Thursday 16 August 2012

Sailing into sunny weather

 At 01.00 a.m. the MV Fram sailed into Longyearbyen harbour. Low clouds, windstill, typical Svalbard weather. The new boarding crew was anxiously waiting on the pier to board the ship and could enjoy the view of the Fram mooring. Inside the ship the guests were preparing to leave the ship to catch the night flights back to the mainland. The same day around 16.00 the first new guests arrived, most spent one day in Longyearbyen to discover the town. After the safety drill the MV Fram started sailing out of Adventfjorden, southwards towards Barentsburg. The weather was clearing up and upon arriving we had sunny weather. Sunny weather makes Barentsburg look different, all the houses were bright and colorful. The local guides showed us around for about 45 minutes telling all about this little mining settlement with about 450 inhabitants. Mostly from Rusland and Ukraine. Most inhabitants are working in the mine which entrance lies in the middle of the city, with the mines going in the mountains until depths of 500 meter. After the guided tour we could enjoy the folklore show in the cultural center performed by the local people. At 23.00 o`clock we left Grønfjorden behind as we enjoyed the beautiful colors of the evening sun shining on the mountains.