Barentsburg

Got a call from Janet today. She's in Barentsburg, home of rotgut vodka, dangerous industry and better celphone reception than midtown Manhattan.

Sounds like a good trip - polar bears, auroras, violent storms. I'm hoping that she'll be blogging from Longyearbyen in two days or so to fill us all in!

Message from Janet

Got a message from Janet - the Noorderlict has a "very low-speed radio link", so the folks onboard the ship are only allowed one short message during the trip.

"All ok up here. We have a bit of sea tonight. I've been shooting off flares and bangers whenever i get the chance. I've woken up a polar bear and a fox so far.

Went out in the kayak today. The sea was so full of ice that we pushed our way through by hand. The landscape is unbelievable beautiful and otherworldly. We have been up in the Love Fjord for the past couple of days. Went to Moffen and visited the walrus. Now heading back down the coast.

Will stop at the island where Swedish explorer Andres set off in his balloon tomorrow. Then ny alesund so i should be able to call you in a couple of days."

Packing

Here's a shot of Janet as she was packing for the trip. She left with about 75 pounds of stuff, which I'd estimate at 60% video/camera equipment, 15% kayaking gear, 15% clothing, 10% toiletries. She didn't take any books, or much other than video equipment, in order to save weight.

Lulu asked to go with her, but her passport was expired. It's for the best, she wouldn't have liked the cold weather.

As I type, it's 7:22am in Svalbard. I was just checking the Longyearbyen webcam - it's still dark. The sun won't come up there today until 9:56am. And it sets at 3:27pm. By Friday, the sun will rise at 11am, and they'll only get about 3 1/2 hours of sunlight.