Longyearbyen; Monday, 26 May, 2014

After a reasonable lie-in and a massive breakfast it was time to go on a tour of the city and surrounding area.

The Maxi-Taxi tour took in all the sights of Longyearbyen, including the site of the former settlement, destroyed during WWII, and the adjoining settlement (now merged into Longyearbyen) of Nybyen. We then went up into the hills overlooking the fjord to visit the weather radar station and a look at the city’s mine – the only one still functioning nearby and used purely to supply enough coal for the power station to work.

After the tour there was a little bit of time to wander round the centre of Longyearbyen before it was time for activity number 2 of the day, the slightly less sedentary Husky dog sledging.

Having previously done something similar on the Hurtigruten trip the previous year I wasn’t expecting this tour to be quite so hands on – from the harnessing and setting up of our sledges, to actually having to do all the mushing, which up the side of a mountain is not a fun thing.

After a couple of hours we arrived back in town, exhilarated but also exhausted and aching in places I didn’t know it was possible to ache in.

As it was already pretty late in the evening I had to grab dinner in the restaurant first, before they stopped serving, before I could get into a very hot bath and try and sooth some of my muscles.

Weather

Sunny Sunny
AM PM
Mild (0-10C, 32-50F)
0ºC/32ºF