Zip zap

To have a long hair, to use environmental (and user) friendly shampoos and working with coal mining industry isn't a combination which is working fine. Something needed to be changed and I chose to change a lenght of the hair. Now I'm having again short hair - even though not that short I have been used to have.

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.

Colours of autumn

During this summer we haven't been spending so much time in Longyearbyen. If we haven't been in Svea we have been travelling. But now we're having a complete week in the town. It has been mostly cloudy, but we also got a glimmer of sunshine - and then tundra was showing it's best autumn colours.

It's also otherwise getting a feeling of autumn. The best sign for that is we're getting dusk. It's not anymore many days and we'll get first time a real dark time at the middle of the night. And after that we're getting fast towards a polar night.

Sommer is still continueing

But not in Svalbard, in Danmark instead. I was working in last work period two weeks and that gave me two weeks free afterwards. And that was totally enough to go and get a change to feel real summer.

I'm not too keen on big airports, but sometimes they can give surprises. I really like a quiet corridor connecting international flights to domestics in Kastrup airport in Copenhagen.

For sure our dog had a good time on his holiday.

That we were doing as well. What could be better than enjoy Danish summer in a holiday house beside a sea?

You can't really have a summit tour in Danmark, but this was the highest point we got.

Little bit sightseeing must also been included on a holiday. We were visiting Den gamle by, a town from the last century.

And he was following us nicely where ever we went.

One more week in Svea

Usually I'm working on 7-7 work schedule, meaning that I'm working seven days in row in Svea and having after that seven days time off. For to make the holiday plan to work in our department I'm working now one period on 14-14 schedule, meaning that I'll be here in Svea two weeks on and having then off two weeks. Majority is working 14-14 because that makes possible to travel to the mainland on free periods. It's not that attractive to be traveling with one week off periods because you're loosing always pretty much time just for travelling. People can select self if they want to be working 7-7 or 14-14.

 We're getting always a cargo boat on my working period over that time when the fjord isn't frozen.

I can't lift containers, so that work is for others.

Instead I can handle smaller things.

Foxy delight

It was raining and foggy and not actually that fun to be working outside. But then I got a furry visitor.

That small and trustful creature made the Sun to shine on my day.

An adventure on Isfjorden

We were supposed to have a nice weekend on Skansbukta. We had that - and ended up to have even two days longer trip.

Skansbukta is one of my favourite places here in Svabard. On my dreams there is always Northern Jacob's ladders flowering. This picture is from an earlier trip.

The cabin is a nice and cosy and there isn't anything to complain with the view.

For additional for beautiful views Skansbukta is historically interesting place with old remains from gypsum mining in the early 1900s.

A bearded seal was curious and he kept following what we were doing. I'm not actually sure if the dog was more interested in it or the seal was interested in us.

We crossed Sassenfjorden and went to Diabas before weather changed. But wind blew up while we were trying to sail home. We turn back when we realised that our small rubber boat was little bit too small for those waves we met. It wouldn't be that fun to end up the trip with to became involuntary members of the unpopular Puma club.

An invasion of tourists

A usual view from our small kitchen window is like that:

If there is suddenly something which look like a new apartment house it's a reason to think to stay inside the house or have a mountain trip. On those kind of days there isn't much fun to be going to the town - there is everywhere thousands of tourists!

This boat is Costa Deliziosa, which is having a capacity to have around 2800 passengers. The ship is 294 m long, so our harbour is looking pretty small when it's laying beside it.

Sometimes cruise ships are coming in strange times, but that doesn't matter. Everything will be open whatever time when there is a big cruise ship on the harbour.