First outing in -22 centigrades

If we don't count travelling and a visit to them who took care of our dog while we were in Tromsø, we had our first outing together with our son couple of days ago in -22 centigrades. He got packed well in with couple of layers wool and a huge dress. First we walked to the health care center, where he got weighted and checked that everything was fine. He was grown a half a kilo in two weeks, so I guess he has got enough milk.

Then we had a tour to the local grocery and bought some food for us who can't be living just with milk. In afternoon we dressed him once more and drove to the airport. There we met our friend who was coming from the mainland and continiuing then with a local flight to Ny-Ålesund (a research settlement in north).

It was nice to see, that he was doing just fine with his clothing even though it was pretty cold. That's just good when he's living in a island of snow and ice. I think he's a tough guy to be just couple of weeks old.

1000 km to home

After the delivery of our son we were staying a good week in Tromsø. We were lucky and were able to stay with our good friend. It's kind of brave to take a family with a newborn baby to stay at your place!

But, home sweet home - even though it was really nice to stay in Tromsø I was waiting forward to go home. That mean our baby under two weeks old should be flying 1000 km for to end up that icy island where we were having our home. To have a such a travel isn't for sure the best thing to do with a newborn, but that's the way when you're living up in the north. Everything went just fine. Boy got a scathing amount of mother's milk before the flight and pactically he was sleeping until Longyearbyen. Finally we were home again!

Where hospitals aren't always that close by

We're having a small hospital in Longyearbyen and I were able to get all the maternity controls there. But they don't want to get any planned deliveries in Longyearbyen. If everything goes fine, giving a birth isn't a problem, but if there is some complications which need special expertise, mainland is far away. That is why all the pregnant ladies need to leave the island latest two weeks before due date. Of course, it's safest to leave little bit earlier, because you never know when baby is ready to be born.

I wanted to give a birth in Tromsø, not in my small home village where there is long way to a hospital. We're having a health center in my home municipality, but they don't either have a maternity clinic there. Distances in Northern Scandinavia can be long and it's not that unusual that it can take some hours to get to the closest hospital. We were lucky to have a good friend in Tromsø where we were planning to stay and wait the delivery. Actually Tromsø is a nice town anyhow to stay. But just few days before we should fly to Tromsø our child decided otherwise - he wanted out now. For to avoid to get a delivery in Longyearbyen an ambulance flight from the mainland was called and we got transported to Tromsø. It gave me a real perspective for how far away from help from outside we are in Longyearbyen. It took about eight hours from the point the flight was called to we entered the hospital in Tromsø. That was in good weather - if weather is bad, it's not quaranteed an ambulance flight can be send up straight after an accident.

Everything went just fine in our case even though I wouldn't think to travel to Tromsø on that way. But just asking from the proud mother: I think we got the most beautiful baby in the world!

Child of the Northern Lights

I have had unforgettable last nine months. Everything started already last February and since I have been following amazed the new growing life. I have felt changes in my body, seen growing tummy, felt first the small slights movements, later the strenght of turning and twisting and huge hick-ups. For a while it really felt like I was carrying a child of a real miner - it felt like he was trying to dick his way out of my tummy just straight through the skin. I haven't been having morning sickness, not hearth burning or any enourmously disturbing other symptoms. Instead I have really enjoyed my pregnancy. I didn't get tired to my tummy at all - I just could't stop thinking how amazing it was!

Our child was made under the Northern Lights, just after a polar night was over. He grew up in my tummy during the midnight sun, while we were enjoying a half a year day-around light. He was following us on our scooter tours, in the small tours on the mountains, travelling with us in the Nordic countries where we spend our holidays. It was an easy pregnancy and it was perfectly fine with my work in Svea.

We were planning to have couple of nice weeks after my work was over before we got our new family member. Our Mørketidsbarn didn't want to wait that long, he was ready to breath his own lungs. We got an ambulance flight to Tromsø one night, at a night with Northern Lights. Suddenly he was here - without that we got unpatient with waiting for it.

Now, next months, we'll be enjoying the quietness of a dark time we're having in Longyearbyen. Life will be much around that new small creature. And that just fine - a polar night is quite a perfect time to get a child. When the sun is getting back, our son has also got bigger and then we can go together out and greet the sun back.

1000 km southward - Tromsø

To take a 1000 km tour southward can sound like a pretty long trip, but actually we "just" end up to Tromsø then. But Tromsø is a really nice town and for a small week trip it's an easy access. Just about 1,5 hours flight and we're almost middle of the town.

Our hairy companion was following us - of course. He needs to be traveling inside cargo. For sure he doesn't think that's the best thing, but he accepts that because that's the way how he can follow us. He takes his tail between his legs but jumps voluntarily up in his own cage. He is already an experienced traveller and really easy to have with.



Tromsø is a nice town with great surrounding. We had a really cosy week nearby Tromsø.

We couldn't avoid polar bears even in Tromsø. Luckily these ones were peaceful.

4000 km

We had once more a trip to the mainland. In this time we rented a car in Tromsø and then we were having free amount of kilometres on our use. It might suddenly sounds like three weeks would be plenty of time to do whatever, but we found out that we didn't have time to reach everything we would have liked to.

We rented a Toyota Rav4 which was actually pretty nice car to be driving on Nordic curly and partly mountainous roads.

Here is a proof we have been under the Polar Circle.

Our furry companion was travelling in his cage and he was totally happy with that. He thinks his cage is a cosy and safe place to be. I think it's safest when everybody in the car is having their own safety belt. 

Autumn is actually pretty nice time to be travelling. I really enjoy to see all of those different colours in nature.

Summer in Trondheim

We got the first touch of summer in Tromsø. When we got out of the airplane I looked surprised around: "Oh, look, trees are already getting green". My partner wasn't that impressed. He was thinking it's pretty normal that trees are green in the middle of June...

We started our holiday with spending a long weekend in Trondheim. In Svalbard it's easy to forget how summer is in the mainland, but we got a good taste of it in Trondheim. It's a nice town to visit and it's even better when we can meet our good friends there.

Happy Christmas!

We have had five fantastic Christmas celebration in Svalbard. Two years we have been in the town, one year in Svea and twice had a cosy Christmas in a cabin. This year we decided to do something totally different. We took a little bag and our dog with us and flew to Tromsø. We got a change to borrow our friends house in Kvaløya - thanks for her! Here we have couple of hours twilight in the middle of the day and Christmas peace over us. And that's about everything we need for a Happy Christmas!

Merry Christmas for all of you!

Tromsø - the port to Arctic

Now I'm in a town visit in Tromsø, a town in Northern Norway. It is just a week to Christmas and all the town is having a Christmas-feeling over it. It's actually pretty nice to have a short trip to a "real town", have look around and do some shopping. And after a week it's again nice to fly home out of that all haste in the town and go home in our own little world. The sun isn't rising in Tromsø either, but in midday there is some hours twilight. For me it looks like a real daylight :)

Polaria

One of the nicest place to visit in Tromsø is Polaria.  There is a nice exhibition about Arctic, including Arctic Aquarium with bearded seals. Also the film "Svalbard - Arctic Wilderness" is worth to see. In the film you're following little auks and with them you're flying over the imaging landscapes over Svalbard. When I'm seeing that film I just need to think how lucky I'm that I can be living there.