bit chilly, it's indoor party time now ;)

So...it's the pre-snow ICEY season starting. At this time of the year, I think about how difficult it must be to be an eldery person, up here. You have to be very, very careful how you walk, and very, very determined to get outside! But you manage.

Summer was like a tonic to us. And those seemingly endless hours of sunlight have set us up, and prepared our systems to manage the next two months. And, oh! for the beautiful, blue-light of winter. The quietness of new snow, and the palette of dawn and dusk colours....

(...ah!...once the ICEY season is over ;))

(can you spot the Norwegian troll climbing up the mountainside in this picture ;) ???)

Snow is in the air...

2011-10-04T09:13:00.005Z

Yes! Many kilometres and many hours of geese-counting now behind me, autumn now here, and winter approaching. The days are drawing in - fast. You see the difference in the the light daily. But it's great to have cooler weather, (the dog appreciates it, at any rate...) and I am really looking forward to winter now (compared to 'sort-of-not' a few weeks back).

We have had fresh snow at 800m recently. I was in the National Park, hiking with Dovre, the other weekend. Ah! Nothing quite a magical as fresh snow on the peaks, striking autumn sunlight, blueberries for breakfast, and snow flurries in the air....

Empty roads and geese on my mind

2011-06-15T12:43:00.004Z

After months of 'not very much work at all' since Christmas, I have - finally - recently been working around the clock (or so it felt at times!) - surveying greylag geese in Finnmark and Troms counties. The round trip from Tromsø is about 2000 km. So, this means hour of driving on near-empty roads (I swear one day I saw only 2 cars in 2 hours of driving...) with an agitated dog in the back of the vehicule.

It also means outstanding northern landscape to admire, and very nice places to camp out. It's been work the time and effort.

.... and surveying on empty roads is just as well, considering I have only just now found out the all-important road regulation to "give way to the right" here in Norway. Ah well! Not bad to learn the highway code here after a mere three years of driving here....

(crikey)

The secret to a long and happy life?

2011-04-27T06:15:00.009Z

It's maintained by some that the true secret of health, happiness, and hence a long life is, above all, the beneficial value of good sleep. (Other properties such as personal financial wealth and which country you are from are probably less important than we place value on). In the sleep department, huskies have an unrivaled sleeping ability, I really think... There must be great benefits to being able to snooze soundly for hours at a time - after all, noise and disturbance is to a minimum, once you stop fidgeting and the drifting snow is firmly in place. Warm, comfortable and quiet. That must be beneficial to your immune system and health...

Enjoy the photos! And remember what's important :)

Introducing the Alaska husky - an adaptable breed: able to sleep whenever and wherever...

...forest understory is pretty darn comfy, but decked under snow shouldn't be underrated either! ;)

A good way to live, don't you think?

My Easter

2011-04-26T07:57:00.008Z

Easter in the UK is etched in my memory as camping on the Devonshire coast, cold mornings and sunny afternoons, (oh, and pub lunches, in between sandwiches gritty with sand, consumed on the beach). Flowers. Grass. Lambs in the fields. You know - that sort of thing.

On Easter Sunday this year it was quite different. Mostly alpine. Not a lot of beach around.

Mind you, it was still undeniably 't-shirt weather' and not without sunburn! (...and believe it or not, the sea is only a few kilometres down the valley)

Norwegianisms

2011-04-26T07:46:00.006Z

...Skiing At Easter Time. snow or no snow.

Plan B: making a fire in the pine forest

(when the snow is noticeably absent, hence pulking is not an option...)

Window Poetry II

2011-02-08T07:28:00.001Z

Dovre and I.... Part 2

2011-01-24T09:12:00.007Z

The classic transformation from snowball to husky....

Dovre and I

2011-01-24T08:50:00.008Z

Have I ever introduced you to Dovre, my fine four legged friend? Hehe. Most likely!

I'm proud to be his owner, in his (active) retirement! He's an ex-racing husky, which means he participated several times *we are not sure how many, but think it was 8!* as one of the two leader dogs, at the front of the pack in the team of Tove Sorenson, in Finnmarksløpet, the world's most Northerly dogsled race. (http://www.finnmarkslopet.no). This meant he helped steer the course for a team of 12 dogs, covering 1000km over a 10-day race. It's a wild race, and I guess you have to like a bit of snow in your face at times to complete this, and not just give up and 'park-up' (stop running). As snow in your face can feel like sand in your face at times, (hence why military helicopter training for Afghanistan takes place in N Norway) this must be hard on the dogs, and you have to have a willing and keen canine to keep up the team momentum.

I adopted Dovre in his ageing years from my great friends, Ane and Jan, who had acquired him from his previous owners a few years back. He was working for them, pulling sledges with tourists on long winter trips in the mountains. Nowadays he no longer pulls sledges for a 'job', but instead pulls me. I seem to have progressed a little since my early days of skiing with dogs (see previous posting:http://helenjewell.blogspot.com/2008/12/skiing-with-dogs.html )

-these days I mostly faceplant only on the downhill phase!!! ;)

Huskies are practical dogs to own here in Norway, as the many great winter huts in the mountains and backcountry do not normally permit dogs inside. (Its an allergies thing!.....). So, this works well with a dog with a thick winter jacket like Dovre, who is used to sleeping in a snowball outside. You just chain him up outdoors, and he sleeps like a king! Going on hut trips = no problemo!

So, here are some Dovre photos for you. (see this post, and the next: easier to upload and space them that way!...lazy me....!)

(you can well skip this Blog Post if you are a 'Cat Person'....)

....and the pink light

2011-01-13T13:14:00.009Z

Nice light today, out skiing with the dog. It feels like the light is really trickling back now, minute by minute every day. The sun comes above the horizon and back to the city streets of Tromsø next Friday... The Official 'SunDay' date.... (and this weekend, if you go somewhere up high, with clear views south...you might just get a sneak preview).

Here's a this link to a - very amateur! - video of the dog pulling me on my skis, and a taster of the light as seen today (excuse my wobbly filming and squeaky enthusiatic cries to keep the dog a-running straight! ....hope the camera-shake doesn't make you nauseous):

www.youtube.com/watch?v=w6Mku9KGBVM

New town, blue light

2011-01-12T14:30:00.004Z

Godt nytt år!

2011-01-05T10:43:00.011Z

Happy New Year 2011 to one and all!!

My New Years Resolution is to try and update the blogsite a bit more. Last year I was rather hopeless - sorry for all of you who actually do have a sneaky peek at the webpages here now and again. I'll try better!!!

(and if you were wondering where I have been, I have been busy moving from the mountains and cold and frosty inlands of Bardu... to.... the big city of TROMSØ ;))

So, it could be nice to have the change. The dog seems a little glad of the warmer temperatures (it can be 10C warmer at the coast) and so far so good.

....am looking for work and a roof over my head. Will keep you posted...

__________________________

In seasonal style, to clear my head from a hectic but lovely U.K. visit home I took a lovely New Years Eve tour inland, with Per Olav and Helene. It was a most beautiful ski-in, to a hut in the mountains, with most of the trip above treeline and bathed in winter light. However, on arriving at this remote hut, 30K from anywhere, I got very ill with a cold that I had thought was over before I had set off skiing on 29th Dec., but was certainly not even started by then! So, I was in a sort of delirious and feverish haze over New Years Eve itself. Not a great start to 2011.

And so I relied on the dog to haul my aching bones out on Jan.1st. He worked like a soldier, and I swear he thought he was back in a long distance race situation, as we were following dog sled tracks most of the way, and were meeting huskies and people with pulks at several places. So, with 14-year old Dovre feeling himself inspired and pulling me along like a sack of spuds on skates (?!), I needed only to brake on my skies (oh, and cough and splutter all the way back...).

And now: now it is serious Find A Job Helen time.

(watch this space!)

p.s. hope you like the new blogdesign ;)x

Close to home

2010-08-28T21:07:00.002Z

20k southwards from where I lived before I went to Svalbard this May, and good access to the local hills still.... I can quite happily explore around here a while yet...

Waiting for Winter

2010-08-26T18:11:00.009Z

Well, his expression says it all! Dovre wants SNOW and he isn't scared to tell me this.... as I painted the sledges in readiness for winter....

I have been disconcertingly busy these weeks: moved home, moved boxes of my stuff in, and then boxes more of the same... looked for work... found work (working with dogs/helping at a farm, and at a childrens' nursery....(a little more obscure, for those who know me!....))....started to train Dovre the Lean Keen Racing Machine (er!)... and generally basked in end of summer SUNSHINE (shhhh).

And so now all we need is TIME to train the dogs with a quad bike/trolley on the forest tracks. And then.... a thousand hours of husky training later...

SNOWWWWWWWW: and we can hit the deck (hopefully not!) running.

So, here's to waiting for winter. It's not so bad, after all.

Anyone for coffee?....

2010-08-26T08:43:00.002Z

Somehow it tastes better this way...

Reflecting on light and (field) life!

2010-08-01T21:46:00.009Z

I've just experienced another summer of relentless 24h daylight, and as I marvel at the arrival of the disarmingly peaceful 'evening light' (it's midnight, and dusk outside) I am reminded of how this will soon be replaced by the solid presence of winter dark time (as per. this photo, taken on 1 January this year).

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I have just returned to mainland Norway from a summer field season in the Arctic. Again, I feel very fortunate to have had such a rich and fulfilling summer. Life is never dull as a field biologist, and such work has really shaped my life for almost as long as I remember. As I feel intensely at the time, and spend much time reflecting upon after, I feel very fortunate to have worked for the researchers I have had the privilege to work for/with. I have met some very good people, and all are very motivated to get 110% out of their field season time whilst... enjoying the experience. I guess that's what keeps me going back!

Today I sweated my way to the top of Gråhøgtun, a mountain framing my current location, its English name being 'Greyback' (or 'Hornyback' depending on whether you pronounce it with Norwegian or English accent...). So there I was, on the grey/horny back, and I felt some real attachment to the summer I just had, and the place where I am living right now. I wanted to share this quote, written by Eric Shipton, British mountaineer ca. 1940.

'He is lucky who, in the full tide of life, has experienced a measure of the active environment he most desires. In these days of upheaval and violent change, when the basic values of today are the vain and shattered dreams of tomorrow, there is much to be said for a philosophy which aims at living a full life while the opportunity offers.

There are few treasures of more lasting worth than the experience of a way of life that is in itself wholly satisfying. Such, after all, are the only possessions of which no fate, no cosmic catastrophe can deprive us; nothing can alter the fact if for one moment in eternity we have really lived.'

Arrival

2010-06-02T10:23:00.002Z

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... ;)

289 Days Of Solitude

2010-05-27T05:58:00.007Z

The hut.

It's over.

I left the cabin on the lake on Tuesday, and came to Tromsø. Dovre off to friends for safekeeping; Boxes duly packed and distributed between whoever would take them - a very deserved thank you those who did! Invaluable friend Ole Johann helped with the final box delivery to the forest road. 400m of forest tracks to the roadside over 'not-yet-melted snow' (icey after recent rain) was challenging to most of us who bore boxes to the parking place... The forest was just reminding me that it has the edge over me, or anyone else!

(I guess moving out is difficult, and maybe that's why I stayed beyond the original 'for autumn' spell that I first proposed to the hut owner...)

9 months later...

In Tromsø, flight to Longyearbyen today, onward to Ny Ålesund on Monday.

Life is a challenge. Boxes'n'all. My coming season in the Arctic will be a needed tonic.

Meanwhile: Barry White is helping me pack and weigh my final bags - those ones that are coming with me. No field season is complete without his vibes...

....bring on the summer!

Snowsoup/the sudden end of winter

2010-05-17T08:59:00.008Z

Well, it's not often you are contemplating the crossing of a fast, rather knarly looking river whilst composing blog posts in your head! Heaven knows why, but I was struck by a poetic moment the other day at a rather inappropriate time.

Spring is here. Most definitely. Visually and physically (hence the wet feet).

I should add - I was trying to ski when I encountered this river in full force. I had been struggling through soupy snow (heavy, waterlogged, granular: you get the picture?) which was proving fiddly enough to ski through when I came across a benign looking 'stream' on the path. It was small enough, but not to be trifled with. An ice channel gushing over the path - like a sort of luge track, with a deep gauge to it. With all that inverted light, it was hard to gauge its depth. It looked deep enough, yet exactly how deep and where the max. depth was, was hard to say. Deep Enough anyway. And Fast Enough. Especially on skis.

It reminded me of a river on Svalbard in De Greerdalen, when I encountered another knarly river, all set to 'surge' (consequence of a springtime surging river: to be possibly swept away, over the ice or under). Geography leader Lucy and I were really stuffed for where to cross safely, to get back to camp. Blue ice. Big river under. Slushtastic. Not a good feeling.

Anyhow, back to Bones valley, where my nemesis was a mere trickle by comparison! But still, unskiable (sigh).

The detour was to clambor up the river, to find a better crossing. And it was as I ice climbed on skis up the slippery upper banks, hauling myself along by grabbing for trees as my skis preferred to go downwards - watching the swirling water breaking through the ice and thinking 'don't cross above a hazard' like a Mountain Leader mantra - well, that was when I thought of this blogpost.

So here it is.

It's Norwegian National Day today. It's about 20C out there. And has been this hot since Wednesday. It's extremely nice, but rivers are in full spate and a flood warning has been issued. So, there's a flipside to everything.

I was up a sheer sided valley yesterday skiing/slush trudging up to the Swedish border, and witnessed the full force of ice and snow and rocks and mud when the mountainsides clear themselves suddenly of their winter cloak of snow. Quick reactions won't save you when several tons of such rubble sweeps down the mountain slopes and into the river at the bottom. Yes, I got out of that valley pretty darn fast.

The ski season is pretty much over for mere mortals who don't live above 500m.

And I can definitely state - here comes summer :)

Walk to school - last month

2010-04-16T03:17:00.000Z

Dovre

2010-04-16T03:10:00.001Z

Here he is: arrival DOVRE. Happy husky, retired from the cares of working. And seems to enjoy the fireside comforts these days.... (though persuading him first inside took a bit of effort!)

Hut life

2010-03-08T16:08:00.004Z

The promise of summer

2010-03-08T15:46:00.005Z

I didn't deliberately miss the sun's return. The light coming back is a gradual process. So you feel, after the long winter with no rays of light at all on the hut since October... Believe you me, I have been long-anticipating the sun's return, and yet.... often I am away at the weekends...during daytime (see post below, titled 'Sunworship'). I find it so hard to sit in the hut, at minus whatever degrees, just in the dark: Waiting for the sun. So, I go outdoors. Get warm. Anything. Therefore, perhaps I missed the first rays of sun on the hut. And yet I wonder....

It was the last weekend in February, and I was working night shifts at the Asylumottak. Bed at 8am after a night shift seemed a good excuse to be in bed, in the hut, during the day time. In the hut. And so, I awoke, 2pm, to the hut bathed, yes bathed, in sublime sunlight!... yet only for a few minutes....

You may think I'm waxing poetic about this, but it was so warm and light and suddenly the promise of summer was there.

And, although it might um and ahhhh a bit about coming back: once the sun creeps back here, it suddenly isn't so gradual anymore. A few days of teasing past the windows and not quite making it into the room proper. And then, quite unexpectedly, the sun is back. It's here. Mornings are light again, you don't need the head torch to go to the outhouse, you can see your own slippers in the dusky dawn. Small things that make life easy again.

The light is back. And it isn't going to go away again for a while now!

I hope you enjoy these photos as much as I enjoyed experiencing looking through the lens.

Velkommen tilbak til solen

2010-03-08T15:38:00.008Z

Shall we just say

- the solar panels are charging once again :)

The sun's return to woods near home

2010-03-08T15:37:00.002Z

Sunworship

2010-03-08T15:27:00.008Z

(The ski model is named 'Nansen'. It inspires me. But alas, doesn't stop me faceplanting.)

hmm. if you look closely enough you can see the smoke from my hut chimney ;) true

It's always good to get out, and ski near home. Here I am, not 4km from the hut, enjoying sunshine and snow. It's paradise in this weather: I had to ski on, and on, and on....and on... It was hard to come indoors ;)

Winter lights

2010-02-25T15:36:00.003Z

Home Sweet Home :)

Sun on the lake

2010-02-25T15:15:00.001Z

Sun is back, on the lake. Hadn't seen it here since November (maybe even October!) so it's a welcome sight. That's why I'm smirking ;)

New Years tur

2010-01-02T13:27:00.007Z

We left on Weds and had big ambitions for the New Year to ski the 20K in to a nice mountain hut where I hiked last summer, relax, celebrate, etc... but instead...such plans can somedays go astray...

We got to a small, two bed, 2x3 m hut (free to stay, chop your own wood, turf roof, thick log walls,etc) which was en route and was all warm still as someone had used it the night previous. (this was decidely tempting and we soon decided were too late for the big push in... it was 4pm. no chance!) and guess what, my boss from the school arrived at this little riverside cabin, alone except for his dog, and a big box of red wine.... so, we had a social time instead and a pre-New Year drink, with an outdoor fire in the snow. Hanne and I ate salmon couscous stew (our own invention: lovely!). Ludwig the (loaned) dog ate salmon skin (bit skeptic of the pepper and lemon flavouring at first...). Tor ended snoring contently on his bed mat on the floor squeezed between our wooden beds and the door, as the hut was so tiny. And Hanne is so nice she let his dog sleep on her legs. (Ludwig was happily firmly chained to a tree outdoors, as he doesn't like my bosses setter so very much. Call it what you will, but it involves a fair bit of knurling (growling)).

Next day. A decent 9am start, and up the frozen river we went, then up into mountains and over a snowy plateau to the hut beside a big mountain lake. Ludwigs pulk (sled) was awkward over trees aand roots poking through the snow, and downhills and uphills, and of course the dog was not so glad of thin ice on the river (he seems to be able to 'smell' the open water underneath - we hear it tinkling sometimes and he actually crouches low and sort of crawls a bit.... yikes! Makes you ski fast over those spots) However, collapsed areas along the river were showing just more frozen layers underneath mostly - it wasnt as dangerous as it sounds ;). The worst was areas where water had seeped from under up and when you get that on evil slush your ski skins attract water and you have to sort of SKI with blocks of ice weighing God knows what under the skis... rubbish to that!). We were unfortunate that Hannes ski boot bust (the toe section started to crack off, which binds the ski to the boot...). Photo shows the moment we had to do the 2nd fix on the skiboot. Bugger.

So, we fixed with my Emergency Duct Tape but it was not really enough - duct tape is amazing stuff. But you have to use bucketloads of it to keep gear intact! She ended up hiking the final 6km on foot. Not so easy in deep snow. The moonlight was amazing as we had no need even for head torches. Just moonlight :) When we finally got to the 2 huts up in the hills at 9pm there were several people there, (16 others, includinig the kind man who had warmed the previous nights hut and whose ski and pulk tracks we followed almost the whole way...) and a few dogs to boot (including Ludwigs friend Inuk, who he lives with and who was on loan to another friend! so a social New Year for the dogs also ;)). Before we had time for the Xmas Pudding treat with our new hut mates it was New YEars. It felt like a pause in dinner! ;) a few fireworks (dogs not so keen) and hugs all round then a dash back inside for Xmas Pud! laced with Cognac. Nice. But Hanne and I stayed v sober. 20 hours trek in. hmmm. I had to work at 1800 the next day. Yes, we fixed her boot, took 2 hours kip and back on our skis by 5am the next day. a lovely ski out. Her boot survived. Arrived at work 1730...just in time for a shower! ;)

(more photos coming).... just maybe not shortly!

Winter and fall

2009-11-29T01:34:00.004Z

" I prefer winter and fall, when you feel the bone structure in the landscape - the loneliness of it - the dead feeling of winter.

Something waits beneath it - the whole story doesn't show. "

Andrew Wyeth (1917-2009)

Ice on the lake

2009-11-29T00:49:00.006Z

The lake is freezing over now, everything begins to get very quiet, and there is ice underfoot. We are waiting for snow now. And the lake to freeze completely.

A Day That Caught The Sun II

2009-11-09T19:45:00.015Z

Someone is switching off all the light in Målselv. Daily changes, and now the sun doesn't hit the school area at all at any time of the day (or my cabin...).

See: http://helenjewell.blogspot.com/2007/01/there-came-day.html for previous blogging on the same theme.

So, thats just how it is here, now. And the poem expresses the mood, most mornings, as I snatch my walk to school....

Hmmm...Those were the days...

Moonscapes

2009-11-09T16:10:00.010Z

But the sun going has a definite bright side - the moon is everpresent now, and moonshine can match the sun, when in its full phase. So, there is brightness and colour, even in the mørk ('dark time').

(not to mention the Northern Lights...)

(the moon is in this summit-view photo also, just really small!)

These photos were all taken the other day, as I stretched my legs out on the hills above the cabin. Boy, it felt great to be out ALL DAY on a Friday! .... that's the best feeling ever.

School rules

2009-11-09T15:48:00.008Z

It's great, a place where the school rules include:

"The throwing of snowballs at one another is strictly forbidden"..... ;)

I am enjoying very much the commute to work these days - there is a nice light through the forest, and often a red sky to great me. The forest paths are icey now, so I have funky spikes that I can set over a pair of shoes - makes life easier.

Had 1000L of dry wood delivered the other night. Makes for a cosy fire, which is much needed right now. The temperature is bouncing from -10C to plus, er, something (not much, anymore!). Its the end of høst for sure....

And look who I found stealing the bird seed yesterday.... !

This morning

2009-11-04T14:37:00.004Z

Just wanted to share this with you all. Full moon right now, and really stunning. I am enjoying a few minutes of fresh air every day on my way to school. Then, I am indoors all day, but luckily I don't work on Fridays. 'Fri' in Norwegian means 'free' in English.

Exactly.

Høst?

2009-09-30T15:28:00.003Z

Snow arrived on Monday (although admittedly it is a bit 'rainy' instead today). This means the bike wheels are getting all sticky with snow (sigh). But the cabin looks nice :) And feels a little cooler inside these days, until I get the fire stoked!

Maybe 'høst' (autumn/fall) was just an illusion?

on the beach

2009-09-14T15:20:00.012Z

Life is good.

I am living in a hut, in the forest out of town: sand beach, lake side view and sunset on tap (well, lake-water on tap, anyrate). The Northern autumn is here, and it is beautiful. This time last year I was training huskies in the woods locally.... now it's children! ;) I have now a post at the local school, as a teaching assistant (mostly English classes, naturally). I still work at the Målselv Asylmottak, with the asylum seekers. This gives me a variety of work. Keeps me out of trouble!

But, ho hum, I miss the outdoors, and it is a strange transition to be back indoors after all the tent-time I had. I get very itchy feet on sunny days. 3pm and I am ready to dash straight outside. I sympathetise with the students as they also seem rather keen to leave at the end of the school day (though I regret most of them dash outside to just dash inside to the telly straight after!). No t.v. or Facebook Crap to plague me right now: no electric!

I shall try and blog again soonish. But my current shortage of internet access prevents much progress. Watch this space and I will do my level best.... :) Sorry this update has been so late in coming.

...and Howdy There to Jane, from Yukon'96 days.

Amazing to hear from you again (I've only just read your comment!!)

- see below for my reply...

2009-07-22T07:14:00.006Z

Cut and paste this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GPiNQk4KrKE&feature=related for some good BSES 'propaganda' for their expeds ;)

Svalbard

2009-07-16T22:40:00.016Z

... leaving town for 3 months... (help! did I pack everything I needed? too late now...)

A short pause whilst on sea ice in Tempelfjordur

By some persuasion I have here some pics of my recent trip to Svalbard (Spitsbergen). I was away with some students from England, co-leading a small expedition for the British Schools Exploring Society (see http://www.bses.org/ for more, especially http://www.extremearctic.blogspot.com/ ). I was one of 2 Science leaders, Biology being my speciality ;) and there were 7 of us leaders, accompanying 15 young explorers on a mixture of science and adventure for almost 3 months.

We left on 2 April with skis and pulks (=baggage on ski-runners, designed to make life easier (debateable...)) and returned 16 June (without skis anymore!).

Not surprisingly, Spitsbergen was a stunning place to explore, and I was so lucky to work alongside a really great team (students and leaders combined). We saw only a very small section of the land there but it was a good taster. I enjoyed the pleasures of chilblains, (not as much as some suffered!) and yes, we saw many polar bear prints (no actual bears - ok by me! as I have seen enough of these in Canada, and being in a tent camp in close-quarters with a bear is not so comforting I didn't imagine). A big highlight for me was sightings of walrus and beluga whales. We also saw Svalbard reindeer, fox and ptarmigan a-plenty (which we endeavoured to count, despite hard conditions some days). It was a rollercoaster of weather, but mostly fine and clear, with coldest lows of -30C and highs of, (er) probably about +10C ;) We had a week of Cold Enough weather (to coin a phrase I used to use: "What's the temperature, anyone?"...(answer) "Cold enough!") and tips of fingers have remained a little tingly, (even now), yet thankfully I didn't suffer too much from cold toes, (as some did) and it was remarkable how quickly we missed -10C conditions when skiing.

I stayed on Spitsbergen after the expedition a few weeks more (thanks Ulli and Maret!) and ended up hitchhiking back to mainland Norway on a boat... as you do! (two days of ocean sailing and more whales :)). In this spell in Longyearbyen (the main town) prior to departure I ended up as impromptu Tour Guide for the day for visiting cruise ship tourists from England. It was a surreal twist for me to be in this role, at the end. What did I know about Longyearbyen's history of settlement, mining, etc.? I had just been out on the land, and a long way from the tour guiding world.... I soon had the visitors out of their tour bus and onto the tundra, examining the micro-world of arctic plant life :) They thanked me profusely for this small side-track to the main tour. It was odd and yet strangely touching. I was no arctic explorer by a long shot, but it must have been obvious to the group that the sight of varied plant life after 3 months in the snow was something worth sharing!

Now it is back in Målselv, to the trees, and the relative luxury of mile upon mile of 'green-ness'. I enjoy the contrast, and yet I do already miss the open landscapes further North. There is so much more up there to explore yet....

Photos will never quite do the trip justice, but here is a - very - short selection. Enjoy!

(...er, and I didn't pack all I needed... blister kits and anti-inflammatories were a little lacking from my kit. ....Ah well, Next Time...)

northern camping

2009-04-05T20:36:00.003Z

I am off tommorrow for 2.5 mths camping with BSES and some very motivated leaders and young people. I am looking forward to the trip very much. I am very pushed for time tonight as we need to load sleds, fix skins on skis, etc.

So, this is breif as breif! However, I wish you well, and will post some photos in JUNE :)

Let it just be said it is beautiful weather, clear skies and sunshine today and -25C. We look forward to skiing to Basecamp 1 tommorrow and a good weather start to the trip.

Take care all, and I will be thinking of you and looking forward to catching up later on.
hx

Arrival in Longyearbyen

2009-03-30T06:54:00.007Z

First, copious packing - the BSES Kit List... argghhh, 'just finishing packing' not to be recommended after a few goodbye beers with friends

Remembering classic essentials such as duct-tape.

Then, a great flight (weather was perfect)

arrival in Longyearbyen

As British as Marmite

2009-03-05T11:47:00.006Z

Well, last weekend the asylum centre hosted its first International Food Festival here in Bardufoss, with mouthwatering dishes from around the world. My personal contribution was 'flapjacks', an easy recipe, and a tasty delight. In England we grow up on this stuff - its full of butter, syrup and sugar. 'Good for the ass' as the Norwegians like to say! ;)

(I should mention that a group of Kurdish boys from the centre hijacked my cake, and put it in their own KURDISH food section of the party - hmph!!! By the time I located my own dish that had been cunningly disguised amidst the countless Kurdish dishes - with Union Jack sneakily hidden - well, there was only these crumbs left! (and maybe a few confused bone fide Kurds who didn't know about the switch and were scratching their heads.... not really recognising this particular Kurdish speciality!))

It's hard to tell in the photo how delicious and tasty flapjack is.....if you want to see how it looks.... here's the recipe (specially for Ann ;))

Trev's Flapjack

1.5 cup butter

4 level tablespoons Golden Syrup ('lysyrup')

1 cup granulated (brown) sugar

4 cups rolled oats

a pinch of salt

add,

ginger, cinnamon, chocolately bits, etc. to taste if you want to be fancy

Method

Grease shallow, square (ish) pan

Melt the butter and syrup together in a big saucepan on low heat - don't let this burn!

Add the oats (and ginger, etc), salt

Mix well

Pour out onto the tray - smooth it all out and press it flat

Bake at 170˚C until golden brown at the edges (maybe 30 minutes)

Bingo! It's done :)

N.B........CUT WHEN STILL WARM AS IT WILL SET ROCK SOLID

***make a cup of tea, sit back, and eat lots of it :)***

Yesterday and today II

2009-02-27T16:46:00.009Z

Horses today: galloping in fresh, deep snow really is the biscuit ;) Dogs yesterday: much harder work with the dogs as it was a small team of 4, and we were heaving through deep snow, all of us. Although they heartily deserved it, they didn't share in my beer afterwards... (though I have to admit that as Blaebaer was barking at me and my beer with so much curiousity I let her test it [she didn't take to it, just tried to tip it out of her bowl...what a waste...the price of beer in Norway!...what a waste...])

Redpoll Day

2009-02-22T18:39:00.003Z

In their hundreds... I saw them just here, by the ski track, devouring last years rowan berries. Glad to be back up North guys? Well, it was warm today.... but tommorrow???

Målselv fjellandsby (mountain town)

2009-02-16T11:05:00.015Z

I was up on the local ski-hill yesterday, admiring the hills. I was out 'XC skiing' again (I tend NOT to stay on the 'XC' tracks yet somehow find myself wandering upwards through the woods, to see the mountains better ;)). I was rewarded with some stunning sunshine and a great overview.

So, here is the view towards town (Heggelia is almost dead centre of the pic, across the valley and 'beneath' the pointy big mountain [if you click on the photo here you can see more detail: Heggelia is on the left of the main town of Andselv, which is clearly seen as the houses on the right hand side]), also other vistas, some ptarmigan (the white blobs on the 5th photo down :)), reindeer tracks, etc.

ps. I am not wearing a skirt in the photo above (heaven forbid!)... the Viking Stance shadow is due to my jacket round the waist! (just in case of wierd comments!).

Heggelia, Bardufoss

2009-02-16T10:58:00.004Z

Extremes

2009-02-11T10:10:00.007Z

On 9th February, it finally happened: the sun hit my appartment.

So I was compelled to take a walk, and revel in it! ;)

Istinden ('the ice peak')- the local 1489m peak, which looms over Andselv, and looks pretty steep and snowy at best of times

and when this...
turns to this.... (on the 10th...) [same view, slightly different angle]

...I have a fall-back plan :)

Rostadalur hut tour

2009-02-11T09:25:00.013Z

Well, it was a coolish weekend, (of about -18C, plus wind chill) and a visiting friend and I take a XC (XC!) ski tour up the local dalur to a nice, wee hut in the hills, just above treeline ('above the trees' is, apparently, 'where men wash the dishes best', I was informed...)

the frozen smile ('frozen', because my face muscles were a bit frozen, true enough)

extreme bridge-crossing

instant mousse - hut treat and easy to 'chill' on this trip :)

fox prints

The day after the ski trip, we helped with the Målselv rescue dog team.

first you get into a snow-hole
then you are literally 'buried alive'

(hmmm :) out of the wind and cosy)

but not for long (well, if the dog is well trained!)...

for dogs digging me from my snowy shelter see also: www.youtube.com/watch?v=pnNfYeqD8SBA (cut and paste this link to your browser, as I don't think it is a live link)

a good weekend, with just a touch of frost :)

....here you go, one and all!

2009-01-21T20:31:00.007Z

Yesterday and today

2009-01-21T18:37:00.007Z

The Målselv river yesterday

...the sun "almost back" today :)

click on this pic and you can see better the snow pluming off Istind

(the big pointy mountain that overlooks town)

these last postings have been rather like a delayed web-cam on my location! I hope you find it interesting enough. Posting pictures is a good thing to do (... worth a thousand words, etc.)

View from my room

2009-01-19T14:45:00.004Z

Yesterday (18 January) at 830am

ps. The sun is scheduled to return this weekend :)

Pre-xmas "Trondheim" hut party

2009-01-19T07:30:00.008Z

...the fancy dress theme was "Trondheim" (I ask you!) and the venue was a few hours in by ski. It was a good night, needless to say, and this was my 'xmas in Norway' night out, prior to my UK departure.

Xmas

2009-01-18T20:39:00.006Z

Well, a bit late, but here I was, back in the UK. Mum's birthday in the Brecon Beacons (National Park) just prior to Christmas, with the family, a great Christmas with everyone and then... Scotland and Ben Nevis (including a bothy (hut) lunch trip with Jane and Sandy :)) Fantastic holidays.

2008-12-24T18:17:00.012Z

Happy Christmas! / God jul / Gledileg jol /Joyeaux Noel

(... and that's me for languages!)

I am in England with family presently - all very nice, and although it is mild and grey here, it beats the yucky rain that I see is forecast back in Troms fylke (county) presently... :-/ (at least over here we expect rain during winter-time, and so are content to have a dry Christmas, let alone a white one!)

Here is our Christmas tree, to get you a little into the festive version of how we spend Christmas here. In tune with most of the Nation, tommorrow will be spent eating and drinking, in front of the open fire. Boxing Day (26th) will be more eating and drinking (!) and then it will start to slow down.... my big sister is away until 28th, and it will all begin again when she visits shortly afterwards (the eating and drinking). HOWEVER, there shall be some excellent family walks and plenty of good times to be had in this prolonged xmas-time festiveness - it isn't all about the eating and drinking ;)

Have a good Christmas, and new year! :)

Skiing With Dogs - earlier lessons

2008-12-12T13:08:00.006Z

Well, I have tried skiing with dogs a couple of times before - this is Brosmer, my old ski instructor from Vilmarkssenter days. He tried very hard with me to get me to keep up with him. It was with him that I learned the hard way that you need to sometimes unclip from a dog to descend hills. Learning from experience with Brosmer - ah, the pain!

Here he is, on a day off from instructing me

Skiing With Dogs

2008-12-12T12:48:00.010Z

Firstly, you book beautiful weather and location

Looks a doddle, doesn't it? Just attach yourself to a dog, and, er, SKI!

...not as easy as it first appears! (esp. if the dog turns and trots back towards you on the uphills coz she reckons you are just tooooo slow)

except if you are like Marte (A.K.A 'Amundsen') here!

...so comfortable and relaxed on her skis...see, she doesn't even need her dog!

Nu hus

2008-12-08T17:16:00.007Z

Through the last posts you probably guessed I'd moved from Tromsø, and yes, I have: here's a shot of my new base, in Heggelia, Bardufoss, (Malselv), about 200k from Tromso, Southbound and a bit inland.

I've started work these past weeks as a social worker at a refugee transit centre, for refugees seeking asylum. As my shifts are mostly at night this leaves day time free for snow and all else. It's a busy town, despite it's small size, as there is a military training base here, so plenty of planes, helicopters, tanks.... But it's a great location with mountains surrounding us, and a quick climb up into the woods behind the house leads a pretty nice 'backyard' playground (I guess that's why the military like it too).

I like it here and the work so far, and we shall see where it takes me. The centre where I work is newly opened so I'm meeting a lot of new faces (staff and refugees are all new). I have to admit, I feel pretty sorry for people arriving in Norway the first time under very hard circumstances from hot destinations coming straight up North (it was -25C the other day). No-one seems to quite understand I want to be here because of the snow, but then again, summer will be a tonic for sun-lovers. I hope most of these folks are able to stay and reap the benefits of experiencing the sunnier side of North Norway. They look incredulous when I say if they stay they will curse the sun later for not being able to sleep! ;)

Birthday Hike

2008-12-05T15:43:00.007Z

View from the end of the drive, and my porch, practically (er, I am not really using the porch much right now, but the view is great!...)

That's the moon rising, over to the left (at about 3pm). It suddenly got pretty chilly, but the day had been a good, 6-hour hard snow slog! I was pretty tired :) Great training for those Approaches (see below!)

Senja sights

2008-12-05T13:05:00.013Z

Well, there is nothing like a weekend of good ice-approaches to get you warmed up for winter! I managed to squish into a car of keen climbers ('Approachers') for a weekend away on the Stunningly Scenic Senja island.

But ha! The daylight fades faster than lambs can shake tails.... and so.... we had a good weekend of Some Mighty Approaches To Routes (!).... well, the ice wasn't really in nick anyway, I am unfit, my 'ice-head' needs polishing (a good 'ice-head' gives you power in arms and calves, and a great enthusiasm for ascents in the dark), etc., etc.......

So, here's a Senja Snapshot (I will stop the S thing now)

ps. I am being pointed out 'Ben Nevis' of Senja in the shot above - apparently there a fair few of these (see below)

Hmmm. Looking for routes... (reminds me of scoping for Ice in Iceland with Yvonne - same technique: see ice, stop car, grab binoculars, and not necessarily in that order ;))

See, I told you it was scenic...

Hmmm. More ice? Maybe??

Ha! Yes!.....but not enough!

Axel and I tried this line, on the left...

See: ice climbing!! (....2 screws used while I took pics and looked at the nice icey views, and then the ice before him turned to snow...)

But hey! There's always the big discussions after the big approaches....

Sun-worshipping

2008-11-23T16:26:00.007Z

Goodbye sunshine....

2008-11-23T14:38:00.010Z

On Tuesday the sun officially 'goes' from Tromsø for a couple of months.....

This was a Goodbye Sun 'topp tur' on Saturday... by climbing high enough we could see the sun - for an hour!

Sun up, 12:10

Vasstinden topp (880m), 13:34

Sun down, 13:50

Tromsø lights

2008-11-21T20:08:00.004Z

The Real Deal/Legless on sleds

2008-11-21T19:33:00.009Z

We went out sledging today. The Real Deal. No tourists mind you, just us and some very keen canids. The snow is fresh and deep and quite lumpy bumpy with wet marshy sections.... not easy for a rookie like me (who is trying to take pictures at the same time as steer, brake and remember what this dog-driving on snow is all about since she last tried it in April :)). Ha ha -and you should have seen me 'take air' quite spectacularly upon departure as the dogs raced over an ominously large hummock of snow and the sledge soared after in a puff of powder leaving - somehow - my legs behind. Mind you, the "6-beer bet that you fall off Helen" didn't transpire... I held onto that sledge for dear life (and because I am skint).

This sledging has made the training make more sense - at times it was tiring and sometimes tedious to drive the noisy quad bike up and down the road after the dogs... the beating of the dogs when they howled at night or went crazy barking when they were being harnessed, fed, etc., the 'despatching' of new-born pups in the middle of the night coz they were born the wrong time of the year and to the wrong parents, and the constant shouting at dogs... this hasn't been so fun. But driving the team today was fun, and a good 'send-off' for my imminent departure. The dogs are overwhelmingly enthusiastic at their job - a good day in the office for them, I think!

Anyhow, the whole mob of dogs have all been out racing in the fresh snow now. The first tourists arrive tomorrow, and maybe they will be less mad to run and easier to stop tomorrow....maybe??

Also, the dogs all have houses now. And I am sort-of living in the dogyard! As you can see, my cabin overlooks the 'dog garden' (as one of my bosses calls it). It is nice to see them warm and comfy in their houses - less so to hear them singing under my bedroom window!

One nice morning, when the sun was still here!

2008-11-19T07:04:00.001Z

End of training

2008-11-18T18:50:00.010Z

Winter has arrived - it is getting dark and has been cold and snowy, and slippery and slidey for the quad bikes.... The brakes don't work so well at minus temperatures (have had -16C already which was a bit parky) and the job gets harder as water freezes inside the cabin. So, the dog teams have come 'home' to Kvaløya (Tromsø) from Målselv yesterday afternoon, and the dogs are out in the dog yard as we speak, curled up in husky-shaped balls. We are building new dog houses for them this week, and not all are finished so there are a few wet dogs out there as it's raining tonight. Next time these dogs train it will be pulling sleds (maybe even tourists): The real deal.

However, it's a small family business and there is not really work enough for me to continue here. It's my last week of work here. I am on Howling Duty tonight ;) - don't think I will miss this, but I will surely miss the dogs.

Husky myth

2008-10-25T10:20:00.011Z

Ha ha, I just rediscovered this quote from a list of 'Why Canada Is Awesome' that I once sent a Canadian friend:

"... The average dog sled team can kill

and devour a full grown human in under 3 minutes"

Not sure Castello would do a good, clean job (pictured, with stolen food bowls, as is her habit). She leads the team often, and on encountering this full grown human she would need to harden up a bit to fit the bill and start the devouring job properly to get it done in 3 minutes. Grrrrrrrrr, Castello, grrrrrrr!

Fairly frosty/Nicely icey

2008-10-25T09:49:00.010Z

It's getting colder now. Most mornings are below zero, (we've had a couple at -5C already so far) with snow on the mountain tops all around. Makes for a fresh start to the day as you step out of an unheated cabin. But when the sun emerges between the nearby peaks as you drive along the icey riverside tracks... well it ain't too bad! It's ideal for the dogs as the colder the better as far as they're concerned. We are driving the teams about 17km daily now; this is nothing much - these huskies are born running machines and capable of up to 30km daily, no problem, if trained for it.

When the snow comes proper I'll be moving to pastures new - not sure in which direction yet, but I'll keep you posted :)

I'll try and post an icey pic to accompany this - seems the best shot is still on my camera and since I left my jazzy USB pic loader in the cabin in the woods when I headed to the city this weekend....blah, blah, sorry no pic... watch this space! ....(there you go: frosty pic duly added ;))

Cream

2008-10-05T04:42:00.002Z

Yes, I have a favourite: Cream. Here he is!

Babysitting dogs

2008-10-04T20:03:00.007Z

I am learning the varied vocabulary of dogs - they not only howl, but squeak, whistle, moan (normally preceeds a howl) and bark, whine.... It's interesting to hear all 80 of them interact (or so I think!) but the neighbours across the valley disagree. So, much of our day (and night!) is spent on the canine equivalent of 'babysitting' - i.e. keeping a close eye and ear on things. Makes sense, as noise levels get hysterical if they continue to intice one another to howl endlessly, and if one husky slips its collar in the madness and gets loose then concludes being caught ain't fun then... Havoc In The Woods surely results (and more problems with neighbours). The long and short is, that huskies would long-since have a UK ASBO (Anti-Social Behaviour Order) slapped on them by the local coppers. (ASBO is a British thing, normally reserved for fining/threatening mad noisy people when the neighbours complain!). I like the howling of a pack of dogs to be honest, but neighbours are neighbours, I guess: frequently two colliding worlds in terms of taste.

So, we are busy with Crowd Control in the woods. Stern words, harsh discipline, and maybe the dogs will get our basic message across to them: "please guys.... zip it!"

We have had great autumn colours this past 3 weeks; however, frosts and the nip of winter pending is here now, and the leaves are mostly off - the forest is thinning out as a result. Perhaps the increased visibility is dandy for moose-hunters...there has been the annual moose-hunting fest in the woods this past 10 days. So, lots of cars slowly 'patrolling' the forest tracks near our place since moose were sighted IN THE DOG YARD. Yes, 80 rather over-excitable huskies did not stop two adult moose and two calves from wandering in to have a gander. Norwegian moose are fearless, I tell you (it was a bad move though, as one of the calves then wandered into a nearby meadow where someone was waiting for it, leaning out of the bedroom window to take aim....).

Here are some pics of dogs, in the yard and in training traces. Should offer some impression of the fall colours. It has been glorious :)

First Snow

2008-09-06T06:46:00.004Z

.... and the dogs can't wait. The first week of training went well, but the dogs are hard-wired to work, and it was really noisy and tough to get the job done without bursting ear drums. They have had the summer off, and now run about 9km a day, pulling a quad bike at slow speed to build muscle and get into shape for 5-day trips with tourists later in the season. As we found out, the quad bike is too light - 12 dogs can haul the thing with brakes fully on. Makes for exciting training runs!...to ask them to STOP is not really an option at this stage of training. Run, run, run, run, run harder, run harder is their default! ;)

Beach hut - Hjelmsøya, Spring'08

2008-08-28T20:49:00.009Z

Vi snakkes senere

2008-08-25T21:29:00.011Z

I am back from summer, and whatever else I got up to.... email and internet was scarce this summer. Very. Cabins on uninhabited islands tend not to get wireless connections...

But there it was, a summer of (sort-of) sun in the North (I would SWEAR it is called MIDNIGHT SUN coz it came out mainly, er, AFTER midnight .... save a few crazy dazzling nights work on the oh-so-scary puffin cliffs in mad golden light).

So, Summer 2008 was 5 weeks on Hjelmsøya, an island far north in Finnmark (Norways most northern county), after a few weeks dodging snowstorms on Hornøya.... Then, wonderful times with friends: thanks to Randi for her looovveely sofa ;) Tomas, Anna-Katrina & The Boys for good times in the mountains in their secret valley ;) to Ane and Jan for just about the Best Eggs that a free-range chicken can lay (and so much more, including a very sober introduction to Odd-Inga, MY HUSBAND-TO-BE... cheers guys, and yes, I am embarrassed if he is reading this! Sorry Odd-Inga but the set-up was all too crazy for me!) ;) thanks Tore for treeplanting times (... so... making me an Almost Lumberjack now!) and Maret for a blueberry-tastic 6 day Lyng-ing trek in the big hills (worth every last hobbling step!, and each time we threw ourselves flat out on those super comfyLyng-ing patches.... oh! How I 'Like Long Lynging Lazily Lion-Like (eating 'Lion' bars!)' - I recommend lying on Lyng to anyone ;)).

This is starting to sound like an Oscar speech... so I'll quit while you are still listening (perhaps too late??).

Seems I have a few people to THANK big time after I finished work for NINA this summer and was out and about visiting new places in Norway and getting to grips with just being here and soaking up the trees, mountains, and a few Isbjørn beers. I missed the family, but hey, Christmas is just around the corner!!! And I can't wait to see how Nephew 1 is sprouting, and see if Nephew 2 has any clue who Aunt Helen might be! (likely NOT).

Regretfully, I find life gets in the way of blogging these days. I have so little free time that generates good blogging success (i.e.stuck in front of a computer and wishing for distractions...) and seeking out computers in libraries, begging access off friends etc., for the sheer sake of it just ain't my thang, as those who know me know.

I will post a few pics, etc., at times, as I really want to chitter and chatter away to those who want to hear my ravings!.... but please bear with me. It will not be frequent!

My New Job Til Almost Xmas is training sled-dogs in a camp in the forest, no shower or fancy trimmings, but with sauna and woodstove. I'll never make a million at this game, but you should join me there. It's pure magic.

Vi snakkes senere (..."we'll talk later"...)

Much love

Hornøya highlights

2008-06-05T19:22:00.005Z

Spring blizzard on the island shortly after my arrival - kind of messed up our work plans and buried a few nests... swept away a few low-placed kittiwake nests... made life a bit exciting for a day or so!

And midnight sun....

Hornøya

2008-06-05T18:57:00.007Z

I spent the last 2+ weeks on another island: Hornøya is a small Nature Reserve off Vardø's coast. That's pretty close to Russia, for those who wonder where the heck the small town of Vardø is - Vardø is almost as far North and East as you can go, for towns in Norway. It's a nice town, with a fabulous backdrop of the Finnmark plateau - snowy, gravelly hills stretching forever with not a lot of human life out there (plenty of reindeer and lemmings mind you).

I was helping out with Greater-Black backed and Herring gull work. Shitty... noisy...but fun!

Here are a few shots - the lighthouse is where everyone stays, and there were researchers from all realms gathered there. The social life was great - ask the others... I couldn't take the pace!

And whilst I was up there, I became second-time Aunt! Yes, my sisters clan are growing. Charlie Matthew deserves a special mention, and was born about the time that the Black-backed gull chicks started to hatch (....a dubious honour perhaps!).

May to date

2008-05-10T19:44:00.023Z

May was a month of transitition, I guess, and started with a superb outing on local hot Norwegian rock at the start of the month. Spring definitely felt on it's way. Coastal cragging - nice!

There were also parties on the beach (yes, that is a pig: now sausages...) with friends who were leaving to work elsewhere in Norway, and bicycle rides to support others who were cycling across the country - I accompanied Rene and Tim on their send-off from Vilmarkssenter/Tromso to the ferry port to nearby island of Senja. This involved a 9hr return journey for me, which was painful to say the least (not the sweet goodbyes so much as my ass!).

I then journeyed Northwards (Cruise-ship transport - now that's a fine way to commute to work), for a pre-breeding season visit the island of Hjelmsoy with Geir, my new boss for the summer, as I switch from work at the busy dogyard to life in a seabird colony! Hjelmsoy is where I will spend the most of my summer.... it's a fair-sized island, of several kilometres squared, not far from Nord Cap, which is mainland Norway's Northernmost tip. Athough as you can see, it was rather snowy for the time of the year, it was already promising to be a hub of seabird activity. I shall be there monitoring kittiwakes, guillimots, puffins... and trying to catch some sleep in the 24h daylight! We spent a week on the island, checking the progress of the breeding birds. Seems kittiwakes are slow this season, with nests still unbuilt, but gulls nesting and laying already, and plenty of bird life about. There were clouds of snow buntings foraging energetically on bare patches of ground. Ah, it's good to be in the North. These birds are infrequently seen in the UK, and remind me very much of the two field seasons I spent avoiding polar bears up in Nunavut, Canada.

'Goodbye Vilmarkssenter' - the expression says it all!

Ice-cream send-off at the ferry port to Senja island.

The fishing-boat transport to Hjelmsoy - a short stop from Havoysund.

But first Trollfjord, a ridiculously big cruise ship - an overnight journey from Tromsø to get to Havoysund.
Leaving Tromso behind....

And yes, I sat in this sauna for hours, and actually saw whales swim past at one stage (I had to blink twice!).

My home-to-be for June. Can't wait to be there again!

Ha det bra Vilmarkssenter

2008-05-09T16:32:00.008Z

Spring has arrived: snow is melting out fast, rain has arrived, the cyclists have flown, and I am off to N Norway for a summer of seabirds.

So, it's -

So long, Vilmarkssenter, and thanks for all the...er... chocolate cake (Jan!)

Hut in the hills

2008-04-18T06:11:00.007Z

I was away skiing by myself the other week. I was lucky with the weather for two days, and covered a fair amount of snowy terrain, some of which was pisted... some not. It was an adventure on skinny XC skis with no steel edges on icey pistes and windslab - some spectacular faceplanting with a back pack on! ;)

Ski and sun

2008-04-18T05:59:00.006Z

Well, I was away for a few days recently (well, almost a month back now but slow to blog about it!). This is what seems to be the National Sport around Easter time. Spring skiing. I was on snowshoes (!) due to injury, lack of skis, and ... mostly lack of technique... But it was a glorious, hot day and we all had a good time out the back of Tromsø, nearby the Lyngen Alps region. After this day in the scorching sun a few of us skiied on into a hut for the night. We awoke to grey skies and snow. You got to take these days as they come.

Fresh snow

2008-03-28T18:53:00.001Z

Lyng's puppies

2008-03-27T09:40:00.001Z

Walk in the countryside

2008-03-25T06:38:00.006Z

When I was a child, I yearned for a dog of my own. Friends had dogs, there were dogs in every park in Bristol, we went on great family walks out of the city every weekend (or so it seemed!). In short, I wanted a dog and it was on every Christmas list - every year!

People who know me from that period know that on walks in the countryside I would 'find' dogs to walk (better than my sister, who actually 'found' a tame duck and brought it home - I kid you not!). I was never happier than with some dog we had picked up at a pub where the landlord had said I could walk their dog and bring it back afterwards! It was always difficult for Mum and Dad at the end of those days, I feel sure.

Anyhow, here I am now, in my element - 240 of the darn things to exercise!

We have snow again now, but yesterday was picture perfect. Here are Rocky and Rambo (two 4-month old pups) and Grey (a bit older, but still one big puppy). We were on a walk before my shift started at 13h.

Nice.

(... and, although I hate to admit it, perhaps Mum and Dad were right: the city is no place for a dog).

Time out

2008-03-07T07:39:00.013Z

Snowshoeing with reindeer

Well, I had a fine day out in the hills, snowshoeing the other day. It's a great way to travel in deep powder. Means that you hike up a lovely snowy hill such as nearby 900m Litle Blaefjell, and then slip slide on the way down (looking enviously at peoples off-piste ski descents!). Yes, I will MASTER ski touring I hope.

A big highlight of this trip was meeting my first Norwegian reindeer herd - these are very non-flighty beasts. Semi-domesticated up here, they did little more than to just raise their heads and then move a few metres and start grazing again. But it meant I could take a good look at this group of 10 invididuals. Nice backdrop of Tromso behind, in this photo.

It really was a Top Day Out as in the evening we had a no-show of a hotpot (hot tub) at the centre. Guests had failed to show up for a dip in the hot tub we had been stoking with wood all day.... meant the staff here could profit from a bit of Aurora Borealis gazing in relative comfort! ;)

Skiing with moose

Two days ago we also saw moose wander near the Vilmarkssenter and yesterday I went XC (Cross Country) skiing before work and picked up their tracks. There they were: moose tracks in the snow. (Ironically there were also MOUSE tracks nearby.) Unfortunately, one of these mighty moose ended up roadkill, and someone brought the carcass into the centre yesterday - food for the dogs.

It is not the first ever time I have been XC skiing, but I am not much good yet! I took a colleagues dog with me the other time - I need say no more. When he saw his 'mates' in the dog yard and took off at full pelt... Well, yes, ahem. Face-planting in yellow snow!

But on this trip yesterday, whilst I floundered in the snow and avoided the steep or wooded descents... I saw a very fit local Norwegian just 'flow' up to a checkpoint/logbook point labelled 'Skil' (misleading for me). This sprightly local skier could easily have been in his 60's, and whilst recovering beautifully from what must have been a strenuous ascent he cheerily chattered to me in Norwegian. I managed to stammer out to him that I was not very good, whilst he was great!

Anyhow, after this brief encounter I had an inkling of what had given Amundsen that 'edge' over Scott on the race to the South Pole. Dogs, Skis, Englishness.....

Dog's Life 2

2008-02-25T16:01:00.005Z

Let it snow, let it snow

2008-02-25T15:42:00.009Z

Since I've been back from Rjukan we have had plenty of snow, which makes sledding 'interesting' and gives you a nice snow face pack.

Between flurries and dashing after the needs of tourists, I took a few shots of the place, some taken from the back of the sled (my passengers snug in their reindeer skins and blissfully unaware!). Guiding is fun, but hours here are long and ardous. We seem to work 15 h days - not easy. But hey, it is Norway In Winter. A great place to be, knackered out or not!

Tromso in the far distance, beyond this team (photo above: click on the image to see it!).

The drive home...

Rjukan Ice

2008-02-25T15:09:00.011Z

In deepest South Norway there is a dark, cold world class ice climbing venue called Rjukan. I was there recently for a week with London Mile End climbing club and Junior (?!) SMC Cronies. It is one mad icey playground, and although not climbing world class level myself (well, only in my head), I was more than content to see myself and others up some more modest routes (mind you there was some crazy Mixed top-route action, not by me, but by enthusiastic others [one of whom later concussed himself snowboarding - need I say more?]). Rjukan's many gorge locations provide routes, of all variety. We had tropical conditions of plus 3-5C which was all good. Considering Feb average temp is minus 6C we were dead lucky. The routes were mostly in good nick, and we all battered ourselves. I lead my first ice route, and learnt a heap; now I have opened this Pandoras Box of Ice I hope to climb more in Tromso area.

Thanks for the gear loans, Trev., Jane and Al., and Tore. And for The Boys for putting up with a gal in their hut all week!

So here are some shots: apologies but I know not how to rotate pics using the newly purchased Mac. computer (ahem).... so all the funky vertical scary ice pics have had to be left out (most of these are in my head anyways). Hope these horizontal shots do the place justice! (the one vertical one was not rotated by me - thanks Jaap, for the uphill perspective).

Dog's Life

2008-02-07T17:14:00.000Z

Hello Norway

2008-02-06T18:54:00.000Z

Well, I have arrived. Tromso, Norway. Here for a spell at least, and hopefully a wee while. Those who know me in more recent years will know that I am wanting to spend a little more time in fewer places… I had my needs though: mountains, sea, snow, sun/less rain, wildlife, trees, people… Yes, I am a fussy thing! Well, Tromso seems to fit the bill so far, although at 600km north of the Arctic Circle, the sun is a bit slow to come up still. We have plenty of daylight (8-15h) but sun for only a short while still. It’s OK by me though. More than.

My work is ‘dog-handler’, and I work at Villmarkssenter (see http://www.villmarkssenter.no for more). There are a varied tasks to this role: feeding the 250 odd sled-dogs (noisy! and messy), cleaning frozen poop (less messy), tending to the tourists needs…. and lastly (not by any means least) is charging off in a flurry of snow with a team of dogs. The noise of all the dogs shouting “pick me... pick ME... PICK ME!” as you unclip dogs from their kennels and harness the teams to their sleds is ear-splitting. As is the frenzied barking when you career off! It’s wonderful.

Oh, and I forgot my Marmite this time, which is a crying shame… If anyone fancies popping a jar of the stuff in the post - 'thousand thanks' (as the Norwegians say). If you haven't the stamina to ParcelForce a glass jar of goopy, sticky, brown, salty, evil-smelling lifeblood to me then postcards also fine ;). So, for those carte postales to decorate my otherwise rather undecorated room, my snailmail address here is: Tromso Villmarkssenter, 9100 Kvaloysletta.

But - in case you are thinking of it - no thank you, NZ buddies, VEGEMITE will just not do at all! ….Sacriledge! (As I was saying, I am a fussy beggar!)

Gleðileg Jól II

2007-12-12T06:51:00.000Z

Well, it´s goodbye Iceland for while at least. I´m off on Sunday to share xmas in England with family and friends this year. It´s been 2 years - NZ in ´05 and then here in Iceland last year - so I´m hoping I remember our family traditions and don´t slip up too much!

As expected, there have been so many places I never shared with people via this website, such as my winter dash over to Egilsstaðir (E Iceland) for NYE last year, arriving on 31st as the fireworks starting booming and police ushered my little car into a safe parking spot on the street. NYE in Iceland is dark, but beautiful. Also meant to post some pics of my 4 day hike into the Lanmannalagur hotspring area this summer. It rained solid for 2 days but was worth every soggy glacial-gravel sinking footfall. :) Ach well! Hope that the pics and updates were enough - in this digital age we go bonkers with photos anyway.

For the time of year, I´ve enjoyed so much sunshine here on the farm. We have such endless horizons that you see sun up and sun set. I´ve taken so many photos of the big skies around here. Here´s a dawn and dusk at Eystra Fröðholt for you!

So....

So long Iceland, and Gleðileg Jól to all.

Englishness

2007-12-07T08:05:00.000Z

Well, you know it´s time to pack your bags when you run out of the good stuff.... Marmite, Food Of The Gods and imported with me to various countries wherever I go (and whatever they may say - Vegemite is NOT the same!). I have converted the most disbelieving folk to Marmite in some strange places. I guess at an arctic field base then the sheer NOVELTY of it was enough.

Anyhow, this jar I brought with me to Iceland is almost empty. I leave 16 Dec for new supplies....

Another Hekla

2007-11-30T07:11:00.000Z

Hekla views: from the farm. It´s about 50km away (as the raven flies).

Hekla

2007-11-25T08:25:00.000Z

On 7 October I was up enjoying the summit of Hekla (ca.1500m) - one of the local volcanoes to the farm, and an active one (last erupted in 2000). Its a classic cone-shaped peak, with permanent ice along the crest of the summit ridge. I had already been hiking alone on the hill for the day, yet turned back because it was so snowy and the lava fields are never a good thing to cross under such conditions.... anyhow, at 4pm I was on my way back to the car (parked on an interesting intersection of the F225 Landamannalaugur road.... don´t try this at home with a Renault Clio kids!) when I met a few others just about to hike up. So, at this late stage of the day we all tramped up to the summit together - we made it for sunset and it was a stunner.

And what better way to end the day: camping at a hot pot - ahhh....
(this is me having breakfast in bath, the following morning!)

The roads to Hekla - good for my Clio and bad....

This all happened a few weeks back - the sun set at 8pm then. These days the sun is rising about 10am and setting by about 5.30pm.... hello winter!

Southern farm life

2007-11-07T07:36:00.000Z

Well, I moved on from Stykkishólmur in September to work on a farm in S Iceland. Introducing Eystra Fróðholt, a small mixed farm nr Hvöllsvellir. Cows, horses, sheep, two kids:all good fun. The plan is to try to improve my Icelandic language skills, as Dad here doesn´t speak English at all and Mum works away in town in the day.... well, can´t say that I´m much improved but hey! I can discuss cows a bit now...

It is pancake-flat around here - 30k to the mountains. But oh! what mountains! I can see all the way up into the Þorsmork region (famous for hiking and trees! :))

So, my routine here is milking the 23 cows, helping out on the farm with the sheep when is needed, riding several of the 300-odd horses here (by this, i mean a few a day, when the weather is not horizontal rain and wind).

It´s a change from science, but I am still completing a Waders of West Iceland paper when I get spare time, which is a nice contrast to the farm work.

Here´s some pics, anyway.... (oh! and we had some snow - great to have it back)

Autumn arrival

2007-09-10T23:00:00.000Z

Swan wrestling

2007-09-07T17:55:00.000Z

Well, I joined a very able team from the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust (U.K.) to get wet and dirty catching whooper swans the other week. They are big critters, with potential to really knock you flying with their big wings and impossibly long necks... and yet once you get them in their - temporary - strait jackets they are quiet as mice.

So, here we are, with a boatload of swans after they have just been captured off the water, swans in their restraining jackets, swans being measured, swans stretching their necks, and swans being released (the best bit).

The team capture groups of birds during their flightless phase (during their moult) to put ID bands on them, and record body measurements. A few birds have been fitted with satellite transmitters so that their migration movements can be tracked. Many of these birds have now already left Iceland, and are heading south, many to UK refuges such as WWT centres (see http://www.wwt.org.uk/article/3/514/super_whooper_swans_to_be_tracked_in_new_study.html)

It was a lot of fun, and I´d do it again at a shot - wonderful birds.

We got to stay at a really amazing place in the highlands - the turf cottage where 'Independent People' was set, a novel written in 1946 about Icelandic rural life by award-winning Nobel Prize writer Halldor Laxness. It´s a living museum, with Icelandic puppies ´n´ all! (see the photo of me standing outside and juggling a kitten and a young pup at the same time - all a bit fluffybunny for me but they certainly were quite amusing wee beasties!).