Blog Archives

eider ducklings

25/9/2015

day 15+16: Monday June 29 and Tuesday June 30—Snowflake

We arrived in Longyearbyen Monday morning and had one and a half days in town before flying back to Oslo. Upon settling in at Guesthouse 102, explorers did laundry, returned library books, visited/revisited museums, had some alone time, wandered around town, sent last minute mail, caught up on season finales (Did winter come?), connected with Arctic friends on Instagram and FB, checked e-mail...

Remember Snowball and I went to see the eiders before we sailed? We went back to visit them and now there were ducklings galore. We also got a photo of the sled dogs for Stefano who had submitted a question about dogs in the Arctic before we had set off.

Max and I were the last ones to send mail back to our classmates. We can't wait to see them in October!

It was sad to say goodbye to our new Arctic friends/artists/explorers but our adventure doesn't end here. We'll be posting some wise words they shared with us about their journey as artists and explorers as well as our upcoming school visits.

See you again soon,
Snowflake

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sailing to skansbukta

24/9/2015

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day 14: Sunday June 28 afternoon—Electric QT

We set off for Skansbukta in the afternoon and whilst having some bonding time with Nemo, encountered sailing winds. More likely, all the sails just needed to breathe some Arctic air and it was good for us to have another go at getting them up. : )

We made a landing just after 4:30pm and had about two hours to explore the old gypsum mine track and walk up and down the coast of the bay. Our last evening together was topped off with a midnight (sun) portrait session with Ashley.

Tomorrow we wake up in Longyearbyen. See you there. —Electric QT

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ghost town mine

20/9/2015

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day 14: Sunday June 28 morning—Cayber

Yesterday evening was our last artist sharing session. Following that, we were thrilled to have some of the crew share with us too! Captain Jo, Clara, Laura, Jim and Thomas + Nadia told us about their journey that brought them to the Antigua. I was most intrigued by the box shaped boat that Jim said he began his sailing adventures on. At first I thought he said Optimus, like Optimus Prime : ), but it's actually called an Optimist. I drew what I thought it looked like from his description. It's a small dinghy boat that kids learn how to sail on. Afterwards, I asked him more about the boat and he drew it for us.

At breakfast this morning with Tito, we were discussing last night's sharing and the optimist came up. He also knows about boats and sailing and drew me another diagram of it. I wanted to save it in my journal but it was on my used napkin so I had to photograph it instead.

For our last morning in Pyramiden, Theres said she would take us on a hike up to the mine entrance! Eric, Jisun, Salome, Ashley, Lumans, Carina, Joey, Max, Snowflake and I took her up on her offer. Others took a more gentle hike south of Pyramiden with Sarah or went back to yesterday's safe areas.

We set sail towards Skansbukta after lunch. Electric QT will tell you all about it.

Goodbye Pyramiden!

Cayber

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the pyramid

18/9/2015

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I'm here in Pyramiden! ...or Piramida in Russian ; )

day 13: Saturday June 27—Snowball

I'm getting in touch with my Russian roots. I was asleep when we moored at Pyramiden in the early hours of the morning. Up on deck after breakfast, this was my first view:

How would you describe the the shape of this mountain? Pyramid like?

Pyramiden was a Russian mining town that was abandoned in 1998. It's now a ghost town but recently, there have been more visitors and tours from Longyearbyen. A small hotel has even opened where you can stay for the night!

Before we disembarked, we had a visit from Sasha the Russian guard at Pyramiden. He's originally from St. Petersburg but now lives in Pyramiden for part of the year. At its largest, he said the town had 1000 people living here. Currently, there are six permanent residents. He shared some of the history with us and then told us which buildings were being opened up to let us explore. We still had to stay within specific areas between the buildings as Pyramiden is not PB safe.

Although I was born in Russia, I left when I was so young I don't remember much of it at all. Being here and looking through things left behind was rather magical, like being transported back in time. It's what I imagine a bit of my parents' Russia might have been like since Pyramiden was abandoned before I was even born!

After lunch on Antigua, we had more time in Pyramiden. I was so excited about everything I saw in the morning I made sure everyone came out...even Max who was getting comfy in the wheelhouse. He sure was glad he did!

Afterwards, some of us hiked up to the bottle house. The walls were all made of glass bottles. If you had to build a house with found materials, what would you use?

Nemo looks upon Pyramiden on our way back into town from the glass house.

We met back up with those who stayed behind to do sound and video work in town and then all headed over to the hotel together for an afternoon break.

I was really fascinated by this tiny glimpse into Russian life in Pyramiden. Glad we have another half day here tomorrow.

do svidaniya!
likely tomorrow : ) Snowball

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name that glacier

15/9/2015

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day 12: Friday June 26—Emmerson

This is Esmarkbreen! We are back at Ymerbukta...with a lot less snow and ice on the ground.

I was designated photographer today. This morning as I was enjoying the view on deck, I saw this glacier. Does it look familiar to you? I also came across Carina's melting iceberg project. Reminds me of a map. We made a morning landing and then had varying afternoon options.

Sally and Nemo keeping us safe.

Just ten days later back at Ymerbukta, I was able to find a lot more plant life.

What new projects are there?

We found interesting and colourful rocks as well so we made some sculptures together.

There is much colour in the Arctic.

In the afternoon, there were three options: short hike with time at Esmarkbreen, a long hike, and a silent zodiac trip. We opted for the last one. I really enjoyed the quiet time.

In the late afternoon, the winds were prime for sailing.

That evening, we began our journey towards Pyramiden, an abandoned Russian mining town. Snowball of course was rather excited to be seeing something from her birthplace.

Until tomorrow's adventures!
xx Emmerson

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moleskine magic

14/9/2015

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A fraction of the Moleskines aboard.

day 11: Thursday June 25 evening—Max

We believe Moleskine magic brought out the whales. Today turned out to be the longest day after summer solstice. We had been spotting Moleskines popping up around Antigua here and there ranking in abundance with the number of Polaroid cameras on this expedition. After dinner as we were getting ready for our Moleskine Arctic photoshoot on deck and making the announcement to head up, whales appeared and gazing out into the ocean ensued.

At 23:00 we went up to the wheelhouse to interview Captain Jo. One question in and more whales appeared! We ended up spending two hours switching between talking/whalewatching. We spotted a humpback whale from afar!

Captain Jo--

On what he loves most about being at sea:

being surrounded by nature, the elements
it teaching us how small we are compared to the world
knowing how powerful the ocean can be, right now it's calm but it can change quickly

On how to become a captain:

education—Mathematics and English are both very important, English is the language at sea; perhaps having studied astronomy too, and an interest in nature is necessary
safety training and courses in personal survival, first aid, fire fighting and human behaviour
obtain a Seaman's book
build up experience working as a deckhand, then able bodied seaman
knowing the boat—different boat sizes have different training and requirements
~10 years experience to become a great captain

On what qualities/characteristics he looks for in his crew:

tolerant
social minded/social competency
responsible

One item he always has with him:

binoculars

On the significance of the location of the wheelhouse:

located midship as there is less movement
rudders are now hydraulic, before when the rudder was at the back of the boat, the wheelhouse with the steering wheel also needed to be at the back of the boat

His home on land:

Cologne, Germany

After my quick nap with Nemo, I popped back down below deck and found part two of the portrait party taking place. Salome and Emmerson got theirs drawn by Sarah. Do you recognize the other portraits? Emmerson thought the glitter was a nice touch.

Heading to bed, sun still shining brightly, at 2 am. I reckon breakfast will be rather quiet at 7:30am.

Zzz,
Max

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78°56′N 11°56′E

11/9/2015

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day 11: Thursday June 25—Snowflake

Last night we sailed into Kongsfjorden and today we explored Ny-Ålesund. We were all very excited because we love science and this is an international research town. When I went up on deck before breakfast, I saw these white boxes being towed out to sea. I think the scientist we talked to later in the day said they were being used to measure how organisms fare in varying concentrations of gasses in Arctic water samples. I forgot to jot down some notes about it when I returned to the boat.

Within the town boundaries, we're able to walk around Ny-Ålesund on our own but we set off together in the morning as a group with Sarah, Nemo and Sally as we headed beyond the town to see the airship mast. It was a moving safe zone!

We were invited to launch a weather balloon at the French-German Arctic research base AWIPEV. The balloon goes up about 30km into the stratosphere and measures things like temperature, air pressure, humidity, wind speed and wind direction. Once a week it will also measure ozone. At this station, there is one launch a day whereas in some other stations around the world, there are launches four times a day at 12am, 6 am, 12pm and 6pm. Each station follows an identical protocol in their launches.

Listening to base leader Kathrin explain the launch process and learning what atmospheric research is being conducted in the Arctic.

Caroline adding her message/mark on the weather balloon.

I had to get another angle of the balloon for you. Don't you think the PB looks a bit like me?

Up, up and away!

I got a chance to talk with Kathrin after the launch.

On our way back to Antigua for lunch, I stopped to get a photo of the Kings Bay Marinlaboratorium. Maybe one day you'll be doing science up here! Emmerson was able to catch the research boat coming back in as well.

After lunch, we had free time to explore more of Ny-Ålesund if we wanted to. We each still had a few postcards to finish painting and writing to our classmates before heading back into town to post them. Clara joined us and painted beautiful postcards for her family. She's been travelling on Antigua longer than we have and has seen some amazing things. I can't wait until she posts up her polar bear photos from the sailing before ours. She saw curious cubs right next to Antigua's ice anchor!

Snowball finished early so was watching Clara at work while waiting for the rest of us to get our mail sorted.

Snowball and Salome send some snail mail.

I hope our friends receive our Arctic mail soon.

Bye now,
Snowflake

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in the belly of Antigua

4/9/2015

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day 10: Wednesday June 24 afternoon—Snowflake

Wasn't anyone wondering what I was doing not on any of the hikes or being invited to write a play?
Well lucky me, I got to visit the engine room!

Afterwards, we stopped in the kitchen to see what Sascha was up to. We found Jim in there as well making a snack. Can I have some?

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magdalenefjorden

3/9/2015

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day 10: Wednesday June 24 morning—Cayber

This morning we all made the landing at Gravneset, a whaling station used by Dutch, English and Basque expeditions between 1612-1650. We saw what remained of the blubber cookeries and also a burial ground. The graves were marked on a map near the shore.

The burial ground in a blocked off area.

Where blubber used to boil.

We found a variety of objects as we explored the area. We had to watch where we were stepping as there were areas of moss and other magnificent things growing that we didn't want to injure.

Tiny rocks in front of a medium rock in front of a giant rock. This was a good location for our morning meeting...

because we had this view!

We navigated across some interesting terrain and the other side of the bay was much calmer.

I stayed behind to guard with Theres whilst the rest of the gang headed back on an early Zodiac. They were freezing they said.

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gravneset x gullybreen

3/9/2015

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Gullybreen

day 10: Wednesday June 24 afternoon

After lunch, Theres (and Cayber) briefed us on the options for the afternoon. There would be a long and short hike to Gullybreen, a stationary hike at Gravneset near the rock where we had our morning meeting, or staying aboard the Antigua to work.

Our departure was slightly delayed by this stunner floating by.

Stationary hike–Costa

Over lunch, Eric and I talked about doing a project together in the afternoon so we opted for the stationary hike. Don't let the name fool you, we were off to look for PBs!

Waiting for Eric at his cabin door, #4 Martinique. My cabin was across the hallway in #5 St Lucia.

My doppelgänger.

Our afternoon was full of excitement stalking the PBs and we got some great footage! We also got to chatting about his life in NY as an artist. Eric told me about his work as an educator and about some of his projects. He uses his creative skills in all sorts of ways. I think he should make a pool portal for me and the other explorers to play in!

Thanks for spending the afternoon with me Eric.

Short hike to Gullybreen–Max

Sally led the short hike towards Gullybreen. The trek there was over lots of different shaped and sized rocks. It was no easy hike as lots of the stones were wobbly! That balancing lesson from Megan sure came in handy.

Shortly after beginning our hike, we had a visit from an Arctic tern. You should do what Sally is doing if you are ever in this situation.

Good thing I had stopped to read this in Longyearbyen the day we walked out to see the eiders.

My heart for you! Resa found this and was kind to let me get a photo with it.

We arrived back on board for cake time (pre-dinner dessert is what it is) and learned that Snowball had spent all afternoon writing a play about climate change with Reneltta. The two of them and Ashley performed it for us. It was a hit!

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<<Previous

Hello!

Glad you're joining us here. I'm an artist + educator learning and creating from the amazing things encountered adventuring in Svalbard in the high Arctic and around the world.

The classroom explorers and I returned in July 2015 and they have now all headed back to their classrooms to share what they saw, discovered and learned.

Have a look around to find out more about the adventurers and how we prepared for the expedition. You can read our Arctic trip log in order by starting with Day 0 in the categories section below. For pre-trip posts, use the Archives section and start with April 2015 : ).

Salome

day 15+16: Monday June 29 and Tuesday June 30—Snowflake

day 14: Sunday June 28 afternoon—Electric QT

day 14: Sunday June 28 morning—Cayber

day 13: Saturday June 27—Snowball

day 12: Friday June 26—Emmerson

day 11: Thursday June 25 evening—Max

day 11: Thursday June 25—Snowflake

day 10: Wednesday June 24 afternoon—Snowflake

day 10: Wednesday June 24 morning—Cayber

day 10: Wednesday June 24 afternoon

Stationary hike–Costa

Short hike to Gullybreen–Max

Hello!

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