6 March 2018

Here's what my weather looked like yesterday, when we scrubbed for the night.

And here's Leo and my landlady shoveling, this morning.  Leo was being a GREAT help :)

My "camera control center"

Helpful to be able to review my ABC's, while at work.  Note the obligatory tiger paw :)

It's a beautiful day for a walk around town.

 Dried cod, under a porch

 More dried cod

 It's definitely snowing today, on the road to Gjesvær.

There was a huge noise of birds all talking at once, on the island to the left, Gjesværstappan.  One of the biggest bird cliffs in Norway, with almost a million puffins as well as gannets, cormorants and kittiwakes.

 The restaurant.

 Very odd to be walking on the beach, looking for beach glass, with my big boots on.  The snow was up to my knees, so I was very happy for those boots.

Dinner at THE local restaurant with Marita, the teacher.  Fish and chips that weren't too bad.  The best part was AFTER dinner.  A very faint arc in the sky that developed over time until the sky was filled with aurora.  Not very bright but still beautiful. 

5 March 2018

Busy Monday in Gjesvær with lots of traffic on the street.

I took a trip over the mountain to the big city of Honningsvåg.  It was nice to have a change of scenery.

I think these two were racing :)

 

Hurtigruten!

The drive home.  I had blue sky, snow, and freezing rain on the way.

4 March 2018

A busy morning yesterday finishing up the camera boxes and bringing out all the cables.  Other than having the wrong end of the USB at one of the boxes, and having to change it, all went well.  Ran the scripts and all the cameras and heaters were working.  We had a practice night.  Since I had clouds, that's fine with me.

I have a playground, if I get bored :)

Stopped at the local mini-market on my way home.  It's definitely only for emergency purchases.  Not much of a selection but it does have the basics.

Another scene from town, down the hill from the camera site. 

This morning, woke up to heavy snow.

A couple hours later, it cleared up and I took a walk around town.

My apartment

I neglected to mention the boat in my playground!  Between the swings and the boat, I'm keeping myself busy.

2 March 2018

I set up the tripods this morning, in a strong wind and blowing snow.  Then, I took a trip to the airport to pick up my camera and laptops that were on the slow to arrive NASA plane.  The rest of the afternoon was spent putting the camera shelves together.  I had a visit from the students, all seven of them, and they were VERY interested in what I was doing. 

It's a real struggle for them to keep the school running.  If they lose the two students who just lost their parents to the flu, it might be the end.  They tell me that it's very good publicity for their school to have me there.  I sure hope so.

I took this picture on the flight in, thinking we were landing in Hammerfest.  It turned out that they skipped the Hammerfest part of the flight and went directly to Honningsvåg.  If you look closely, you can see the drive I take to get to Gjesvær.  It snakes over the mountain and to the left in the image.

Some pictures taken on the drive to the airport today.

The town of Honningsvåg

and the drive back to Gjesvær - yes, it is as slippery as it looks.

 Finally to Gjesvær

The road has lots of drifts, so you mainly drive down the middle.  That doesn't work so well when you meet an oncoming vehicle, though.  And heaven forbid you should have someone behind you.  They will pass on curves, obviously being more familiar with the road than I am.  I am constantly checking the rear view mirror so that I can get out of the way!!  Luckily, you only see maybe five other cars on the whole trip.  It's 25 minutes from Gjesvaer to the main road then another 20 to Honningsvåg.  Lots of ear popping. 

The view from my apartment

1 March 2018

I arrived to Gjesvær this afternoon.  It's a beautiful drive from the airport at Honningsvåg.  Twenty minutes along the fjord and up a mountain, then another twenty-five minutes on the Gjesvær road.  Nothing but white, with one abandoned snow machine along the way.  Turns out it was good that I didn't arrive yesterday.  The road was closed, due to avalanches.  I'm hoping it's open tomorrow, so that I can get to the airport to pick up the rest of my cameras and laptops. 

I have a very comfortable apartment just a couple minutes walk from where I will set up the cameras.  We were able to get the crates moved to the site and I unpacked.  Tomorrow, I'll set up the tripods.

Before arriving at the airport, Nordkapp Bilservice had informed me that they would leave my rental car parked at the airport, with the key under the mat.  The owner showed up anyway, to make sure I could find the key :)  I was to drive to the Shell station to fill out the paperwork.  This basically only consisted of them making a copy of my license.  No contract, no credit card.  I am to let them know when I will be leaving, drop off the car, and then pay.  They will even deliver me to the airport.  Why can't we have such wonderful service at home?!

Marita, the teacher, is very interested in what I am doing.  Nice company, too.  She speaks very good English with no detectable accent. 

I was very happy to have left the flu outbreak back home.  Turns out, a lot of people in town have it.  Tragically, a couple died just yesterday, leaving behind their two children.  When you have a town with only 120 people, and a school with only 7 children, it makes a huge impact.  With no other family in town, it's uncertain what will happen to the children.