You can walk in to a bank wearing a face mask and a carrying a rifle and they don't really mind
Classes are cancelled when the sun rises
Living in town gives you the right to free helicopter rescue missions if you fall through sea ice or into a crevasse
Teachers hand out rifles and snowmobiles before field trips to ice caves
There are no McDonalds or Starbucks
You can go 2 months without seeing a single living organism other than humans, reindeer, and half-dead grass
But the biggie... the trump-card, if you will... Svalbard is THE only place on earth where environmentalists own snowmobiles
World, meet the first vehicle I've ever owned (that's me in the picture, I promise). She is a yet-to-be-named 1999 Polaris Indy 500 that I'm sharing with a friend. Why, you may ask? Because if you want to see more than 25 km beyond town, you have to have one. There aren't roads here, and as much as I'd love to ski across the whole island, it's just not possible. I still prefer to explore this place on skis, but now I'm able to scooter to a distant glacier, THEN ski up it.
4 comments:
I assume you're going to bring that machine home. Vroom!
Great posts, as if from another planet. Would love to see even more!
It's great to follow your adventures. We look forward to when you return, so we can see you and have you tell us all about Svalbard.
Love Poppi and Carolyn
Dear Kiya,
I'm totally loving your blogspot! It's so fun to read about your wonderful adventures. I've had some thoughts about names for your snowmobile ...
Since Polaris is the last star in the handle of the Little Dipper, you could call her "Little Dipper," which might be especially true on rugged terrain. Or ... since another name for the constellation is Ursa Minor ... you could call her Ursala.
I'm confident this will background process in my pea brain ... and I'll come up with more suggestions. I'll keep sending them until you name her!
Love,
Kathryn
I think Kathryn is onto something. Since Polaris is in the "little bear" constellation, you could name your little bear as "Boo Boo"; Yogi the bears little sidekick.
Post a Comment