At Last......

We flew from Oslo this morning, with a very strange stop at Tromso airport. We had to get off the plane and go through passport control and then get back on the plane again? Apparently it was to do with different passport jurisdiction.....

This is the signpost which greets you outside the airport at LongYearbyen in Svalbard. I can't believe I'm here!

The weather was 14 degrees centigrade (57 fahrenheit) and beautifully sunny. Quite ridiculous temperatures for the Arctic. We had a couple of hours before we were meant to be on our ship home for the next 11 days, so we had a wander around the town.

It's quite functional but with beautifully painted houses. Later in the week we found out that there are restrictions on what colour you can paint them, with every new building given a specific colour. You're not allowed to choose your own colour.

One of the extra photos was taken looking out towards the wilderness on the edge of town. I was struck by the seemingy infinite space.....

The other is a view of the mountains as we flew over Svalbard, taken with my iPad.

Once we were on our ship we found our cabin very comfortable and spacious. We met our team of guides and had lots of introductory information and safety procedures.

After our evening meal, we spent the time up on deck and trid to stay up until midnight just to really see the midnight sun. Sadly, we were just too tired and didn't make it.