Alone with the boys

My partner has been having paternity leave since we got the baby. He got also little bit unplanned ekstra free because the baby came some weeks before the due date. It has been really nice to have him at home. But this weekend he left us first time alone and got to work in Svea. When you're working in Svea, then you're totally away over the working period as people are living there over the work weeks. Our son is now about one month old and everything is going fine with him, so it has been totally ok to stay home with him. My partner is also having now a shorter working period so he was supposed to be away only for four days. But because of the weather flights got cancelled and then he got an ekstra day in Svea. That's how the life is in Svalbard, you're always dependent on the weather.

Until now my partner has been having walks with our dog and I have been doing that if I have had an opportunity. Then I just went out mostly alone with the dog and my partner was staying in with the baby. I haven't taken our son out every day when it was temperatures around -20 centigrades. But it was good for me to have some walks anyhow. Now since my partner was away, it wasn't asking about an opportunity, now I needed to have some walks every day. Luckily our son have started to like to sleep in the baby carriage, so it has been fine to go out. And it's not only the dog who likes some walks - it's also mummy who likes to get fresh air.

Good bye, Svea

My last week in Svea is over. Store Norske has been having big economical challenges and because of that they needed to reduce about 20-25 % of employee. I was one of them who lost the work. I'm sorry for that, because I think work in Svea has been the best I have had. Svea is a great place to work with good working shifts and work itself is really fine. And best of all, the working climate on our work place is really good with great work mates. But when the company can't afford to have all of us there, so then we just need to find some other place to work. Many have also left voluntarily for to find more secure work. Since spring I lost half of my work mates - and now it was my turn to leave.

But in my case situation isn't actually that sad. Now I'm having couple of weeks free and then I'm starting with new challenges. Actually I'm waiting forward for it and timing was just perfect. Soon we're ready for new adventures in Svalbard.

One more busy week in Svea

One more cargo-ship has just left Svea. We have got the first container of goods in the storage. Everything need to be unpacked, registered in the electronic inventory management system and placed in the right place in the storage.

When the one containerfull of goods is ready, the next one is coming. The work continues.

There is lot of work included before we can delivery a thing out of the storage.

At the lunch time the sun is still shining in Svea.

When we're going to have a dinner, the sun has set and beautiful pink is taking over.

The sun is still shining in early October

When I'm on call duty in Svea, I'm coming home in early morning day after when I'm normally coming. From the airplane it looks like town is still in sleep. I'm almost as well.

But some hours later the sun has reached the town. These are the last days when we can see sun shining in the town. When you know it, you just can't stay inside and let the town glide to the shadows again.

White world

So was our summer holiday over and Svalbard was welcoming us back. It was quite an experience to walk out of the airplane and meet the white world after really nice days in summerly Denmark.

Next morning I wasn't even got really woken when I was already sitting a small aircraft and was on the way to Svea. The first work week after a holiday was starting.

Actually autumn in Svalbard is quite nice. I really like that special pink colour in the sky.

It can be pretty painful to wake up early to work, but  beautiful view helps to wake up and gives a good start for a new day.

Everyday life in Svea

I'm spending every other week in Svea, so Svea isn't just a work place but I need to think that there is my other home. For that it's worth to be working like we're doing you need to like your work, work place and have a good time with you workmates. Luckily we're having a really good team to work with and work days aren't lacking laugh and good stories.

It's actually pretty nice to be flying to Svea. I just love these mountains and like to be following where we're. I think landscape is just amazing from the air perspective. Here is Longyearbyen from southward.

This summer has been really cloudy and rainy. Here is Svea in sunshine - one of those rare days we were having a summerly weather. 

Summer is a hectic time in Svea, even though production is low when many of miners are having theis summer holiday. This is shipping seasons first coal boat, transporting 80 000 tonn good quality Svea-coal to the European market.

It's easier to see how huge the bulk boat is when you compare it for a tank boat beside it or to the 20 feet containers stabled on the left side of harbour.

After a work week it's nice to fly home. Soon a complete free week is starting!

Lunckefjellet - The new coal mine

Store Norske is planning to open a new coal mine in autumn. We'll be still based in Svea, but the way to work for miners will be just longer. Those, who will be working in Lunckefjellet, need first to drive through the old mine (that's about 10 km) and then over the glacier (about 3 km) before they reach the new mine.

This is an opening to the old mine on Skollfjellet beside Marthabreen.

People are working hard to get everything ready for autumn.

Lunckefjellet is on the other side of the glacier, Marthabreen. Opening to the new mine is getting to be ready.

These are our new storage halls. We'll see if we'll be working there after a while.

The blue building is called cathedral. It's huge as a cathedral. Actually it's a silo for coal which will be transported by conveyor belt through the old mine to Svea.

Symphony for Arctic light

I was supposed to go to work on Thursday morning, but weather was bad again. There weren't any local flights until Saturday fornoon. That was actually just fine for me, because Nordnorsk Opera og Symfoniorkester had a concert here on Friday evening. I'm not any big fan of opera, but Tchaikovsky is just fantastic and Grieg is something great as well. I guess that a trip to Longyearbyen was an experience for those who were playing in the orchestrer, but for us, who is living in Longyearbyen, it was an experience to listen that kind of great music.

 

Waiting for better weather

My work week in Svea usually starts on Thursdays. Last time I got some ekstra days in the town because all the local flights were cancelled. Finally on Saturday forenoon we got a flight and the work week started. Even though work week started couple of days later it finished as normal on Wednesday. I didn't complain too much about a shorter work period!

A touch of human

The flights between Longyearbyen and Svea are really beautiful. I think I will never get tired to see all of those mountains under us. But, it's not only mountains we see under us, we also see a touch of human.

Svea, our working place. This is the settlement, the entrance to the coal mine is behind the mountains.

Colesbukta, which was serving Grumant as a port. The coal from the Grumant was loaded here. 

The coal from Grumant was transported to Colesbukta with a railway.

This is what is left about Grumant, a Russian mining town. The town was abandoned at 1965 and at the most there were living over 1000 people.

Bjørndalen, a cabin area. Now we're landing soon at the airport.

-30 and windchill

We got in Svea about everything between fantastic sunshine to fresh breeze.

Week started with great weather. It was cold and windy, but that have to accepted in winter time. You see the ground is totally black around the town. That's coal dust from the processing coal.

The sun is finally over the mountains as it never been away.

Days are getting longer and longer. This picture is taken at 6:30. It's much nice to wake up when you know it's already starting to get light at that point of time.

But then weather changed and after that it was better to prioritise the work what could be done inside. 

We didn't have much view from our windows.

Now the dark time is over and I'm happy to see my plants have survived over the winter. Quite impressing, becuase they really haven't got much light on our room with all of those ineffective compact fluorescent lamps.

Way to home

One week at work is over again and we sit ready in Dornier-228.

 

Pilots are doing good work. We can see them on the cockpit.

 

Hello Longyearbyen - We are almost there!

Welcome back!

Just guess what's making that beautiful colouring on the mountains - the sun is finally over the horizon! I haven't seen it yet, it's still behind the mountains, but just that pink colour on the mountains is making me so happy.

Lovely light

Even though I have been mostly working inside last week, it has been nice just to know that days are getting lighter and longer. The sun is still under the horizon but after the dark season twilight is feeling already like proper light.

It hadn't got yet dark when I went to the airport after the work week.

On the way home I was able to see beautiful red horizon. The sun isn't that far away anymore!

A week between storage racks

I think that period, when we're getting light back is fabulous. I'm almost excited to see a difference in the amount of the light and change of the lenght of twilight time every day. But at work in Svea I used most of the days inside, being busy with everyday tasks. I was only quickly visiting outside and yearning for to stay there with the blue light.

We're having pretty many storage racks in different storage halls. In our storage you can find things from packages of tea to huge mining machine parts. Almost everything you need in Svea, in the mine and the community, is found here.

We're not only having huge storage racks, but there is also places to the smaller parts.

I think I'm having a really nice work, but it's still nice to take the way to the airport after the work week. A week free in Longyearbyen is highly valued!

Cold steel and frost

After New Year we got one more visitor on our harbour in Svea. This time most of the cargo weren't directly for us, but anyhow, the boat gave some work for us as well. Soon ice is laying over van Mijdenfjorden and then we're waiting for summer and an ice free season for shipping again.

Even though snow is nicely cleaned away from the front of containers, there is still some manual work left. We start with that we need to find a right identification number for a container. They are there, somewhere under snow...

Christmas in Svea

We celebrated Christmas in Svea. The work in the coal mine isn't stopped even for big holidays. But even though we were having a quite normal work days there were sense of occasion in the air. We were about 100 people who gathered together for to enjoy christmas dinner. At our working place amount of ginger breads made sure that we didn't lack taste of Christmas on our coffee breaks.

White Christmas

We have got a good amount of snow lately - and a good storm as well!

Our dog needed to wait outside while I was shopping, but actually he thinks it's ok.

The market place got totally filled with snow.

As usually, we got a bad weather around Christmas time. That's getting almost a tradition. We managed just to get to Svea and then a storm took over Svalbard. Now we're stuck in Svea, but that does't do anything as we are supposed to be here anyhow. But that's worse for those who have been planning to spend Christmas with their families. Many people have needed to renew their plans because even a flight to mainland got cancalled.