Dovre and I.... Part 2

The classic transformation from snowball to husky....

Dovre and I

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

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

Godt nytt år!

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